Azerbaijan Airlines

What a rickety airline - I flew it twice in December 2003 and thought we were going to fall out of the sky. The flight from Baku to Kabul was on one of their typical Russian built aircraft that creaked and groaned the whole way. The return flight was not much better. At Kabul Airport we literally had to load our bags from a pile of luggage just dumped on the tarmac - it was total chaos. Had it not come at the end of a tough visit to Afghanistan it would have been scary - the guy in the cargo hold was just flipping bags everywhere with no regard for weight distribution - I hope I never have to fly this airline again.

I flew in April/May 2003 and I must agree with the gentleman from 2002 - the service was excellent and the food wasn't half bad for airline food. The plane I flew was a little older than most American-owned planes I have been on - but it was well maintained. The number of flight attendants was the biggest surprise for me - probably 10 - compared to a comparable U.S. flight of 4. And they are definitely attentive. When I flew there was a film on how to go through customs at the Baku Airport (in English) so that was a great help to me.

I sat down and waited for about 45 minutes until the crew announced they are starting to board the aircraft. "Oh boy" I said to myself and "the journey of your life is beginning" I thought to myself. I must have been judging it before I even boarded the plane which by the way had one of the cleanest salons I have ever seen. But their professional level service and quality shocked me since it was so much better of what anyone would have expected from a top airline. I mean a small Airline company of a small Eastern European country has reserved a spot in my top 5 air travel experiences. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't focusing on myself and was evaluating my opinions based on what I have been seeing around me. The crew didn't seem make a difference between passengers. Everyone seemed to be equally important whether they were French Azeri English American or Russian. I asked their hostesses for a bottle of water and some wine several times and I would get the same answer: "Of course!" When they were serving food I wasn't sure what they were serving. The hostess gave me a natural smile and showed me the samples of servings and explained what was in them. In major airlines that I have flown the crew would be as robotic as a person can get totally dehumanized. I felt culture in that although watching an original Hollywood movie with Turkish subtitles felt kind of odd. They must have understood one of them if not both. I know from my experience with airlines that no matter how big they get the only way to judge them stays the same - Quality of service (including security and assistance) is what counts.