Review: Aeroflot A321 Economy Moscow (SVO)-Kazan (KZN)
- Konrad Tillman
- 5 hours ago
- 8 min read
Intro
Following a lovely transit day in Moscow, and going for a sunrise walk out over the floating bridge, the time had come to Kazan. Interestingly, the plan was never to go to Kazan, but after this woman and I broke up in Moscow, I did what I always do best and run (I'm joking, well, sort of). Kazan was on the agenda, highly recommended by many people I know, and close enough to Moscow that 2 days would make perfect sense before my trek over to Krasnojarsk.
Anyways, while I had originally planned on flying S7 over to Kazan, the timings didn't work out with their once-daily service, so I settled on the Aeroflot A321 for this journey. And I've gotta say, this is the first of three Aeroflot economy reports, and the airline blew me out of the water. Exceptional service, comfortable seats, and an overall efficient product from Point A to Point B. I would happily fly them again in a heartbeat. Let's jump in!
Sorry to say that I slept most of this flight, but I will have a full, detailed report of the A321 on the 4.5-hour run to Krasnojarsk 2 days later.
Route- Moscow (SVO)-Kazan (KZN)
Flight Number- SU1194
Seat- 21F
Aircraft- Airbus A21
Date- August 11th, 2025
Flight Time- 1 Hours and 35 Minutes
Price Paid- 103$ (SVO-KZN)
How I Booked
Getting to Kazan from Moscow is relatively easy. You can either take the train for about 20-30 USD, or you can fly. With 6 daily Aeroflot flights from Moscow Sheremetyevo, as well as a daily flight on S7 from DME, the options are plentiful, and the prices showcase that.
Booking just a day before departure through Wego, the cost came out to 103 USD one way, including the Apple Pay fees, which isn't bad at all.
And the best part, wait for it, the most basic economy fare is actually quite flexible in terms of domestic carriers. The basic fare came with free seat selection and a carry-on bag free of charge, which is rare in today's world outside of Asia. Considering I practically check a bag about the same amount as a blood moon, that never sways me on carriers.
SVO Airport
After a very long afternoon at Hotel Akvarel, I headed off to the airport around 4 pm for our scheduled departure time of 19:20 local time. After flying Rossiya 4 days prior, I had figured out that I didn't need to be there 3 hours before check-in, so I ordered up a Yandex Go and was on my way!
Russia was a weird trip as a whole. I could never properly adjust to jetlag until the last few days (thanks in part to the horrendous flight on the JL 35K). Maybe it's a sign I am getting old? 😉
Weirdly, as we were on the way, I checked out FlightRadar and found that the A350 I was scheduled to be flying on 2 days later was on the way to CXR. For those unaware, Aeroflot has a vast network to Vietnam, and Vietjet has just added service to Eastern Russia...
40 minutes later, we had arrived back at Terminal B, and I knew the drill. Across the road, up the stairs, security check, and straight to grab an overpriced carbonara 😅. Maybe a beer, although money was running low at this point 😂.
Weirdly, you can view Terminal C from the check-in area, and that included the China Eastern A330 I had just flown in on the week before. Not too shabby, and parked at the exact same gate.
Check-In
With a newfound boost of energy (blame the carbonara), it was time to go through security directly. Yes, usually I get a physical boarding pass for my wall at home, but I am not waiting in line, and Aeroflot offers online check-in! Take that, Yemenia (tough jab since I love them (side note: FlyAden just launched wooo)).
I headed off to the departures board to check which gate I was at, and while we were supposed to be heading off from a remote gate, I saw it had been changed! To make it better, Flighty had confirmed it! Gate 118, baby.
Just like that, it was off through efficient security. Unfortunately, I didn't get the opportunity to provide by KTN and scream "TSA Precheck, everyone move for the 1K member", but I didn't need to 😅.
Planespotting/Smoking Room
In my past report, I already touched on Terminal B and how they sell caviar 😉, so for this, I'll just leave you with a few pictures of the domestic terminal evening departures. It's wild to think you can have over 15x daily domestic evening departures that are all widebodies.
Now, below are two SU 77Ws, but the first one is actually retrofitted with the reverse herrigbone seats. They were all set to be retrofitted, but due to, uh, yeah, it didn't end up happening.
Finally, before boarding, I headed down to the smoking room to blaze up with fellow comrades. Okay, maybe that was a bit too far as I am not Russian 😅.
Boarding
Boarding is very simple for domestic flights on Aeroflot. It starts 40 minutes before departure and ends 20 minutes before departure. Considering I was running on 2% battery (my body), I actually almost missed the cutoff to board. I was really tired. Exhausted.
Needless to say, 22 minutes prior to departure, I scanned my boarding pass. With no one else in line, I asked the agent to snap a picture of me, just for memory's sake. Idk, how many times can I get a picture boarding my first Aeroflot flight ever?
Heading down the jetbridge, I laid eyes on those incredible orange uniforms. You can see them online, but they are 100x striking in person. And 200x more striking with the incredible service the people show behind the uniforms.
The Seat/Cabin
So, while I will have a full-on recap of the IFE and meal service on the longer leg (which gives a better grasp of the product) this route will be all about the hard product, since I stayed behind to photograph an empty cabin.
Turning right through door 1L, passengers will find 4 rows of business class laid out in a 2-2 configuration. While these aren't cutting edge, with no seatback IFE, each passenger is treated to plenty of legroom, amenities, and a comfortable recliner (flight went out 11/16).
Continuing on, you will find the economy cabin. Laid out in a 3-3 configuration, this is pretty standard to what you will find on most non-LCCs throughout the world. Each seat comes with a tray table, 2 power ports to share between 3 seats, and decent pitch. I didn't bring the Jeb Brooks tape measure, but I would say 30-31 inches. An inch really does matter 😉.
Much like all of my flights on Aeroflot in Economy, almost every seat was filled today (contrary to media belief).
Did I mention: Overhead air vents. Okay, time for a happy dance in my seat (also mind the bloat, I am on a diet now, ha). This aircraft was originally delivered to SU in 2016 btw.
The Flight
And that's about the extent of what I can report on. The cabin crew were rapid in displaying the safety instructions in both Russian and English, before we began pushback right on schedule.
Once again, similar to the Rossiya Sukhoi flight I took, it was a short taxi out today, and we were wheels up right on schedule.
And just like that, we had some sharp banks and turns out of SVO. It's interesting, as the Moscow airspace is extremely congested, perhaps more than the tristate area. Realistically, you have VKO, DME, SVO, and ZIA, all serving vast markets. When the go-around happened on MU, it took some twists and turns to line back up again.
Before passing out until the whole plane had deboarded, I took a picture of the IFE offered onboard. While I will wait to share it until the flight to KJA, the selection wasn't bad, although, no wifi was offered on the narrobodies (A350s yes).
And while I didn't eat, I took the same service two days later on the return, and passengers received a snack, but not a full hot meal. Honestly, I pride myself on reviews, but I was shattered, mate, and I knew I was doing the review on the return with some energy in my back pocket.
We ended up touching down 15 minutes ahead of schedule, and pulled into our gate 10 minutes ahead of schedule. Not bad Aeroflot, not bad at all...
Final Thoughts
I'm not going to lie, I thoroughly enjoyed Aeroflot on the flight. Yes, I slept through the meal, and yes, there are no seatback IFEs, but there were so many points here that checked the boxes. For starters, I love the domestic terminal at SVO (not international) as security is efficient and everything is clean. But once onboard, there are exceptional crew, comfortable seats, and a small snack that is offered on a 1-hour and 20-minute flight. At 96 USD per ticket (before fees), booking the same day, that's more than reasonable. In fact, that's cheaper than LCCs in the States when booking the same day...\
Russia Series
