Hello from India, as I just wrapped up my Turkmenistan Airlines adventure. In the previous installment, I’ve covered my flight in Turkmenistan Airlines’ Boeing 777-300ER business class, as well as my odd transit experience at Ashgabat Airport (ASB).
In this post, I’d like to cover my connecting flight in Turkmenistan Airlines’ Boeing 737-800 business class, on the 3hr5min flight from Ashgabat to Delhi (DEL). Well, this was definitely the stranger of the two flights. I got called out for taking pictures (fair enough), the cabin was completely full, the plane briefly turned around mid-flight, and the entire meal service was strange. Let me share some initial thoughts, and then soon I’ll have a full trip report.
In this post:
Well, on this flight, I got “caught” almost immediately upon boarding. I got to my seat, and a moment later the lead flight attendant yelled from the front of the cabin “photos are not allowed.” Okayyy… well that complicates things.
While my previous flight was very empty, with just two other business class seats taken, this flight was the opposite — every single seat on the plane was taken. What I found so odd is that I got onboard at the start of boarding, when business class was called. However, I must’ve had the cabin to myself for 30 minutes, before the other 15 seats suddenly all filled up at once.
Were these last minute operational upgrades because economy was oversold, do premium passengers in Turkmenistan just like to board last, or what was going on? Very strange. Also, I had a slight bit of confusion when a while after takeoff we suddenly made a 180-degree turn, and headed back toward Ashgabat.
I was worried what was going on — did some airspace close, was there a maintenance issue, or something else?
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on One Mile at a Time.
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