Review of InselAir flight Willemstad → Miami in Economy

Airline InselAir

Flight 7I-903

Class Economy

Seat 19B

Aircraft McD. Douglas MD-80

Flight time 02:35

Take-off 29 May 14, 10:50

Arrival at 29 May 14, 13:25

CUR MIA Willemstad Miami

3 reviews

By Curacao Aviation 4148

Published on 5th June 2014

Hello everyone. This will be my first report here. So please excuse me if the report is not that good, and the quality of the pictures are a bit hazy. Also excuse my English grammar since English is not my native language. Comments and suggestions are more than welcome. Our local airline Insel Air recently had a sale for tickets to Miami so my wife, the little one and me decided to hit Miami for the weekend to do some spotting and shopping. You have to keep the wife happy ;-). We arrived at HATO Airport here in Curacao at 8:00 to check in for the 10:00 flight for Miami.

After a quick check in we went straight for the departure hall.

While waiting for our flight i did some spotting. Photographing airplanes here is very difficult because of the use of double glass.
Surinam Airways Boeing 737 (PZ-TCO) just arrived from Paramaribo and Trinidad

Insel Air (PJ-MDF) getting ready for the Sto. Dominigo flight

Lineas Aereas Suramericanas (HK-4637) classic 727 just arrived from Bogota Colombia to bring in fresh meat for the local restaurants and flowers for The Netherlands.

Boarding began about 20 minutes late, with the announcement that passengers traveling with small children can board first. Lucky us. The boarding process looked a bit chaotic because many passengers did not respect the boarding procedure.

Seat pitch was very good for my 1.72 meters compared to American Airlines, the only other airline that flies between CUR and MIA. I flew on American last month on the same route.

Some shots of the seat and the safety card, Insel Air has his own inflight magazine called: INSIGHTS.

The Insel Air maintenance aerea with visible 2 MD-80 and two Fokker 50, there were also 2 EMB Banderaintes somewhere over there.

The seat belt and the color of the seats shows it's original operator. This beeing an ex ALITALIA MD

A view of the now empty terminal. Our flight left 50 minutes late. The funny part is that the cabin attendant informed us that this was because we were waiting for connecting passengers, and the captain informed us that this was because there was only one tow truck available for all departing aircraft. Between 10:00am and 11:00am the airport is very busy with a bunch of Insel Air MD's leaving for various destinations.

Some take off shots. The shots were quite blurry this because the window was very dirty and also the weather was hazy here in Curacao

The aircraft clearly shows it age. protective cover missing on the right side ceiling light.

Cruising at 30.000ft

After about 40 minutes flying the in flight service began. You could choose between a cheese sandwich or chicken sandwich. My wife took the cheese sandwich and i opted for the chicken sandwich. The sandwiches tasted pretty decent.

Flying over the island of Hispaniola. Hispaniola is a big island and contains two sovereign nations. Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Coffee service. Note that the cup was filled half empty.

The obligatory lavatory shots. The MD lavs are very small, and you can barely move around.

Arriving at very rainy Miami. This was not a good sign for my spotting part of the trip.

The cargo apron.

Our lady resting after a two and a half our flight.

And the highlight of my trip was………..

Verdict

InselAir

6.0/10

Cabin7.0

Cabin crew8.5

Entertainment/wifi2.0

Meal/catering6.5

Willemstad - CUR

6.5/10

Efficiency7.5

Access7.5

Services5.0

Cleanliness6.0

Miami - MIA

6.2/10

Efficiency1.0

Access8.0

Services8.0

Cleanliness8.0

Conclusion

Conclusion: Insel Air offers a basic product if you want to reach from point A to point B. The staff was very friendly and helpfull. Compared to American Airlines I would choose Insel Air. However the prices on this route vary so much so it is advised to check both airlines if you are flying on a budget like me. Miami aiport is huge. I very much like how they made the new Rental Car City. It takes a lot of traffic away from the terminals, however it looks like you are walking a marathon to reach the Rental Car building.

0
LIKES LIKE TO THANK THE AUTHOR

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10 Comments

02022001 — 4355 Comments 2014-06-05 16:25:29

Good report for the first. Thanks !
2014-06-05 16:25:29

Esteban — TEAM GOLD 12491 Comments 2014-06-05 16:46:37

Welcome and thank you for that first report that is very nice !!
2014-06-05 16:46:37

aurel-lil — 4214 Comments 2014-06-05 18:09:36

Welcome and congratulations for this 1st FR.

Very nice report on an amazing aircraft ;)

2014-06-05 18:09:36

lagentsecret — GOLD 12470 Comments 2014-06-05 18:41:16

Thanks for sharing your first FR and welcome aboard

Nice and comprehensive report

The catering is not so bad for a north american airline

See you soon for a next report
2014-06-05 18:41:16

Curacao Aviation — AUTHOR 2 Comments 2014-06-06 06:15:44

The catering was indeed better than that of American Airlines. American served only drinks on this two and a half hour flight. On the return flight on InselAir to CUR we even got a Turkey wrap and to be honest it tasted very good>
2014-06-06 06:15:44

Chibcha — 436 Comments 2014-06-05 20:04:54

Thanks for this first FR, hope there are more to come!

The plane surely shows its age and batter...hope InselAir manages to give them a nice retrofit someday, Mad dogs are really cool planes once omnipresent over here, but now vanished.
Nice pictures of the arrival to MIA, did you enter FL nearby Naples?

Didn't know we send meat to Curaçao...I reckon trade between both our nations is somewhat large because of the closeness...

Do you know how InselAir fares on its route to MDE?

Saludos!
2014-06-05 20:04:54

Curacao Aviation — AUTHOR 2 Comments 2014-06-06 06:24:06

I am not sure about the retrofits, however i heard that on the two newest MD aircraft's (PJ-SEF and PJ-SEG) the interior is very well kept, with leather seats and all. Also there are a few Fokker 70 expected this year for fleet growth. But they will be mainly based in Aruba for InselAir Aruba.

Currently we have both LAS 727 and Aerosucre 737 and 727 flying meat and flowers to Curacao. The flowers will then depart with KLM to AMS. I sure miss those Aerosucre Caravelles.

I have no idea how InselAir is doing on the MDE route, but is high on my wish list to try it out. So maybe my next Flight Report ? ;-)
2014-06-06 06:24:06

SMilano — 1292 Comments 2014-06-06 09:23:12

Welcome and thank's for sharing !

The catering is not so bad...

The cabin is from another age...

See you soon !
2014-06-06 09:23:12

KL651 — TEAM 4505 Comments 2014-06-06 14:33:30

Welkom en danku voor deze FR.

I understand fares on Carribean flights can be very expensive so I bet that promotion was a bargain.

Service is a bit small for the flight duration, but still better than what AA offers.
2014-06-06 14:33:30

KévinDC — TEAM SILVER 5361 Comments 2014-06-07 13:37:27

Thanks for sharing this first report with us! Very interesting with lots of good details. It's also nice to discover a new airline for the site! Love the A380 pic in MIA

Welcome to Flight-Report!

KevinDC / Community Manager & Mod
2014-06-07 13:37:27