I - GETTING TO THE AIRPORT II - LANDSIDE III - AIRSIDE IV - BOARDING V - FROM APRON TO THE AIR VI - CATERING 1 - BKF VII - CABIN VIII - CATERING 2 - SNACK IX - CRUISING VIEWS X - DESCENT AND LANDING TO JETBRIDGE XI - Deboarding XII - Immigration/luggages/customs XIII - Exiting the airport
I - GETTING TO THE AIRPORT
And we can start !
As our flight is scheduled at 8:35 AM I asked the waitress from the Novotel restaurant the day before what time should we leave to reach PER. She said 6 AM to avoid traffic jam ! Incredible. I did not listen her advises and we left in cab to arrive at PER at 6:54 AM so maybe we left at 6:35 AM and it was sufficient enough^^ People can be very stressed in Perth !
II - LANDSIDE
I directly went through the terminal to a self service kiosk machine, very easy to use for a QF first timer. Upon completion, I sticked on our luggages' tags and reached the bag drop off.
A friendly QF female employee was there and helped us getting bags on the carousel.
I told her it was our first time on QF and she whished us the welcome. Because of my clothes, she said I was well appointed… Undoubtedly, they seem to be happy helping people well dressed… I'll carry on !
We passed security in a whistle and got airside.
III - AIRSIDE
As the last right bottom hand corner monitor line shows, we will board Gate 9.
Great ! A small tarmac walk and some nice pictures to take (at leat, I'll try) !
My first QF ticket on my hand *proud*
IV - BOARDING
Gate available for a 8:15 AM boarding, this is a EK (5792) codeshared flight.
Behind the desks, press is available on the right hand side, headsets are as well but on the left hand side.
Our aircraft is VH-XZG, first flew on May the 22nd, 2013 not to say it is new
A QF A333 by our side bound for SYD
Her little name is Bungendore
In case you did not recognize her, she lets you know she is a 738 and Australian furthermore
Pitch is good !
Panasonic ex1 for narrowbody I imagine ?
My comfy seat
Seatback pocket content
My view, obstructed by rain unfortunately
V - FROM APRON TO THE AIR
Pushback
Passing by another QF 738 (VH-XZM), a VA F100 (VH-FZI), two VA 738 (2nd is VH-YIY), a Toll 733F (ZK-FXT) plus a QF 733F (VH-XWO)
Ready at holding point
Shes takes her time
Quiet but powerful take off on short Rwy 06 after Air Mauritius A332 did leave Rwy 03
And sun is up !
Winglet (maybe my better Winglet picture, I'd recommend you to see the Flickr album for better quality)
Of course, after more than 22hr journey ending just on Aug the 5th (we are the 7th), my legs start to feel weird. Qantas thinks of you :
Let's go back to our flight plan
VI - CATERING 1 BKF
As normal as it may sound to some of you, QF does a sort of on-demand breakfast on this flight! FAs heaten up meals and do the cabin once, if you want your meal right now (my case), they hand it to you. If you want to eat later, you can ! They'll pass again one or two times later on to offer other passengers their BKF.
I know some of you (french side) did complain about the lack of on demand dining on AF J class. So here we are, Red Deal Y fare QF offering it. Outstanding service (with smiles and recognizing immediately french people, articulating better).
Shame QF is not french…
Spinach Pumpkin and Haloumi Fritter with bacon for the main meal, coconut cake, white cheese, tic tac for the candies side and a Mount Franklin water bottle. Plus an apple juice
What a breakfast view… Crop circle ? :)
VII - CABIN
Upon BKF end, we went to a short cabin walk
Toilets unbelievably clean
Moodlight
VIII - Catering 2 Snack
Icing on the cake, we were handed small cookies to end our flight near Auvergne (fun as it is as well a centre french region)
IX - CRUISING VIEWS
Inflight views and progress
Approaching Tropical North
X - DESCENT AND LANDING TO JETBRIDGE
Darwin city
I like this one
After this magnificent flight, it is time to descend and land her
Landing (quite rough, thrust was reduced a few foot above runway but the flare was too important)
VA 738 once again : VH-VVC
VH-VXN, another QF 738
Gate 3 assigned for us
That view… VA738s, JQ A320, F70 Alliance, E170 Air North
Darwin sun is so intense
VH-VUY and sun's reflect on our winglet
Australians… already at work !!
XI - Deboarding
Smooth deboarding, I was just bound to thank the CCP for that flight !
XII - IMMIGRATION/LUGGAGES/CUSTOMS
Luggages did arrive in one piece and quite fast enough. I couldn't take pictures because DRW is a military shared facility with the civilian airport so some soldiers were in the building. I don't think they like pictures :)
XIII - EXITING AIRPORT
Fast luggages, but slow cab waiting line… A few cabs left with the first pax and then we had to wait for 20 minutes at least. What a pity !
Here is the outside
Aboriginal art sample
Bye DRW, another Toll 733 by the way
See more
Verdict
Qantas
10.0/10
Cabin10.0
Cabin crew10.0
Entertainment/wifi10.0
Meal/catering10.0
Perth - PER
8.5/10
Efficiency10.0
Access10.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness7.0
Darwin - DRW
7.2/10
Efficiency10.0
Access4.0
Services5.0
Cleanliness10.0
Conclusion
A perfect performance for QF. Amazing airline. Great comfort, Nice and friendly crew, working hard Nice and tasty catering As always, good IFE Panasonic ex1 Punctuality ? Listen to the landing video. Welcome to DRW where the local time is one thirty fiveeee... QF 10/10
On the fare side : 792AUD$ for 2 pax so 396/pax
0 LIKESLIKE TO THANK THE AUTHORTHANKS ! FLIGHT-REPORT LIKED
Glad you liked it (I'm trying to improve since the first real routing), maybe at the routing's end I'll decide whether I prefer write in French or English :)
My experience is that 95% of hotel staff around the world recommend leaving outrageously early to go to the airport. The rationale seems to be better 100 customers who waste an extra hour at the airport, rather than one who misses his flight or barely catches it. I didn't know that Australia had time zone offset by half hours (and daily saving time in part of the country, too). It seems inconvenient. Thanks for sharing ! PS : please add QF to the flight number.
Yeah, I agree with Marathon, the hotel staff was being conservative to account for the 1% chance there is traffic. If they told you to leave later and you ran into problems, who would you be mad at? I would leave early just to do spotting :)
I love boarding from the tarmac for the close-up shots. The B738 looks great on the outside and inside. Always nice to get a newer plane with BSI. QF seems to offer a very good hard-product even on domestic flights (although I guess most transcons are pretty long).
Catering looks very strong on QF, that's better than what most carriers offer for breakfast on international flights in Y. The sweets at the end are a nice bonus to round off a great service.
It's always interesting to see how quickly you can go from brown to green in desert areas.
Thank you! I do appreciate these comments, if you're enjoying reading, I'll probably enjoy writing the next part ! Just have to do a break for a few days to fail (or pass, one never knows^^) some exams!
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11 Comments
I didn't know that Australia had time zone offset by half hours (and daily saving time in part of the country, too). It seems inconvenient.
Thanks for sharing !
PS : please add QF to the flight number.
Yeah, I agree with Marathon, the hotel staff was being conservative to account for the 1% chance there is traffic. If they told you to leave later and you ran into problems, who would you be mad at? I would leave early just to do spotting :)
I love boarding from the tarmac for the close-up shots. The B738 looks great on the outside and inside. Always nice to get a newer plane with BSI. QF seems to offer a very good hard-product even on domestic flights (although I guess most transcons are pretty long).
Catering looks very strong on QF, that's better than what most carriers offer for breakfast on international flights in Y. The sweets at the end are a nice bonus to round off a great service.
It's always interesting to see how quickly you can go from brown to green in desert areas.
Is Toll cargo?
Just have to do a break for a few days to fail (or pass, one never knows^^) some exams!
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