S7 SIBERIA AIRLINES review : 5 November 2009 : by William Hoppes

Customer Rating : 3/5

and spoke some english. Seating tight, but expected on a low cost carrier. Departures and arrivals on time and in the case of the return to Moscow, we got in a bit early. Luggage arrived on both legs. All in all a good experience.

S7 SIBERIA AIRLINES review : 5 October 2009 : by Yevheniy Kahanovych

Customer Rating : 3/5

This was my first time using S7. Their online ticket sale works fine, you are sent e-ticket in pdf which is great for printing. At the airport check-in was ok, but you got no smile from their agents. Onboard you are met by unsmiling crew, who look tired. The plane was a320 in very good condition, clean and with great legroom. Food was hot lunch, which was nice for 1 hr flight in economy. We took off on time and landed ahead of schedule. My bag was on the belt when I was off immigration. S7 is a great choice for family travel. My ticket was a great deal. S7 is the second best airline between Kiev and Moscow. Gloomy and robotic agents and crews and strange schedule are the only minuses.

S7 SIBERIA AIRLINES review : 15 July 2009 : by Christoph Meysel

Customer Rating : 4/5

Moscow-Ekaterinburg. Had a fairly good experience with S7. Check-in and take off was on time. The plane was new and in good condition. Attendants spoke English quite well and friendly which is not usual in Russia, and especially not on this route. Food cheap but plenty and convenient. Looking at the price/value ratio I recommend this airline on domestic flights in Russia.

S7 SIBERIA AIRLINES review : 3 July 2009 : by D Trabelsi

Customer Rating : 4/5

VAR-DME-EVN. Crew friendly and professional - food ok and there was a choice. Best part was the seats that are the kind you would expect from a scheduled airline despite it being a low cost carrier.

S7 SIBERIA AIRLINES review : 8 June 2009 : by P Kucharski

Customer Rating : 4/5

DME-LED-DME. Good value for money. Excellent option for those making connection in Domodedovo. First leg operated by Globus (subsidiary I guess). Even though it's only 1h flight a small snack has been provided (and newspapers in Russian). Clean new planes (B738 and A319). Big delay on way back but not the airlines' fault. Would use again.

S7 SIBERIA AIRLINES review : 27 February 2009 : by D Graubard

Customer Rating : 4/5

Moscow-Volgograd used check-in kiosks but still had to go to the desk to drop off baggage. A319 clean and comfortable. After take-off flight attendants came around with newspapers (only Russian), then a meal and drink service. Main flight attendant spoke perfect english. Return trip also on A319 aircraft but different interiors - looked very much like Northwest airlines so probably where the plane came from. Chicken or fish dinner served and food delicious. Flight attendants smiling and friendly. In Moscow we were lucky enough to get a gate at the terminal and had our bags within 15 minutes. S7 really does a nice job.

S7 SIBERIA AIRLINES review : 20 December 2008 : by Bobby Marks

Customer Rating : 1/5

Beijing-Novosibirsk. The flight experience was awful. Flight time 6-05am, but gates weren't open, even there was no crew in check-in till like 6-00, check-in delayed, no reason given, no one cared, it finally started at 6-15am and took another half an hour for the plane to depart. When you get onboard, it feels like you've gone back to 90's. The plane is really, really old. No tv, no radio, no nothing. I was not expecting much from this airline, but it was way worse - however, the food was good, and there were two choices.

S7 SIBERIA AIRLINES review : 30 October 2008 : by Tobias Köhler

Customer Rating : 4/5

Domodedovo - Barnaul. Night flight in a new A320, seating better than Niki. Surprising amount of food (satisfying quality) for a 4-hour night flight. No onboard entertainment. Online booking and check in at DME went well (we had backpacks and were asked to a separate counter as the regular checkin counters can only handle suitcases). Most S7 staff speak only basic English. Flying to Russian destinations via Domodedovo is recommended because things there go much smoother than at Sheremetyevo where you have to wait a long time and take a bus to change terminals.

S7 Siberia Airlines - by Ivan Nikitin

31 March 2008   Customer Rating :

Moscow-Rimini return (charter economy). Outbound flight was delayed for 45 minutes, but we were warned about this fact by check-in attendants, who were very nice and friendly (unusual for Moscow). Boarding normally organised, then the bus to our plane, A310 inside was bright and clean, seats were ok (I'm 192 cm tall). Soon after departure, drinks were served - only juices or water. The meal service was fantastic. I must admit that the meal service took them more than 1,5 hour. Inflight magazine interesting. Return flight departed earlier than expected, boarding swift, seating was more comfy. Flight attendants were better : very helpful and delivered what you need with a smile.

S7 Siberia Airlines - by J Blaine

17 October 2007   Customer Rating :

Domodedovo - BAX Barnaul return. S7 has been hyping their newer aircraft in their advertising, but still use their older Soviet planes on most routes. Aeroflot is better, but you have to change airports if you fly into SVO Shermetyevo to catch a domestic flight, which is not for the faint of heart, and not inexpensive ($40 or more) unless you know how to use the cheap bus between terminals. DME is more modern than SVO 2 (but no less a madhouse in the ticketing area), and is organized mass confusion at the domestic passenger x-ray area - keep your boarding pass and your ticket in your hand, or say "e-ticket" if you only have a boarding pass and bought on-line; the international departure area is much better, especially for those folks with western passports. At DME, all the passengers sardined into a bus with no seats to the ancient Tupolev and had to walk up stairs. On the way back, however, the plane returned to a jetway, thankfully. DME was a hellhole a decade ago, but has been totally rebuilt (and remains under construction). Seats are extremely tight, especially for my 6' 7" frame, so I grabbed an empty bulkhead seat, and was able to get the spacious emergency exit on the return flight with help from my Russian friend. Announcements on the plane are in Russian and heavily accented English. The emergency exits in the TU are partially blocked by the seats in front of the doors, and the seat belts are not like the ones on western aircraft - some kind of loop system that is almost impossible to figure out how to make smaller or larger. The emergency exits have an obvious failure-prone system that is not idiot-proof. The TU also cannot support as much heavy or large luggage in the overheads as a modern western aircraft; they advise only using them for coats and small items. Barnaul is a small regional airport; no English announcements or signage. Upon arrival, you need to enter a very small room, and show your ticket with the matching luggage stickers to the attendant before you're allowed to leave with your bags. Unlike most American airlines, they actually give you food during a 4-hour flight, and it's not bad. Upon landing, before the seat belt sign is off, and even before the plane is even completely stopped at the gate, Russians have already been into the overhead compartments and standing. I notice this on international flights with a lot of Russians on board, too, where exasperated Western flight attendants plead for people to sit down, to no avail. Ticketing: they now have e-tickets since 2006. However, you can't see the full terms and conditions until AFTER you bought the ticket. Almost all low fares are completely non-refundable and non- changeable when bought on-line. Even if the price goes lower after you bought, they will not credit you the difference, unlike a western airline.

S7 Siberia Airlines - by Mariusz Slawomirski

20 September 2007   Customer Rating :

Moscow to Novosibirsk return Economy class. Aircraft IL86 (about 350 passengers). Transfer from Moscow to the airport (Demodedovo) long but well organized (subway green line + microbus). In the airport the flight was not shown in the departure list. I had to contact the information desk. The staff in the airport is generally available in Russian only. Foreigners who are not Russian fluent may encounter problems in this matter. On the other hand, flying conditions were much better than I supposed. Chair comfort fair; much better in comparison to those I encountered during KLM flights from Amsterdam to Singapore and from Amsterdam to Delhi. Meals were quite good. Aircraft clean. Foreign passengers may encounter difficulties to contact stewardesses. Only one of them was able to speak English. During the return flight old aircraft chartered form another local airline, and flying conditions worse than during onbound flight. General impression: better than I supposed, "three stars".

S7 Siberia Airlines - by F Eschler

31 July 2007   Customer Rating :

Moscow DME to Nizhniy Novgorod. Check-in at DME fast, the agent couldn't really handle my swiss passport and was unable to find my e-ticket in the system and called someone else. In the end 3 people were searching me in the system. After a few minutes, some staff member took my passport and disappeared - eventually she came back saying "everything's ok" and gave me the passport and the boarding pass. My Russian is as bad as their English, so it was a bit hard to communicate, but they were very friendly and not at all "sovietish". A fourth young employee came and asked if I spoke French, so we could speak to each other. Basically everything was settled. I don't think that people working on check-in counters of Russian domestic flights need to speak English, so I wasn't disappointed or stressed by this fact. Flight was on a relatively old B737-500 with new style interior. My seat was a bit broken, it automatically reclined. Security instructions professional in English and Russian. Security card original, looked like a folded menu card in a restaurant. Service prompt and friendly. Served a drink of choice and no meal as it was only a short one-hour flight. Flight price was about USD 40.00, booked conveniently online.

S7 Siberia Airlines - by Daniel Kisliakov

20 June 2007   Customer Rating :

St. Pete to Novosibirsk on a Tu-154, and apart from the fact that the plane was old, everything about the service from the food to the quality of the inflight magazine shows how Russian airlines have progressed of late. Novosibirsk airport is a small gem, with its final stages of reconstruction now underway. From Novosibirsk to Moscow then, on an Airbus A319, S7 Airlines really shows many other airlines what they should be. Despite discounted airfares, full service provided here as well, including drinks, full meal, and a glass of water at the end of the flight. Service was also very friendly and attentive, and unique compared with many of the quality legacy European carriers, where staff no longer seem as committed to their work as in generations past.

S7 Siberia Airlines - by N Geoghegan

12 April 2007   Customer Trip Rating : n/a

FRA-DME-OVB. FRA to DME was very good, staff could have spoken english. This is the only gripe I have with the FRA-DME leg of the trip, the DME - OVB leg however was worse. DME airport was packed, I was charged for overweight baggage - even though I was within the limits. Their staff at DME don't speak English, and I had to run to the gate. The flight was delayed by an hour because the FRA-DME flight was delayed (and customs took well over an hour). The plane to Novosibirsk was scary to say the least. The only way I can describe it is as a flying train. No overhead bins in the middle aisle, staff didn't speak english, seats were all torn and well past their life.

S7 Siberia Airlines - by N Pasricha

24 March 2007

Domedovo-Khujand return. The plane wasn't new but seemed sturdy! I don't think much English was spoken in the plane but in the airport it was fine, helpful (if slow) assistance in the transit area of DME. Lots of pushing on and off the planes but seems unnecessary as there are seats for everyone. Watch out for the surprise 20 kg weight limit per passenger (INCLUDING HAND BAGGAGE) when leaving Khujand. ($5 per extra kg - maybe if you speak Russian you can talk your way out of this one.)

S7 Siberia Airlines - by Brian Dell

5 February 2007

Domodoevo - Osh, Kyrgyzstan. Online booking is great although little English spoken at their ticket desk. I would say they were great except the Kyrgyz refuse to queue, and staff wouldn't or couldn't control them. Inflight one decided to change seats to the empty one next to me, and piled so much baggage under and over his seat he could hardly sit down - and I was crowded as well. He then nursed a bottle of vodka he had brought on board throughout the flight and was getting rather difficult by the end.

S7 - Siberia Airlines - by Johann Bremer

10 December 2006

Moscow-Novosibirsk-Moscow flights by A310 (going there) and A319 (coming back). The seats in the A310 were a little cramped but the cabin was spotless and felt fresh, the cabin was clearly more roomy on the A319. The food on is a lot better than Aeroflot and the flight attendants seem eager to please the passengers. The crew spoke very good English on the flight to Moscow, but not as much on the flight to Novosibirsk. S7 is a jewel among its competitors. They have more western aircraft than other Russian carriers and the service is better.

S7 - Siberia Airlines - by Bakyt Andersen

4 December 2006

Moscow DME-OSS return on Tupolev TU 154M. DME-OSS left on time. Staff at the Domodedovo Airport friendly. Crew only made announcements in Russian. All magazines were in Russian. It was 5-hour flight and some snack/drink given after we took off. Staff in OSS were very unprofessional. Luggage was just thrown on the floor for passengers to pick up. Immigration was not organized. On the way back, we booked the VIP lounge and nothing except tea was served there. Flight from OSS to DME was delayed due to the airline's failure to extend their contract with the ground fuel supplier. So, plane flew to Bishkek's Manas FRU airport. Passengers were not allowed to leave the aircraft while it was being refuelled. It took 2 hours. Cabin was very warm, staff did not speak English. Food was cold. We were delayed. Staff at DME was very slow. Luggage was delayed, immigration was very slow. Time in line was about 2 hours.

S7 - Siberia Airlines - by Mat Kroehn

20 November 2006

Peking - Novosibirisk return. Older A310 spotlessly clean, service and food good. Have used S-7 many times and consider they stack up very well with the major carriers. I note the flight routes are beginning to expand and I wish the company success. Good no frills airline that will develop further in the coming years.

S7 - Siberia Airlines - by Ashley Crump

27 October 2006

Moscow-Irkutsk-Ulan-Ude economy return. The flight was meant to be a direct DME-UUD but the airport at Ulan-Ude was closed for repairs so I flew to Irkutsk and travelled to Ulan-Ude on a specially organised bus (it took 8 hours!). Despite this setback, which wasn't S7 Airlines fault, and the fact I was delayed both ways due to the weather, the flight was uneventful and the meal service has improved considerably since I last flew with them - and it wasn't even bad before! There was a choice of hot meal and as much free soft drink as you wished, though alcoholic drinks must be paid for. There was also tea and coffee and before landing in Irkutsk a breakfast snack was served. It was much the same on the return leg. The seats were a little cramped (it was a Russian Tupolev Tu-154) and I suppose the decor was a little dated (though I liked the multi-coloured headrests), but that didn't matter much. The cabin crew were smiling and courteous a lot and announcements were given both in Russian and (very good) English. After the plance crash that happened the previous week the crew remained very competent and professional, as I am sure it must have been a difficult time for them too. Although the crash in Irkutsk affected this airline, it didn't put me off flying with them and it would not stop me from flying with them again in the future. They will always be my first choice when flying Trans-Siberian routes.

S7 - Siberia Airlines - by Heidi Braun

17 October 2006

Munich-Moscow. The aircraft was operated by a new(ish) 737. Aircraft was painted in a bright green livery and the cabin looked very fresh with a number of colours. All passengers were served a hot meal with free non- alcoholic drinks. The captain only made announcements in russian and the cabin crew, although friendly, spoke almost no english or german.

S7 - Siberia Airlines - by Peter Horn

12 October 2006

Frankfurt--Novosibirsk. It`s been the first time, that I flew with a Russian company. Airbus A 320 was very clean, old, but good. The service was excellent. The staff friendly and helpful, but only one person were able to speak a little bit English. To me it was not a problem, because I speak Russian, but normally they should have English speaking staff, when flying from an international airport. The meals were delicious, in the middle of the plane in a small kitchen they served mineral water and different sorts of lemonade. Every passenger could take as much and as often he wants. They offered regularly tea or coffee, I think every hour. For me it was an interesting experience and I think some European companies, especially Lufthansa, can learn a lot from Siberia.

S7 - Siberia Airlines - by Eric Young

2 September 2006

Domodoevo-Novokutnetzk. Flight operated by Tu-154, very worn and dated, but makes for an interesting ride. Aircraft noisy and the interior clearly 70's. Flight very uneventful with business and economy class in the same section of the plane. Food okay, on par or better than many European airlines will serve - with three choices. Crew poor at English but messages get across. No free alcohol but other drinks available. Recommend but then again they have monopoly on several routes.

 

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