T5
Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 747-4HAF(ER), OO-THD by mike_juliet_kilo, on Flickr
EAT Leipzig (DHL) Airbus A300B4-622R(F), D-AEAF by mike_juliet_kilo, on Flickr
Delta Air Lines Boeing 767-332(ER), N1609 by mike_juliet_kilo, on Flickr
China Southern Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, B-2736 by mike_juliet_kilo, on Flickr
British Airways Airbus A380-841, G-XLEF by mike_juliet_kilo, on Flickr
Biman Bangladesh Airlines Boeing 777-3E9(ER), S2-AFO by mike_juliet_kilo, on Flickr
Avianca Airbus A330-243, N975AV by mike_juliet_kilo, on Flickr
T5A great report, Maikel, with some brilliant pictures as well. I experienced the Dreamliner for the first time last month – flying to and from Guangzhou with China Southern Airlines. The electronic dimming windows kept me amused for most of the 11-12 hour legs!
T5Great shots, Andrew. The sunrise/sunset shots are especially good.
T5Great report, Mongu.
I couldn’t agree more about Dallas Fort Worth. I flew through it twice a few years ago, en-route from Orlando to London Heathrow. On both occasions, I got from the aircraft to my next departure gate in less than five minutes! Ideal when the connection time was a mere 40 minutes. The Skylink makes getting between terminals/gates very easy.
T5The LAX tickets went on sale a little while ago
As did Hong Kong, I think. The airline was selling return tickets to both cities for £499 return.
T5Great, sharp shots! 🙂
T5Nice shots. I am flying into Aberdeen for the first time next week.
T5Excellent shots. What are the viewing facilities like at Zurich now? I know that the observation deck that I once used was knocked down some time ago, but there were plans to replace it?
T5Great shots! You were lucky to get such variety.
I am a bit puzzled to see the Thai 747 though as I thought that both daily flights had been switched to the A340-600. :confused:
T5I have made two trips to Thailand with Emirates and agree that they are overrated. Whilst the service in premium cabins might be of a high standard, I have found the economy service to be consistently poor, and I have come across a handful of staff who lack the most basic of service skills. It’s not an airline I plan to fly with again any time soon.
T5No, but it does seem very good value for money given that an overnight stay is included.
After a short break, the Monarch Enthusiast Days are back! Whether you’ve been a regular on our popular events, or have been dying to hear about the next one, the next event is imminent and we’re going international!
On Thursday 5th and Friday 6th July, we’re taking the Enthusiast Day concept to Italy. We’ll be offering you the chance to sample the fantastic Monarch service on one of our newest scheduled routes to one of Europe’s most famous airports, Milan Malpensa. In addition to return flights from either Manchester of Gatwick airports to Malpensa, you will enjoy an overnight stay in the Sheraton Airport Hotel, guided tours of the fantastic “Volandia” aviation museum and behind the scenes access to one of Italy’s busiest airports, including the unique opportunity to go to the top of the Air Traffic Control tower!
Trips will depart from Manchester and London Gatwick Airports, so take your pick, and we look forward to welcoming you along. The itineraries can be found below:
From Manchester:
Thursday 5th July 2012
1200 – Assemble at Monarch Airlines’ check-in, Terminal 2, Manchester Airport
Collect boarding passes for our flight to Milan Malpensa (MXP)1410 – Depart on Monarch Airlines scheduled service ZB1398 to Milan Malpensa
The flight operates on a Monarch Airlines Airbus A321-2001720 – Arrive at Milan Malpensa
1800 – Check in to our rooms at the Sheraton Hotel, Malpensa Airport, opposite Terminal 1
The evening is then free for you to enjoy dinner or explore the various photo opportunities around the Malpensa perimeter. A map showing safe spots in the area around Terminal 1 will be provided.
Friday 6th July 2012
Enjoy a buffet breakfast in the Sheraton hotel at your leisure
0915 – Assemble in the hotel reception area prior to our first visit of the day
0930 – Guided tours of some of the behind-the-scenes locations in Terminal 1, including:
• Baggage Handling System
• Airport Control Room
• VIP Lounge1100 – A unique and very special opportunity to visit the Malpensa Air Traffic Control Tower
1300 – After a short walk, there will be a break for lunch in the café at the “Volandia” museum
1430 – An English-speaking tour of Volandia has been arranged, including:
• Various exhibits on the history of aeronautics in Italy
• The Space Pavilion
• Flight Simulators1730 – A short walk will take us back the Terminal 1 Departures Hall
1800 – Check-in for our return flight to Manchester
2030 – Depart on Monarch Airlines scheduled service ZB1399 to Manchester
The flight operates on a Monarch Airlines Airbus A321-2002135 – Arrive at Manchester Airport, Terminal 2
2145 – Proceed through arrivals and say our goodbyes
From Gatwick:
Thursday 5th July 2012
1345 – Assemble at Monarch Airlines’ check-in, South Terminal, London Gatwick Airport
Collect Boarding Passes for our flight to Milan Malpensa (MXP)1600 – Depart on Monarch Airlines scheduled service ZB7206 to Milan Malpensa
The flight operates on a Monarch Airlines Airbus A320-2001855 – Arrive at Milan Malpensa
1945 – Check in to our rooms at the Sheraton Hotel, Malpensa Airport, opposite Terminal 1
The evening is then free for you to enjoy dinner or explore the various photo opportunities around the Malpensa perimeter. A map showing safe spots in the area around Terminal 1 will be provided.
Friday 6th July 2012
Enjoy a buffet breakfast in the Sheraton hotel at your leisure
0915 – Assemble in the hotel reception area prior to our first visit of the day
0930 – Guided tours of some of the behind-the-scenes locations in Terminal 1, including:
• Baggage Handling System
• Airport Control Room
• VIP Lounge1100 – A unique and very special opportunity to visit the Malpensa Air Traffic Control Tower
1300 – After a short walk, there will be a break for lunch in the café at the “Volandia” museum
1430 – An English-speaking tour of Volandia has been arranged, including:
• Various exhibits on the history of aeronautics in Italy
• The Space Pavilion
• Flight Simulators1730 – A short walk will take us back the Terminal 1 Departures Hall
1800 – Check-in for our return flight to London
1955 – Depart on Monarch Airlines scheduled service ZB7207 to London Gatwick
The flight operates on a Monarch Airlines Airbus A321-2002040 – Arrive at London Gatwick Airport, South Terminal
2100 – Proceed through arrivals and say our goodbyes
The event will be escorted by Monarch Airlines staff members who will be on hand to answer questions. The Volandia tour will be escorted by museum volunteers, and tours of the Malpensa facilities will be escorted by SEA staff. There will be plenty of walking, so guests are recommended to wear comfortable shoes, and pack lightly.
All this for just £149 per person in a single room or £129 per person sharing a twin or double room. Places are limited – so book now via Monarch Airlines Reservations: 0843 227 1312 (calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras)
T5but they are also have a few of the new Dreamliners on order
And they’ll be charging a £20 supplement per person, per return flight, for the privilege of flying on the thing.
T5Thanks a lot for sharing. Great shots!
Thanks for posting. Good photos but ugly ugly aeroplane
Couldn’t agree more. I am not a fan of the 787 either.
T5Thanks all for the comments. I just wanted to reply to some of the points raised.
Firstly you say that the airline needs to think about it’s passengers before feeding well sort after meal choices to the crew…from personal experience as crew, this is never the case. We get totally different meals from the passengers (sometimes they are the same or very similar to the pax meals but usually they are totally different)
I am aware that crew are served different meals to the passengers but the meal finally offered to me had a ‘chicken’ label on top, an identical coloured foil lid to other passengers eating the same dish and it looked identical too. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that the meal given up by this member of crew was actually intended for a fare-paying passenger. I can only assume that the crew meal wasn’t up to much on that occasion and a spicy chicken curry dish had much more appeal.
The second point about having three choices in economy…I can see the argument both for an against. At the airline I fly for, we also offer 3 choices in economy; 2 meat and 1 vegetarian. Your right in the sense that passengers are left feeling disappointed, however ALL passengers – if they they so wish – can pre-order there meal choice when making their booking, whether it’s vegetarian or a meat choice. Since I started working onboard, I was surprised at how many different types of meal that passengers can pre-order.*
Few, if any, airlines will not ask about a passenger dietary requirements during the online booking process. The same is the case with travel providers like Ebookers, Expedia etc. And as you point out, there are a surprisingly high number of special meals available – British Airways appear to offer 18, for example.
When the crew reached me and again explained that my preferred choice of meal had run out, I was left feeling disappointed, but this was becoming a regular occurrence. Behind me, there were still at least 8 rows of passengers in need of feeding, so as many as 45-50 passengers were offered vegetarian meals or nothing at all. If this many passengers do not get a choice of meal, then it suggests problems with the airline’s catering calculations. If passengers with dietary requirements order a special meal at the time they book their flight, the third option of meal could be eliminated altogether, allowing meat-eating passengers their choice of a meaty dish.
With all vegetarians getting a meal to suit their needs and all meat-eating passengers getting a meal containing meat, it is a win-win situation. It would surely mean less ‘aggro’ for the crew to deal with as well.
One point I would like to make, and this isn’t aimed at you, is that sometimes passengers forget their on a plane…if we run out of something, we cant just pop to the local supermarket.*:rolleyes:
I think that all travellers accept that at 35,000ft, little can be done to please them if their preferred choice of meal is not available, but the airline should surely set off with an adequate number of each type of meal? Based on my comments above, approximately 25% of the economy passengers did not receive any choice of meal, despite having been offered a menu with three meal choices at the beginning of the flight. If this situation had occurred on only one of my four flights with the airline, then fine, but it was a regular occurrence. Only on the fourth and final flight (Muscat to Heathrow) could I choose between all three meal options.
Oman Air doesn’t seem like a very good airline to me. True, some things it appears to do well but the meal choices were a mess and to be told by a stewardess that you could not sit in your allotted seat because some person decided he needed to sit by his wife would mean that I would never, for that reason alone, fly the airline again.
Thanks for the comments.
I suppose that the crew member saw little harm in asking the question. The worst I could do was to answer “no” and she had at least tried to work something out for the man and his wife. I simply made the point that I had selected my seat at the time of booking the flight, knowing that the Easter period would almost certainly see full loads on the once-daily service. Had the gentleman not have made my seat his upon boarding, I might have been a little more accommodating! But the minor criticisms aside, Oman Air were excellent, and I would highly recommend them.
Thanks for taking the time to post such an informatve report. Been looking at flights to BKK, and Oman Air always seem to come out at a good price, so this has been quite useful to me. Cheers.
At the time of booking (mid-January), Thai Airways were available at the slightly cheaper price of £635.00 and it was a tempting offer as they are another carrier that I am very fond of. The service is consistently of a high standard and the catering is unbeatable but the absence of a personal TV screen on an 11-12 hour flight is something I can no longer do without. It’s great to see that the Airbus A340-600s are gradually being utilised on the Heathrow route and, judging by an advertisement I saw only a few days ago, all passengers travelling to Thailand with them now benefit from a personal 9″ screen. I can only assume that a number of the 747s have also been refitted.
In the low season, however, Oman Air are more often than not one of the cheapest carriers (usually beaten only marginally by Air India and Jet Airways). If you can get a cheap flight with them, then be sure to give them a go. You will not be disappointed – assuming you get your first choice of meal and that you are not asked to give up your seat for another passenger!
Sign In
