Ariana Afghan Airlines

If you are considering flying this airline, I would strongly suggest you do some research ahead of time, unlike me… but hey, I did not crash and die.
Ariana is the national airline of Afghanistan. I think it’s great that the government of Afghanistan is earning hard currency through a legitimate business. But I don’t really see why every country thinks they need a national airline.
I flew roundtrip from Istanbul to Kabul to visit a friend working for the UN there. It really was fun!
Owing to the sparse flight schedule and the ticket office being staffed by the airline itself in the fine Ataturk Airport, it was a challenge to buy a ticket. They only fly twice a week on that route. The other airlines were helpful in locating the agent and revealing his sparse schedule.
The flight in was uneventful. Very curious how modern women mysteriously all donned head coverings right before landing. On the way out, there was great confusion about whether there was actually a seat for me with my «confirmed reservation». That ended up being OK as we walked out on the tarmac to board a standard wide bodied jet, I can’t remember if it was an Airbus or Boeing. It was a little disturbing to hear the engines make clanking and scraping noises as the turbines slowly rotated and we baked in the hot Kabul sun, waiting to board, but I got to hear some great stories from fellow passengers.
Owing to my mystery lower class «confirmed reservation», I was seated in the very back by the kitchen. For some reason, they decided to make the kitchen the smoking lounge. In planes now the bathrooms are primarily made of molded plastic parts to save weight. Quite a few of the parts of the bathroom were broken or missing including the toilet seat. I realize it’s hard to get replacement parts for a plane, but it can’t be that hard!
I landed safely in Istanbul.
But I later found out that the UN life insurance policy is void when flying Ariana. The famous dangerous places writer Robert Pelton branded Ariana as «Scariana»:
. The airline is on the list of airlines banned in the EU:
. It has a poor safety record in the aviation safety database (a good site to check for any airline):
. One plane even crashed into a house trying to land at Gatwick. Hijackings are down since the Afghan War, but you can probably find a safer airline to go where you need to go. My brother knows a pilot that flies charters in Afghanistan who was threatened by gunmen for reporting Afghan air traffic controllers. They were misrepresenting the locations of planes. Flying there, you might not be able to cover all potential mishaps, but choosing a better carrier is a good first step.
So just saying, don’t make my mistake!