Mongolia – Flying in and out

To go to Mongolia there's a convenient flight from Frankfurt by MIAT (Монголын Иргэний Агаарын Тээвэр , Mongolian Civil Air Transport) [1]. The flight from Frankfurt (FRA) was going to Ulaanbaatar's new airport, Chinggis Khaan International Airport (Чингис хаан олон улсын нисэх буудал) (UBN) [2], of course.

MIAT only has a small fleet and this flight to Mongolia has been on a Boeing 737. I enjoyed excellent service and a good seat for th eight hours of this flight. MIAT hasn't yet worked out to serve vegetarian meals. One may arrange for a Baby Meal, Child Meal, Low Salt Meal, Moslem Meal, Hindu Meal (lamb, poultry, fish), and Diabetic Meal – no vegetarian option [3]. However, I asked and got a question as an answer: „Did you order a special meal?“ I didn't as I couldn't. The meals were in a way I could do with exchanging some items with a friend. And maybe the next time the friendly flight attendant asks it will be possible to get a vegetarian meal [4].

The flight back was much different. MIAT's Boeing 737 had been on a scheduled inspection and they chartered a flight by Air Asia. The whole crew had been provided by Air Asia save the purser. Most of the flight attendants were male, only two were female and interestingly the companies policy for the inflight female staff is open long hair, which I cannot remember having seen with other airlines. This aircraft didn't have inflight entertainment, not that I have use for it, but it's easier to sit on long hauls if you see, where you are and where you are going. And on this flight I would have liked seeing this, as we must have passed the Altai mountains covered in snow. MIAT's flights may cross Russia, the Malaysian airline had to use the southern route to avoid Russioan airspace. East to west flight already take longer, but we sat on this plan for 12 hours. The seat rows were narrower than expected. And the meals were not only not vegetarian but also more oriented to durability than taste or balanced diet. Maybe this aiscraft usually serves short hauls. The flight attendants of both flights were very helpful and friendly.

For both airlines I would wish the CEO work on the same level of professional competence as the crews.

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIAT_Mongolian_Airlines
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinggis_Khaan_International_Airport
[3] https://www.miat.com/pagecontent.php?pageId=63&lang=en (as of 28.08.2022)
[4] I won't fly Air Africaans, but I'll surely fly MIAT again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK1YpYr5fn0

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