just to let anyone know that thomsonfly have increased there seat pitch on longhaul flights, I flew to florida Sanford a week before my oasis flights, and was very surprised by thomsonfly seat comfort and service on boeing 767, promoted as 34inch, iam sure it was more like a 36inch in my seat.
Very comfortable flights.
LGW-HKG-YVR-HKG-BKK-HKG-LHR
I promised myself I would fly the second (2nd) and subsequent Inaugural service's with oasis hong kong airlines.
The second service was supposed to be Oakland,it seems Oakland is not a suitable airport and SFO will be next on the cards (from the horses mouth).
Sooooooooooo Vancouver became the 2nd destination and so it was to be I was going too.
I booked a oneway fare to Hongkong with oasis (economy) one night in hong kong and then a roundtrip Hkg-YVR-HKG inaugural flight.spending 2 days in Vancouver.
I had booked a roundtrip EK reward trip to Thailand HKG-BKK-HKG for when I got back to HKG and a Business Premier roundtrip HKG-LHR-HKG for my homeward leg.(return leg to HKG with NZ for Jan 08)
I arrived at LGW quite early for a smooth check-in, mentioned I was on the Vancouver and was promptly given an Upgrade to Biz class
.
A great start to this trip I thought.
Gatwick was quite busy, security was usual mad house with long lines.
I made my way to the viewing area upstairs (airside) and took some pics of the airport and my aircraft B-LFB flight 08707.
It was a little bit of a chav fest in the terminal, lots of Geezers and Birds in Summer wear off to the costas!
Somehow I found myself in one of the Generic lounges and enjoyed lots of easyjet movements and landings from the Large windows.
Given seat assignment 29G, last row of biz on main deck, I asked if I could change seats onboard and moved to 21K window seat, empty spot next to me and happy to be onboard.
Offered champagne or Orange juice pre take off.
Canape's offered after take off, and menus were also handed out (though crew did not notice these were the HKG-LGW menus.
Dinner (after take off)
fresh bread selection
starter Smoked salmon and cucumber sushi rolls served on a bed of salad.
I chose the beef, Beef fillet foise gras en-croute served wth pumpkin wedges courgette slices and au gratin potatoes.
OR
Stir fried chicken in blackbean sauce served with steamed rice.
Desert
red berry mouse served with chocolate and vanilla sauce.
Cheese and bics
Coffee, tea or chinese tea.
Breakfast
Museli with fresh fruit
fruit yoghurt
selection of breads pastries
plain omlette served with sausage, sliced bacon,hash brown pots,grilled tom and mushroom.
OR
Congee with dried scallops and chicken.
Coffee and tea, or chinese tea.
Champagne Charles Heidsieck brut reserve.
Wines
red Footprint shiraz south Africa 2005
Meritus Merlot france 2005
White Footprint chardonay sout hafrica 2005
\mertius sauvignon blanc france 2005
My Meal was Delicious. especially as I had chosen the Quiche Supper in my head from the wrong menu, but not a problem.
Food was very tasty and good quality.
Entertainment.
Films to HKG were Click, The Pink Panther,Eight Below, the Queen, Fast and Furious, I'll call you, Love undercover, crazy stone, Mr 3 min, Aladin, pocahontas, Inspirational, Music staion MTV, destination video Miami vice and Litle miss sunshine.
Plus 12 music channels.
Laptop charge point in seat.
Raymond Lee and his wife wer onboard tonight and so I went and said hello and wished them luck and we chatted for 20 mins,I had previously been un-offical baby sitter on the Inaugural service to LGW with their son Nathanual, so we had something to chat about.
They were very grateful that I had entertained him during the flight.
Priscilla his wife is quite shy, but raymond is very warm and friendly.(my new Bililonare friend)
I watched some movies and then settled in for some sleep.
I made my usual comfy nest (boosting my legs with extra pillows to get a flatter sleep postion, and slept for a good 8 hrs,I slept through brekkie, so another good flight (11hrs.30 mins)
Immigration was a breeze as usual at HKG and luggage on caraousel as soon as I walked into the arrivals hall (BAA take note).
I took the fast train into HKG for my overnight stay, had a shower and went out into the city and across the bay on star ferry to stretch my legs.
was surprised to see in-house photogrpher David G McIntyre down at the Quayside,he was not flying this Inaugural this time but would be taking pics on the day at the Airport as Oasis official photographer.
Had some Dinner, did a quick spot of shopping and made my way back to the hotel and my bed.
it was raining in Hong Kong on the 28th,I had a few hrs to kill before the flight, so wtched some tv and snacked.
I took the subway to Tung chung and connected to the Airport via the Novotel courtesy shuttle (its a Fabulous Modern hotel) I really do recommend it.
the rooms are really really modern and stylish, much nicer than the Regal Airport hotel which I stayed in before I flew back with Air New zealand.
Anyway iam drifting....................................
I knew there would be little media attention for this flight, when I arrived at the New terminal 2, all I found were two free standing Oasis signs stating Inaugural service to Vancouver, no balloons or bunting or anything.
I spotted one of the Handling agent duty Managers (Samuel Cheng Chun Pang)and asked if any of the Mangagement were around?
He mentioned that Stephen Miller and Raymond lee would arrive soon, he escorted me over to Biz class and helped check me in, I was given Emergency exit row and off I trotted towards security.
hong kong Airport is a DREAM to travel through, I did some duty free shopping and made my way to the gate.
As I approached I could see lots of people and photographer David snaping away, champagne was being handed out.
Duty Manager Sam Cheng approached me witha big smile and asked for my boarding pass, ANother score of Business Upgrade.
Initally I was given 26C, I found out this was an ex ANA aircraft with the First class section with flat beds, I asked for a seat in this section and was given 19E single seat in the centre of the F cabin (though still business class), double score.
Raymond lee was having photograhs taken with guests and passengers,and then he spotted someone in the crowd "there he is" he called out quite loudly, looking in my direction I turn around to see who he was referring too and IT WAS ME he was looking at :-:!lololololo
he was genuinely pleased to see me again and as I walked towards him he gave me a big Hug and he his wife Priscilla and I had our photos taken.
I must admit I was slightly embarrased by all the attention, I could see people looking and thinking WHOS HE????????????
(well today Mathew iam somebody SPECIAL)
and the chairman Loves ME.
Again we chatted and talked about Oasis and its future plans.
Raymond and priscilla were not flying on this service as they did for LGW, he wished me a great flight and thanked me for flying Oasis.
CEO Stephe Miller said I should have told him I was going to be onboard (its ok steve ive got me upgrade I thought)
but catch me next time
As we boarded we were given large model aircraft in big boxes and onboard Inaugural flight certificates.
Flight was almost full, econ was full, biz had a few empty seats.
Flight time was about 12hrs.
I even had a better seat than CEO steve Miller and his wife who were sat upstairs in Business class.
this aircraft still had the old ANA Bar area main deck and Business centre on the upper deck, economy has the 34 inch seat pitch.
there was a last minute aircraft change B-LFA was changed to B-LFC.
so now I had been on all 3 aircraft in the fleet.
Jacqualine See was again monitoring this flight (she's the training Manager cabin services) she welcomed me with a big hug also as I boarded.
menus were again handed out, different style to the previous flight.
Champagne and orange juice wer offered pre departure as were Canape's.
Dinner was parma ham and warldorf salad to start.
Grilled sole + vegg etc
or Braised beef + vegg etc
Desert Cappacino puddng served with a kahula sauce.
refreshments
fresh fruit plate
fruit yoghurt
fresh breads /pastries
mushroom leek omlette with veal chippolata sausage, sauteed pots and spinach
or sstir fried vermicelli with dim sum
coffee/ tea /chines tea.
snacks available throughout flight
tea/coffe or chnese tea.
Wines and champagne as before.
Entertainment was personal DVD players (touch screen) plus inseat 7inch entertainment, great selection of films etc. forgot to collect he guide.
Cabin crew were incredibly friendly again, service was professional and friendly, most times I was called by surname or first name.
I slept for a good 5 hrs, the rest of the time I chatted to the crew, took pics and video and enjoyed the expierence.
when we landed at YVR, ther were aircraft spotters standing on top of cars to get a good shot of us as we passed by towards out stand.
At the gate there were staff taking pics of our arrival.
customs and immigration were quick and friendly, unlike the USA.
I took a taxi into town and slept for a good 10hrs.
Vancouver is a nice city, though you can sense the ruggidness of the place.
I need to go back and explore this place and its surroundings and views are stunning, two days is not long enough to really see anything.
Vancouver airport airside is really nice, arrivals and departure were a bit hectic.
I flew back with the same crew to HKG, and Surprise surprise I was given anothe Upgrade.
This aircraft was the original B-LFA which was supposed to take up to YVR and whcih I flew on to LGW for the Inagural in 2006.
I was given 19K, 2nd row in the A zone (First class section).
Welcomed back onboard with more smiles and lots of banter from the crew (they mostly slept whilst in YVR).
Service back to HKG was excellent.
Onboard this flight and sat behind me was Chris Youlten Director of Operations.
he gave me a Corporate DVD of HKG-LGW-HKG flights, Pre departure. take off, cruise, landings etc.
lots of tech stuff.
Tour of head quarters, Senior management, Cabin service,
its very interesting.
there is Air to air footage, pilot trainng go arounds, ground footage, a great present.
we chatted about Oasis and its future plans.
So out of 3 sectors I had 3 upgrades, Fantastic service and deff value for money.
Cant comment on Economy class, though it seemd people are extremly happy with the service.
I had a quick conection at HKG for my flight to BKK with EK (emirates), 2hrs later and I was back in Thailand for few days, EK were the usual good service, good food, BKK was cloudy and warm.
flight back to HKG with EK was excellent, grumpy passengers was unhappy with me taking footage inside cabin, so crew pleased with me to delete footage which I did as they were so nice, Mr grumpy (iam a Hong kong citizen) needs to chill.
I still have some great film of cabin crew who were happy to pose and continue service at the same time.
Aircraft was Boeing 777-300 (non ER). Economy class.
stayed at the Regal Airport hotel at Hong Kong airport, wished I had gone back to novotel, its GORGEOUS, anyway iam drifting again.
Room overlooked the start of the runway, but aeroplanes coming in the other end.
There are some great viewing windows on the upper floors of the whole airport runways in this hotel.
I less than 24 hrs in HKG before my flight back to London n NZ (air New Zeland) business Premier.
I have to say I was VERY VERY impressed with NZ service.
Having flown Economy and First one way to SYD (LHR-LAX-SYD) before that service stopped, I had always had very professional service frm NZ though lacking in warmth.
NZ pulled out all the stops not only with service and food, but a Great star alliance lounge TG.
A big thanks to Marriane who was a realy sweetie and entertained me as I could not sleep.
iam looking forward to my flight back to HKG ensconed in 1K again
I keep reading people saying I want to try Oasis, or I want to hear more about this airline, WELL nows the time to try them out.
Value for money they are excellent, service wise they are as good as SQ.
I will use them again and again.
iam off to paris on Eurstar, who says travel is no Fun!