Somon Air
Date 17 May 2023
Gate: 4
Seat: 20D (Economy Class Seat)
Plane: Boeing 737-800
Boarded: 15:22
Pushback: 16:10 (Scheduled 16:00)
Arrived: 19:05 (3 hours 5 minutes late)
Duration: 3 hour 35 minutes
Distance: 874 kms

This flight was from Almaty International Airport (code ALA) to Dushanbe International Airport (code DYU).

Note: This flight was part of the G Adventures Five Stans Tour and was booked by tour company.

Additional note: This plane was diverted to Khŭjand Airport due to bad weather in Dushanbe. Diversion was announced 1 hour 20 minutes into flight. We stayed on the ground in Khŭjand for just over 1 hour.

Airport Check In

My tour group arrived at the airport around 13:00.

We had to pass Security to access the airport and check in for the flight. After check in we had to pass Border Control.

Lounges

There was no specific lounge access for this Somon Air flight however tour member Anne invited me into Business Class lounge using her Priority Pass. The Lounge food and drink area was shut and there was no wifi however a voucher was provided to obtain some food from an airport cafe. The lounge did have comfortable chairs and nice toilets.

Boarding

We boarded from Gate 4 early at 15:22. There was a rush to the boarding gate with no priority boarding which made sense as there was no business class on this flight.

The Seat

There are 148 economy seats on this plane with no business class. The seats are roughly 31 inch pinch and 17 inch width in two rows in 3 x 3 configuration.

The rows didn’t line out from the ABC side to the DEF side, as a result I was in 20D (an aisle seat) which lined up with lined up with seats 21A, 21B and 21C.

There are no seat power outlets.

Amenity Kit

There is no amenity kit included on this short international flight.

Meals

There was only a drink service which was water in a cup which was provided 40 minutes into the flight.

Service

Somon Air is the carrier for Tajikistan a relatively poor country. The service was okay for this type of airline. The announcements where made in three langauges; 1) Russian, 2) Tajik, and 3) English. The English announcements were far shorter than the other 2.

Better announcements and updates on the diversion and when on the ground in Khŭjand would have been appreciated.

Entertainment System

There is no entertainment system or wifi on this flight.

The Flight

This was a smooth flight with very little turbulence. Both take offs and landings were handled well.

Arrival

We arrived over 3 hours late. We departed the plane onto the tarmac and caught a bus to the terminal. There was some confusion at Border Control, eventually I went though the Tajikistan Line.

My bag was there to great me and I found the G Adventure representative easily once airside. There was both a money exchange and one ATM airside to exchange money.

Summary

Somon Air is not an airline I would normally fly. They did the job required, got both me and me bag safely to Dushanbe even if it was via an unexpected stop in Khŭjand but that isn’t the airlines fault. It was just good to finally arrive and clear Border Control.