Spyker

Think I have mights screwed up a little. Flying Economy (AMS - MAD - EZE) and have to pay for pre-selected seats (which I didn't).
So I was pretty quick checking in (few mins after it opened) and choose the random seat selector. It now shows seat 55F and 55G on the A330-200, which are probably the worst seats in the plane..

You guys think there is any possibility to change this at the airport still? Thanks. And do they indeed fill up from the back of the plane?

fifty_two

There is but its optional , so i would suggest you to pay for these seats now rather than gambling

cause the checkin agents in AMS may not be able to choose seats for your MAD-EZE segment ... or when you will arrive in MAD it might be too late to get the best seats

Spyker

I have only checked-in the AMS - MAD leg (and got the bad seats). I'm thinking perhaps not checking in MAD - EZE yet and make the agent at the airport select a seat for us. Would that be a sensible thing to do? Kind of refusing to pay extra for a seat...

Concerto

Don't blame you. I would probably play it the same way, even without status. Do you have status, for that might help?

coltonatx

offvoice

I flew MAD-JFK-MAD last week-end on their A330. J is full-flat 2-2-2 (so reconfigured) with a weird layout when your lying flat, one of the seat is higher than the other (by at least 30-40 cm when both are lying flat). If you're flying by yourself, I'd recommend middle row, as the window seats can get quite tricky when exiting onto the aisle (either you or your neighbor if you're on the aisle side, will have to quite literally climb to get out). Other than that, quite comfy to be honest, not the best out there, but not the worst (better than J on AF's 380 for instance). Since they sent me an email before the flight (or during check-in, I don't remember) saying I'd enjoy the "new" business class on my flight, I'd assume all 330 going to JFK are reconfigured.

For the Y class, I walked their and noticed what I hadn't for years now, long-haul with no IFE! Only TVs like in the old days. So if you're flying Y, do bring a tablet if you have one. (You can connect for free to their WiFi to enjoy their IFE). Once again, not sure if all planes flying to JFK have this lack of IFE.

Good to know :
1- MAD is a non-smoking airport (I had a layover for 4 hours), *but* there is a smoking terrace in the Air Europa/VIP Lounge you get to when flying to JFK (if you are flying back to JFK afterwards).
2- UX departed (for me) from T4 at JFK, where you're given a card to access a lounge, however, if you're Flying Blue/AF Gold or Plat, you can access the Delta Lounge which is, though busy, much better.

Hope it helps, do let us know here what you experienced, it's definitely an unreported airline on FT.

Concerto

Many AirEuropa flights are operated by AirEuropa Express, a subsidiary of mainline AirEuropa. I remember looking at this a year ago and discovering that Express was not a separate company and did not have its own IATA code, etc. Now I have just seen on both German and English Wikipidia that AirEuropa Express was born out of something called Globalia (vaguely reminds me of the Global Airways that was taken over by S7 Airlines in Russia), something that flew past me before. And it has its own code (X5). Am I right about this, or going more mad than I already am?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Europa_Express

irishguy28

Globalia has been the majority shareholder of Air Europa since 1991.

Air Europa re-launched Air Europa Express in 2016, having previously operated an airline of the same name from 1996; it went under as a result of the downturn in air travel after the 9/11 attacks.

https://www.globalia.com/en/ourgroup

Yes, it has its own IATA code, just as Joon (JN), HOP! (A5), KLM Cityhopper (WA), etc, had/have their own IATA codes.

I fail to see any particular relevance to the fact that it has its own IATA code, though; as separate airlines holding their own AOCs, it is to be expected that these airlines would have their own IATA codes. And, in common with the AFKL examples listed above, no tickets are sold bearing the IATA code of the operating airline; in all cases, they are sold as mainline tickets by the relevant airline (UX in the case of X5; AF in the case of JN/A5; KL in the case of WA)

fifty_two

globalia is , if i remember correctly , owner of air europa (and air europa express is also subsidiary this globalia)

if you live in spain and go to vacation you will probably use one of their companies

EDIT = thanks to you i just saw that X5 was allocated to aeronova before it was bought by globalia and integrated in air europa

Concerto

Well you know more about it than me, irishguy28, but that link certainly made for interesting reading. I actually hasn't realized that AirEuropa had been around for so long. The thing is, I really searched last year and I was unable to find any IATA code for Express. I had a look at the Wikipedia page too and I'm sure it wasn't there, which I found very odd at the time. I find these sorts of technicalities interesting, relevant or not, although I'm not a planespotter as such and would be unable to identify a fair number of aircraft.

Has the X5 designator always been around then, or just since 2016? I guess, from fifty_two's post above, that it was allocated around 2015. Although I'm not crazy about AirEuropa's service, I hope it sticks around because, like Alitalia, I find it a very useful European member of Skyteam. I think my membership of Flying Blue and requalification would be seriously called into question if either of them went bust.

Zarmakuizz

https://www.air-journal.fr/2019-07-1...e-5213822.html In French

Translation:

irishguy28

Speaking of Brazil, Air Europa recently became the first foreign airline to be granted approval by the Brazilian authorities to commence domestic Brazilian flights (via a new Brazilian subsidiary of UX).

Concerto

So it's becoming quite interesting and AirEuropa could have a useful future, for everyone. We will see what develops.

HalconBCN

I am surprised UX will enter the Brazilian domestic market given this is already quite competitive with established players Gol, Latam and Azul. I recently bought a flight from Rio to Sao Paolo for 25 euros with Gol.
A better bet might be Argentina as a regional hub as there are still quite a few routes only operated by one or two carriers, ripe for competiton.

irishguy28

Indeed; and with foreign ownership ceilings now removed, one wonders why you wouldn't just invest in - or buy outright - one of the incumbents, rather than starting up a new airline.

I don't think it's necessarily guaranteed that UX will open a Brazilian subsidiary; they have received approval to do so, but the article says they are "exploring" the option.

This may all come to nothing.

But this just caught my eye, re-reading the Reuters article: