My BIZARRE Flight on Turkmenistan Airlines: World's Strangest Airline

I took my strangest flight yet, on the national airline of one of the world's most reclusive countries - Turkmenistan Airlines

MY PILOT VLOGS CHANNEL: @NoelPhilipsPilotVlogs

[JoePCool]

The way this video escalated from "Oh I might not be able to enter the country" to "Turkmenistan is basically North Korea" to "Passengers and crew drinking in the aisle during takeoff", you're crazy. What a trip, super ballsy.

[andysalmon]

At check in they fought like a married couple 😂

[Thatguyjack]

It always amazes me how Noel manages to film on airlines with the most strict no camera rules. Yes he was caught, but the footage wasn’t deleted. Very impressive to say the least.

[denkdiep]

I was the Lead civil engineer for the Dutch team that designed this airport from scratch (a vast empty area) - the terminal itself and the airside facilities, but i never got permission to actually go there and see the end result! Thanks to this video, i finally got to see it!!

[ninderb]

I flew with Turkmenistan from Birmingham to India over 20 years ago, never again!! Almost go arrested at Ashgabat airport for taking a photo of my father drinking out of a china cup on the layover...they proceeded to ask me to take my film out of my digital camera. Madness.

[stephentontz]

I think Noel's friendly demeanor helps him get through difficult situations.😊

[stephenjarzombek]

My dad told me that in the late 1960s, he was the last passenger to board a domestic US flight on a 727, as they were holding it for him as his inbound flight was delayed. The door closed and the aircraft pushed back when he was only halfway down the aisle to his seat in the rear, which he discovered was occupied--as were all others on the aircraft. By this time, the plane was taxiing away from the terminal. A somewhat bewildered flight attendant said to follow her, and she put him in her jump seat and stood with her back against a wall in the rear galley. She just hung on to whatever she could during takeoff and landing.

[kallemueller]

Wouldn't be suprised to See Noel knock on the gates of North Korea soon, asking where he can connect to Hawaii 😂

[matteframe]

standing up drinking whisky during takeoff is absolutely gangster

[Ljet]

About 15 years ago I flew from Frankfurt am Main (Germany) to Turkmenistan (Ashgabat) on a Lufthansa Airbus A340-600. There were 6 people on board, including myself.

[landinsongs]

Haha, "the sunset was highly classified"... made my day :-)

[rhysypoo]

I have flown with Turkmenistan airways from Gatwick to Turkmenistan then on to Bangkok. It was a freaking nightmare. The staff was bonkers. The plane ride was crazy. They drove it like they stole it when taking off and an economy class. It was like an aeroplane movie. I was expecting chickens and goats to walk down the aisle

[jdanziger]

standing and drinking during takeoff is a level of dedication i have never seen before lol

[ianpirie]

I had a similar experience on a Faucett airlines flight from Miami to Lima many years ago. Bags stowed on seats, people wandering around during takeoff and landing and the cabin crew ran a bingo session throughout the flight. The bingo actually started before we took off!

[Fanta]

Being German speaking, the conversation between the two ground agents at Frankfurt is absolutely hilarious 😂

[AverytheCubanAmerican]

Turkmenbashi didn't rename a day of the week after his mother, but yes, he did rename the month of April/Aprel after his mother Gurbansoltan. Other months were changed like Oguz for June/Iýun (Oguz is a legendary khan of Turkic people), Baýdak (Turkmen for flag) for February/Fewral, and Sanjar for November/Noýabr (Sanjar was the last ruler of the Seljuks). For the days of the week, Friday (or Anna in Turkmen) was simply changed from Anna to Annagün and means "Mother Day", but Friday was basically already called that before the change. He also closed all hospitals outside Ashgabat to force people to go there and made people read his book the Ruhnama, basically his book of opinions that all Turkmen had to agree with. If you want to drive, you had to pass a test about the Ruhnama. He even had a statue of himself that rotated so that it would ALWAYS face the Sun, to symbolize that his era was the golden age! Yeah, he was insane.

Gurbanguly didn't actually rename anything after himself (also the city named after Niyazov's mother has since been changed to Andalyp in 2022 in honor of a poet) as he chose to give up that right when he became president to be different from Niyazov, but that of course didn't stop him from building golden statues of himself just like Niyazov as you mentioned as well as going after silly world records! The one with Gurbanguly on horseback at 11:30 was built because he's obsessed with the Turkmen national animal, the Akhal-Teke, which is on Turkmenistan's emblem. The one on the emblem is specifically Niyazov's pet horse Yanardag! Of course, a monument to Yanardag was built in Ashgabat in 2014. After Gurbanguly stepped down in 2022, his son Serdar became president in a snap election. He granted his father the title "National Leader of the Turkmen People".

[DALE_MUFC_]

I love how when then found out you were business class they suddenly just said all is ok 😂

[karolingus]

I once experienced on an Iberia flight how the pilots seemingly had forgotten to make the anouncement for the cabin crew to take their seats for take off. The plane rolled onto the runway and only then did the pilots speak out the famous words: "cabin crew, please take seats for take off", before immediately pushing the throttle forward. I saw a flight attendant crawl his way up to the jumpseat holding on for dear life to whatever he could find.

[TheAdventuresOfAndrew]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Ashgabat

[janetleeadams]

I worked 18 months in Turkmenistan. The flights were the least strange aspect of that time.