Review of Tarom flight Tbilisi Bucharest in Economy

Airline Tarom
Flight RO130
Class Economy
Seat 14A
Aircraft Boeing 737-700
Flight time 02:15
Take-off 21 Aug 19, 05:25
Arrival at 21 Aug 19, 06:40
RO   #93 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 51 reviews
vinavia
By 1258
Published on 1st May 2020

Hi guys. Welcome to my next report on Flight-Report. Today, I will fly with TAROM from Tbilisi to Bucharest on Boeing 737-700. But first, please check out my trip report about this flight on YouTube. This video is more detailed than the script version on Flight-Report and has more special things there, so I hope you guys will check out, like the video and support to my channel by subscribe Vinavia on YouTube :D 



And here is the script report. Hope you guys will enjoy :D


Today's flight would start at Tbilisi International Airport, Tbilisi, Georgia.


photo screenshot_20200429_145604-57802

Let's get inside the terminal.


photo screenshot_20200429_145615

Departure hall of the airport


photo screenshot_20200429_145644

Today, I would fly on flight RO130 to Bucharest, and the estimated departure time would be 4.45 am. This was actually my 1st time flying with TAROM, and also flying to EU territory, so I was super excited for this flight :D


photo screenshot_20200429_145706photo screenshot_20200429_145715

I went to the airport too early so the check-in counters were not opened. After waiting for an hour, check-in counters were finally opened. Time to do check-in procedure.


photo screenshot_20200429_145728photo screenshot_20200429_145740photo screenshot_20200429_145750-75488

TAROM's check-in counters


photo screenshot_20200429_145801-99916

Check-in lines were really long but there were only 2 check-in counters available for this flight, which makes the procedure very slow. It took me 45 minutes to check my luggage and get the boarding pass. Now I went upstairs to clear immigration and security check procedures.


photo screenshot_20200429_145839photo screenshot_20200429_145854

30 minutes later, immigration and security check procedures were all done, then I made into airside.


photo screenshot_20200429_145902-48932photo screenshot_20200429_145932-49612

I headed to the departure gate for this flight right away, which located downstairs.


photo screenshot_20200429_145946photo screenshot_20200429_145954photo screenshot_20200429_150019-35784

The reason I chose TAROM for this journey was because TAROM is not a familiar airline in Europe, and I was really curious about their inflight services. So let's join this journey with me to see what is it like to fly with them :D


photo screenshot_20200429_150037-76141photo screenshot_20200429_150046photo screenshot_20200429_150059

Here was the departure gate of this flight: gate 202.


photo screenshot_20200429_150109

The gate was changed a little later. The new departure gate was gate 203, and this is a bus gate.


photo screenshot_20200429_150119

Boarding was called, and I got on the bus to get to the aircraft.


photo screenshot_20200429_150128

The distance to the aircraft so I quickly get the aircraft for this flight.


photo screenshot_20200429_150139

Here was the aircraft for today's flight, which is a Boeing 737-700. This B737-700 has the registration of YR-BGI, and it was 16.4 years old.


photo screenshot_20200429_150149photo img_20190821_044437

Here was my seat on this flight: seat 14A.


photo screenshot_20200429_150211

Legroom was quite decent, not too bad to me.


photo screenshot_20200429_150221

Tray table


photo screenshot_20200429_150239

AVOD controller, which was not function anymore.


photo screenshot_20200429_150250

The seat was comfortable but quite filthy, and the interiors were just like the age of this aircraft: old and outdated. But to be honest, it's quite interesting to be onboard thisold-fashioned cabin. I felt like traveling back to early 2000s.


photo screenshot_20200429_150303photo screenshot_20200429_150311

In spite of the outdated interiors, I really like those boxy overhead screens. It feels so vintage and old school.


photo screenshot_20200429_150326

30 minutes after boarding, the aircraft started to pushback and taxi to the runway.


photo screenshot_20200429_150335photo screenshot_20200429_150345

Take-off


photo screenshot_20200429_150359photo screenshot_20200429_150422photo screenshot_20200429_150432

About 25 minutes after take-off, snacks and drinks were served.


photo screenshot_20200429_150451-79368

I got a small turkey ham and cheese sandwich, and a chocolate wafer. For drink, I asked for a cup of orange juice. 


photo img_20190821_060051

Tea and coffee were served later on. And I asked for a cup of tea. Surprisingly, I haven't seen tea was served like this before: tea bag and hot water were separately.


photo img_20190821_060427

View from my window, and cabin view from my seat during the flight.


photo screenshot_20200429_150536photo screenshot_20200429_150552

The plane was flying over Black Sea now.


photo screenshot_20200429_150600

In the seat pocket, I only had a safety card and a sickness bag. Nothing else unfortunately.


photo screenshot_20200429_150617

Let's have a look at the lavatory in the back of the cabin. No surprise to see this lavatory to be this old, but it was also pretty clean and well-equipped. Not too bad, to be honest.


photo screenshot_20200429_150626photo screenshot_20200429_150654photo screenshot_20200429_150646

Cabin view


photo img_20200427_170736_873

Back to the seat, I took a look at TAROM's wireless inflight entertainment system called Air-Fi, which was available on this flight.


photo screenshot_20200429_150713photo screenshot_20200429_150749

There are moderate amount of contents like movies, TV shows, music or games in this system. Not bad to keep you entertained during short-haul flights, and  it's better than nothing ;)



But I just liked watching the flight map and on the overhead screens :D


photo screenshot_20200429_150953photo screenshot_20200429_151000

Since the flight departed super early in the morning, so I spent the rest of flight time to take a quick nap.


photo screenshot_20200429_151012photo screenshot_20200429_151025

15 minutes later, cabin light was turn on to prepare for descending and landing.


photo screenshot_20200429_151034photo screenshot_20200429_151105

After over 2 hours in the air, the aircraft started to descend and prepared for landing.


photo screenshot_20200429_151047photo screenshot_20200429_151055

The gorgeous landscape of Romania in sunrise started to appear outside the window :D


photo screenshot_20200429_151115photo screenshot_20200429_151125photo screenshot_20200429_151135

Landing


photo screenshot_20200429_151156photo screenshot_20200429_151242photo screenshot_20200429_151257

Disembarkation


photo screenshot_20200429_151326photo screenshot_20200429_151402photo img_20200428_154306_865

My journey had ended at Henri Coanda International Airport, Otopeni, Romania. Thank you for reading and watching, and see you in the next report :D


photo screenshot_20200429_151427photo screenshot_20200429_151440
See more

Verdict

Tarom

7.4/10
Cabin6.5
Cabin crew8.0
Entertainment/wifi8.0
Meal/catering7.0

Tbilisi - TBS

7.0/10
Efficiency6.5
Access7.0
Services7.5
Cleanliness7.0

Bucharest - OTP

7.4/10
Efficiency7.0
Access7.5
Services7.5
Cleanliness7.5

Conclusion

The check-in process was really slow. There were a lot of passengers at the queue but only 2 check-in counters available. The interiors were outdated and worn, but for me, the oldness of the cabin actually made me felt amazed about this flight. The flight departed and arrived a bit late than scheduled time. The meal was not much, but as an European carrier, havingcomplimentary snacks and drinks was a great achievement. Nowadays, not many airlines in Europe can provide free food and drinks on short flight, so big thumb up to TAROM for this. There were not many contents in the IFE system, but it still made you entertain during short flights, and it's better than nothing. Personally, looking at this old-fashioned flight map is the best way to entertain an aviation enthusiast like me. Also, a big compliment to the crews of this flight. They were professional and very friendly. In conclusion, despite all the bad things about the interiors, the flight was pleasant and I had a great experience with TAROM. I believe if TAROM modernizes their fleets and improve their inflight services, they will be a big name in Europe.

Related

4 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 552989 by
    KL651 TEAM 4534 Comments
    Thanks for this review.
    Decent old school experience indeed!
    RO is not so present compared to UIA or LOT for these eastern european/ caucasian destinations although their geographical position is pretty favourable.
  • Comment 553050 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6668 Comments
    The nice thing about these types of older cabins is that the older seats are usually much thicker and more comfortable than new slimline seats. It's definitely nice that there's streaming IFE on this plane...it's super modern in contrast with the 80's cabin interior, haha.

    Nice report as always!

Login to post a comment.