#32 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
176 reviews
Flight Details:
Airlines: Qantas
Flight: QF91 SYD - NOU
Reg: VH-XZH "McLaren Vale"
Aircraft: Boeing 737-838
Class: Economy
Departure Sydney Terminal 1 Gate 50: 7.00am
Arrival Noumea La Tontouta: 10.50am
Flight time: 2 hours 50 minutes
Distance: 1971 km or 1225 miles
This is the trip report from Sept 2023. I had planned to visit Japan for many years. This year, it became possible.
I had many options to fly between Australia and Japan, chose to book with Aircalin to experience a different airline and route.
I booked ticket through the Aircalin website, booking was easy and quick. I had 14 hours transit in New Caledonia. I chose this flight as I would be able exit the airport and explore the country.
Before the flight, I tried to check-in for the flight was unable to proceed as flight was code-shared with Qantas.
Prior to departure, I had received an email from Qantas with a booking reference, I was able to login to the site.
Was unable to continue, received below message.
I booked taxi to arrive early at the airport as I wasn't able to complete the check-in
Arrived at the departure level and paid the taxi. Airport was not busy as most flight arrive after 5a.m
Flight schedule
Checked the aisle information and entered the terminal.
Qantas has self-check kiosk for economy passengers.
I scanned passport and was able to generate boarding pass and baggage tag. I received the boarding pass for both the flights.
I then proceeded towards the baggage drop, scanned the boarding pass.
Bag was checked till Tokyo, a baggage receipt was printed.
Business check-in counter, I completed the self check-in process in 10 minutes
Walking towards departure area
Flight schedule
Entered the immigration area, scanned my passport and was in the security check area.
Security was not busy and was out in 10 minutes after all the formalities.
I had very little sleep at night, decided to keep awake by having some food with coffee.
Sat near the window and spotted a Qantas Boeing 737-800
After breakfast, walked towards the boarding gate.
Duty free shops had started to open.
Departure was from Gate 50 which was on a different pier
Gate 50 is the first gate on the right.
I reached near gate after an hour which still plenty of time.
Boarding gate was filled with Jetstar passengers to Bali which was would be departing at 6.15am
Jetstar flies the new Airbus A321Neo to Bali from Sydney. Departure gate 54 for the Bali flight.
Tarmac view as Jetstar preparing for pushback. Qantas Boeing 737-800 would be operating to Noumea.
Plenty of time for boarding.
Qantas Boeing 737-838
Took photo of the boarding pass and passport to fill immigration details
I found a spot to charge phone and get some sleep. As I was resting, a group of guys, took seats around to charge their phones. I could not rest after that due to tho noise. I charged the phone and then moved to a quieter seat. Boarding was called and gate was open.
Passenger for the Noumea flight. Can see the group seated under the Qantas screen.
View of the aircraft as cargo was loaded.
Qantas Boeing 737-838 VH-XZH "McLaren Vale" operating QF91 SYD - NOU
Boarding was called by rows.
As I was seated in the first seat behind business. Boarded at the end.
Passport was checked and boarding pass scanned.
Aerobridge to board the aircraft.
Was quickly near the door as other had already boarded.
Crew checking boarding pass and directing passengers.
My seat was behind the business seats, which was separated by a plastic divider.
Window view
Crew at the door as the last passengers boarded the flight. Door was closed and welcome announcement was made.
Aerobridge was withdrawn, pushback commenced on time.
Window view as aircraft was pushed. Safety demonstration was conducted manually as well as from the drop down screen.
Planespotting, Batik - Malaysia from Kuala Lumpur
Boeing and Airbus
Emirates A380-800
Tug released. taxi would commence soon.
Morning peak
American carriers
Singapore Airlines A380 towed to gate
Crossing runway 16R-34L
Crossing runway 7-25
Planespotting location - Shep's Mound.
After a long taxi of almost half hour, aircraft taxied towards runway 34R
Two aircrafts ahead and two landing later, aircraft entered the active runway
Runway 34R, shorter of the main runways.
Runway view, aircraft would departs towards North then turn East immediately.
Views of the control tower and International Terminal 1 and the cross runways
Flying over runway 7-25, view of Sydney's 3 terminals: 1 - International, 2 - Jetstar, Virgin Australia, Rex Airlines and others and 3 - Qantas domestic
View of Eastern suburbs
Flying over Tasman sea, view of Wedding Cake Island and Sydney's famous beaches - Maroubra, Coogee and Bondi.
Flying East, Pilot made announcement and mentioned the long taxi also providing flight details.
Seat pocket material contained the Qantas magazine, safety card and air sickness bag.
Qantas Magazine
Qantas route map
Qantas Boeing 737-800 safety card
Crew distributed New Caledonia immigration form. I filled the details in the form and was ready for breakfast service.
Seated in the first row of economy, entertainment screen was stowed in the armrest.
Crew announced breakfast would commence shortly. Seated in the 1st economy seat was served first.
Flight time for the flight was 2 hours 50 minutes
Breakfast was served after 30 minutes of departure.
Flight information
Choice was Chicken sausage, omlette, spinach and bake beans. I asked for coffee to drink.
I finished the food and sipped coffee as other were being served.
Flight map
View of business class. Tray was cleared soon after.
The entertainment screen kept falling down due to weak arm. I wasn't interested in watching anything early in the morning, looked out and enjoyed the view.
Time passed and Pilot announced descend would be commencing soon.
On approach
Flight information
Route map
Approaching New Caledonia island.
Engine view
Pilot informed cabin crew to be seated for landing.
Turning to line up with runway
View of the hills on approach
View of a lake as wheels were released.
Window view
Landed smoothly on runway 11
View of Noumea - La Tontouta International Airport. which has a single runway 11-29.
Noumea has two airport - La Tontouta International and Nouméa Magenta Airport.
La Tontouta International Airport is approximately 37 km (23 mi) northwest of Nouméa. Nouméa Magenta Airport is a domestic airport, which is 3 km east-northeast of the city centre of Nouméa.
La Tontouta International Airport serves international flights, while Nouméa Magenta Airport, within the city of Nouméa, serves domestic flights.
Taxi to terminal
View of the runway
La Tontouta International Airport has two aerobridge.
Aircraft info
I disembarked after the business passengers. Most passengers on this flight were O&D type with very few transit.
Aerobridge, it was a hot day specially after coming from Australian winter.
View of the other aerobridge.
Welcome sign
Walking towards the terminal building.
More signs in French, English and Japanese.
After entering the building, have to walk another 5 - 10 minutes for immigration
Long corridor towards immigration, followed by another stair or escalator to the ground level.
Directions for immigration
Walking towards immigration
Immigration queue was short, 3 counters were open. Officer asked me how long I would be in New Caledonia. I informed him that I had 14 hours of transit, he stamped passport and I was allowed to enter the country.
As I had nothing to declare, I walked through the green channel.
I was one of the first to exit the immigration. Very few people in the arrivals.
I wasn't able to find enough information regarding New Caledonia online. I spent some time walking around the terminal to familiarise.
Time was almost 11a.m.
I would be returning back to the same terminal after few hours in the evening. I had boarding pass for the next flight as my bag was checked till Tokyo, had only a carry bag.
Qantas Check-in
I stepped outside the terminal building was considering options, how to get to the city.
I walked towards the end of the building to use the toilet as I was exploring the airport.
I saw rental car boards and decided to check the prices. I was looking for a small automatic car.
I checked and was informed that by staff that he had only a medium car.
He asked me how many days, I would rent. I said about 5-6 hours as I would be returning to the airport in the evening.
I was quoted a price in Pacific franc. I asked him to convert prices in Australian dollar, I thought the price was reasonable. I took full insurance cover for the car.
Taxi would have cost almost same as I had checked approximate price online. Bus was not an option as I wasn't familiar with the system.
I had thought earlier to take transit bus to city but would have meant I would have to explore the city walking or take a taxi.
Being a hot day, I didn't want to walk.
I decided to rent the vehicle. Handed my driver license, passport and credit card. I got the car key. Took about 20 mins to complete the process.
Another customer followed me, He was from Australia. We chatted and he suggested me to check the beach.
I got a Toyoto Raize, a model I saw for the first time.
My 1st left hand driving experience. I just kept reminding myself to remember keep incoming and yield to traffic on the left. Took about 5 mins to get feel and understand the dimensions of the vehicle.
As seen in the dashboard, temp was 30 degrees.
Directions
Noumea La Tontouta - terminal and car parking, photo taken from rental parking. I started driving from airport around 11.45am.
Drive to city took almost 45 minutes, I got familiar with the vehicle and road condition. Airport road speed limit was 110kms, elsewhere speed was down to 30kms
As I was suggested to check the beach while at the car rental. I followed the main roads to the beach. I had to do some guess work as I didn't have google maps nor phone service. Being a small city and good signs, I was able to manage without much issue.
I drove to the famous - Anse Vata beach in Noumea. As parking was free, I stopped in a car park close to the beach and walked to explore the place.
Pier
Being a hot day, I wasn't prepared for the beach. So I sat in the shade and enjoyed the cool breeze.
Shops close to the beach
Local prices. Prices are in Pacific Franc's which is pegged to Euro.
French bank - BNP Paribas
French flag
Speed limit
I rested in shade till 3p.m
Beach side view
As it got cooler, decided to explore other parts of the city.
Anse Vata beach view
Sun, beach and coconut trees
Perfect beach weather
Public bus
View of marina
This concludes the trip report.
I hope you enjoyed reading this trip report.
Thanks for reading the report and watching the video.
:)
Qantas flight was code-share with Aircalin. Flight departed and arrived on time. Purpose of choosing this flight was to get longer transit time to explore the country.
Entertainment was available but I did not check being early morning, I decided to take rest. Wi-fi was not available on the aircraft. Breakfast was ok. Crew was ok, I did not interact except for the breakfast.
Cabin felt old, seat was comfortable, Entertainment screen was hard to remove and was not remain steady.
Overall a satisfactory flight as I had minimum expectations.
6 Comments
I hope that Australia to remain the lucky country and not to see the US system followed here.
Thanks for your comment.
The flight indeed looks very comfy with such great legroom. Nice service, nice food. I am not a fan of the self-service luggage check-in but it seems to be more and more common nowadays, even in Europe.
I gather you enjoyed the long layover and the car rental was definitely a good idea. The ground views are as nice as those from the window seat. Thanks a lot for sharing that. Looking forward to reading the next part.
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