Atyrau Airport is a small airport, small being the operative word, think there are department stores that are bigger. There are no connecting tubes for passenger boarding, all airplane related transit is done via buses both at departure and at arrival. Get thick clothes if traveling during the winter since once the doors open you are in for a world of cold (least inside is heated to a comfortable level). Anyway, tip for new people coming in: if during the incoming flight you receive from the airplane crew a inconspicuous cheap looking receipt-like paper, DO NO LOOSE IT or throw it away, keep it with your passport at all times (think of it as a second visa). You need to complete it, including with passport type and number(also don't forget the two "..."'s fields on the upper side of the paper, easy to miss, "P" is for 'personal passport' and represents the passport type, look carefully on your own passport). The customs office will stamp this paper at the arrival. If your planned departure more than 5 days later from the arrival date, ask for more guidance surrounding this 'Migration card', since I 'think' they can refuse your departure if the proper formalities are not done at the worst, or you pay something at the least, on top of the extra bureaucratic head-aches. Still no money exchange inside the airport (least not that I could see, and not sure there is a ATM or not - memory fails), but in any case the taxi drivers can direct you to nearest exchange point to collect their fee, or you can exchange at the hotel. The euro/dollar will reach quite far, and for your first exchange I'd not exchange more than 50 euro or dollas. Also, at departure back into Europe/USA be sure to change back any remaining tenge notes before leaving, or you will be stuck with a hard or not possible to exchange currency. The town is a few minute drive away from the airport and the taxi cost to the major hotels should be below 1000 tenge (i.e below 5 or so Euro). My group had a pre-arranged van picking us up, so I can't give a accurate number, but some colleagues with previous experience and with a good command of Russian language told us taxi is pretty cheap by European standards. If you have a connecting flight at departure, do allow for MINIMUM 3 - 3.5 hours time for the connection since delays can and will happen, especially during the winter. On the plus side, the flight crews are highly skilled, ours from Astana air managed to do a smooth landing on Atyrau with a heavy cross wind and visible wing sway, on what seemed to be semi-slippery landing strip. Thumbs up!

I have been travelling through Atyrau airport on a monthly basis for the past 5 1/2 years. I was glad to see the changes from the arrivals/departure "shed" to the "modern" terminal in 2008. However one thing that has not changed is the attitude of the staff and security. The pilfering of luggage and constant harassment of ex-pat travellers in an effort to extort ,whatever people are willing to hand over for a trouble free journey, is still a daily occurrence. All luggage which has been checked at point of origin , is again checked on arrival. Another opportunity for security staff to "confiscate" what ever takes their fancy. It is an absolute disgrace and gives an impression of what the entire country considers as normal.

I arrived on an internal flight from Almaty on the way to Amsterdam. This airport is a rural backwater, the baggage carousel works but as Mr Smith pointed out it takes about 40 mins to travel the 200m from the plane. Someone checks that the baggage tag matches your ticket so don't lose it! Upstairs in the front of the building is a gleaming coffee bar where you can buy coffee, bottled beer, and some candy, maybe a bottle of Vodka. There are no other facilities, no money exchange, no nothing. At least not between 6-8am on a Sunday. The Air Astana check-in crew were fine, the security people were unhelpful as always everywhere. The bus back to plane left us standing in -27C for 10 minutes trying to get on the plane. I am just so pleased I didn't end staying there overnight as was threatened when our original plane was delayed.

I am happy to see the improving services in Atyrau Airport. I understand Mr Smith's concerns and totally agree with him on most of the issues from the past but as explained also in his posts the conditions are getting better each day. I worked with the company that has the operational rights of the airport starting from 2000 and left last year. It is a Joint Stock Company with the Kazak Government. The situation was that ATMA is a 50/50 joint venture with a Turkish group and the Kazakh Government where the government first pass its right to the Atyrau governorship and then last year they transfer it to another organization called Kaspiy. They seem to be very ambivalent who will run their 50 % share as you see. Running a company without knowing who the owner of the 50 % under these circumstances are not very easy as everyone can understand. But the situation goes for most of the foreign investors in the country as according to the surveys the biggest problem is to find stable bureaucrats. A lack of continuity with government officials, removes any chance of building relationships and confidence levels.

Let me point out some of the things that you mentioned

1. During the construction of the new terminal they had no chance to operate wherever they find as there was no alternative.

2. The baggage is distributed as the main terminal being the first to get them, CIP and then VIP. Maybe you should check it nowadays.

3. Nothing to do for the immigration as they are the officials appointed by the government, the situation is the same for all the airports in Kazakhstan.

4. The conditions on the runway and the apron should be solved by the Airport Authority as it has the operational rights but it seems that they can not handle it. While I was there the biggest arguments were all because of the Airport's insufficient managers as they do nothing but watch the planes landing and taking off. They forgot that there is a runway to be kept clean in all the weather conditions.

5. You can buy soft drinks and also eat some snacks and sandwiches in the two facilities that were opened.

I believe that everything was better now so you might want to check again. Of course you looked from a passengers window but before making very harsh comments please also note that this is an airport in Kazakhstan, not USA or Europe. Still a very long way to go...

The new terminal building is open, at last. Now you can shelter from the heat/cold/mozzies (maybe). Don’t know if the Heating/Air-con works, no doubt I will find out over the coming months. (Heating works, so far). At least that is a start. Immigration is still slow, the baggage still goes to the VIP/CIP area first before coming to the main terminal, but it is 100% better than it was. But the luggage carousel is now working. There is no point being in a hurry to get through Immigration anyway (unless your going through VIP/CIP), as it takes 45 minutes for the baggage truck to make the 200 meter journey from the plane. Immigration can take up to 2 hours! (They always seem to be surprised when a plane lands at Atyrau, as if it was not a normal occurrence!). But it is 100% better than it was. This winter there have been problems with the all flights with snow and ice at Alamaty (Words Spell Check suggests ‘Calamity’, how fitting) and Atyrau. Be prepared for long delays. There is now a facility to buy soft drinks airside but nobody has seen it open yet! But, Lost baggage? Don’t even go there! Absolute nightmare! Porters? No. If you’re a mum with kids and lots of baggage, you need to workout some before travelling. "ATMA, with its Russian and English speaking qualified personnel provides international standard ticket sales and check–in its own terminal building. Post Office, Bank, Bureau de Change, Restaurants, Cafeterias, Bars, VIP Lounge, Newsagent/Tobacconist, Chemist Shop, Car Rental, Taxi Service/Rank, First Aid, Baby/Parent Room." In your dreams, it ain’t there, none of it. But it is 100% better than it was!!!