I decided to make a last minute visit to family and friends living in the south of Peru. I would normally stick to LAN as with most of my travel, however their evening flights were sold out. My second option Avianca was asking for USD 309 which was way too much, but fortunately Peruvian Airlines in their attempt to keep growing in the Peruvian market was only charging USD 134 for a ticket bought with less than 24 hours in advance. Their schedules suited my timings so I took chance to try a new airline.
My flight was leaving LIM at 7pm on a Friday night. I arrived the airport more than one hour before the flight. There was quite a line for check in and no automatic quiosks to retrieve my boarding pass
so I had to make the queue. There was only one check in agent. After about ten minutes more agents came to help and speed up the process. After 20 minutes in line I was checked in. I was forced to check my carry on because the airline will only let me take one item in cabin. I Didn't understand the point, because backpacks and other small items can go below the seat and leave the overhead lockers strictly for carry ons, but well…
I went straight to security and boarding had already started when I arrived my gate.
However it took sometime to complete since there were many passengers still behind me in the check in line that were now making their way to the gate.
Legroom was good, I guess 33'' or 34''
Starting our taxi to the runaway
We were greeted by the lead FA, however we never saw her. I first thought it was a pre recorded announcement, but I then I realized that it was actually being delivered by someone.
Safety demo was done manually and cabin lights were deemed for takeoff.
Once we reached cruising altitude two male crew members started delivering the inflight service from the front of the cabin. It consisted in a small sandwich and a muffin. I had a coke to drink. I also realized that there was also booze on offer (JW red and Pisco). The crew was alright but that's it. They did took the time to explain all the drink options to passengers though, but were certainly not very happy about working on a Friday night!
Snack, the sandwich was pretty tasteless, however the muffin was good.
After a flying time of 1h and 5 minutes we landed in Arequipa. We were the only ones at the time of landing but a LC Peru 733, an LA and AV A320's landed in the next half an hour or so.
AQP arrivals hall
Since I was still hungry, I went for some coffee and cake, before continuing my journey by road.
This is all from me for now. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing this up! I will post the return flight in the next couple of days!
Feedback/constructive criticism always welcome!
Hi 767,
Nice short report. I was very curious about the 734, seems to have a decent seating and service for such a short hop to AQP. I am glad P9 has already a well settled place in the current market of airlines in Peru.
Just for info LC Peru doesn't operate 733, they only fly the 735 in their Boeing fleet.
Have a safe trip back and do report it!
GC.
Hi Giancarlo, thanks for dropping by,
Yes P9's 734's are pretty comfortable, however legroom on their 733 on the way back was not as good. They have been successful in the Peruvian market and that is reflected on their growing market shares, however from what I have seen they have still some things to improve in termos of service.
Cheers
767traveller
Thanks for sharing this very exotic FR!
These B734s are old school! The ceiling in the cabin reminds me of the NH B763s that are 20-25 years old.
I’d be happy with this domestic catering on a 1-hour flight. Living in both the US and Japan, domestic catering is a thing of the past. Even offering alcohol is impressive.
Hi, thanks for leaving a comment!
Certainly flying a 734 feels like flying back in time! Yes, I understand that this catering is miles ahead from the pack of nuts you get in US domestic flights, however it is pretty standard according to Latin American standards. I was also impressed that they served free booze on such a short flight!