Each week, my Meal of the Week feature examines an airline meal from my travels over the years. This may be a meal from earlier in the week or it may be a meal served over a decade ago.
Did you know that Lufthansa flies domestically within Kazakhstan?
Lufthansa flies from Frankfurt to Almaty, Kazakhstan via Astana, Kazakhstan before flying nonstop back to Frankfurt. That means that all eastbound flights offer a 40-minute segment from Almaty (ALA) to Astana (TSE).
No, it’s not a Ninth Freedom Flight (also called “stand alone cabotage”). In other words, Lufthansa cannot sell tickets only between Almaty and Astana. Instead, this is an Eighth Freedom Flight, which the International Civil Aviation Organization (IACO) defines as:
[T]he right or privilege…of transporting cabotage traffic between two points in the territory of the granting State on a service which originates or terminates in the home country of the foreign carrier.
Let’s take a look at that flight, in economy class, for this week’s Meal of the Week.
In the past, this flight made a stop in the opposite direction, flying nonstop from Frankfurt and stoping in Astana on the return. That’s the way it was when I took this flight in economy class.
This, by the way, was the night I had to bribe my way out of Almaty…
> Read More: Bribing My Way Out of Kazakhstan
The Meal
Anyway, I was not expecting anything at all on the short flight from Almaty to Astana, all of 591 miles. Then again, that’s usually enough time for a meal within Continental Europe. After takeoff, FAs did come around with a half cheese sandwich and choice of drink.
We landed, added some passengers, and took off again in less than an hour.
Once again, a sandwich was offered, although this time it was on a nice crusty roll with white cheese instead of yellow.
The lights went off and I managed to sleep for the next five hours. A bit more than an hour outside of Frankfurt, a full breakfast was offered. It included cold cuts, fruit, and a cheese omelet with lyonnaise potatoes, a cooked cherry tomato, and cooked spinach. Very tasty, actually.
But when I landed I was still hungry and made a beeline for the Senator Lounge, where I enjoyed four smoothies, two yogurts, two bircher muesli, a sandwich, and a glass of fresh orange juice. Gluttonous, I know…
CONCLUSION
So there you have it. A German sandwich on Lufthansa on a domestic flight within Kazakhstan.
Not bad at all…
Nice post! Did you mean “gluttonous” rather than
glu·ti·nous?
/ˈɡlo͞otnəs/
adjective
like glue in texture; sticky.
“glutinous mud”
synonyms: sticky, viscous, tacky, glue-like, gluey, gummy, treacly; More
I did. Thanks!
Hi, Matthew, is this really a domestic flight within KZ since no tickets can be sold between Almaty and Astana? Have you flown Kazakhstan’s flag carrier, Air Astana either domestically or internationally?