Bus to Almaty city from Almaty International airport?

While Almaty has city buses, none of them come inside Almaty international airport. Thus if you ask about bus service anyone in airport, they will say NO buses are available and will trick you into paying for taxi.

A taxi to Almaty city from Almaty international airport costs 7000 KZT or 1300 INR while a bus costs only 80 KZT or 20 INR.

Update: I am told bus number 92 leaves from airport. Check for the same.

Here's how you can travel to Almaty city by bus from Almaty international airport.
Step 1: Understand that bus stand is about 500-550 meters away from ALA airport arrival gate. Thus you will have to follow the cars leaving the airport and get out of airport premises. Refer map below or reach Ogarev St bus stop which is bit further from this Qabopit hotel (not sure of exact name)

The bus stop is some 100 meters away from this hotel (Bus stop opposite the hotel is for passengers to arrive from city n get down, don't wait there)
 

Reach the bus stop and wait.

It is hard to figure out which bus to take. Bus stops are supposed to have a display of bus numbers and their routes but some bus stops may not have it. From Almaty airport bus number 79 and 86 go into city center. Depending on where your hotel is located, you can get down at the closest bus stop, plan to take another bus or taxi or walk to hotel.

This website, https://citybus.tha.kz/ to identify bus numbers to your destination.

Paying for bus in Almaty.

Each ride costs 80 Tenge or KZT or just 15 INR or 0.2 USD. 

Buses have a QR code scanning which you can pay online, but I am not sure if this works if you don't have local bank accounts.

Alternate option is to get a ONAY card and load it with some money. These cards are not easy to find. I couldn't find any shop in airport to buy a card. I could find a shop in the city. Thus if you don't have a card and local payment setup, you can pay cash to driver. However cash payment will cost 150 KZT, which is still fine as it way cheaper than paying 7000 KZT to a taxi.

So your payment options for airport to city travel in Almaty city bus:

• Pay 150 KZT to driver
• If any of your friend had an ONAY card from their previous travel to Almaty, take it and use, load after reaching city center for further use
• Try your luck at airport or shops near bus stop if you can buy a new ONAY Card
• You can try your luck requesting any local to buy you a ticket through QR code and pay them cash

Almaty city bus timings: most buses operate from 6 AM to 9 PM. If your flight is outside of this time your options are limited. More detailed post on how to use city buses in Almaty is here

Same while returning: Get to city center, take bus 86 or 79 to airport.

Related: Fly Arystan Experience * Almaty guide & FAQs

Hope this helps.

Almaty Airport observations

Almaty airport is pretty small (I feel it is smaller than our Mangaluru airport).

#1 The airport name boards are both in local language and not English. 

Airports world wide display one board in local language, one more in English, but Almaty airport has both is name in Kazak language (or maybe one in Kazak, other in Russian?)

#2 Very small airport

Almaty airport is very small. Customs area, check-in counters, immigration all 3 are cramped into one hall. The waiting area are also pretty small with just a few gates and shops inside.

#3 Bus stop is 500 meters away

Though there are city buses that ply close to Almaty airport, they don't enter airport premises. Bus stops are some 500 meters from airport. If you don't want to spend on taxi you've to haul your baggage for about half a km.

#4 Despite being small, Almaty airport seem to be handling widebody, 4 engine aeroplanes- saw a plane coming in for landing

Mumbai Jeju for under 30k, March 2025

If you're able to commit to a trip 1 year in advance, Mumbai to Jeju (South Korea) tickets are available under 30k

I feel it is a good deal due to following reasons

• If you are visiting Jeju island alone, it is Visa Free.
• Jeju has several attractions to keep you busy for a week or more.
• If you delay, price will increase- if booking 2-3 months prior, it will cost 60k
• Above ticket is Singapore airline from BOM-SIN- food, bag, entertainment included, Scoot from SIN to Jeju- you will get 1 meal but anything more you've to pay.

I've visited Jeju in 2023, for 4 days. Still a lot left to see, so thinking if I should plan another trip.

Some places: Sunrise Trek * Lava Cave * Mount Hallasan * Seopjikoji Trail * Orange plucking experience * Oedolge Rock * 

Air Asia flies to Almaty, not offering connection from India

Air Asia has started flights to Almaty, Kazaksthan. Almaty is served using Air Asia X A330s to Kuala Lumpur.

While this is good, unfortunately Air Asia is NOT offering one top flight to Almaty to Indian passengers. We can't fly BLR-KUL, KUL-ALA in Single PNR.

Probably Air Asia thinks Indian market is not worth targeting for central Asia- we'll have to fly 4 hours to Kuala Lumpur and then 6-7 hours to Almaty- while alternate options are shorter-2-3 hours to Delhi and another 3 hours to Almaty.

But if offered at cheaper price, Indians may embrace Air Asia to fly to Almaty. India domestic flights are very expensive- flying to Almaty from Bengaluru currently costs 30-35k: 15k for BLR-DEL, 20k for DEL-ALA. Air Asia can certainly beat this price. As of now KUL-ALA return tickets are selling for about 16000 INR on AirAsia. If AirAsia wishes they can sell tickets to Almaty from BLR, COK or MAA for around 22-25k INR which will be good option for South Indians.

Air Asia was flying to Mauritius several years ago. Eventually they cancelled that route to focus more on Asian and Australian long haul destinations.

Let us see how Almaty and Baku routes grow and if Air Asia will sell these destinations to Indians.

Fly Arystan Experience: Delhi Almaty

Fly Arystan is the 4th new airline I flew this year after Kuwait Air, Air Malta and Aegean airlines.

Fly Arystan is an ultra low cost airline in central Asia. Fly Arystan is a subsidiary of Air Asthana. I came to know about Fly Arystan in 2023 when they were offering Delhi-Shymkent (CIT) for 5000 INR one way. But return was costing lot more so I had not booked. Later they cancelled DEL-CIT flight and started selling DEL-ALA (Almaty) flight. I could get a return ticket for about 7400 INR, which was a great deal. It includes only 5 kg cabin bag though. After some deliberation I booked my ticket for March 2024 travel sometime in September 2023. Mangaluru Delhi costs twice that amount on Indigo.

There was a 12k return ticket to Almaty from Delhi with Air Asthana in 2019- I didn't plan that time as it was too cold. Few of my friends went to Kazaksthan last year. I took some time to decide and plan.

March is still cold in Almaty- not as cold as December and Jan but still not summer yet. It is still off season hence airline was selling tickets cheap. For April, ticket price costs twice as much.

Ticket Booking:

There were payment issues booking directly on FlyArystan issues. But I could book easily on Cleartrip. Had to pay a few hundred rupees more. (Cleartrip has to provide for currency conversion, forex charges etc). Detailed post on FlyArystan booking experience here

Check-in

Fly Arystan mandates web check-in. I did web check in and got window seat auto assigned for both onward and return journey. Boarding pass won't be issued after web checkin, as airline needs to check passport and visa requirements. Airport check in would cost extra. There were two guys deployed in Delhi airport to check if passengers have done web check in, if not they would do web check in and give seat number in a piece of paper to passengers. I find this part very odd.

At Delhi airport, there is no fly arystan branding. Everything operates under Air Astana, its parent company branding. Most likely Fly Arystan wanted to save some airport fees and staffing costs by using already existing infra of Air Astana, just like both Air India and Air India express operate under Air India branding.

Then we go to check -in counter, staff weighed my bag which was exactly 5 kgs. (I had prepared for this) A tag was added to indicate that my bag is limited to 5 kgs. I was told not to buy any duty free, as duty free goods are not allowed if passenger exceeds 5kg cabin bag limit.

As my turn came many customers ahead were arguing on weight limit and many were made to pay extra.

Almaty is visa on arrival for Indians if stay is not longer than 14 days. Else eVisa is needed.

Cleared formalities and went to gate. Inbound aircraft came in some 20-30 minutes late and then soon our boarding started. Staff would check weight again not for every passenger but anyone whom they suspected to be heavier.

Aircraft was clean, decent. Fly Arystan using A320s and has nice external branding of a lion logo on the tail. Nothing special or negative about their service. Some red branding inside. As soon as I got to my seat I buckled up and slept, as it was 2.30 AM. Had no mood for food or anything. Woke up just before landing.

Return flight was uneventful too. Managed to take a look at the menu options. Some decent food items are offered at fair price. But it was again a midnight flight and I had dozed off when staff came with trolleys I guess. Could have tried the pizza and coffee if they had asked. Return flight was on-time.

All email communication from Flyarystan are in Kazak langauge. Had to use google translater to understand their email contents. Only final feedback form they sent promptly in English. In flight announcements were in English

Flyarystan schedule doesn't seem to be very reliable- they had DEL-Shymkent flight which they cancelled, Fly Arystan has also cancelled Mumbai-Almaty flight. Delhi-ALA is the only flight they are operating now to India. Hopefully this doesn't get cancelled. 15k seems to be standard starting return fair now. Will have to wait till next off season for cheaper fares I guess. Next option- Indigo and Air Asthana cost much more.

Now AirAsia is flying to Almaty from KUL, but they are not offering connection from India yet.
Indigo and Air Astana are other 2 operators flying to Almaty from Delhi/India- both of them 2x-3x expensive compared to Fly Arystan.

Flyarystan overall feedback
- Basic and decent low cost airline service in clear aircrafts, no complaints
- 5 kg cabin bag allowance will be very less for many people- either learn to manage or pay for extra luggage
- Flyarystan has cancelled BOM-ALA, DEL-CIT and other flights from time to time, so keep a plan B in case your flight is cancelled last minute.
-KC7179, the Almaty-Delhi flight was not possible to track on flightstats. KC7180, DEL-ALA could be tracked. Not sure why one leg is missing in tracker site.

Because the fly Arystan tickets were very cheap I could make a trip to Kazakhstan and explore my 54th country. Wouldn't have spent 25-30k to visit Almaty. (I've to factor Mangalore-Delhi flight cost as well).  

Not planning to fly Flyarystan again anytime soon, but let us see.

More about Kazaksthan in my main blog, www.enidhi.net