TRIP REPORT
We landed on time.
Submitted by Petar Djordjević
Route: Frankfurt – Madrid, Madrid - Malaga
April 11th
UX 1506
Frankfurt to Madrid route is served by numerous airlines: home based Lufthansa, Spanish Air Europa and Iberia, LAN Chile on route Santiago de Chile - Madrid - Frankfurt - Madrid - Santiago de Chile and God forbid them - Ryanair.
Lufthansa has 4 flights to Madrid, Iberia 3 flights, Air Europa 2 flights and Ryanair flies few times a week. (I did not want to open that website of that airline from my laptop. Sorry no!)
LAN Chile has 5th freedom right to fly on Madrid - Frankfurt - Madrid route and they do so using Boeing 787 Dreamliner. However, they fly from crowded Terminal 1 and because the plane continues to Chile, all passengers need to pass through passport control in both Frankfurt and in Madrid.
I try to avoid Lufthansa whenever possible, because they are more arrogant than the passengers. Living in the Rhein-Main area it is not quite easy, but on Madrid route, there are many options to choose from.
I was on Air Europa. I like them because of SkyPriority and they fly with a brand new Boeing 737-800 Next Generation. They also offered the next early morning flight from Madrid to Malaga, which fit my Andalusia trip great. Of course, I had to pay accommodation at the nearby hotel.
Check-in was easy with SkyPriority. I passed through security without any problems, then headed to the lounge. It is the Air France lounge at Terminal 2, operated by the Turkish company under the brand PrimeClass. Nothing special, except that most of the employees there are Serbs and Bosnians. They all came to me to say hello, in Serbian of course. Nice people. Ah yes, nice real champagne and real french croissants. I had my guest with me and he was allowed to enter the lounge because of my Flying Blue status.
Just before take off, we headed to the E gates (lounge is on the D side of Terminal 2).
Boarding had already started. The plane next to it was Air Namibia. I love their flight attendant uniforms. Sometimes they have check-in next to Air Serbia and I see their flight attendants in African style uniforms. Google it.
I like to board among the last ones. I usually do not carry all my belongings with me to the cabin regardless of the latest trend that made planes look like buses in India, so I do not have to fight with fellow passengers for the overhead bin space.
Air Europa celebrates 30 years this year, therefore, they marked it with a special livery on some of the airplanes.
My seat was in the row 22 or something and it took me some time to get to the seat. I like the window seat more than any other. All of the sudden I saw Air Serbia´s Airbus A319 from Belgrade, with my colleague Kristina coming back from her vacation.
The flight takes around 2 hours and 45 min.
After take off the flight attendants started BOB. I took some olives and a special edition of Estrella Galiciana beer. I do not remember the price. The flight attendants are nice and gave attention to passengers. Food and drinks in Spain can not be bad. In my numerous trips to Spain I have never had a bad experience with food. Never. Even the BOB tasted great compared to other airlines.
The beer was ice cold and it was enough for me, all together with champagne from the lounge, to sleep the rest of the flight.
My travel partner slept too.
I like the blue LED lights, very good for Zzzzz....
Soon it was time to land. The pursuer informed passengers with connecting flights about their gates for the onward flight. Most of them were to Latin America: Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Lima etc.
In Madrid, the new Terminal T4 is used exclusively by Iberia, Vueling and partner airlines. It is a modern looking terminal,but nothing too special. Old terminals can be much more passenger-friendly, because I have an opinion that sometimes the architects think how everyone else but passengers will like it. Anyway, we passed the Terminal T4 and arrived 2-3 minutes later at our gate.
We went to pick up the luggage which arrived after a few minutes. As usual, except in Asia, priority tag means nothing.
Few meters away from the taxi stand, there was hotel shuttle stand. Our shuttle arrived after a few minutes. We got up early to catch the 07.20 flight to Malaga. The hotel was only a few minutes ride from Terminal T2. SkyPriority did its job when it comes to skipping lines and we were at the gate a few minutes before boarding started. Security was nice and swift so they got a smiley green face from me.
On domestic flights Flying Blue status does not allow lounge access. I knew that but still I felt like a human right was taken away from me. Kidding.
The flight was operated by Swift Aír using ATR 72. It is the worst plane when it comes to passenger experience, but I love it somehow. I even developed a special relation with YU-ALO on my regional flights by Jat Airways and Air Serbia. People at Swift Air are really nice. They do have BOB program from Air Europa, but they do still provide pillows and blankets free of charge.
The plane took off on time. It flew over Madrid. A unique chance for me to see all of Madrid from above. I took coffee and water. I paid with my card since they did not have POS terminal they used OFF LINE method. I do not know what is the name of that device that goes over the card and makes the trace … I have no idea what is the word for it, but I saw it years ago in Yugoslavia, 2 years ago in Japan and now in Spain.
The sun was still half way out but landing next to the propeller was a nice chance to record the video for my Instagram.
We landed on time.
The plane looks nice in the morning seaside sun.
We were greeted by the signs at the airport in German.
On the way back we took AVE high-speed train from Seville to Madrid, then Iberia to Frankfurt.
I hope that you like my report.
Share your travel experience by submitting a trip report to exyu@exyuaviation.com
Great report thanks for sharing. As for LH I can agree. Their service and the whole inflight experience has deteriorated recently. I flew business several times (on middle/short haul routes) and every time the service was awful. FA not interested in customers, not even a smile the whole flight. They can learn a lot from JU, AF/KL and even UX.
ReplyDeleteNice report. I like your style of writing. Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteThank you. I think I should go back to writing. :)
DeleteI am now in Izmir, TR
I have also interesting Turkish Airlines report to make...
Although I like all trip reports including this,I think this should be place for trip reports from/to exyu airports
ReplyDelete"Living in the Rhein-Main area it is not quite easy,..."
ReplyDeleteYou are a funny guy. Where is it easier to get a high paying job in Europe than in Frankfurt, and where is it easier to spend that money again in seconds?
I know few more places, but I would rather live in Madrid. Soon soon I hope I will.
DeleteGood review, i live in Madrid and im Sky Team elite plus thus i tend to use this airline. It has some good planes (like the one you flew on) although i do prefer iberia (timely arrivals, more professional). The only thing i do not agree with is the following: "In Madrid, the new Terminal T4 is used exclusively by Iberia, Vueling and partner airlines. It is a modern looking terminal, but nothing too special." T4 is one of the airest, most spacious, full of natural light and, from my point of view, amazing masterpiece of architecture. T1, T2, T3 are comparables of a much bigger Belgrade airport.
ReplyDeleteI can partially agree regarding T4, but OK.
DeleteHowever, I have had so many negative experiences with Iberia, that I feel like never again, but anyhow in less than a month I will fly Air Nostrum from Valencia to Vigo.