Iberia

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".

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.)

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.)

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.