I had spent the last week on a beach town located two and a half hours away from Arequipa city. The day before we decided to arrive early to the city allowing us enough time to have lunch in the city centre before catching our respective flights home.
First we went to the airport to leave our luggage. I directed myself to the Peruvian Airlines counters while my family went to LAN's. The check in lady was professional, she gave me my boarding pass, but did not allow me to check my carry on since they had earlier flights to check in before. At the next set of counters, LAN's check in staff went above and beyond to accommodate my family's needs. I was impressed by their service! They were certainly enjoying their jobs. I ended giving my carry on to my mum for she to check it in as hers.
Then we chose to go to Chicha for lunch, a well known Peruvian-Fusion restaurant owned by world famous chef Write down your text between these tagsGaston Acurio located in the heart of Arequipa's city centre, built on a colonial mansion.
I was slightly disappointed with the food. There are far better places to esta in Arequipa, but at least the setting is nice. After lunch I bid goodbye to my family who went to catch their flight, while I went to have a quick stroll around the city centre since I still had some time in my hands.
After 20-30 minutes of walking around, I decided to make my way to the airport. I would still be early for my flight, however I could make full use of the lounge and get some work done there so I went without worry.
Arequipa's airport has been renovated recently. It was operated by the state until 2010-11 and was poorly managed. Now it is operated by a joint venture between a Peruvian investment fund and Corporación America, a brunch of Argentina's state airport operator AA 2000. Fortunately the airports they manage overseas such as GYE, MVD are very well maintained and AQP is no exception. The airport currently has two jet bridges, but two more will be constructed in the next two years. Although it is no architecture wonder, I do like how it is looking.
Back to the report, I went straight to security and then was straight to the lounge that is located downstairs.
The lounge is small but smartly laid out. Food and drink options are limited to crisps, muffins, biscuits and soft drinks. There is quite a good selection of beers though.
When I arrived it was packed with passengers from an earlier LA flight. Fortunately their flight started boarding soon and there were only three of us left in the lounge.
Wifi is painfully slow. Apparently they change the code frequently, since it was not the same than the one I was given two weeks ago, so there is no chance than people that are not in the lounge are using that network. I only managed to clear email. I couldn't even track my flight on flightradar.
After more than one hour in the lounge, the lady came to tell me that I could make my way upstairs.
I obeyed but when I arrived to the gate boarding had not started yet. I took that time to buy some chocolates to bring back home.
I was one of the first to board but the plane was already about half full since the flight was coming from Tacna.
Fewer passengers boarded at AQP than what I would have thought so. I was a bit annoyed by the fact that I saw plenty of free seats in the front of the cabin, but at check in I was told there were no free seats in front of row 11. At least the middle seat next to me remained free.
Safety demo was done manually and we were told to turn off all electronic devices for takeoff.
The snack consisted once again on a tasteless sandwich and a muffin that I didn'"/>
I spent the remaining of the flight listening to music on my phone, until the captain instructed the crew to prepare the cabin for landing. One of the flight attendants was very rude when asking passengers to turn off their devices for landing or to put their seats in the upright position... Yes I know it is frustrating since many passengers don'"/> I disobeyed and had some failed attempts of taking a picture while landing. However in reality the crew couldn'"/>
Since I had no bags to retrieve I went straight outside where my Uber driver was already waiting for me.
Thanks for reading! Feedback is appreciated. I have quite a few trips taking place in the next couple of months. Hopefully I will be able to upload at least a couple of FR'"/>
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Verdict
Peruvian Airlines
5.3/10
Cabin5.0
Cabin crew4.0
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Meal/catering7.0
Arequipa - AQP
7.5/10
Efficiency7.0
Access7.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness8.0
Lima - LIM
6.8/10
Efficiency6.0
Access7.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness7.0
Conclusion
Peruvian proved to be a decent option to fly from point A to point B without breaking the bank, even when purchasing the tickets at the last minute as I did. They have a growing market share, which is good. Catering was good if comparing it to US catering, nevertheless all of the carriers in the Peruvian domestic market offer something similar. I know that taking only two flights with them is not enough to judge their service, but so far my impression of that aspect has not been good. Will I fly them again? Yes, If prices remain below the competition.
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Thank you for your FR. It's always nice to learn about a new airline!
I was actually quite impressed that there was free food. In the US they would have gone once-around with the drink cart, then landed. I agree that the snack looks disgusting, but at least they gave you food. It kind of reminds me of the pre arrivel snack I got on EK764 JNB-DXB
I will fly P9 for the first time tomorrow morning to Tarapoto. Apparently the aircraft assigned is their only B735. I am definitely looking forward to the trip and expect a better service than LAN.
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4 Comments
I was actually quite impressed that there was free food. In the US they would have gone once-around with the drink cart, then landed. I agree that the snack looks disgusting, but at least they gave you food. It kind of reminds me of the pre arrivel snack I got on EK764 JNB-DXB
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