(upbeat intro music)
- Very interesting.
They have a pastry snack for welcoming guests.
The cabin crew is not wearing a mask.
And there's even a bar in the middle.
Very short flight, two hours.
But four choices on the main course on the menu.
This is probably the most amount food
I've ever eaten on a two hour flight.
Very overcast. There's lots of bumps and turbulence.
Welcome back.
The a A340-500 is a really, really rare aeroplane.
Only 34 were built and delivered to the airline.
And there's only one airline still flies it right now,
and that's Azerbaijan Airlines.
(aeroplane engines roaring)
So my flight was from Dubai to Baku.
Take a good look where's Azerbaijan.
It is on the crossroad between Europe and Asia,
next to the Caspian Sea.
So this was a trip back in 2016 when I was still slim.
The A340-500 was originally built
for India's Kingfisher Airlines,
so it has a red-hot interior.
But it was not taken up for delivery,
so eventually Azerbaijan Airlines took delivery in 2012.
So there were
36 business class flat-bed seats in the front.
And there's even a bar in the middle,
and some part of that looks like a private jet.
(upbeat music)
I actually had a two hour delay out of Dubai
due to a medical emergency on board,
and they have to offload the sick passenger.
And then off we went, we took off very quickly.
(aeroplane engines accelerate)
(upbeat music)
On the short two hour flights
there was even a full amenity kits was provided
and also a kid's pillow.
Then, the full lunch was served,
starting with starter, salad,
a main course served with Azerbaijan wine,
and then you have cheese, dessert, cake,
and most important for Azerbaijan,
a nice cup of tea at the end.
(energetic music)
The rest of the flight was very enjoyable
and I arrived in Baku in the evening.
(flight announcement over public address system)
(passengers clap)
I transited onto London with their 767
and that 767 was also one of the last built 767
with Boeing Signature Sky Interior.
So for Azerbaijan Airlines,
their A340 is a standby aircraft.
It flies to Dubai during the peak season,
and currently, it actually flies
between Moscow and Baku two times a day.
So the A340-500 is one of the best looking Airbus builds
in my opinion.
Has four big engine, quiet,
and ULR, ultra long-range.
Unfortunately, the economics of having
a four engine flying ultra long-haul isn't very good.
So it was superseded
by the twin-engine, new generation jets.
I don't know if you have flown with a A340-500.
If you do so, please share with me
your experience in the comment below.
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And now fast forward to May, 2022, six years later,
I flew on Azerbaijan Airlines A320 this time
from Dubai to Baku.
The reason I'm going there is because I want to fly
on a Silk Way Airline Ilyushin-76 freighter
and also the Boeing 747-8 freighter.
Now, here is my latest experience with Azerbaijan Airlines.
Time to fly again. I'm visiting a new country today.
- [Sam] How are you?
- Hello.
- Hello. Welcome on board.
Please.
- [Flight Attendant] It's orange juice, lemonade,
pomegranate and champagne.
- [Sam] Oh, I'll have this pomegranate.
What is this?
- [Flight Attendant] This is snack.
- [Sam] Huh?
- Snack.
- [Sam] A snack. Okay.
Very interesting.
They have a pastry snack for welcoming guests.
With a really, really striking colour.
Deep blue going to Azerbaijan today on the A320.
- Would you like candies?
- [Sam] Candy?
- Yes.
- Thank you.
(upbeat music)
- So this is a semi-sweet white wine from Azerbaijan.
It's a very short flight, two hours.
But four choices on the main course on the menu.
It looks like I'm in for a treats.
- [Flight Attendant] With seeds, yes?
- [Sam] Yeah.
(upbeat music)
- How are you? Do you liked our meal?
- [Sam] Yeah, I like it. Yeah. There's a lot of food, yeah.
- Yeah.
- There's so much food.
This is probably the most amount of food
I ever eaten on a two hour flight.
So an hour in the flight, I finally realised
the cabin crew is not wearing a mask.
I think they completely removed the mask, right?
- Yes.
- Are you Russian origin?
- No, I'm from Azerbaijan.
- Right. And what's the language of Azerbaijan?
- Azerbaijani language.
- [Sam] That's really simple.
- Yes, it's our native language.
(upbeat music)
- [Sam] So what do we have for economy today?
- Well, economy, we have main course
chicken with barley, some dessert, salad, some cheese
and also for second choice is a beef with pasta.
(flight chime ring)
- We are on descend now.
The weather turned really bad.
The clear sky gave way to very overcast.
There's lots of bumps and turbulence.
It's on the Caspian Sea.
I can see very choppy sea, as well.
(upbeat music)
(landing wheels hit tarmac)
(passengers applaud)
So when I arrived this time in Baku,
I actually saw lots of Azerbaijan Airlines fleets
were parked and some were grounded.
I think the airline's still fighting to get out of COVID.
Even the non-stop
from Baku to New York flight has been terminated.
The terminal, however, looks brand new, though.
Overall, I think Azerbaijan Airlines
is an old-school airline.
The best part of flying them is the amount of food.
It is a tradition for that part of the world.
Now, enjoy the sights of Baku.
- Hello, guys.
- This is my father. Just joking.
My godfather, maybe.
(Sam and Samir laugh)
- I know I look like his dad, but I'm not.
(Sam and Samir laugh)
- He's actually my neighbour. This is Samir.
He's driving me, showing me around town.
Very impressed so far.
- [Samir] Yeah, Zaha Hadid did it.
- [Sam] World famous one.
- [Samir] Yeah, yeah, Zaha Hadid.
- [Sam] It's very, very, modern. Really impressed.
- [Samir] How about them three buildings there on the right?
- [Sam] Oh, that's the Flame building, isn't it?
- [Samir] Yeah, Flame Towers.
- [Sam] Wow.