"did not know what to expect"
M Keane (Russian Federation)
✅ Trip Verified | Moscow to Sochi. Flying Yakutia Airlines for the first time, I did not know what to expect. I flew economy, which allows you one in-cabin piece of luggage up to 10 kg within size restrictions. Boarding the aircraft, the first thing I noticed was the 737-800's aisle was very narrow. The aircraft was showing wear. I noticed the seats had ashtrays! And the two-plug receptacles for headphones (however, no inflight entertainment was offered). How old was this aircraft? That said, there was more legroom than I expected, so it was not too uncomfortable. The seat only had an airline safety card -- no magazine and no air-sickness bags (They distributed air-sickness bags to people on landing approach.) The flight left a few minutes late. When airborne, a sandwich was served. Bland chicken and cheese. When I asked for some water after the beverage service had passed, the unfriendly flight attendant acted as if I had asked for the world. The flight was relatively uneventful until the end. Our approach to Sochi was during clear skies, yet the landing was rough ... right wheel first, the left, then a hard nose down. Passengers let out a gasp as we shuddered down the runway before the pilot smoothed out our landing. I wonder if because of the age of the aircraft that it was lacking the "state of the art" avionics that most aircraft have which make such landings rare nowadays. I fly relatively frequently and it has been a long time since I had such a landing. In the end, we made it safely. For a national/regional mid-to-small airline I would rank it as average. It was what you expect when flying economy on such a carrier.
Aircraft | Boeing 737-800 |
Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Moscow to Sochi |
Date Flown | September 2018 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Food & Beverages | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"crew were nice and polite"
G Haril (Russian Federation)
✅ Verified Review | The trip from Yakutsk to Vnukovo was pretty regular, with nothing interesting about it. I would have personally chosen Aeroflot, but Yakutia Airlines was a bit cheaper and the airport of arrival was closer to my destination. Aircraft itself lacks AC outlets for charging electronics (outlets are present on aeroflot ones, flying YKS-SVO), but the crew were nice and polite, safety instruction was made via overhead screens, which, for some reason, were unavailable during the whole duration of the trip (7hr). Basically, there were no any in-flight entertainment. Concerning food and beverages - these were pretty much the usual ones, with 2 courses of meal - one at about 1-2 h in-flight, consisting of the usual beef/chicken/fish with some garnishes, bread, jelly and butter and the last one at 2h before landing, consisting of fruits, a bun and some cookies. In conclusion, I'd recommend this airline if one is on a budget.
Aircraft | Boeing 737 |
Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | YKS to VKO |
Date Flown | January 2016 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Food & Beverages | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | yes |
Yakutia Airlines customer review
James Heintz (Russian Federation)
Moscow to Ulan-Ude in economy on a Boeing 737. The plane interior was clean and in good shape the dinner was edible staff polite and reasonably efficient. Seat pitch is tight for the tallish (me 185 cms). But the whole experience was better than I'd expected from an off-brand carrier.
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | yes |
Yakutia Airlines customer review
B Vincent (Australia)
I took the weekly Yakutia flight from Magadan to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy. At $446 it was an expensive flight but saved a lot of money and time compared to the alternatives. The experience is probably best described as nostalgic. The safety cards proclaimed that our aircraft is fitted out with modern and reliable equipment but aside from new seat covers it appeared that their definition of modern extends back to 1974. Safety cards appeared to have been written for a different aircraft - lifejackets were not under the seats (they were stuffed into the seat pockets). Seat pitch was good at 31 inches cabin comfort was not great - no ventilation and the seats were very worn and uncomfortable but the flight was not full so there was room to spread out. The sole FA was efficient and helpful and a snack box was served no meal trays though the slice-you-in-two metal meal trays were absent here. The flight was generally smooth and departed and arrived on time. One final surprise was that on arrival passengers collected their own bags from the aircraft hold (handing over their "Aeroflot Soviet Airlines" claim check) before boarding the bus to a gate in the fence next to the terminal building.
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | yes |