Flight Review: SmartAvia-Izhavia Boeing 737-800
Flight #: I8 302
From: Moscow Domodedovo (DME)
To: Izhevsk (IJK)
Flight time: 1h 55min approx.
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Class: Economy
When the chance came up to travel to the city of Izhevsk, some 600km east of Moscow, I was hoping to fly on one of Izhavia’s old Yak-42s, but it turns out that the local carrier now relies on partner carrier SmartAvia to service this key route. So, instead of reviewing an old, increasingly rare Soviet-era airliner, what follows is going to be about my flight in the much more common (and modern!) Boeing 737-800. Nevertheless, there were quite a few interesting highlights and curiosities in this trip…
Although I did not fly it, I could see some of the Yaks that form the basis of Izhavia’s fleet
Interestingly the Moscow to Izhevsk route is operated jointly by both airlines, Izhavia and SmartAvia, in an arrangement that goes beyond codesharing. In fact it is more of a joint venture than a wet lease. SmartAvia provides the aircraft and crew and it also markets the flight, Izhavia, in turn, markets the flights and takes care also of some elements of the passenger experience, from branding onboard (the headrests, the inflight magazine) to the catering.
The Izhavia code (I8) is primarily used in all communications and tickets can be bought indistinctly on both airlines’ websites (although on SmartAvia’s it says the flight is “operated by Izhavia” this is only true in an adminsitrative way, because the metal is theirs). SmartAvia has a fancier-looking website, but it turned out the price was marginally higher for exactly the same flight, so ended up booking on Izhavia.
This airline’s website has the particularity that uses the internet suffix .su (which stands, you guessed it!, for “Soviet Union”).
The booking process and later the online check in were actually quite smooth, much better than I expected from the somehow dated look of the website. There is no option to send the boarding pass to the Apple wallet, but this is not really a relevant feature in Russia, where you are always required by regulation to hold a paper boarding pass anyway.
About Izhavia
Before moving into the cabin, just a few words about Izhavia. It is the local carrier of Izhevsk and of the Autonomous Republic of Udmurtia (one of Russia’s autonomous republics, which has its own language and culture) and totally owned by the regional government. It operates a fleet of 8 Yak-42s (well, at least on paper, the number of operational aircraft is apparently much smaller).
The agreement with SmartAvia meant that, for the first time in its 75 years of history, Izhavia was offering flights on a Western-built aircraft. It fact, this seems to be the first step in a plan to renovate the airline (in terms of branding this is something that is certainly needed!), this includes fleet renovation and getting a more modern fleet of its own, although not yet clear if the choice is going to be Boeing 737-700 or Superjet aircraft.
The first step in this direction is the partnership with SmartAvia, an airline which, itself went recently through a thorough rebranding and refleeting (SmartAvia has its roots in a regional subsidiary of Aeroflot that has had several different owners over the last few years)
Passenger Experience
The passenger experience was actually quite good and it did beat my expectations.
Let’s say that neither Izhavia nor SmartAvia are a top-tier carrier and both have been toying with the low cost model, so the expectations were not high for a start.
In such short flights there is only so much you can do with the passenger experience, but there is definitely a number of details that cost little to implement and SmartAvia got them right.
Starting by the fact that we boarded from the finger, not a small thing in the middle of the Russian winter!
The single-class cabin looked new (although most of the Boeing 737NGs on SmartAvia’s fleet are not). A detail is that the seats are staggered, since seats on the left and right side of the aircraft are not aligned in exactly symmetrical lines.
The seats were not reclinable (at least not mine!) although the crew were asking people to put their seats straight for take off and landing (perhaps there is a number of “premium” seats that are reclinable).
The seat pitch, though, was very generous, even more for what is considered to be a “lowcostish” airline. You can see in the picture how my legs do not even touch the seat in front.
In addition to this, the design of the lower rear part of the seats, with the pocket for magazines on the upper part and a concave plastic piece in the middle that bends at the edges, so that it provides more space right were the legs are.
Before taxiing for take off the crew distributed candy. A small, not too costly detail, that is always nice!
There is no IFE onboard but you have the luxury of enjoying not one but two inflight magazines: that of SmartAvia and the one from Izhavia.
The content of both was actually quite good, although only in Russian.
And interestingly, that of the smaller, more regional airline, Izhavia, was one step ahead in terms of both quality and content.
Izhavia’s inflight magazine could perfectly be that of a top-tier carrier and it has some cool aviation related content.
Interestingly the airline’s CEO explains in the first page that this magazine aims to be a symbol of the new airline that they are aiming to build, so makes kind of makes sense, although still wondering whether it is a bit of overkill for an airline that carries less than a quarter millions passengers per year.
A bit of math and geometry (below), to calculate your baggage allowance. This is one aspect that I found was not clearly explained when booking the ticket, since there are different fares each with a different allowance of both weight and size, but info on the site is sketchy, at best.
There was complimentary food and drink onboard. Granted, it was a bit limited: a sandwich, a pastry and water/juice/tea or coffee, but nowadays this is almost like an unexpected luxury. The sandwich was quite good on the first flight, but not so on the return leg and I returned it whole (but this is more a matter of my own personal taste!).
By the way, note how the catering is all Izhavia-branded.
Adding to the experience was the fact that the plane was not full, which meant that I had an empty middle seat on both legs of the trip (wondering whether the B737-800 is a bit too large for this route, Aeroflot deploys Superjet on it, although thrice daily, instead of the twice daily B737-800 Izhavia service).
Another peculiarity is that the armrest next to the window can be lifted, which may be convenient if you choose to sleep by reclining towards the wall (the arm rest in these circumstances can be a nuisance)
Izhevsk Airport
It seems about the right size for the type of traffic that it handles (despite Izhavia’s rather optimistic depiction of several continents in this large scale poster outside the airport, Izhevsk currently sees regular service to Moscow, Saint Petersburg and occasionally to some other Russian regional airports).
The airport can certainly do with a revamp and a face-lift, though!
Another curiosity: there is only one gate at Izhevsk airport (not that more are really needed), from which you descend into the tarmac and walk to your plane.
Our Take
It will be interesting to follow up what Izhavia has in store to reinvent itself.
Will it succeed in shedding away its rather “Soviet” look and feel to become a more dynamic regional player?
The size and potential of the market it serves is what it is. The intent is certainly there, though.