TRIP REPORT: TAROM, Larnaca - Belgrade via Bucharest

TRIP REPORT

Submitted by Nemjee

Good morning everyone.

Due to some last minute work obligations I needed to go to Cyprus. These days flying between the two countries is quite easy with Air Serbia and Wizz Air offering non-stop flights while both Aegean and Tarom offer competitive one stop options. There's also the occasional opportunity with Alitalia but the backtrack is not worth it given AZ's horrible service and tight legroom.

Since I don't enjoy flying on Wizz Air I decided to go for Air Serbia as, unlike most people, I don't mind their flight times. The midnight departure allows me to have a full day at work, go home and prepare for the trip in peace.

I decided not to make a trip report for Belgrade-Larnaca as flying on Air Serbia is extremely unimpressive, monotonous and there is absolutely nothing that makes them remarkable. Unfortunately at this point, besides the price or schedule, there is no reason to fly with them. With such an approach I don't see them creating a loyal fanbase anytime soon.

Our flight was operated by the ten year old A319 (YU-APE), load was 75/144 and there were a lot of transfers from both Ljubljana and Prague. Roughly half of the passengers were locals. A couple who was sitting behind me was speaking with their neighbor and they actually complained about Wizz Air's prices. He mentioned that when they were looking for tickets (parents and a child), Wizz Air came out to be around 110.000 RSD while they paid 86.000 to fly with Air Serbia.

One thing I noticed is that the prosciutto sandwich was extremely popular and by the time they reached my row (18) they were all out of it. They needed to get it from some other trolley, I suppose from the return flight?

Anyway, that was Air Serbia. Back to Tarom.

My return flight was with Tarom. They have been flying into Belgrade since December 2009. During the first month of operations they had a total of 325 passengers onboard their 10 flights. Same time next year, they carried 866 passengers onboard their 18 flights. Overall, it seems like they've always done well in BEG.

I flew on Tarom once before (2011) and found them to be quite ok. Back then their onboard product consisted of a drink and a sandwich. I was happy to find out that seven years later their onboard product actually improved.

Tarom
Larnaca-Bucharest
Scheduled: 13.20-15.40
Actual: 13.30-25.25
Flight time: 01.55
Aircraft: A318, YR-ASB, delivered to Tarom brand new back in December 2006
Age: 11.6 years
Load: 104/113

Good morning from Nicosia. By 09.00 it was already 32 degrees. Pictured is the Limassol Avenue that takes you straight to the highway.

Kapnos Air Shuttle offers hourly departures to the airport. A one way ticket comes out to be €8 which isn't too bad given that Larnaca airport is located some 42 km from Nicosia. The bus station also offers its passengers to check in for their flights and to print their boarding pass. This is especially convenient for those flying on airlines such as Wizz Air.

Summer is always a busy period at LCA. Last year they welcomed 7.734.290 passengers while combined, the two Cypriot airports welcomed over 10 million passengers. Their goal for 2018 is to add another million and to pass the 11 million passenger mark.

Check-in was an utter disaster. From what I saw, Tarom doesn't offer online check-in at LCA (like our beloved JU) so everyone is forced to wait in line. There were three desks, two for us mere mortals and one for 'Priority.'

Check-in started but one of the computers broke down meaning that in the next 40 minutes only 40 to 50 passengers were checked-in for the flight.

A Cypriot passenger, somewhere from the back of the line, started shouting how this treatment is unacceptable, how he has been standing in the same place for over 40 minutes and how he wanted to speak to their supervisor. The three ladies at the counters ignored him which made him even more furious. He went to them shouting, demanding for an explanation.

Right at that moment their supervisor arrived only to see that he knew the passenger personally. To make things even worse, he took him and his wife from the back straight to the 'Priority' desk. That's when all Hell broke loose and when other Cypriots started to shout and scream.

While Cypriots were shouting Romanian passengers started to jump the line and to rush to make it to the counters. Waiting lines broke down and there was total chaos.

As if all that wasn't bad enough, the Romanian lady working on the priority counter shouted (in Greek) to the supervisor that she doesn't want to 'see' that passenger and his wife at her desk and that she doesn't care. The Cypriot shouted back at her that she is unprofessional and that this is unacceptable. Her colleague working on the other counter asked him if he is willing to pay for an upgrade if he wants to cut the line? Without waiting for him to answer she added that maybe next time he should pay for business class before arriving to the airport.

The whole process was an absolute disaster. Luckily later on they opened a third counter so things started to move once again. Had they not done it, I am certain there would have been a physical confrontation between the vocal Cypriots and the Romanians cutting the line with their luggage and personal belongings. Some Romanian women were using their children as an excuse to get ahead, this worked on some- mostly Cypriots.

LCA gate area located behind duty free shops and restaurants.

Our ride for today docked at gate 23.

Seats were comfortable and legroom was good.

Boarding took a while as there was a lot of hand luggage despite Tarom not charging for checked-in luggage. Economy class was overbooked, three passengers had to sit in the business class section.

Next to us was the heavily delayed Wizz Air A321 from Luton.

Taxiing to the runway while passing Ukraine International going to Kiev, Royal Jordanian to Amman and Aegean to Tel Aviv.

Passing by the B747SP that is owned by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation. I suppose they were on the island for the opening of the country's first casino.

Service started some 30 minutes after take off.

Tarom offers a complimentary meal/snack onboard all of its flights. The sandwich was rather big and very fresh. Interestingly, unlike most airlines they don't offer something sweet but they give you nuts. 

I was surprised by their selection of drinks. They offer beer, white wine, red wine, tomato juice, Coke, Coke Zero, Fanta, Sprite ... by the time they reached my row (15) they finished two bottles of white wine. Two crew members were giving out sandwiches and nuts. One is serving drinks while the purser goes last with a selection of hot beverages (coffee, tea...).

Hello!

Our A318 parked at the gate 101. It's next destination was Istanbul Ataturk.

Bucharest airport has a relatively new terminal. It's nice, modern but its only downside is that it has become too small for the number of passengers it handles. There are gates on both sides of the terminal while shops, cafes... are between them. When a flight is full it is not uncommon for the middle area to be covered with people waiting to board their flight. This gives the impression of an overcrowded terminal and it's unpleasant while walking through all that. Bus gates and the food court are located underneath the main terminal area.

Tarom flight RO217
Bucharest - Belgrade
Atr-42, YR-ATF, delivered to Tarom brand new in March 1999 (19 years old)
Scheduled: 18.30-19.00
Actual: 18.38-19.03
Flight time: 01:25
Load: 31/48 (65%)

Though it's worth noting that RO has a dedicated business class section on its Atrs. Actual economy class load was somewhere in the 80%. Passengers were mostly businessmen and locals while there were three transfers onboard, I and two Norwegians that connected onto Air Serbia's evening flight to Podgorica.

This was the aircraft's third rotation that day as it previously flew to Belgrade and Chisinau.

Interior of the Atr-42. Seats were quite comfortable but legroom was a bit tight, I supposed due to the business class section in front.

Service was identical to the one from LCA to OTP. It's no wonder why Tarom does so well on the route given the fact JU has no real onboard service and they mostly fly at night. Good for Tarom for spotting an unserved market and for developing it over the past nine years. I was impressed by the fact that they will keep it as 9 weekly this winter.

We were supposed to land at around 18.50 but we ended up flying south of the airport, making a U-turn only once we passed Simanovci.

We were parked at C5 after which we were bused to the terminal building.

Arkia landed before us and I am certain they arrived full as their luggage belt had at least 70 or 80 people waiting. There was also a large group of Israeli football players (children) that were going to some mountain resort for practice.

Conclusion:

Tarom is a fine carrier. They offer free airport check-in, free luggage, free seat selection and a free onboard product. Crew was kind and friendly but didn't smile too much which I didn't mind. The biggest downside is Bucharest airport which can get crowded at times and is actually too expensive. For example a bottle of water costs €3 while a coffee is anywhere between €5 and €9. One thing people should be careful with is the exchange rate. If you are paying with your card then always ask them to charge you in Lei. Their Euro prices are much higher, in some instances by as much as 20%.

We landed during Tarom's wave of arrivals. I was waiting for it to pass so that the terminal becomes a bit quieter. It did not happen as planes are literally landing and taking off all the time! I realized that the second runway is saving them from a total collapse. By separating their arrivals and departures they can ensure that there is an efficient traffic flow especially since planes arrive from one side and depart from the other.

Last month Wizz Air discontinued their own Bucharest-Larnaca flights. Seems like they couldn't compete with Tarom and BlueAir. I wish Air Serbia would step up its own game in Larnaca by introducing at least a one weekly flight that departs Belgrade at a 'normal' time.

Thank you for reading this report. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed flying with Tarom!

Multumesc și la revedere!

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