Flight check: Bishkek to Osh on Avia Travel

Central Mosque in Bishkek. Photo / iStock

David Lupton traverses three countries on a domestic flight in Kyrgyzstan.

The plane: BAe 146-200. This is what Ansett New Zealand used to fly (the "whisper jet").

Class: One class (basic).

Terminals: Modern but very basic. And also confusing (my driver came in to show me where to go - upstairs) and not well signposted, although the signs that are there do include English. No air bridges for domestic flights.

My seat: Nice leather seats, but these planes were not intended for the 100 passengers they carry (17 rows of 3+3). Ansett configured them as 3+2. I needed a shoehorn to fit in but it was comfortable enough once you were there.

Fellow passengers: Mostly local. The population of Osh is just under half Kyrgyz, half Uzbek, with a few Russians thrown in.

How full? Full.

Service: Announcements are in Russian and Kyrgyz only - but you don't get this far from home without having memorised the announcements (you know the ones you're supposed to listen to carefully because every plane is different - yeah right). I can tell exactly where they are on the script from the intonation. The crew do speak English.

Entertainment: Looking out the window (my favourite programme). We took off heading west over flat country interspersed with villages and lakes. This part of the trip is actually over Kazakhstan. Once we were high enough, we banked sharply left and over the Kyrgyz mountains. We spent half an hour flying over very rugged, snow-covered mountains (many over 3000m) to emerge over the Fergana Valley and descend to Osh. The flight path into Osh actually takes you over Uzbekistan - so this domestic flight traverses three countries.

Airport experience: Kyrgyzstan is the most open of the former Soviet Central Asian States - there are no visa requirements for Kiwis, no forms to fill in and no unexpected airport taxes. Bishkek is the capital and Osh is the second city. Mostly mountains, it is described as the Switzerland of Asia.

On time? The schedule said 40 minutes. Hopelessly optimistic considering buses are required at each end - it took about one hour.