Passengers who purchased business class tickets on Air Astana were surprised to find that their promised lie-flat seats were replaced with standard recliners after the airline swapped aircraft. The carrier has responded to the criticism, reports infohub.kz.
On the social network Threads, user medina.style_ posted a complaint about the airline. According to the author, she paid for business class tickets with lie-flat seats on a flight from Almaty to Guangzhou, but shortly before departure the aircraft was changed.
"A few hours before departure, you quietly swapped the plane, and my 'lie-flat business' turned into a regular seat with a 15-degree recline. Six hours, with a child, sitting up. At night! For the price of a lie-flat seat. This is not business at all! Did they warn in advance? They deprived me of the chance to buy another ticket or change the date," the woman fumed.
In the comments under the post, several users said they had encountered a similar problem. One wrote: "We flew to Montenegro. We paid a lot of money for a full business class. In the end, we depart from Almaty, and they swap the plane for the one the author describes. We were outraged. Our tour operator complained, but to no avail. I believe Air Astana should have refunded the difference or given a discount on future flights."
Another user noted: "We flew Guangzhou-Almaty this morning. We bought two business class tickets and even chose seats specifically to be comfortable. We paid three times more than a standard ticket, and in the end we flew on the most ordinary plane."
Air Astana commented on the aircraft swaps: "Aircraft substitution is a forced measure and may occur for operational or technical reasons. Passenger safety always remains our absolute priority. We sincerely regret that the business class seat configuration differed from what was expected."