Air Travel TTG Features

It’s a great concept – ideal for clientswho want to sleep butwhose budget doesn’tstretch to business class.

Old capitalKazakhstan gained

independence from the USSR in 1991and Almaty was the capital until1997. It is the most developed city inthe country and has numerous hotelsand restaurants. I take lunches anddinners at a variety of restaurantsalong with other visitors. The food is good but the service a littlehaphazard. Customers are servedwhen their food is ready, regardlessof others at the table.The local currency, the Tenge,

has suffered a devaluation so pricesare reasonably inexpensive. Many

places also accept US dollars and, ofcourse, plastic.I join a guided tour the next day and

we visit Panfilov Park, home to themagnificent Russian Orthodox ZenkovCathedral, probably the only woodencathedral in the world. It wastraditionally built using just a fewnails. I am as impressed with theinterior as with the exterior. It’s anoasis of calm with the smell of incense,the gentle chanting of a priest andmagnificent painted screens.Almaty is close to a mountain

range and narrowly lost out toBeijing to host the 2022 WinterOlympics. The Medeu Dam was builtto protect the city from majormudslides and next to it sits theMedeu skating rink, at over 5,500ftabove sea level, it’s the

Kazakhstan, served by Air Astana, is an interesting Central Asian stopover forclients heading to the likes of Beijing, Ho Chi Minh, Bangkok and Hong Kong. Mike Pickup flies in for a tour of Almaty and Astana

The largest landlockedcountry in the world andthe ninth largest overall,the central Asian country

of Kazakhstan is home to just 17million people. It shares its borderswith Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan,Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. It’swhere apples and garlic originatedand it’s home to some of the world’srarest tulips; wildlife includes redbears, snow leopards and a widevariety of birdlife including goldeneagles, flamingos and falcons. Itshould be on the bucket list of everytwitcher client.The two major cities are

traditional Almaty, the formercapital, and brand-new Astana, thecurrent capital, and it is these twocities that are on my itinerary. Visarequirements for British visitors have been waived until the end of2017 for stays of fewer than 15 days.My flight on Air Astana, the

national carrier and only airlineoffering direct flights, leavesHeathrow at 6.10pm and landsin Astana seven hours later.From there I have a 90-minuteconnecting flight to Almaty and myluggage is booked through to thefinal destination. There are currentlyfour flights a week but the airlinewants seven, underlining theimportance of UK traffic.On flights from Heathrow to

Astana, the airline offers economysleeper seats, which I try. I havethree seats to myself and receivecomprehensive toiletries pack. Amattress is laid across the seats and topped with a duvet; a pillowcompletes the set-up. Being a six-footer, I have to curl up a little toprevent my feet from obstructing theaisle but I manage to get a good rest.

Trail of two cities

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Astana, Kazakhstan’s capital since 1997

Air Astana economy sleeper seat

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and it targets stopover passengerswith an attractive offer of a night’s

hotel accommodation withbreakfast and transfers for just $1, via Air AstanaHolidays. Available in both Almaty and Astana, it makes them veryattractive hubs for clientstravelling to onward

destinations such as Bangkok,Beijing, Bishkek,Delhi, Dushanbe,Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur,

Seoul, Tashkent, Urumqi and manymore besides.For point-to-point and leisure

travellers, stopover accommodationcan be extended to provide tailor-made packages. For example, three nights in Almaty and three in Astana with all flights, transfersand hotels on a B&B basis costs from just £729pp. This includes city tours of Almaty and Astana and a seasonal bonus, such as a visitto the Arasan Baths or a day skiing at Shymbulak. Optional extrasinclude trekking, mountain bikingand a round of golf with clubs andballs included.

Purpose-built cityAstana, my second destination is, like Brasilia and Canberra, a newpurpose-built capital. ArchitectNorman Foster is responsible forsome of its amazing structures.Across the road from my Marriott

hotel is the Khan Shatyr shoppingmall, whose design could bedescribed as a wonky cone. There arethree levels of shops, mostly familiarbrands, but on the fourth floor is theindoor Sky Beach Club. Foster alsodesigned the pyramid-shaped Palaceof Peace and Reconciliation. Becausethe temperature in Astana rangesfrom 30C in summer to -40C inwinter, two sides of the pyramid are on roller bearings to allow forcontraction and expansion.I get as close as I’m allowed to the

presidential palace, a cross betweenthe White House and a mosque, andvisit a nearby futuristic-lookingconcert hall, Baiterek, which looks likea 300ft-high football trophy, an artgallery designed like a doggy bowland the opera house built in the styleof a Roman temple. The ultra-modernmuseum has a gold room with manyamazing items in perfect condition,including Golden Man, whose costumedates back to the third century BC.I’m reluctant to leave this

mesmerising place, convinced thereis much more to see. Kazakhstan is an ideal destination for clientslooking for somewhere unique and with two very contrasting citiesto explore.However, my afternoon flight

beckons. I leave at 2.45pm local timeand arrive at Heathrow at 4.45pm.Waiting at the luggage carousel, I amapproached by Peter Foster, theairline’s chief executive, who was on the same flight. “Sorry I couldn’tget you into business class,” heapologises, “but it was full.” Now you don’t usually get that from theboss of an airline.Book it: Air Astana offers returnflights between Heathrow and Astanafrom £492 year-round. You can makeonline reservations via GDS, atairastana.com/uk/en-US (includinghotel accommodation) or contact theLondon office on 020 7333 0196,Monday-Friday.

world’s highest. Conditions are sogood that about 200 world recordshave been broken here. Surroundinghills make it a winter sun trap andthe temperature can reach 15C. “Girls skate in bikinis and many boysmeet their future wives here,” saysour guide – I’m thinking speedskating meets speed dating. Themain ski centre Shymbulak isreached by cable car, and anothertwo take skiers to the top of the runs at 10,500ft. For clients wantingsomewhere unique for a wintersports holiday, Almaty is an idealdestination – in any case, PrinceHarry enjoyed it.

Young fleet takes offNext day it’s back to the airport for a flight from the old capital to thenew. Air Astana is itself a relativelynew airline, its maiden flight was onMay 12, 2002. It is a 51/49 jointventure between the government’sNational Welfare Fund and BAESystems. Its chairman and chiefexecutive is Peter Foster, whoreceived an OBE in 2015 for hisservices to British aviation inKazakhstan. Foster’s backgroundincludes Cathay Pacific, PhilippineAirlines and Royal Brunei, where heserved as chief executive.The airline is recognised by

Skytrax as a four-star airline, it haswon the title “Best Airline in CentralAsia and India” for five consecutiveyears and “Best Airline Staff Servicein Central Asia/India” for the pastfour years. Clients can expectexcellent onboard service.Its fleet of 30 western aircraft,

with more on order, serves over 60destinations with 72% of itstraffic international. Theaverage age of the fleetis just over seven years,making it one of theyoungest fleetsworldwide. Its central Asian

location meansthat it is withinseven hours’flying distanceof manyinternationaldestinations

Zenkov Cathedral, Almaty

Sky Beach Club in the Khan Shatyr shopping mall

The “Doggy Bowl” art galleryShymbulak ski centre

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