jacob_m

After a very nice stopover it is time to hit the road again and leave New Caledonia, it is also time to test a new airline - Air Austral!

I had very little idea what to expect from this flight. There is not a single trip report on Flyertalk covering Air Austral and less than a handful threads whatsoever about the airline.

So it was a bit like buying a pig in a poke, but I love trying new exotic airlines, so I certainly did not mind!
And I do get the honour of being the first person to write a review on Air Austral!

What airline is Air Austral?

Air Austral is the national airline of La Réunion, an island and a French overseas territory located 700 km east of Madagascar and 200 km south of Mauritius.
The airline is based at Roland Garros airport in St Denis, La Réunion.

Air Austral currently operates flights to around 16 destinations, the majority of these are either in France or around the Indian Ocean (e.g. Mauritius, Madagascar, Seychelles and South Africa).

Then there is the very odd route which I took advantage of: La Réunion-Sydney-Noumea which is operated twice per week.
It may sound like a strange route, but the main purpose is actually to fly passengers between France and New Caledonia, offering a quick transfer in La Réunion instead of flying via Asia or the US.
Then of course it’s another (very different) option for the lucrative Europe-Australia route.

Air Austral does not sell tickets between Noumea and Sydney, however that part of the flight is codeshared with Air Calin and it is possible to buy tickets Noumea-Sydney using the Air Calin codeshare number (in my case SB 146).

The shorthaul fleet of Air Austral consists of two Boeing 737 and three ATR 72.
The longhaul fleet consists of two Boeing 777-200ER and two new Boeing 777-300ER.

Three classes onboard



There are three classes onboard Air Austral longhaul flights.

Classe Loisirs: Economy class with a 3-4-3 configuration and a 32” seat pitch.

Classe Confort: Premium economy with a 3-3-3 configuration, a 38” seat pitch and better food and drinks.

Classe Club Austral: Business class with a 2-3-2 configuration and a 56” seat pitch.

Air Austral also has a frequent flyer program called “Programme Capricorne”.


Check-in at La Tontouta airport

The hostel had helped me reserve an airport shuttle back to the airport. The flight was to depart at 9.10 am and the reception guy said it should be enough to leave around 6.45 am, however there was already a car booked for 6 am which I joined to avoid having to pay extra.
So another early morning for me, the alarm went off already at 5.15 am...

The car was shared with a friendly middle-aged couple from La Réunion who were quite surprised when they heard of my nationality (but amazed of my language skills).
On the way to La Tontouta airport we were to pick up another woman, a rather old Kanak woman. In her neighbourhood there were no street names, and apparently giving directions was not her strongest skill, so it took quite some time and a few phone calls before we managed to find her.
Once in the car the woman was just hilarious, she was going to France to visit her sister and she had spent the entire night packing and was so geared up she mixed up roundabouts and crossings in the area. So funny!

Despite the little delay we made it to the airport in less than an hour and I was standing in the departure hall just before 7 am.
The airport is undergoing an expansion at the moment, which you could especially notice at the drop off area in front of the terminal building. The plan is to expand the terminal building to the west and build two passenger bridges.



The departure hall was rather crowded with a long line of passengers waiting to check-in. That actually surprised me, but NOU-SYD-RUN-CDG did seem to be a very successful route.

There were two premium check-in desks open, available for Club Austral (business class) and Club Confort (premium economy) as well as top-tier frequent flyers (called Capricorne Premium and Club 500).

The young man checking me in seemed very tired, not at all assuring with my rather unusual routing, mix of airlines and a paper ticket to use.
My luggage was tagged as requested and an orange Air Austral priority tag was also attached. I further received a lounge invitation and a boarding pass with my pre-assigned seat 02L.
Finally he took my paper ticket, I didn’t see exactly what he was doing behind the counter, but I just got the feeling he spent a bit too much time with the paper ticket.
Anyway, the whole process was rather quick and efficient.

Pics
The entrance to the terminal, as you can see there is an ongoing expansion of the airport
The departure hall
Business class check-in
Very busy check-in area

Security and passport control opened 2 hours before departure, basically the same moment as I had finished checking in.
The officer at the passport control spent a long time with my passport, well over a minute, eventually I had to ask him if there was a problem.
There was absolutely no problem, rather the contrary, this was one of the newest and most advanced passports he had ever seen which is why he wanted to have a proper look at it, just out of curiosity.
I applied for a new passport just two weeks before leaving, my old passport was so worn that I seriously doubt any airline would have let me use it one more time. I had used it very extensively!

The security check was very thorough, many bags were rescreened or hand-searched, but the officers were polite.

Air France L’Espace Lounge, Noumea

I entered the transit hall which was very small, the stairs to the lounge were located on the immediate left after security, I actually managed to miss it.

There is only one lounge in Noumea, it is branded as an Air France L’Espace lounge but I believe it is used by all airlines at the airport, there were both Air Austral and Air Calin signs outside the entrance.
I presented my lounge invitation to the young woman at the reception desk and was invited inside.

The lounge was nothing to write home about, just some grey armchairs, but at least there was a very decent apron view.
Furthermore there were two internet computers and a limited selection of reading material.



The small self-service buffet in the lounge was quite pathetic. There was nothing to eat whatsoever except for some very small croissants and chocolate pastries in a basket.

The selection of drinks was not exactly spectacular either. A fridge with soft drinks and 8 rather random bottles of spirits (not quite what you’re longing for at 7 am).
There were two jugs of juice though and a French coffee machine, and for whatever reason also a microwave.



I had not eaten anything yet, so I had been looking forward to a light breakfast in the lounge, but at least I got a cup of coffee and some croissants.

The lounge really did not impress. Poor food and drinks, limited facilities, no restrooms in the lounge, and a lounge attendant who did not look particularly amused by her job.
I think this was the only lounge during the entire trip that was in fact quite worthless, I left after less than half an hour in the lounge to stretch my legs in the transit hall instead.

Pics
The entrance to the lounge
The reception desk
Inside the lounge
The self-service buffet
The Air Austral B777 seen from the lounge
An Air Calin A330 has just arrived. This is in fact the same aircraft I arrived on from PPT

Reclaiming my missing flight coupons

While sitting in the lounge I had another look in my travel wallet where I also kept the paper ticket. At the same moment I noticed the check-in guy had not just taken one flight coupon, but three flight coupons, i.e. the coupons for my two connecting flights as well.

I had not travelled on a paper ticket for many years, but I did know (at least from previous flights on this trip) that the flight coupon should be given to the airline that checks you in for the flight.
Although my luggage was tagged all the way the agent had only checked me in for the first flight and should hence only keep the flight coupon for the first flight.
The more I thought about it the more convinced I got there had indeed been an error.

I left the lounge, exchanged my last Francs, and had a seat at the gate to wait for the ground staff to arrive.
Around an hour before departure a young woman showed up at the gate, I asked her if she managed the Air Austral flight and she confirmed she did.
I explained the situation to her, shared my personal thoughts, and asked about her opinion.
She seemed to agree with me, asked what check-in counter I used and got on the phone and asked whoever was at the other end to bring the flight coupons.

I thought someone would arrive rather quickly, but nothing happened. Boarding started and by now I was so convinced about the error (and the possible consequences) that I decided I would refuse to board the plane until I got the coupons.
When most passengers had boarded no one had still arrived with the coupons, I reminded the agent who actually she seemed rather disappointed herself. At the end she asked her colleague to take over the boarding process while she went herself to look for the flight coupons.
Well it’s a small airport, there was only one morning departure, and probably not many people travel on paper tickets, so locating the coupons should not be hard.

Just three minutes later she was back with the coupons. I asked her if I was correct when saying I would not have been able to check in for my connecting flights without those flight coupons. Rather embarrassed she nodded!
I found this incredibly bad, the only reason I realised something was wrong was because of my rather extensive flying experience, but I wonder if anyone less experienced would have reacted, I’m pretty sure the answer would be no.

Very relieved I boarded the flight and instantly tried to forget all about it not to let the experience ruin my upcoming flights.

Pics
The small transit hall with the large duty free shop
Passengers waiting for boarding to start

Boarding

Two passenger stairs were in use and there was a man standing by the forward one to make sure it was only used by business and premium economy passengers.



I was greeted at the entrance with a cheery bonjour and directed to my seat 02L.
I was obviously one of the last passengers to board the aircraft and I was very surprised to find only two more passengers in Club Austral, a middle-aged French couple.
When I reserved the seat the seat map showed far more seats being occupied.
“Club Confort”, i.e. premium economy, right behind us was far busier though, I think it was almost fully-booked.

The aircraft in use was a Boeing 777-200ER, I had kept my fingers crossed for an aircraft change to a brand new Boeing 777-300ER, but no luck today.
There were two rows of Club Austral with a 2-3-2 configuration, with only 3 out of 14 seats taken space was certainly not a problem.



A pre-departure drink was offered, a choice between orange juice, water and champagne. Easy choice! The champagne was served in a rather nice glass with the Air Austral logo.

Newspapers were also offered, as well as...an amenity kit! That was certainly very unexpected considering a flight time of just three hours.
The amenity kit was a small grey-green bag which included eye shades, ear plugs, tissues, a comb, a nail file and a small sewing kit. Rather interesting contents!



Before departure a safety demonstration video was shown on the screens in the cabin.

The flight time on the first leg to Sydney was expected to be 2 hours and 45 minutes (the second leg SYD-RUN is probably around 12 hours).

Pics
The Air Austral B777 on the apron
The business class cabin on the Boeing 772
A glass of champagne
Amenity kit

Noumea-Sydney, flight UU 772 operated by Air Austral
Departure: 09:10
Arrival: 11:25
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200ER
Class: Club Austral / Business Class
Seat: 02L

Pushback right on time at 9.15 am, we taxied to the end of the runway (no taxiways in Noumea) and took off at 9.30 am from runway 11.

The weather this morning was just perfect, sunny and not a cloud to be seen.



The view during the climb was wonderful. After take-off we did a 90 degrees right turn and I could see the airport and the mountains on Grande Terre.
Shortly afterwards we crossed the coastline and I could see the beautiful coast and the coral reefs right outside.
I certainly couldn’t complain about the view!



Pics
Pushback from the terminal
The terminal building at La Tontouta
Lining up on runway 11
Taking off, pilot’s view
The view seconds after take-off
Nice view of the airport from the air
The beautiful coastline
A beautiful coral reef outside New Caledonia

Menu

On the flight to Sydney a breakfast service was offered.
Before the meal service hot towels were offered followed by a rather nice-looking menu.

The business class menu

Here is the menu to Sydney:

Meal service



Shortly afterwards white table cloths were laid on the tables and the breakfast trays were handed out containing yoghurt, fresh fruits and the hot breakfast.
Bread rolls, croissants, pastries, coffee/tea and fruit juices were offered by the cabin crew.
The breakfast was OK, quite filling, but not spectacular. I did find the scrambled eggs to be on the hard side.

The cabin crew spent most of the time in the almost completely full premium economy cabin but did regular checks in the business class cabin.
More juice and coffee were offered before the table was cleared.

I was a bit annoyed there seemed to be very little difference between business class and premium economy in terms of the breakfast, however I think that part is much better on lunch and dinner flights.
As I have written many times myself breakfast services are often rather pointless in business class, it’s simply hard to create much difference between the classes onboard.

Pics
Business class breakfast

The seat and inflight entertainment

After the breakfast service I reclined the seat to get some rest after a very early morning.
I found the business class seat in beige leather to be rather comfortable. The recline was also very decent even though the seat did not belong to the latest generation of lie-flat seats, according to the Air Austral webpage the recline was 145 degrees.
With only three passengers in business class space was definitely not an issue onboard.

The cabin was very well-maintained and I did like the colours used in the cabin interior.
I noticed a few signs in Italian in the cabin so I guess the aircraft has previously been owned by one of the Italian airlines.



There was an inflight entertainment system onboard, but a non-AVOD version with six movies (both English and French available as spoken languages) and 12 music channels.
The IFE was enjoyed on a small private screen and both the image quality and the sound were just fine, I watched a good part of the movie “Scooby-Doo” during the flight.



Air Austral is currently upgrading its longhaul fleet with new Boeing 777-300ER aircrafts.
These aircrafts have proper lie-flat seats in business class that can actually be made fully horizontal, into a bed of 186 cm. There is also proper AVOD onboard these aircrafts.
There are two Boeing 777-300ER in operation, but unfortunately none of them were used for my flight.

Info and photos of the new aircraft and the cabins onboard can be found on the Air Austral webpage here!
Looks very nice!

Pics
The business class seat
The seat in a reclined position
Seat controls
The personal screen
The business class cabin and the galley before departure

Arrival in Sydney

Just before 11 am Australian time we started our approach to Sydney.
The weather in the area was grey and rainy with very limited visibility. The final approach was in fact rather bumpy.

We finally landed at 11.25 am, right on time on runway 34L at Sydney Kingsford Smith airport.
The flight passed in absolutely no time!

Pics
Approaching Sydney according to the flight map
Cloudy Australian coastline
Seconds before landing on runway 34L, pilot’s view
A last photo of the business class cabin

Verdict

Always interesting to try new airlines, especially unusual ones that fly nowhere near where I live. So here is a short summary of my first experience with Air Austral.

The service onboard was nice and I found the crew to be both friendly and polite and they also spoke perfect English (not always the case on French airlines).

The breakfast was perhaps a bit underwhelming, I think the experience would have been far better if they have served lunch or dinner onboard. I would have loved to try one of the Creole dishes they have.
Initially I actually looked at flying Sydney-Noumea instead (i.e. in the opposite direction). These flights depart at 5 pm from Sydney, however all flights that were of interest to me were already zeroed-out in business class.

I found the seat to be rather comfortable and the cabin to be in perfect condition, I liked the colour scheme in the cabin. The IFE was acceptable despite being non-AVOD.
Very impressive to get an amenity kit on a flight of just three hours in length.

The airport experience in Noumea was bad though. I am especially thinking of the check-in agent who took the two flight coupons for my connecting flights and of course the rather pointless lounge.
However none of this is the fault of Air Austral, check-in was handled by an independent ground handling company and the lounge seemed to be run by Air France.

I would not mind flying Air Austral again. But next time I hope it will be on the brand new Boeing 777-300ER which looks very inviting in Club Austral/business class.