TURKMENISTAN AIRLINES   Passenger Reviews and Passenger Trip Reports

TURKMENISTAN AIRLINES customer review : 26 December 2009 by S Sandhu (UK)

Turkmenistan Airlines is the worst airline I have ever travelled with. Flight attendants all Russian and Uzbek, don't speak or understand English or Punjabi. They are rude whenever customers ask for help with their suitcases or hand luggage. The food is not nice, drinks are served loads - every 1.5 hours. Entertainment poor, very poor, bring your own books, magazines and iPods/MP3s. All they have is a screen showing you where you are in the world. The safety manuals are in Russian. If you were travelling to India, you would want films, music and games.

TURKMENISTAN AIRLINES customer review : 28 May 2009 : by Raja Singh

There were 8 who flew with this run down company - we were delayed for 14 hours! They overbooked our tickets on our return flight - no apology no compensation - no nothing. Pay the extra if you dont want to be delayed - these guys are a complete joke. Book a company who have a customer service department.

TURKMENISTAN AIRLINES customer review : 13 January 2009 : by R Droge

When there where serve food its seems that there where only one kind or food, some screens in the airplane dont work. At Ashgabat, its dirty - very dirty. Nobody speak English or also nowhere you can read normal information. On the way back the problems bigger - the seat was broken and when you fly 8 hours on a seat that's broken than you have a problem. The crew dont talk English and many things in the airplane don't work.

TURKMENISTAN AIRLINES customer review : 18 October 2008 : by S Dillon

I have flown several times with TA but rarely enjoyed the trip; made worse by the lack of everything one associates with a decent air carrier. They dont have staff who can speak English, no particular manners and in general they are rude. No information in English or Hindi/Punjabi on board or at Ashgabad. How one should know what to do or expect in term of time for board? I think they treat passengers with contempt and anger directed towards them; I have witnessed the so call air hostesses being rude. As for the onboard entertainment, the less said the better. They make all announcements in some language that not a single passenger understands - I know they sometimes have one air hostess who pretends to speak English, but no one can understand as it simply isnt English! The occasional films they show are in Russian and always highly embarassing for Indians. Overall, I would rate TA 2 out of 10. You may say why 2 when the whole service is so diabolical. Well, they usually let you sit down in a sort of seat and if you dont ask for anything they dont hit you over the head. And also because usually flights are on time. Would you fly with this thing? Well as for me and all my friends and family I much rather take a Maruti from Birmingham to Amritsar (if I had the time) than subjecting myself again to this humiliation, frustration, insults and torture lasting almost 12 hrs.

Turkmenistan Airlines - by B Vincent
14 June 2007

Amritsar - Ashgabat on a 737-300, returning on a 757, and 3 internal flights on 717s. Each flight on-time, and aircraft were clean. Food on the international flights was Indian vegetarian both ways - very good out of Amritsar, quite acceptable coming the other way. Complimentary soft drink and snacks/beer for sale on domestic flights. Departure tax from Ashgabat included in ticket price - apparently this is not the case with other airlines. One or two quirky things - there were no sick bags on any of the flights, and safety cards only on the International ones. My complaint is with the International baggage people at Ashgabat, who extracted money from me in both directions - on arrival for retrieving my bag from the carousel (it was the only one), and on departure because the combined weight of checked-in and cabin baggage exceeded 20Kg.

Turkmenistan Airlines - by Raj Basra
27 February 2007

I flew with Turkmenistan early February 2007 from Birmingham to Amritsar. The outgoing flight was 10 hours late at Birmingham but we were not given any explanation what so ever for the delay - apparently it was due to fog in Amritsar? We were given a £5 voucher to spend on food & drinks which bought you a couple of coffees! Food and inflight service was adequate. Return flight was punctual but the temperature on the plane was very warm and therefore most uncomfortable. Despite a requests from passengers nothing was done other then to hand out a glass of water to each passenger. Food on the Amritsar to Ashkhabad part of trip was poor.

Turkmenistan Airlines - by Paul Karl
3 December 2006

Central Asian carrier, on which I flew five segments in November 2006. Beijing (PEK) to Ashgabat (ASB) and back, a one-way flight from Mary (MYP) to Ashgabat, and a round-trip between Ashgabat and the northern town of Dashoguz (TAZ). All flights were on Boeings, with 757s on the international legs and 717s domestically. The pilots were allegedly Western-trained and looked Russian, but none said a word during my five flights. The planes weren't bad. The seats were maintained, and the cabins were clean. There were other signs that this wasn't the Delta Shuttle. The bulkhead wall at the front of each cabin bore a framed photograph of the President For Life. Many passengers paid no heed to any rules about seatbelts or cabin movement. Boarding the plane was all pushing and shoving, and the old ladies had the best moves. Aside from a flight map on the 757s, there was no in-flight entertainment. The food was standard airline grub, and flight attendants were reasonably diligent, if unenthusiastic, about serving drinks and responding to the call button, which the passengers pushed without hesitation. There was no in-flight magazine. Luggage limits were nonexistent, but, in a country where almost everything has to be imported, I was sympathetic. The space on my flight was so oversubscribed that three trucks of baggage were left behind. The stranded bags were to arrive on the next flight with room. Turkmenistan Airlines has no web site. It has no frequent flyer program that I could discern and is not part of any alliance. It serves the major cities in Turkmenistan in the sense that it connects them to Ashgabat. The foreign destinations include London, Beijing, Moscow, Bangkok and Istanbul. Flights through Ashgabat are cheap; flights to Ashgabat are expensive. Turkmenistan Airlines is cut- rate transportation which isn't so bad if your expectations are low.

Turkmenistan Airlines - by Manjit Sidhu
15 March 2006

Had heard bad comments about this carrier but gave it a chance anyway. It should only be given 1 star. LHR to ATQ via Ashkabat. Check in was the same as any other airline. As soon as we boarded, what can I say? Miserable crew standing to "welcome" passengers on board as if they had been forced to do so. I think 95% of the passengers were Indians, so TA need to think about having at least 1 punjabi/hindi speaking crew member for announcements. Other airlines do this such as Royal Jordanian and Gulf Air. But with TA, it was all in their own language and an attempt in very poor english. No announcement from the captain what so ever. Food was ok, not much different from other airlines I suppose. Drinks served soon after take off. TA seriously need to improve their inflight entertainment, the map of the flight path just isn't good enough! I personally would not use them again, I'd rather pay just a little bit more and fly to Delhi and have some decent service. What makes it worse is that they don't even have a proper office (not that I know of anyway) to put comments forward to. Its not necessarily to complain but more to give "advice" to the airline because they seriously do need to improve.

Turkmenistan Airlines - by Harchand Gill
7 February 2006

I tried Turkmenistan Airlines from Frakfurt to Amritsar once. I will never do it again. My return flight was scheduled at 750 am and it finally departed from Amritsar Airport at 300 am the next day. A delay of only 19 hours! I have understanding if a flight is delayed due to any reason, because safety is for me much more important than hurry. However, what I do not understand is that an Airline operating internationally does not have a minimum standard of customer service. The 19 hours of uncertainty at the Amritsar Airport was a horror. The Airline Staff kept saying "we will start boarding soon and the flight will take off 11.00am, then 1.00 pm, then 3.00pm, then 7.00pm, then 11.00 p.m., then 1.00am and finally 2.00am." Finally, the passengers did not believe the staff at all. I wonder, if they were forwarding the information to passengers or they were just saying something. People were very frustrated and tired. Especially for children and elderly people it was very hard to bare the exertions of this travel. Last but not least, when I arrived at the Frankfurt Airport I could not find any representative of the airline. The office was simply shut - no help desk or hotline. As my seat from Frankfurt to Zürich by rail was booked on for the original day before, I had to buy a new ticket. There is no address of the airline published anywhere, so that no one can send a claim to the Airline. It is really sad an airline has to hide itself in such a way. I am happy that nothing worse than that happened. I can only advise people, please never use this cheap airline, it is really "cheap".

Turkmenistan Airlines - by K Basra
2 January 2006

My wife and daughter were due to depart on 23rd December 2005 with TA but it was delayed by 6 hours due to bad weather. Being one of the fortunate ones they were informed at home of the flight being delayed therefore could you make your journey to Amritsar airport later on in the day. However when they arrived at Amritsar airport there was no arrangements for a mother and young baby - no organisation or system as to a simple queuing. Eventually after checking in, the flight was a further 4 hours late but again there was no arrangements for refreshments or any baby changing facilities. It shows this is a no frills airline - a low budget airline with no after-sales customer care. On the aircraft many people were very disappointed - for the sake of an extra £100 we can get better customer care with another airline. Turkmenistan Airlinesis not interested in aftersales or customer care.

Turkmenistan Airlines - by Ninder Bassi
1 January 2006

Do not ever fly with these people. I have just come back from India and I will never fly with them ever again. I flew from Birmingham to Amritsar via Ashkabad. The plane was a 757 and looked like it had never been cleaned and seemed really old. Everything was in Russian even the safety routines. The food was poor. The staff seemed to think they would crack their faces if they smiled and wore no sign of a uniform. At Ashkabad airport the guards are paranoid about pictures being taken and they like to send everyone outside to wait before getting on the plane and then sitting there for an hour! The return flight was a little better but not much! If you read this review before booking your flight then it is worth paying that little bit more.

Turkmenistan Airlines - by Sean Keyes
6 November 2005

I have flown more miles with this airline than any other airline. They have a fairly modern fleet, with Boeing 757s for the long-haul flights (e.g. ASB-LHR, ASB-BKK). The 737s which they operate on the shorter routes such as Istanbul and Delhi are a little older but still well- maintained. The food has always been fairly good, although having flown both economy and business classes it's hard for me to notice much of a difference between the two. Other than the larger leather seats and unlimited drinks, I don't feel as though passengers in business class get much more than the folks in coach. One huge gripe about this airline which a lot of people have (and I I'll weigh in on this too) is their complete lack of in-flight entertainment. There are no movies, no in- flight magazines, and no music on any of the flights - the video screens in the passenger cabins show the flight path map and groundspeed, altitude, etc, which is really the only way passengers can keep up to speed with the progress of the flight - since no Turkmenistan Airlines pilot has ever bothered to say a single word over the passenger intercom on any of the flights I've been on. Many flight attendants speak limited English and some previous passengers have been complaining about indifferent service stemming from this, although I've always found the cabin crew to be fairly polite and attentive (but then again, knowing Russian language and culture probably helps me along these lines). All in all, I would recommend the airline. It's very basic and no-frills but they have fairly comfortable aircraft, good prices, and an excellent safety record. Just book well in advance because tickets are always hard to get.

Turkmenistan Airlines - by A Khera
12 August 2005

I flew Birmingham-Ashgabad-Amritsar-Ashgabad-London for a 9 day trip to India. I got back yesterday and have been looking for someone to complain to - they have no official website this forum is the only place I found to voice my complaints. Reading all the comments just makes me wish I'd checked out the airline before I flew with them. Leaving Birmingham was fine, the check-in staff are fine and to start off the aircrew were fine as well. However during the flight they became indifferent to any requests from 'Indian' passengers, choosing instead to spend there whole time with a school group from Turkmenistan - who were also conveniently upgraded to business class. Landing at Ashgabad was fine and because it was night time it was quite cool so the lack of A/C wasn't a problem. Flight to Amritsar was fine, apart from the incredibly slow immigration staff (2 people on the desk for 2 flights). Our problems started at the end of the trip when checking in at Amritsar. The Turkmenistan Airlines check-in staff at Amritsar are all incredibly rude. As with most people we were a few kilos over our baggage allowance and decided to pay the fee of 1100 Rupees, but having made the payment we were still required to repack our cases as the idiot on the desk couldn't understand that having paid the excess baggage fee, it doesn't matter whether the 3 kilos were in our hand luggage or in our checked in baggage - it all goes on the same plane! Having tried to reason with them, we ended up having to repack and check-in one of our carry-on bags. Amritsar Raja Sansi Airport is supposed to be international, but the service quality of the staff there from check-in through to boarding is the worst I've experienced in 15 years of travel - the staff are rude and the number of times you're frisked and you hand luggage X-ray'd borders on the rediculour - no wonder we were advised to check in 4 1/2 hours before our flight! Once on board the plane the flight was fine, food was OK, but the air-crew only speak russian and they generally kept themselves out of the way. the only entertainment on board was a bloke who'd downed a bottle of whisky before boarding and a cat-fight that broke out between two women. Landing at Ashgabad, the temp was 40 deg. and the A/C wasn't working which was uncomfortable. More annoying was the lack of any information and no announcements in english. The flight back to Heathrow was delayed here for 1/2 hour. I think that TA need to have a good look at there offering as they can't just compete on price - Usbekistan Airways is just as cheap and is way better run. Personally I don't think I'll ever fly with them again, and I don't think I'd ever fly from Amritsar again either - I'd rather fly to Amritsar and then fly back from Delhi

Turkmenistan Airlines - by S Kaur

21 April 2005

Birmingham to Amritsar via Ashgabad. I flew on the 17th of April 2005 to Amritsar and I have found out that the in-flight service is very quite, but not as expected as my last trip( August 2001 Birmingham to Amritsar/Delhi). The food was okay, no problems, but I think that cabin crew need to explain the safety procedures in English, rather than Russian, for those who don't understand.

Turkmenistan Airlines - by Paul Banwait

16 February 2005

I've just returned from Amritsar flying with TA and must say was very very impressed with the punctuality of the airline. The only downside was that there is no inflight entertainment or pillows or blankets, and the cabin crew speak very little English. So for £400, great value for money and will travel with TA again.

Turkmenistan Airlines - by Xavier Dalal

11 December 2004

Birmingham to Amritsar via Ashgabad a fortnight ago. 'Business Class and did not expect much for a mere £750! We had the entire cabin to ourselves - economy was full. The service was good and crew did their best to please us. The aircraft had no at seat entertainment system and no magazines to read.

Turkmenistan Airlines - by Amrit Kaur

17 April 2004

Two words - never again!  My sister and my mum flew out a week before me. When my mum and sister got to the airport at 4pm they were left baffled by the many contradictory announcements. By 11pm the crowd considerably irritated and very vocal punjabis were boarded on the plane, only to be taken off because according to the announcement planes do not take off after 11pm. Baffling!! The stewards were extremely unhelpful and very rude! I can understand the pressure they were under but come on what about customer service? My mum and sister were then placed in a hotel overnight. The following morning the flight was still delayed and involved another 4hour wait. Eventually they boarded the plane on a practically incident free flight to Ashgabat (except for the bickering between people on the plane - shout goes out to the man with the big handle bar moustache for drinking himself to a stupor and then arguing with everyone). The flight attendants I'm told only knew how to communicate aggressively with accentuated hand and arm movements. Once in Ashgabat more delays, there was little communication to explain what was happening. Must mention the very high price of £5 for a call to the loved ones explaining the delay. After a 12hour delay the flight took off towards India and here it gets worse. Approaching the Punjab it was announced that due to bad weather the plane was being diverted to Delhi. Approaching Delhi it was announced that due to the bad weather the plane was being diverted to Rajastan. Approaching Rajastan it was announced that due to bad weather the plane was being diverted to Mumbai. The plane then landed in Mumbai. Mum said that at this point people were in disbelief and too tired to complain.  In Mumbai they were put up in a hotel for the night. The following day they were put on a flight without any further delay and arrived in Amritsar with no problem. My aunt and uncle who'd come to collect my mum and sister spent the night in the car because they weren't told anything by the airport or the Turkmenistan airlines office in Jallandher another example of very poor communication. I then flew out the week after but didn't suffer as badly. Flight was again delayed for a whole day so after checking in I went home to the other side of London. The others who came from too far stayed at the airport until 11pm and they were then taken to a hotel. The following day I called turkmenistan airlines and was told check in was 2pm and there were no delays. How I laughed when I got to the airport - more delays. Finally flew out 11pm that night. No alcohol was served on the plane - I was told by an attendant this was due to behavioural problems they had been experiencing. Learned a bit about geography by watching the TV showing flight path. Anyhow got to Ashgabat where it was snowing, there were more delays here and no communication to let us know what was happening. An uncle took it upon himself to be the leader of the 200 people on the flight and made things worse by making an attendant cry. After that we were told nothing. Left Ashgabat 9hours later got to Amritsar without a problem.

Turkmenistan Airlines - by Lisa Athwal

6 January 2004

I have just finally made it back from Amritsar to Birmingham after a 12 hour delay due to bad weather! We flew with Turkmenistan simply because it goes to Amritsar and lets face it a 2 hour road trip home is better than 8 hours from Delhi. The flight itself I guess is about as basic as it could possibly get, on the way we had the same meal twice.  The toilets by the middle of the flight were filthy, in fact I felt sorry for the people who were seated near them, you can't imagine how bad it smelt every time the toilet door was left open! The staff seriously need to improve their language skills and customer service skills. In fact one particular air stewardess was very rude when we boarded, she stood in the doorway shouting what is your problem? On the return flight entertainment was non existent, and after 1 hour was left staring at the tv showing a map of the flight path.  I can't wait for the day when BA starts flying to Amritsar!

Turkmenistan Airlines - by K Das

23 November 2003

I flew with Turkmenistan Airlines from Birmingham to Delhi via Ashgabad. There is no entertainment onboard, so bring a book or some CDs. On the flight to India they distributed headphones, though there was nothing to listen to. The irony was lost on them. My seat on the BHX-ASG segment was quite old and worn. The interior of the B737 DEL-ASG looked new, thought the aircraft was an older model, so evidently they do maintain their aircraft, though perhaps not as well as they should. It was the consensus of the passengers on the BHX-ASG / ASG-BHX (B-757) flight that three loos were not enough for approximately 200 passengers on a 6 hour 40 minute flight. There was always a queue. For some reason they don't believe in paper towels, and there is a towel hanging from a hook on the door for everyone to wipe their hands after washing up.

Turkmenistan Airlines - by Jaswinder Bains

10 October 2003

Birmingham to Amritsar via Ashgabad. For the cheap price I paid I was not expecting exceptional service on or off the plane. However, the flights attendants were helpful with the limited amount of English Vocabulary. The flight out from Birmingham was quite empty so I had the luxury of three seats. The flight departed and arrived on time to and from Amritsar so no qualms there. Flight busy on the way back due to returning passengers from earlier months. I was quite impressed with everything with my flight experience. Only bad comment was to do with the rudeness of the ground staff at Amritsar.