Continuing from where I left off, Air Tanzania A220 HAH-DAR
As I mentioned, I'd chosen to fly via Dar because of flight timings, the ease of getting a visa and to fly the A220. From Dar, I would be getting a FlyDubai 737-max8 to DXB with a brief stop in ZNZ to pick up more pax.
After completing the obstacle course on the HAH tarmac (and being told "no photos" after trying to take one), I boarded the A220. First impressions were of a clean but unremarkable cabin. Boarding was disorganized and the cabin crew didn't really seem to have a clue, but since the plane was less than half full it didn't matter. Same goes for legroom - not great (194cm tall) but the seat next to mine was unoccupied so whatever. Unlike Air Baltic's A220, there are no little screens near the air vents but rather PTVs. However, these PTVs did not work, and as far as I remember the safety demonstration was manual.
Some background on Air Tanzania: A flag carrier for Tanzania has existed in some form for ages. Occasionally, it has been operated by airlines that were at some point competently operated as well, like SAA (note: were at some point, SAA has been slowly sliding into the mess it is today). Most of these have been run into the ground. The current incarnation was started by John Magufuli, the former president of Tanzania who felt that COVID was a hoax created by white people but who ended up dying of COVID. As part of his "national pride" agenda (which involved a lot of nationalization / promotion of local ownership), he poured one of the world's poorest country's money into buying new jets for his national airline - 4 A220s. 2 787s and a Bombardier turboprop. So you have an airline with shiny jets but not much else.
To be fair, there are some signs of competence: The inflight magazine was better than the Rwandair one from 2017 and WiFi on the flight sort of worked. However, it's clear the airline is otherwise a complete disaster. Their booking system reminds me of something from the early 2000s. My flight was around midday - when we landed, all 4 A220s and 1 787 were parked at DAR airport. And they would remain there until my FZ flight at 787 - what kind of aircraft utilization is this??
The flight itself was uneventful. A drink and a very basic sandwich were served, worse than KQ but better than most European carriers. Landing in DAR was a total disaster. We used the old terminal (T2) even though Air Tanzania's 787s operate out of the new one (there is an even older one, T1, for domestic flights operated with tiny planes, I flew to ZNZ in a 7-seater, I think, in 2017). Despite the fact that we were the only plane to land and that we had a A220 that was about half full, clearing the pointless immigration and COVID checks took 1.5 hours. First, there was some COVID test check followed by the obligatory African stamping of the document. I had completed some COVID form online prior to takeoff and some other pax were trying to complete it upon arrival, but I don't think it was ever checked. Queuing was done African-style, i.e. every person for themselves, flooding the desks from the sides instead of just forming one line. Most people had no idea what each desk was asking for. First, there was the COVID-test-stamp desk. After that, a visa-request desk, followed by a visa-payment desk and then the actual immigration officer. I had decided that instead of attempting an airside transit on different tickets (as many others seemed to do, they were told to sit and wait - I later saw them in the departures hall of the other terminal so I guess it works too), I figured I'd pay the 30USD for a transit visa and enjoy some airport time since I had many hours until my flight. After clearing all the lines (visa-payment desk didn't accept card but I was allowed to withdraw money), I headed to a little restaurant between the terminals for lunch / breakfast.
The restaurant was decent for the money (fast food / African food) though the sun was scorching hot while I ate outside. I could see all the A220s parked at T2 from the terminal and finally managed to get an ok shot of the plane. I also saw an Air Zimbabwe 737 classic takeoff which is always a thrill - I've been wanting to fly one of these for a while but usually ended up with SAA.
FlyDubai 737-Max8 DAR-ZNZ-DXB
After a few hours of hanging around, I was able to check in for my next flight. Check-in was relatively painless 3 hours before the flight with very few passengers getting on at DAR. Most of the pax were Africans, some looked like they were going to Meccah (and had never flown before) and others looked like business men. I had the exit row reserved and ended up with the Meccah dudes sitting behind me. The moment we took off, they opened up containers of extremely pungent food and ate it, finishing off with loud burps and coughs. In ZNZ, the plane filled up with generally young European tourists who were too cool for Malaga or Dubai yet still wanted to spend a week on a resort at a beach. Mask compliance was quite terrible - it does make me wonder though, what do these idiots think is going to happen if they test positive in Dubai or Zanzibar after ditching their masks? I sure as hell wouldn't want to try a quarantine hotel in either of those places.
Other than that, the flight was uneventful. I put on my eyeshades and tried to sleep through it though this was difficult with the cabin crew running an incredibly slow service and hence keeping the lights on. Arrived in Dubai at like 7am, after which we were taken to T3 via bus (a surprise for me since I hadn't really bothered looking things up). At T3 those staying in Dubai were directed to a COVID test which was incredibly efficient. I knew I needed a certificate for Saudi Arabia and had planned on the certificate from this test being it.
My flight to Jeddah would take off the same day at about 6pm. A few years earlier, I might have decided to spend the day sleeping at the airport and then walking around, finally taking a shower at the lounge before my flight to JED. However, with COVID, DXB airport generally being uncomfortable and age, I took a day hotel. I booked myself a room from 9-15 at an Ibis Styles near the aiport via Accor Live (surprisingly, a good website for booking day rooms doesn't exist, meaning that I ended up looking via hotel websites). I got to the hotel a lot earlier than that but was allowed to check in, after which I just went to bed. While sleeping, I got my PCR test results from the test taken on entry (it took less than 3 hours, amazing) via text message which had a code that could be used to retrieve a certificate. Perfect. Woke up some time around 1pm, went to grab lunch, checked out around 3pm and walked to the airport for my flight to Jeddah..
Which I think is a good place to start the next post!