I went on a part holiday, part work trip to Central Asia in August 2025. I've already been to all five Central Asian countries but this time I wanted to go to some places I hadn't been before: Dushanbe amd Khorog in Tajikistan, Astana in Kazakhstan and Khiva in Uzbekistan. The obvious choice to fly from Europe to Central Asia is Turkish Airlines. I live in Iceland but Turkish does not fly there. The cheapest business class from Europe to Dushanbe was from Budapest, so I first booked a Wizz flight from Iceland to Budapest.
Here's my full itinerary:
Keflavík to Budapest, Wizz, economy – no flight report
Budapest to Istanbul, Turkish Airlines, business
Istanbul to Dushanbe, Turkish Airlines, business
Khorog to Dushanbe, Tajik Air, economy
Dushanbe to Astana, Somon Air, economy
Astana to Tashkent, Uzbekistan Airways, business
Tashkent to Khiva, Uzbekistan Airways, economy
Khiva to Tashkent, Uzbekistan Airways, economy
Tashkent to Istanbul, Turkish Airlines, business – you’re here
Istanbul to Warsaw, Turkish Airlines, business
Warsaw to Keflavík, Wizz, economy
Tashkent Airport is not far from the city center. I got there in about 15 minutes from my hotel.
Don't mix up VIP and CIP gates to enter the building. CIP is for business class passengers.
Tashkent Airport is quite a hub now and offers a great variety of destinations.
Priority lane was available for business class passengers. The check-in agent was friendly, efficient and spoke good English.
Turkish Airlines use Anjir lounge at Tashkent Airport. This is the way to go.
It's close to Tashkent Airport Hotel, an airside hotel.
The entrance to Anjir Lounge.
Business class passengers are directed upstairs..
… to the Mastercard lounge.
The food of choice was not huge but the pastries were tasty.
Tea and coffee were of course available.
There was a small choice of alcoholic drinks.
I didn't take a photo but there was a shower inside the lounge.
It was time to go the gate.
Boarding was through a staircase and by bus, Ryanair style. Quite unusual for Turkish, especially for business class. No priority boarding was available.
I was one of the last to board.
Our plane today was an A321, registration number TC-LTN, built in 2022.
I chose seat 3F. The seat was nicely prepared.
This A321neo has five rows of business class in a 2+2 configuration. This is one of the nicest business cabins on a narrowbody aircraft. I could not take more photos as the cabin was full but the plane I took nine days earlier to Dushanbe was very similar - see my other flight report.
Seat controls.
Good headphones.
There are built-in screens in the seat in front of you, and a remote control at your seat.
Welcome drink: mint lemonade, as always.
The cabin crew was very welcoming.
An amenity kit was offered shortly after.
A Centrum Air plane was standing nearby. This airline is not very well known outside of Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan Airways is better known of course.
Push-back was at 09.45 for a scheduled departure time of 09.35. We took off at 09.51 from runway 8L.
Views of Tashkent after take-off.
The airport in the background.
A wet towel was offered.
Let's have a look at the menu. Breakfast was offered on this flight departing at 09.35.
Drink orders were taken less than 30 minutes after take-off.
Breakfast was served at 10.45. In would have preferred lunch instead of breakfast, maybe a few hours later. I believe that almost all passenger have had already breakfast that day before leaving for or at the airport. Breakfast was nevertheless quite good.
We were flying close to Urgench where I had been the day before.
The view around Dakhly, near the Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan triple border.
The view over the Garabogazköl shallow saline lagoon in Turkmenistan.
The isthmus that separates Garabogazköl from the Caspian Sea.
Pegasus PGT7413 flying from Bishkek to Istanbul SAW.
At this time the cabin crew asked all passengers to close the window blinds. I started to watch a movie.
We were above the Caucasus when I finished it.
I slept for about an hour from here to somewhere near Samsun, in the Black Sea shore of Turkey.
I asked for some tea when I had waken up.
Some chocolates were offered before landing.
Once again beautiful views of Istanbul.
The Old Istanbul Airport in the background.
The view before landing.
We landed in Istanbul at 12.24 and were at the gate at 12.30 for a scheduled arrival time of 12.55.
Qatar Airways standing next to us.
Thank you for reading my flight report.
