Air Caraïbes from Paris to Martinique
May 14, 2010, 3:14 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 4
Air Caraïbes from Paris to Martinique
Air Caraïbes
Airbus A 330-300 F-OONE
Paris to Fort-de-France (Martinique)
For my first trip report, I thought it would be interesting for all the readers to have an example of a route that has not been covered yet, and including a new airline.
Let me first introduce the airline:
Air Caraïbes is a French airline that operates flights within the Caribbean from Guadeloupe, Guyane, Martinique and Saint-Martin which are French overseas departments using 3ATR 72-500 and 1 Embraer 190.
In December 2004, the airline started 2 daily flights from Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe) and Fort-de-France (Martinique) to Paris with 2 Airbus A 330-200 (F-OFDF and F-OPTP)… since then it has expended its fleets with 3 new A 330-300 (F-ORLY; F-OONE and F-GOTO) and network opening direct flights from Cayenne to Paris in December 2008 and from Saint-Martin and Port-au-Prince to Paris in December 2009.
My report will cover a trip I did in April with my mother to Martinique. I did it in business class called “Madras”. I hope you will enjoy it and I must first apologize if my English is not always good, but I think it will be understandable.
PHOTO LINK: http://www.flickr.com/photos/50207916@N04/page2/
We arrived at Orly airport at 9:45 a.m. with a departure time at 11:45 a.m. We went to the Air Caraïbes Madras check-in area, were then helped by a middle-aged agent. While not very talkative she did her job quickly, tagged our luggages with the priority sticks and handed out our invitation for the Icare lounge.
We proceeded up the escalator and towards passport control and then to the security line, which wasn’t crowded.
Once through we went straight to the Lounge
The Icare lounge is quite small and as it is shared it was a bit crowded. The lounge itself wasn’t bad but the chairs looked a little dated. It had a nice beverage selection including bottles of red and white wine, aperitifs, spirits, sodas and juices… snacks were ok, and as it was morning croissants and pains au chocolat were offered with a good selection of preserves. One hour before departure, an announcement was made for our flight. We collected our stuff and went to the gate which was at a 5 min walk.
Once there we found all the other passengers waiting for our flight. It seemed that our flight would be full… how lucky we were travelling in Madras class today!!
At 11 a.m. boarding was called. Priority was given to Madras passengers and we were among the first people on board our Airbus 330-300.
Boarding was through door 2L where we were directed to the front of the plane by two young Caribbean flight attendants. We then found our seats 1A et 1B.
As the cabin was empty I snapped a few pictures. I found it to be very bright. The little Caribbean touch on the class divider and the headsets is very classy and made us feel we weren’t under the grey skies of Paris anymore…
Once we were settled in, another f/a came around offering us beverages. My mother and I went with the planteur (a Caribbean cocktail based on rum, tropical fruit juice and spices) which was delicious. But you could have ordered anything you wanted. Shortly thereafter noise cancelling headphones were distributed.
While on the ground, and having about a 40 mn wait before departure, I tried to play with the seat a little bit.
The seat is a traditional one and features a leg and foot rest. It had a good recline of 145°, ample storage space, massive centre armrest, and easy to use controls (although manual)… I also found the leather to be non-sticky and easy to find a comfortable position whether in upright or sleeping position. Each seat also included a pillow and a large blanket. Overall a good product to seat in for a 8 hours flight.
At noon door was closed and we were soon taxiing to the runway.
Our route today was north of Brittany and heading southwest north of the Azores and then straight to Martinique. And a flight time today of 9h20mn for a total distance of 6850 km! A long flight today, due to strong headwinds… I told myself never mind as I love flying, but I am sure not all the passengers felt the same lol
We had a very soft takeoff and a smooth climb.
15 minutes into the flight the seatbelt sign was turned off. Hot towels and menus were then handed out.
The menu reads as followed:
Hot appetizer with your preferred drink
LUNCH
Salmon Tartare and mango salsa
***
Veal knuckle with pesto sauce
Semolina with raisins
Or
Grilled sea bream in tropical sauce
Macaroni au gratin and garden vegetables
***
Mixed greens salad with pecan nuts
Olive oil with balsamic vinegar
**
Trio of fine cheeses
*
Raspberry tartlet
BEVERAGE LIST
Champagne
Gin, Martini, Planteur, Ricard,
White “Clément” rum, Whisky Chivas.
Cognac, Cointreau, old “Clément” rum.
Pepsi, Pepsi max, tonic water,
exotic fruit juices (including guava, acerola…),
orange juice, tomato juice.
Plain and sparkling mineral water
Nespresso coffee
White wine
Bordeaux “Baron de Luze” 2008
Red wine
Bordeaux cru bourgeois "Château Poitevin" 2005
Our hostess came around taking meal orders. She started at the other side of the cabin and I feared I would not have my choice available as the cabin was full… Fortunately that wasn’t the case and I opted for the sea bream while my mother ordered the veal.
Everything from the appetizer to the dessert was very good and well presented. You could also have hot red chilli pepper to add in your food… truly the Caribbean way of eating. Drinks were constantly being refilled and the service was really attentive.
Also a special mention for the bread which was hot… At last a French airline serves hot bread!!
I must also say that the f/a did a good job in presenting the cart with tropical flowers and with madras napkins. Although these are small details, it really makes the difference between an airline and another… Air France take example on Air Caraïbes, I think it is the least you could do on these routes!
After having eating as much as I could do, I decided to recline my seat and have some rest. I had a 2 hours nap and upon awaking I saw that bottles of mineral water had been placed in the seat pocket in front… a good point as I was really dehydrated. A bar was also set up in the front galley, including Champagne.
That was then time for me to test the in-flight entertainment.
Here is the weak point with Air Caraïbes: you only have 9 films to choose from (good ones such as Avatar, Sherlock Holmes or In the air…) a few cartoons, video games and that’s all… no documentaries, no tv series… Even if the video is on demand it needs to be upgraded a little bit.
Audio is also on demand with a choice of a few CDs and music channels.
Soon enough, the flight was about to end. One hour and a half before landing a snack was offered.
First were handed hot towels and then our food tray.
Here is the menu:
COLD SNACK
Trio of canapés
Fresh fruits
Passion fruit and chocolate bavarois
Once again everything was good and the presentation very nice.
About 30 minutes before landing we began our descent to Fort-de-France.
We arrived one hour late due to our flight time which was a bit long.
We were among the first to leave the aircraft once again by door 2L and had our luggages first on the seatbelt.
We had a very very enjoyable flight and I highly recommend Air Caraïbes: good crew, great service and good value for money. So don't hesitate if you plan to go to the French west Indies.
Thanks a lot of reading.
Airbus A 330-300 F-OONE
Paris to Fort-de-France (Martinique)
For my first trip report, I thought it would be interesting for all the readers to have an example of a route that has not been covered yet, and including a new airline.
Let me first introduce the airline:
Air Caraïbes is a French airline that operates flights within the Caribbean from Guadeloupe, Guyane, Martinique and Saint-Martin which are French overseas departments using 3ATR 72-500 and 1 Embraer 190.
In December 2004, the airline started 2 daily flights from Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe) and Fort-de-France (Martinique) to Paris with 2 Airbus A 330-200 (F-OFDF and F-OPTP)… since then it has expended its fleets with 3 new A 330-300 (F-ORLY; F-OONE and F-GOTO) and network opening direct flights from Cayenne to Paris in December 2008 and from Saint-Martin and Port-au-Prince to Paris in December 2009.
My report will cover a trip I did in April with my mother to Martinique. I did it in business class called “Madras”. I hope you will enjoy it and I must first apologize if my English is not always good, but I think it will be understandable.
PHOTO LINK: http://www.flickr.com/photos/50207916@N04/page2/
We arrived at Orly airport at 9:45 a.m. with a departure time at 11:45 a.m. We went to the Air Caraïbes Madras check-in area, were then helped by a middle-aged agent. While not very talkative she did her job quickly, tagged our luggages with the priority sticks and handed out our invitation for the Icare lounge.
We proceeded up the escalator and towards passport control and then to the security line, which wasn’t crowded.
Once through we went straight to the Lounge
The Icare lounge is quite small and as it is shared it was a bit crowded. The lounge itself wasn’t bad but the chairs looked a little dated. It had a nice beverage selection including bottles of red and white wine, aperitifs, spirits, sodas and juices… snacks were ok, and as it was morning croissants and pains au chocolat were offered with a good selection of preserves. One hour before departure, an announcement was made for our flight. We collected our stuff and went to the gate which was at a 5 min walk.
Once there we found all the other passengers waiting for our flight. It seemed that our flight would be full… how lucky we were travelling in Madras class today!!
At 11 a.m. boarding was called. Priority was given to Madras passengers and we were among the first people on board our Airbus 330-300.
Boarding was through door 2L where we were directed to the front of the plane by two young Caribbean flight attendants. We then found our seats 1A et 1B.
As the cabin was empty I snapped a few pictures. I found it to be very bright. The little Caribbean touch on the class divider and the headsets is very classy and made us feel we weren’t under the grey skies of Paris anymore…
Once we were settled in, another f/a came around offering us beverages. My mother and I went with the planteur (a Caribbean cocktail based on rum, tropical fruit juice and spices) which was delicious. But you could have ordered anything you wanted. Shortly thereafter noise cancelling headphones were distributed.
While on the ground, and having about a 40 mn wait before departure, I tried to play with the seat a little bit.
The seat is a traditional one and features a leg and foot rest. It had a good recline of 145°, ample storage space, massive centre armrest, and easy to use controls (although manual)… I also found the leather to be non-sticky and easy to find a comfortable position whether in upright or sleeping position. Each seat also included a pillow and a large blanket. Overall a good product to seat in for a 8 hours flight.
At noon door was closed and we were soon taxiing to the runway.
Our route today was north of Brittany and heading southwest north of the Azores and then straight to Martinique. And a flight time today of 9h20mn for a total distance of 6850 km! A long flight today, due to strong headwinds… I told myself never mind as I love flying, but I am sure not all the passengers felt the same lol
We had a very soft takeoff and a smooth climb.
15 minutes into the flight the seatbelt sign was turned off. Hot towels and menus were then handed out.
The menu reads as followed:
Hot appetizer with your preferred drink
LUNCH
Salmon Tartare and mango salsa
***
Veal knuckle with pesto sauce
Semolina with raisins
Or
Grilled sea bream in tropical sauce
Macaroni au gratin and garden vegetables
***
Mixed greens salad with pecan nuts
Olive oil with balsamic vinegar
**
Trio of fine cheeses
*
Raspberry tartlet
BEVERAGE LIST
Champagne
Gin, Martini, Planteur, Ricard,
White “Clément” rum, Whisky Chivas.
Cognac, Cointreau, old “Clément” rum.
Pepsi, Pepsi max, tonic water,
exotic fruit juices (including guava, acerola…),
orange juice, tomato juice.
Plain and sparkling mineral water
Nespresso coffee
White wine
Bordeaux “Baron de Luze” 2008
Red wine
Bordeaux cru bourgeois "Château Poitevin" 2005
Our hostess came around taking meal orders. She started at the other side of the cabin and I feared I would not have my choice available as the cabin was full… Fortunately that wasn’t the case and I opted for the sea bream while my mother ordered the veal.
Everything from the appetizer to the dessert was very good and well presented. You could also have hot red chilli pepper to add in your food… truly the Caribbean way of eating. Drinks were constantly being refilled and the service was really attentive.
Also a special mention for the bread which was hot… At last a French airline serves hot bread!!
I must also say that the f/a did a good job in presenting the cart with tropical flowers and with madras napkins. Although these are small details, it really makes the difference between an airline and another… Air France take example on Air Caraïbes, I think it is the least you could do on these routes!
After having eating as much as I could do, I decided to recline my seat and have some rest. I had a 2 hours nap and upon awaking I saw that bottles of mineral water had been placed in the seat pocket in front… a good point as I was really dehydrated. A bar was also set up in the front galley, including Champagne.
That was then time for me to test the in-flight entertainment.
Here is the weak point with Air Caraïbes: you only have 9 films to choose from (good ones such as Avatar, Sherlock Holmes or In the air…) a few cartoons, video games and that’s all… no documentaries, no tv series… Even if the video is on demand it needs to be upgraded a little bit.
Audio is also on demand with a choice of a few CDs and music channels.
Soon enough, the flight was about to end. One hour and a half before landing a snack was offered.
First were handed hot towels and then our food tray.
Here is the menu:
COLD SNACK
Trio of canapés
Fresh fruits
Passion fruit and chocolate bavarois
Once again everything was good and the presentation very nice.
About 30 minutes before landing we began our descent to Fort-de-France.
We arrived one hour late due to our flight time which was a bit long.
We were among the first to leave the aircraft once again by door 2L and had our luggages first on the seatbelt.
We had a very very enjoyable flight and I highly recommend Air Caraïbes: good crew, great service and good value for money. So don't hesitate if you plan to go to the French west Indies.
Thanks a lot of reading.
May 17, 2010, 2:53 am
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 4
I've just added some pictures of my returne trip to Paris
here is the photo link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonyn33...535436/detail/
here is the photo link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonyn33...535436/detail/
May 17, 2010, 10:31 pm
#8
In Memoriam, FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Thanks for the report, especially as it covered a new airline! I'm also amused by the registrations on the Air Caribes aicraft, I didn't know airlines could request clever ones that suited them such as F-ORLY.
May 23, 2010, 5:57 am
#10
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I think it happens a lot in some countries - I know Aer Lingus' A330's (some now left the fleet) had registrations such as EI-DUB, EI-JFK, EI-ORD, EI-EWR etc - destinations to which the flew
May 24, 2010, 6:50 pm
#11
Join Date: Dec 2006
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May 25, 2010, 8:29 am
#13
Join Date: Jan 2010
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May 25, 2010, 8:59 am
#14
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I always look forward to reading reports on exotic airlines, so thank you for this nice report. ^^
Dec 25, 2016, 3:58 am
#15
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 1,589
Hi, just adding to this great report a bit as I just flew to Martinique myself on this nice small airline in the same class.
They vastly improved the Madras seats, the food is now beautifully presented and as delicious as the OP mentioned. The Icare lounge in Paris Orly South also got a bit of a refit. Overall I had a very good flight with friendly efficient staff.
The business class seats are similar to those Air France still offer on their 380s. The colors onboard are beautiful, the tropical flowers in the lavs and on trolleys look amazing. The IFE still lacks somewhat with just a few blockbusters and intermittent slow-downs. The price was very competitive.
I will try and upload a picture or two later on.
They vastly improved the Madras seats, the food is now beautifully presented and as delicious as the OP mentioned. The Icare lounge in Paris Orly South also got a bit of a refit. Overall I had a very good flight with friendly efficient staff.
The business class seats are similar to those Air France still offer on their 380s. The colors onboard are beautiful, the tropical flowers in the lavs and on trolleys look amazing. The IFE still lacks somewhat with just a few blockbusters and intermittent slow-downs. The price was very competitive.
I will try and upload a picture or two later on.