26/08/2006 Catania Fontanarossa â Milan Malpensa
After an amazing two weeks in Sicily, it was back to Catania. An 8am start for an 1150 flight was not popular, particularly when after arriving at 1000 we found a 3 hour delay to the flight, pushing it back to 1440. After joining another Sicilian âQueuing Systemâ we were checked in for the late flight, and told that we would not make our connection to LHR, and again, the next flight they could get us on wasnât until 2035 out of MXP. Once again however compensation was offered, in the form of a Business Class upgrade on the MXP-LHR sector for all 6 of us!
We were advised that airside was very sparse at CTA, and so we remained landside until half an hour before the flight. We were also given access to the Alitalia lounge, however it was absolutely tiny! 3 sofas and 2 tables, even smaller than my living room! Getting a seat was impossible, and there was nothing to do in there anyway, so we sat upstairs on the balcony overlooking the check in hall, playing card games and eating lunch with our once again freely provided meal vouchers again:
Finally it was time to go through security, and after more queuing we boarded I-BIXF, an Airbus A321. Half an hour was further added to the delay due to problems with the air conditioning, but finally we were underway, climbing out over Catania, with a small glimpse of part of Mount Etna to the left:
After a drink and a biscuit we were soon over the Lakes, and making our way into Milan. Two floating attempts, and then a good side-swipe touchdown ensued, and we then came to a rapid stop, pulling up to the gate at Malpensa.
26/08/2006 Milan Malpensa â London Heathrow
After transiting between Pier A to Pier B through passport control, we made our way to the Alitalia lounge, which was thankfully deserted. Although it was slightly less well equipped than the BA lounges, it was still nice to have some comfy seats, free drinks, and some nibbles to keep us comfortable for 3.5 hours before our flight to London.
The time soon passed, and we made our way down to the bus gate. There we were greeted by officials in rubber gloves, telling us there was an EU wide ban on liquids on board aircraft, and we had to surrender everything. Slightly strange given the same airline had said nothing of this fact earlier on in the day at Catania, not only in the EU, but also the same country! In any case they werenât doing a very good job of it, and didnât bother checking half our bags which had several bottles of water in!
After a short drive across the ramp we boarded another A321, I-BIXD, and I took my seat right at the very front of the aircraft in row 2, and had both A and C seats to myself. We had a short wait for someones bags to be offloaded, and departed out into a spectacular thunderstorm. We were treated to some mild turbulence, but an absolutely fantastic light display in two large towering cumulo nimbus clouds to our starboard side, totally illuminating the clouds in their entirety with every flash. It was something I had never seen before, and I only wish I had been able to get a photo.
After 20 minutes or so the turbulence ended, and the service began. My Mum and my Sister got very excited when the Chief Steward put his hat on to serve us dinner! In any case the dinner was very nice indeed, a platter of cured meats and salad to start, chicken risotto for the main course, and a fruit salad for dessert. As well as that there were numerous drinks services made.
In far too short a period of time we were making our approach into Heathrow, and despite a very violent patch of turbulence for a few minutes, we touched down smoothly back on 27L. After being the first passenger to disembark the aircraft (a first for me!) we waited for about half an hour for our luggage, before heading home, thankfully with all 6 pieces!
Conclusion
It is clear to see why Alitalia is losing money. It has a proactive marketing department getting bums on seats with low fares, but the infrastructure of the entire operation cannot keep up, to the extent that they have to spend more money rectifying all the problems that occur. The security situation cannot have helped, but overbooking a flight to Italy on a Saturday is just asking for trouble! However the service end of the airline was extremely professional. Every single person we encountered went out of their way to help us and make us more comfortable, and it is that element of an airline that always makes you want to fly them again.
Despite all the problems we have, I was still left with an overly favourable impression of Alitalia, and will have no hesitation in flying with them again if I get the chance.
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