Hi, dear flight-report members and readers!
This FR, continuing Kazakhstan aviation series, covers domestic flight from Kokshetau (KOV) to Shymkent (CIT) on a rare SCAT Airlines Bombardier/Mitsubishi CRJ200. Please don't get distracted by incorrect departure point in the header - it's because KOV is not included in the flight-report airport database, and I kindly ask moderators to add it, so I'll be able to correct the header.
As I already flew larger CRJs - CRX on Air Nostrum flight BLQ-MAD in 2019 and CR9 on SAS flight CPH-MXP in 2024 - it was interesting to try the smallest member of the CRJ family (worth noting that CRJ100 is physically identical to CRJ200 except minor differencies in engines, and any CR1 can be converted to CR2 and back, so they're essentialy the same type).
The flight unexpectedly turned to be very interesting for a domestic flight on a small narrowbody, so this FR includes quite a number of photos.
The ticket price was 30 000 tenge, which at that moment was around 55 USD.
Mitsubishi CRJ100/200 Operators
The smallest members of the no longer produced CRJ family are not the rarest types in the world and the number of their current operators is not insignificant. Though, their fleets are generally small, and to fly a CR1/CR2 nowadays is not very easy task.
It would be useful to list the CR1/CR2 operators and their layouts (usually Y50).
1) Aerolineas Sosa: 1 CR1 (Y50).
2) African Express Airways: 1 CR2
3) Air Century: 3 CR2s (Y50).
4) Air Libya: 2 CR2s.
5) Air Wisconsin: 59 CR2s (Y50), but only 3 are active. Operating for American Eagle.
6) Airzena Georgian Airways: 1 CR2 (C6_Y44).
7) Badr Airlines: 1 CR2.
8) Blue Bird Aviation: 1 CR2 (Y50).
9) Boliviana de Aviacion: 2 CR2s (Y50).
10) CemAir: 4 CR1s (Y50) plus 5 CR2s (Y50).
11) Contour Airlines: 5 CR2s (Y30).
12) Fly540: 1 CR1 (Y50) plus 2 CR2s (Y50).
13) Freedom Airline Express: 1 CR2.
14) Iraero: 1 CR2 (Y50).
15) Nova Airways: 1 CR2 (Y50).
16) Paranair: 3 CR2s (Y50).
17) Pars Air: 4 CR2s (Y50).
18) Pivot Airlines: 1 CR2 (Y50).
19) Premier Airlines: 1 CR1 (Y50).
20) Proflight Zambia: 1 CR1 (Y50) plus 5 CR2s (Y50).
21) Renegade Air: 1 CR1 plus 2 CR2s.
22) Rusline: 4 CR1s (Y50) plus 4 CR2s (Y50).
23) Saurya Airlines: 1 CR2 (Y50).
24) SCAT Airlines: 2 CR2s (Y50).
25) Severstal: 4 CR2s (Y50).
26) Shree Airlines: 2 CR2s (Y50).
27) SkyWest Airlines: 128 CR2s (Y50), but only 72 are active.
28) SkyWest Charter: 10 CR2s (Y50).
29) UVTaero: 7 CR2s (Y50).
30) Voyageur Airways: 3 CR2s (Y50).
31) Yamal Airlines: 2 CR2s (Y50).
SCAT Airlines CRJ200 LOPA
As SCAT Airlines fleet LOPAs are not listed anywhere, I'll show a screenshot from online check-in (which opened 24 hours before departure, as usual for DV domestic flights).
DV CR2 has 50 seats in 2-2 layout in 13 rows (note that there's no row 13 and that row 1 only has left 2-seater block). This layout is pretty standard for CR2.
Kokshetau Airport (KOV)
KOV airport is located east of Kokshetau town and connected by bus service with the town's railway station. The name "Kokshetau" means "Blue smoke mountain" in Kazakh.
When going by bus to KOV in the morning of September 29, I discovered that this part of Kazakhstan has the most beautiful autumn due to presence of aspens (for comparison, autumn in Astana is dull and autumn in Almaty, while being nice, is much less vibrant). Sadly, the weather was overcast and cold. Golden, orange and red aspens in the sunlight is by far the best autumn can give.
KOV is remarkable due to 2 Yakovlev Yak-40s mounted as the monuments near the terminal. 3 engines on a plane sized similarly to CR2 I'm going to fly (what do you know about gas guzzlers?) and at the same time twice less wheels (what if one of them blows upon landing?). Crazy Soviet aviation engineering! Anyway, Yak-40 served its mission as a small regional jet, able to operate from unpaved airfields, for quite a long time in USSR.
Kokshetau is the capital of Aqmola region, whose name means "white tomb". The previous capital of this region was Tselinograd before it was made the Astana (i.e. "capital city") of the country.
KOV terminal is small.
Taking photos inside is prohibited (well, even outside, as the staff watch you via CCTV!), so it was a bit tricky to make a couple of interior photos.
The check-in desks. The number of flights per day is very low.
Paper BP is obligatory in COV (like in UKK), so even if you're checked-in online, you have to visit the desk.
The airside is dull, with only 1 jetbridge (which obstructed the view on the parking position of the aircraft).
The Aircraft
My flight KOV-CIT was operated by 2003-built UP-CJ005, sporting the old livery with golden letters "SCAT" and golden tail logo. I find it more beautiful than the modern livery on the most of DV fleet. Boarding was walk-in, without a bus, as our CR2 was parked near the terminal.
Some close-up views upon entering the aircraft.
The Cabin
Cabin views during boarding. Note that some rows are really badly aligned with the windows (this problem in CRJ is even more acute than in Embraers).
In the very rear there's the single lavatory.
The Economy Seat
My seat 14F is located in the very last row, which has very misaligned window - too forward, but it still was possible to look outside. The seat is pretty basic, but well-padded. As it's a narrow CRJ, I guess the seatwidth is slightly less than 17" (I wasn't able to measure the seat).
The seat has "leather" upholstery, antimacassar, tray table and seat pocket.
The seat pocket content: safety card, inflight magazine (we'll dive into it further) and waste bag.
The overhead panel and overhead bins are standard for the CRJ family.
The Flight
The cabin before departure.
The ATC tower and a bit of the terminal in sight.
Taxiing to the runway; flaps in takeoff position.
Lining up with the runway.
Takeoff from KOV.
The ground quickly disappears in the grey cloud layer.
Reaching the cruising FL.
An inflight view of the cabin.
Tour de lavatorie.
As usual on domestic SCAT / Sunday Airlines / Southern Sky flights, only a small bottle of water is served.
While it remains overcast below us, let's make a deep dive into the inflight magazine, which tells a lot about the Kazakh aviation culture.
This is how I got to know that CIT has just got a new terminal! WOOOOW!!! All I knew about CIT before was based on 2024- or earlier youtube reports, showing a small obsolete terminal. Don't you agree how funny it's to get such a surprise inflight?
Buy-on-board menu plus pages about some examples of Kazakh cuisine (kurt, sarma/golybtsy) and Kazakh bistro in Phuket.
Promotion of the upcoming and existing destinations of DV's international network: NQZ-BEG, CIT-BUD, CIT-BKK, CIT-XIY, ALA-MSQ, CIT-MUC, CIT-URC, ALA-SYX.
Pages about sighseeing, concerned with some DV international destinations: Sanya, Neuschwanstein castle, Minsk and Mir castle, Prague, Belgrade, Xian and Moscow.
One of the most prominent domestic Kazakh sightseeings: Bozjyra in Mangistau region (its capital is Aktau).
A page about GAZ-3102 "Volga" produced in in Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod) - the Russian city where I was born and (after living 10 years in Siberia) lived for 25 years until 19 February 2022, when I left Russia for good…
SCAT international and domestic networks.
SCAT / Sunday Airlines fleet as of September 2025.
Meanwhile below us overcast weather gives way to "partly cloudy" weather with some beautiful periodic cloud structures and views of the Kazakh plains.
A couple of salt lakes far away.
The classic CRJ's winglet.
The starboard GE CF34-3B1 engine view from my window.
Meanwhile the ground starts to hide under semi-transparent veil of clouds…
… and soon we start our descent to CIT.
Outskirts of Shymkent in sight.
Spoilers deployed to accelerate the descent.
Flaps go out into the landing config. As our CR2 is maneuvring over the Shymkent, approaching CIT and lining up with the runway, one can clearly see, what Shymkent is as a city - an ocean of townhouses with very few multi-story buildings. Quite a contrast with Almaty and Astana for the third-largest city in Kazakhstan!
It was very good idea to choose a seat on the right side, as moments before landing I got to see one of most interesting parts of CIT: its airplane graveyard!
One can see a LOT of retired Antonov-24s, a Tupolev-154, a Yakovlev-42, an Antonov-12…
… and a B727 (!) and an Ilyushin-62 - the iconic Soviet long-haul narrowbody quadjet.
Next to Ilyushin-62 a SCAT B7M8 and Sunday Airlines B752 (UP-B5705) were parked - the latter was going to make 2 consecutive rotations from CIT to NQZ that day. I even thought about ditching my next flight that day - CIT-KUT on FlyArystan A320 - and buying a ticket on one of these rotations, but eventually decided not to abandon my initial plans, go to Trans-Caucasian countries to see my friends and then go back to Kazakhstan. This decision resulted in the end of October in flying the last-built passenger B763 on ALA-NQZ, eventually flying this desired B752 on NQZ-ALA, and then visiting China in November and flying two Air China B748s on PEK-SHA and SHA-PEK!
Touchdown right across the new shining CIT terminal which I was yet to explore in details.
Speedbrakes deployed; vacating runway; flaps off; taxiing to the parking position.
The CIT's firefighting depot.
An An-24, the Tu-154's tail with Soviet flat, the Sunday's B752, the DV B7M8, the B727, the Ilyushin-62 and a white B733.
The old small terminal of CIT and 2 refuelers.
The Cabin After The Flight
Cabin views in details upon disembarkment.
The Aircraft After The Flight
The famous CRJ's front door which opens downwards as a ladder.
A fuselage view from the ladder.
The bus that took the passengers to the new terminal's domestic arrivals - an ex-intercity one instead of Cobus.
Views of our beautiful CR2 from the bus and from the terminal's entry to domestic arrivals.
Planespotting in CIT
Some planespotting from the bus and from the arrivals zone of the new terminal.
DV B735 (UP-B3724) - the sistership of UP-B3722 which flew me ALA-UKK a week earlier, but in the beautiful old livery.
A Qazaq Air DH4 (UP-DH005).
A private Pilatus PC-12 (UP-PC001).
And one more view of the beautiful Sunday's B752 with T-tails of B727 and Ilyushin-62 on the backdrop.
The New Terminal of Shymkent: Arrivals
And now it's the time to dive into the new shining CIT terminal. Here I'll show only the domestic arrivals zone, and the entire terminal will be shown in details in the next FR of CIT-KUT flight on FlyArystan.
A reflection of the smooth bend of the terminal roof.
Welcome to CIT!
A view of the domestic gates area (which have only bus gates), located on the ground level.
A view of the international luggage claim hall through the glass wall (the domestic one looks the same).
Inside the arrivals hall on the ground level and the arrivals FID.
Thank you for your attention and see you in the next FRs!
