#48 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
346 reviews
I found these old pictures from my first business trip from Paris to Santander in 2009 and wanted to share it with you guys!
The policy of our company was generous at the time as they insisted only legacy carriers should be used and through the american express travel agency.
At the time the checkin luggage was included in the price and so the choice of seats too.
My colleague and I took a very early taxi to go to Orly airport - which mainly serves mainland/overseas territories but for obscure reasons the Iberic peninsula too.
We arrived at Orly Airport, Terminal Ouest which was and still is predominantely used by Air France. We did check in at the counter and asked to be seated together. This was the time where the lady at the counter was offering you to choose between a few pairs of seats!
As this was a flight within the shenghen area, there was no passport control but, once passed the duty free area just a single baording pass check point. This point was dedicated to the far north gates of the terminal that serves destinations in Europe and not mainland france (I don't remember seeing any orange birds nor any other low cost at this terminal at the time).
I think we boarded in a general way gate 11, there was no group no priority lane, but it could be that my memory is failing me so please feel free to correct me!
Aircraft: Airbus A321-213
Registration: EC-JLI
Engines: 2x CFM56
Age: was 4 years old in 2009
Layout: C24 Y184
Observation: Now in service for Iberia Express. In 2009 Iberia was still using the old logo and old livery; as the current brand was released in 2013.
The AvGEEK bit
The Spanish airline was founded in 1927 and was the pioneer of tourism in Spain in the 50's with this very route. Facing a harsh competition (probably the only country in Europe with such level of airlines) a merge with BA was seen as a good way forward (however thousands of jobs were cut). The airline has now as A320 family units than its own low cost airline, Iberia Express. Here in the north section of Paris Orly Ouest Terminal, historically dedicated to Iberian peninsula.
The one thing i remember is that the taxiing time was one of the shortests I have experienced, to the point that the plane, already positioned on the edge of the runway had to wait for the safety briefings to end before taking off!
And we did so from nearby runway 24 a few seconds later.
The purser was mainly talking in spanish, very little french. After 10,000 feet, the fasten seat belts sign was turned off, as the sky was fairly clear.
The seats were just like on the way out, made by Recaro, they were just about confortable. The particularity was the coat hook and the magasine rack being on top end of the seat in front, rather than in front of your knees. That type of seat is also now rolled out on British Airways fleet.
The Iberia Magazine, Ronda, was fairly well written, though mostly in Spanish. Looking at the articles again, I probably don't feel that young anymore as you can see here they are explaining that you can now check in online or by text message, which apparentely, was brand new!!
Already at the time, Iberia was charging for food and drinks on board, which felt already a disappointment.
I liked the Iberia magasine as it have a lot of techincal details about its fleet: the airline apparently didn't have yet its A330 and just relied on its A340 for long haul operations.
The rest of the flight went smoothly.
After a little less than 2 hours, the descent started.
We approached Madrid Barajas and we landed on the runway 33L.
After another short taxi, we arrived at the huge and colourful Terminal 4 - the main terminal, not its satellite T4S. We arrived at gate K80.
The terminal is bright and airy, and well organised, there are some ground staff helps you for direction if you have a connecting flight like we had.
We used the very long automatic walkways to reach the other gate of our second flight.
Conclusion
That was my first flight with Iberia, i felt the service was a really average; if not below. The next flight really felt better, and it was by the regional airline, Air Nostrum.
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