An identity crisis - am I flying BMI or Lufthansa?
The boarding gate number was not shown until 12:00pm, and once shown I quickly made my way to Gate 23 which was a fair distance away from the main terminal, past where the SAA lounges used to be. There was a brief wait at the gate holding area before boarding commenced at 12:05pm and the process seemingly finished at 12:15pm. I was surprised to find that the aircraft was a BMI A319, with BMI crew, but Lufthansa seats and Lufthansa catering. A real mix-mash of the two airlines.
First impressions were not great, quite frankly - the "purser" (I put it in quotation marks because he really didn't act like one) was at the door welcoming passengers, while chewing gum. I generally find it a poor showing to be chewing gum at any time while serving passengers, let alone when welcoming them onboard. His body language and the manner of speech was also generally rather clumsy. Clearly I had been rather spoiled by my previous flights on SQ, NH etc where absolute professionalism is taken for granted.
View of the NZ 747 near our gate
XS and XXL next to each other
Long wait inside the airbridge...
The gum-chewing purser
BMI on the outside, Lufthansa on the inside! Note the Italian colour scheme on the headrest cover
The front office
More views of the BD E190 and NZ 747
I sat down in my seat, 5A, and found a good view of the wing and engine outside the window. Seat 5B thankfully remained empty, and looking towards the rear of the aircraft, most rows had empty middle seats. The legroom was surprisingly tight, given that I was on a convertible C seat so this row could have been part of the C cabin - I would have expected at least 34 inches but it felt more like 32.
Legroom was just about acceptable...
Despite the boarding process finishing in good time, we sat for quite a while longer still parked at the gate. The doors eventually closed at 12:40pm and we made our way to the runway where, after waiting for a few other aircraft to depart, we took off at 12:55pm. The seatbelt sign was turned off after 10 or so minutes and the lunch service began soon afterwards.
Video of the take-off here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhl7Qe97QVE
Climbing to cruising altitude
Bright red engine - quite striking!