KUL-TAS

Fri 29/5/26 

Due to war situation in Iran, my risk assessment was done based on MH's flight suspension to Doha until 2 July. Hence, I decided not to transit in Doha for this trip. Since we are members of the One World alliance and based in Malaysia, MH and QR flights are always our first choice.

For this time around, I decided to go to Uzbekistan via Batik Air, since European destinations not transiting in Doha / Oman (One World alliance members) were too expensive. In this trip, Batik Air flies direct from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Tashkent (TAS). We bought our ticket about 2 weeks (early May) before the departure date (29 May). Our return trip ticket cost RM 4782 per person for a Business Class ticket (non premium airline). 

Traffic looked normal, so we decided to take a Grab ride to KLIA at 12.30pm. We arrived at KLIA at 1.15 pm.  Although we arrived more than 3 hours before flight time, the check in counter was already opened (since Batik Air Malaysia is based here). After checking in and immigration clearance using the MyBorderPass app, we made our way to Plaza Premium Lounge at the landside, before taking the aerotrain. Our Business Class ticket came with lounge access in KUL, but not in TAS.

The lounge was crowded at the time, but we did manage to get seats. There is only buffet serving at the Plaza Premium (normal) lounge. Made to order sets are only available for Plaza Premium First customers. Our flight to TAS was delayed for 45 minutes due to late arrival of 2 connecting passengers. Since I have pre-booked airport transfer with our hotel in TAS, I managed to update the hotel of the new arrival time via whatsapp.

at Plaza Premium Lounge KLIA

We have pre booked our meals and seats when buying our tickets. I chose lamb briyani, while Partner In Crime chose chicken biryani. For light snack, I had chocolate muffin while Partner In Crime has chicken pizza. We were given (manufactured) orange juice for the pre departure drink. I chose seat 1K while Partner In Crime was seated next to me in the A330 2-2-2 seat configuration with no direct access to aisle and angled flat seat (not full flat). Although it was not full flat seat, we managed to get a few hours of sleep after having our meal shortly after departure. We were not served hot beverage for the whole journey as the seatbelt sign was on and there was air turbulence (same policy as MH, but not for QR). The IFE is via bring your own device.

Batik Air business class seat

Batik Air business class meal

Batik Air angled flat seat. The 3 pin plug didn't work (in green colour)

Batik Air IFE showing our flight path

We landed Tashkent around 10.30 pm (about 40 minutes late). Immigration was smooth and we got our luggage not long after immigration. We waited for a bit for our driver from Avant Wellness hotel Tashkent with free one way airport transfer. 

Our hotel cost RM 240 for 1 night with breakfast included, paid by credit card. Note that foreign credit card transactions in Uzbekistan incurs a commission fee, which is not mentioned by the hotel. On top of this, our local bank in Malaysia also charges a conversion fee. Otherwise, paying by cash would eliminate the additional fees, however you would have to withdraw millions of cash in Uzbekistan Soms. For internet, we opted for 15 day Maxis roaming for RM99 per person, although all the hotels that we stayed in Uzbekistan provided free wifi. However, we only got 4G coverage for the data roaming in Uzbekistan.

Our room at Avant Wellness hotel Tashkent