Can I have that brandy now?
Written: Mar 30 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good food in Business class; Ilyushin 86 aircraft are comfortable
Cons: Cabin baggage; smoking; old aircraft.
The Bottom Line: Not for those who don't like CIS airlines.
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| vodkaboy's Full Review: Armenian Airlines |
Armenian Airlines
Armenian Airlines are the national carrier of Armenia – I doubt that I have surprised anyone so far! They’ve been around since independence in 1991 and inherited a fleet of standard Soviet aircraft – Tupolevs, Antonovs, a few Yaks and a couple of Ilyushin 86 “jumbos”. They used to operate an Airbus on routes to Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris but that was grounded for a while early in 2002 after a problem with an engine and eventually it went back to Airbus. They stopped flying some of their European routes for while and those that continued were operated by a Tupolev, but recently they have got hold of a smaller Airbus and use that now on the European routes.
From Yerevan, Armenian Airlines operate a daily flight to Moscow, using the huge and very comfortable Ilyushin 86. They also operate to several other destinations in Russia and the CIS such as St Petersburg, Ashkhabad, and Tashkent. In Europe their main route is Amsterdam, where they connect passengers to and from KLM to Los Angeles – there is a huge Armenian community in LA. They also fly to Paris, Frankfurt, Athens and Istanbul. Elsewhere in the area fly to Beirut, Aleppo and a few others.
I’ve flown on several different routes with Armenian Airlines and I really cannot give a review of just one flight as they varied so much. I have had flights that I quite enjoyed; others that I just could not wait for it to be over! Some of the things that go on are actually not uncommon on airlines in the area, but just seem to happen more on flights to and from Armenia.
THE AIRPORT
When you land at Yerevan, your first impression is, “Did we miss the runway? Have we landed in a stony field?” The runway is the bumpiest that I have ever experienced. Where they have filled in potholes, they have turned them into bumps. Even after the smoothest touchdown, the plane will bump and rattle and vibrate and shake until it comes to a stop. On some flights they actually warn people, so they won’t be scared!
Once you get to the terminal it is quite small so you won’t have far to walk and in Arrivals you can get through quickly – I was through once, without checked baggage, in twelve minutes! If you have baggage then you wait by the battered baggage belt listening to a constant tapping – taxi drivers tapping their keys on the window, trying to get your attention to ask if you need a taxi! Bags can take a long time to arrive.
Yerevan’s Zvartnots airport was built in the 70s and actually won a design award. The terminal is basically round, with the departures level shaped like a round horseshoe and the arrivals area completely round and located within and below the horseshoe. Sounds good and it probably was when there were only domestic flights so no need for passport or customs areas. These have now been slotted in at both ends of the departures level, effectively halving the space for check in desks, shops etc
When you are flying out from Yerevan you have to find your check in desk which will be one of five or six in the central part of the horseshoe. When you find it there will be a huge, disorderly mass of people crowded around it, at least five times as many people as there are passengers. It seems that for every person who is going, half the family and a few friends and maybe a bodyguard or two all come to see them off, and stay with them, including at check in. They are all trying to squeeze, elbow or push their way to the desk. To any Armenians reading this, I’m sorry but you guys just do not know how to queue; you’ll turn any orderly queue in a chaotic scrum. One thing you will never see in Armenia is a queue. Nobody wants to wait. Everyone just goes round to the front and tries to squeeze in the side. However far you get in the scrum, somebody will always get in front of you. Even when you are at the desk being checked in there will be one man trying to edge you sideways, another one behind trying to pass his ticket and passport in front of your face, an old woman shoving you from the side, someone else shouting from the side trying to get the agent’s attention and quite possibly someone rising up from the floor in between you and the desk! The only thing you can do is join in.
It’s funny (or not) but it doesn't happen only at Yerevan. I was checking in once at the transit desk in Amsterdam for a flight to Yerevan. There was one check in agent and there was a small queue behind me. Then about forty Armenians appeared behind me (the LA flight had just arrived) and within two minutes, instead of there being a single file queue behind me. There were six, yes six people spread out along the desk, leaning over, trying to get her attention!
THE PLANES
Most of the aircraft are quite old, with the exception of the Ilyushins and Airbus. The Tupolev 154s are all around 20 years old or more. They are in two different colour schemes, as they changed the livery but only painted about half the planes.
Inside some of them can look pretty tatty, with loose carpets, uneven curtains and battered tray tables. A few of the Tupolev 134s have been overhauled in Russia (there is a sign by the door saying so) but I don’t think they did the interiors.
The configuration depends on the aircraft type and sometimes the particular plane. The Airbus that they used to operate had quite comfortable seats in the Business cabin, and the Ilyushin 86s and most of the Tupolev 154s do have a separate Business cabin with nice, comfortable seats. The Yaks and Antonovs just have the same seats throughout. I was on one Tupolev 134 which had very nice seats in Business which is unusual, as it is a narrow plane. However Armenian Airlines had installed comfortable, wider seats, just one each side, and it was the nicest flight I have ever had on a Tupolev 134!
ALL ABOARD
There is a similar scrum on boarding as there was at check in, just with less people but huge amounts of hand baggage. I have seen people taking full size suitcases as hand luggage. Not to mention the cartons, boxes, huge baskets of fruit, huge plastic bags. These get stowed in the overhead bins, piled up behind the last seats in each cabin, stacked up around the emergency exit, yes really. Sometimes people just sit down and put it on the seat next to them. If that turns out to be occupied they will put it on the floor in front of the seat next to them, then fail to understand why you don’t want to spend the next three hours with your feet on their carry on.
The worst flights for baggage are the ones from Dubai. On these, there is so much luggage and cargo that the rear cabin is just turned into a cargo plane. They fold all the seats forward, flat, and the stuff is piled up on top. The first time I saw it I could not believe it, it looked like the back cabin was a freighter.
I have often seen people boarding who pause near the back of the Business cabin when they realise that if they keep going back then the seats are smaller. They stop and just start to unload and settle in a business seat. After a minute either the stewardess, or the seat’s rightful occupant, turns up; there is a quick discussion and the person gathers up their things and go off to the back. I saw this so many times.
Once everyone is on board, then the upgrading starts. The business cabin usually starts 30% full, then the cabin crew bring up a family of three, a couple of single women and the cabin usually ends up 60% or 70% full. I don’t know if these are friends of the crew, or people who give the stewardess fifty bucks, probably a bit of both.
DEPARTURE
Once everyone is seated, cabin baggage piled up behind the seats, around the exit, lockers closed, then the plane leaves.
There is no safety demonstration, just an announcement in Armenian and heavily accented English about the location of exits and where to find your life jacket. As the plane taxies out, the crew do walk around and make sure everyone is seated, but they don’t always check seatbelts.
SERVICE, FOOD AND DRINK
Most of the flights I have done were around three to five hours long and the service followed similar format. Sometimes it could take a while for them to get started. There would be the bar trolley first, then they give out the meals. After the food they come round with tea or coffee, clear the trays then that was it. They do have plenty of Armenian brandy, which is actually extremely good, so be sure to have a few glasses. If your legs are twisted around your neighbour's carry on then you may be ready for a brandy now! On all the flights that I did there was no duty free so remember to buy at the airport!
The meals in economy are served in a blue plastic box and consist typically of some cold chicken and salad, cheese, bread, a pastry or cake and a boiled sweet. On shorter flights it can be less. People who had been given an upgrade to Business class still get the economy meal.
In Business class the food is usually good. From Amsterdam, Paris etc they use the local catering company of course, and it is good, but some of the nicest and most plentiful airline meals I have had were flying from Yerevan in Business class to Europe. First there was a plate of assorted cold meat, cheese or both, and a plate of cold fish, smoked salmon or trout and some red caviar. With this comes a salad, warm rolls, and a couple of times actually an individual bread basket. There was usually a choice of three hot dishes, typically chicken, pork or fish. Then a pastry or cake desert, tea or coffee, and a plate of sliced fresh fruit. Fantastic. It was not like this every flight, sometimes you got more or less, but it was always good.
A lot of the crew do seem to just go through the motions, but I must say that I have seen some very good ones; one stewardess who stood up to a bullying, aggressive man who was demanding a seat in Business. There were several others who were genuinely friendly, pleasant and warm. However it is mostly, the ladies; the men all seem to have the top button on their shirt undone, tie loose, and that is at the start of the flight! Also mostly you don’t see the men, they might help with pushing the trolley, but I have no idea what they do the rest of the flight.
SMOKING
(I'm an ex smoker and smoking does not bother except on flights)
All flights to points outside the CIS are non smoking, In theory at least. Almost every flight I have been on, people were smoking. Usually they waited until after take off, but on one flight the girl across from me was lighting her second cigarette as we turned onto the runway for takeoff. The crew saw her but said nothing.
People smoke throughout the flight, and because it is supposed to be all non-smoking it means that there is no segregated smoking section, so it is just luck whether you get sat near a smoker or not. Even on flights from Amsterdam, Paris etc you can find half the people smoking.
One flight, from Athens, I was amazed that nobody was smoking. An hour into the flight I went up to the galley to ask for a glass of water and found both stewardesses sitting there smoking! On the flights from Dubai the passengers and sometimes even the pilots can go into the back cabin, being used for cargo, and smoke.
ARRIVING AND LANDING
When the seatbelt signs come on, the crew do wander through the cabin and ask people to sit down but don’t enforce it; I guess that they figure if they have told them once, their duty is done.
On flights to and from Armenia, more than anywhere else that I have flown, people just don’t seem to care about seatbelts, personal safety etc. Once arriving at Moscow a slightly drunk passenger was crouching in the aisle, drink in one hand, talking to a young girl in the aisle seat, as we landed.
As soon as the plane has turned off the runway, people are starting to stand up and pull bags from the overhead locker or shelf. Hey, usually arriving at Yerevan people are starting to stand up as soon as the wheels hit the runway, while the plane is still slowing down! By the time the plane docks at the terminal the aisles are full of people shoving and squeezing trying to be first off. Luckily, if you are in business then they do hold back the economy class people from crowding the aisles in business. If it is an all economy flight, then the people in window seats just have to wait till the aisle has cleared before they can even stand up!
In Summary:
Armenian Airlines are an interesting airline to fly. The attention to safety in the cabin seems quite nonchalant, but people themselves need to take some responsibility for their own safety, and don’t, and the crews don’t seem to bother enforcing it. The service is fairly typical for some of the CIS airlines, some nice and helpful people and others not. Food is surprisingly good and plentiful in Business class. The aircraft are typical CIS. Not many airlines fly to Armenia, so if you have to go and they are flying then take them rather than go via Moscow or London or Vienna. If you are comfortable with CIS airlines then fine, but I recommend the little extra for Business class. If you don't like CIS airline standards, though, then you won't like them.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
vodkaboy
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Location: Somewhere over here
Reviews written: 168
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