This was one of the rare occasions where Air Europa used the Airbus A330 on the MAD-ORY-MAD route. As I planned to travel on that day, and as I'm an aviation geek, I selected this flight instead of an earlier or later one.
After a quick security check, I visited the recently opened Premium Traveler Lounge in Hall 1. This lounge is shared by Air Europa, Iberia, TAP, among others, and also accessible with lounge cards such as Priority Pass. We had access due to our Skyteam Elite+ status, but it took the lounge agent some time to be able to process our entry.
The food offer consisted of sandwiches, chips and crackers, peanuts, and pasta salad.
On the drinks side, wine, cava, spirits, and soft drinks were offered
A few pictures of the lounge
Afternoon departures
After having a quick snack, we returned to the gate area, which was completely crowded. Two different boarding gates were used, one for SkyPriority, Business, and the front section of Economy, and another one for the back section of Economy. However, passengers were confused because the gate agents didn't make it obvious during their announcements. An agent went through every line and sorted all the passengers in their correct lines, otherwise, it would have been a disaster.
Boarding started with a 30-minute delay and priorities were respected
Air Europa old business class
Personal entertainment
Legroom was decent
Food for purchase menu
Very expensive wifi
Pushback and taxi with a 30-minute delay…
…And we are off to Madrid.
We were unable to use the personal entertainment, but cartoons were played during the flight, including road runner and tom and jerry
View of the cabin. The flight was completely full
Landed with a 25-minute delay due to the late departure…
…and taxied to the international concourse, so pax bus was the way to get off.
I took advantage of the situation and were able to snap a few nice shots of the airplane and the neighbor that was getting ready to depart to Buenos Aires
Welcome to Madrid!
The plane looks very tired, I doubt I'd take it on a short haul flight if I have the choice to pick AF instead.
Let's not talk about 12 hours on this same aircraft from Bolivia or Chile :)
It is very tired indeed. I rarely book on Air Europa, even on the Dreamliner, but for this short trip, I just choose it to have a different (but poor, in general) experience.