Domestic flight schedule in Ulaanbaatar. Tours in Mongolia. MIAT.

TRIP TO MONGOLIA TOURS

INFORMATION FOR TRAVELERS

DOMESTIC FLIGHT SCHEDULE
SUMMER 2008

Flying is the main form of transport into Mongolia; the only other way into the country is by train or an inconvenient land crossing by local minibus.

Mongolia, a vast, sparsely populated country with very little infrastructure, relies heavily on air transport. There are 81 airports, of which only 31 can be used permanently; only eight of these are paved.

MIAT, the major internal airline, has flights to 17 aimag (provincial) capitals, major cities and tourist destinations - but not to Sukhbaatar, Erdenet, Darkhan or  Sainshand, which are well serviced by train. Almost all of the destinations are served directly to/from Ulaanbaatar, so it is impossible to fly, say, between Dalanzadgad and Altai without returning to Ulaanbaatar and catching another flight.

Delayed and cancelled flights are common, and it appears that MIAT has also been getting a bad reputation for lost luggage. It seems that the aircraft is heavily overloaded by Mongolian traders who reckon this is a cargo flight. As a result, some luggage gets left behind despite being already checked in, and the longer it lies around unattended, the greater the chance of it being lost or stolen.

Seats can be difficult to get in mid-July during Naadam and in late August as students return to college.

One real hassle is that the baggage limit on internal MIAT flights is 15kg and MIAT will charge you for every extra kilogram when you check in. When packing, remember that your baggage allowance shrinks from 60kg on Transpacific flights to 20kg on international flights to Mongolia and then 15kg on domestic flights. The cost for excess baggage is around T580 per kg (year 2000), depending on the distance of the flight.

Go to all airports at least two hours before departure on the assumption that you will still have to struggle to get a seat on the flight, even if you have a ticket. In Ulaanbaatar, this is often less of a problem, but confusion still reigns supreme. (All flights from Ulaanbaatar leave between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.) Even if you have a ticket, flight number and an allocated seat number, don't assume the plane won't be overbooked.

Aero Mongolia air company was founded in 2001. This company has two international destinations ( Irkutsk in Russia and Huh Hot in China),  five domestic destinations ( Choibalsan, Hovd, Ulaangom, Murun and Bayankhongor), charter flights to Umnu-Gobi “Juulchin” tourist camp and Oyu-Tolgoi.

ULAANBAATAR

DALANZADGAD

MURUN

INFORMATION:

• 1 - Monday, 2 - Tuesday, 3 - Wednesday, 4 - Thursday, 5 - Friday, 6 - Saturday, 7 - Sunday
• Domestic airlines are using  AN-24 and Fokker-50 planes 
• To your attention we would like to offer you the train time table with prices, international flight time table to Mongolia and from Mongolia, domestic flight time table within Mongolia.
• Children between five and 16 years pay half; under fives fly for free.
• Domestic Departure Tax. This is paid when you buy your air ticket and it varies from T500 to T1000, depending on the airport.