jacob_m

I personally think we need more Asian FAs in both Europe and the US. It would make air travel a bit more fun again...

jacob_m

This was another flight I was looking forward to during the trip.
No it’s not another first class flight and it's not the longest flight during the trip either, but it's an airline I was very curious about. I had seen some photos on the internet and got the impression there was a very nice business class product available onboard.

LAN Airlines (previously LAN Chile) is the national airline of Chile and also part of the One World alliance.
They operate a daily flight Sydney-Auckland-Santiago de Chile using a very modern A340-300.
It is possible to fly only the first leg between Sydney and Auckland and the flight departed conveniently at 9.55 am giving me two hours between flights in Sydney.

Transfer in Sydney

The international transfer in Sydney was actually surprisingly nice and very well organised.

When getting off the plane from Seoul there was a young woman standing at the end of the passenger bridge, welcoming us to Australia and directing us towards immigration.
She could also help transfer passengers so I asked her about LAN and she gave me directions to the correct transfer centre.

There are basically two international transit halls in Sydney, one used by mainly Star Alliance and one by One World and most other airlines.
Since I arrived on *A and was connecting to a OW flight I had to change transit hall which was done using a long corridor on the immediate right just before immigration.
At the end of it I arrived at transfer security (which was empty and the staff looked bored) followed by the transfer centre handling the One World alliance and Qantas in particular.

The transfer centre was also empty and one woman at the end of the desk waived me over as she was responsible for LAN.
She was very surprised to see I had a paper ticket and actually had to make a phone call to ask what to do with it.
Eventually I was checked in and I got a LAN boarding pass with my pre-assigned seat 02L.
The friendly agent suggested I should use the lift right opposite the transfer desk which goes directly to the entrance of the Qantas lounge.

A very easy and positive transfer experience!

Qantas Business Lounge, Sydney

The international Qantas lounge was indeed just by the lift, well at least the first class lounge, the business class lounge was a few more meters away.
My boarding pass was swiped at the entrance and I was welcomed inside.



The Qantas lounge was really nice but also rather crowded. It was just after 8 am and there were quite a few departures around 9 am to Asia, New Zealand and the US.
I eventually found a seat at the very end of the lounge, just by the window overlooking parts of the apron and the active runway used for landings. Nice view!



The business lounge is like a long wide corridor with the entrance right in the middle and two self-service buffets at each end.
There is also a huge dining table with plenty of wine for self-service. Never seen anything quite like that before.

The selection of food was very extensive including hot breakfast (scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon etc), fresh fruits, bread rolls and even a pancake machine.
The drinks selection was not bad either including plenty of wine, beer, spirits and soft drinks, however at 8 am in the morning I was happy with just a cup of coffee.

I had some fresh fruits and a cup of coffee and enjoyed watching aircrafts land on runway 16R, right in front of the lounge. You could also see the Sydney skyline in the background.



I spent about an hour in the lounge before leaving for the gate early, 45 minutes before departure.
In case you decide to wait in the lounge as long as possible they make both boarding and final call announcements in the lounge for all relevant flights.

Pics
Entrance to the Qantas lounge
Inside the very nice lounge
The lounge is vast
The massive dinner table
Self-service buffet area
Selection of beer, soft drinks and spirits
Nice view from the lounge overlooking the active runway
Sydney skyline

Sydney airport

I have passed through Sydney airport several times before, however I have always flown Star Alliance which departs from the western departure pier.
The eastern departure pier used for One World was actually really pleasant with a modern and airy design.

Pics
The very modern international transit hall in Sydney

Boarding

I arrived at the gate in good time before departure where boarding had already started, nearly 45 minutes before scheduled departure time. They informed me already at the transfer desk that LAN likes to have all passengers onboard 30 minutes before departure (although they are more lenient with business class), so after all perhaps not very surprising.

Business class passengers used a special lane on the right side of the podium, however my boarding pass did not have a barcode so I was directed to the small service desk at the gate where they printed a new boarding pass which could be scanned. Several other passengers had the same problem.



There was just one passenger bridge to the aircraft leading to door 1L, so all passengers boarded at the very front.
The business class cabin was incredibly elegant, actually one of the nicest cabins I have ever seen.
The interior was in mahogany and the seats in light blue colour. In front of every seat there was a monitor displaying beautiful photos of Chile during boarding.

I was greeted by a very friendly and polite female FA who spoke flawless English. I was offered a pre-departure drink (water or freshly squeezed orange juice) and she offered to take any coats or jackets.



I settled in my seat and enjoyed the nice view outside the window with lots of interesting airlines and aircrafts passing including the Asiana B777 I had arrived on and a Boeing 737 from Air Vanuatu (an airline I was about to include in the itinerary).
In the meantime boarding continued, among the passengers was a Chilean college class with about 30 students, all dressed in uniforms. The students were seated in economy class while I noticed the teacher was travelling in business class.

Business class had a rather light load, less than 50% to Auckland, however a young Chilean man had been assigned the seat next to me. After take-off he moved across the aisle to one of the empty middle seats for more space.

Pics
The LAN Airbus A340 at the gate in Sydney
Boarding at gate 34, business class to the right
The very nice business class cabin
A glass of orange juice before departure
Beautiful images from Chile on the monitors
Images of El Valle in Chile
The Asiana B777 (the aircraft I arrived on) passing. Very short turnaround!
A Boeing 737 from Air Vanuatu, I had some plans including this one in the itinerary
Emirates A380 which will also leave for Auckland

Sydney-Auckland, flight LA 800 operated by LAN Airlines
Departure: 09:55
Arrival: 15:10
Aircraft: Airbus A340-300
Class: Business Class
Seat: 02L

After doors were closed a safety video was shown on the monitors with safety instructions in English and Spanish. The LAN safety video was quite long, a few minutes.

Expected flight time to Auckland was 2 hours and 30 minutes, which is quite quick!

We pushed back right on time at 10 am and took off a few minutes later at 10.15 am from runway 16R.
The initial climb provided some nice sceneries of the Australian coast before we set course for the Tasman Sea and New Zealand

Pics
Lining up for take-off at runway 16R. Lots of nice aircrafts at the terminal in Sydney!
Beautiful scenery after take-off

Meal service

Up in the air refreshments were served in business class.

Table cloths were laid on all tables and a meal tray was handed out with a ham and cheese croissant, a roast beef sandwich, and finally apple pie with vanilla cream for dessert.
Wine, beer and soft drinks as well as coffee and tea were also offered.



I asked for some red wine and they had three wines to choose between (all Chilean I think) including a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Malbec. While passing the galley I noticed they had Henriot champagne onboard as well.
They did not hand out any menus on this leg, however I know they do on the longer Auckland-Santiago leg.

The light meal was fine and the sandwiches were tasty and filling.
I knew already when I booked the flight there would only be refreshments served between Sydney and Auckland, however that was actually a positive thing for me after all the extensive first class meals, I was not extremely hungry anyway,
If I had chosen Qantas or Air New Zealand (and even Emirates) on this route I would probably have got a proper three courses lunch.

Anyway, this was fine for me and the service was friendly and attentive. I didn’t get much use of my Spanish skills as all crew members spoke perfect English.
My glass of red wine was refilled a few times while I enjoyed an episode of The Simpsons on the personal screen, actually an episode I had not seen before.

Pics
A light snack and a glass of red wine
Apple pie and coffee

The seat

The cabin was a great positive surprise. I found it immensely elegant and stylish, one of the nicest business class cabins I have ever travelled in. ^
The cabin was in a great condition and also spotlessly clean.



There were seven rows of business class on the A340 with a 2-2-2 configuration divided into a larger cabin (five rows) and a smaller cabin behind the galley (two rows).
I had pre-booked 02L on the flight, a window seat on the second row.



The seat was also a very nice experience. The “LAN premium business class” seat is lie-flat and actually becomes almost fully horizontal when reclined and the entire seat is controlled from a rather advanced seat control.
The seat pitch was also very decent, legroom was certainly not an issue.

The seat also had excellent storage. I did not even notice it until my seat neighbour showed me, but there is actually a small locker right in front of the seat, below the screen.
I am sure you can store things there also during take-off and landing as the locker can be closed and locked.
Never seen anything like it on any other airlines, but it’s great for personal belongings you want to use during the flight.
There is also storage for magazines and newspapers just by the screen.

Pics
The elegant business class cabin onboard
The business class seat
Excellent seat pitch, certainly no lack of legroom
Seat controls
USB port
Hidden storage in front of the seat

Inflight entertainment system



The inflight entertainment system on LAN is one of the best and most modern in the industry.
The AVOD system is enjoyed on a nice 15.4” high definition screen with excellent resolution and the system is controlled by a rather advanced remote control.
The sound quality was excellent and in the seat there were both a USB and an Ethernet port to connect personal devices.



The IFE selection was very decent and included an extensive selection of movies, TV episodes, audio tracks, games and a nice inflight map.
I took the opportunity to recline my seat and relax a bit while listening to some music and the audio section was very well organised by genre and sorted by artist name.
It was also possible to create personal playlists or use the shuffle function.

Overall a great IFE system! ^

Pics
The IFE menu
The movie menu
Nice selection of New Age/Relaxation music
Enya - Amarantine
Watching an episode of The Simpsons
Inflight map
The rather unusual IFE control

Arrival in Auckland

During the approach to Auckland a pre-recorded announcement was made about quarantine in New Zealand and the importance of declaring all food and plants at customs.
They are very strict about this in both Australia and New Zealand and failure to declare important items can result in a fine on the spot or in severe cases imprisonment.



We flew right over Auckland city centre and I even managed to spot the airport in the far distance as well as a Boeing 767 belonging to Air New Zealand on final approach.
We made a sharp 180 degrees right turn before landing at 2.50 pm local time on runway 23L.



The weather in Auckland was grey and rather cold (they mentioned 10 degrees Celsius). For me as a European it is strange that the month of August is right in the middle of the winter in New Zealand.

The aircraft was continuing to Santiago de Chile around 90 minutes later, however also the passengers continuing to SCL were asked to disembark and clear transfer security and I think most of them were happy to do so, to stretch their legs a bit before the next long flight.
Just one passenger bridge in use for door 2L.

Pics
The New Zealand coastline
Auckland airport in the far distance
Can you spot the Air NZ B767 on approach before us?
Very nice scenery outside of Auckland
Final approach
Just landed at a cloudy Auckland airport
The LAN A340 at the gate in Auckland

Verdict

In total a very positive flight. I found the crew to be very friendly and polite and the service to be attentive and polished. No use of any names, but the passengers were always addressed by Sir or Madam.

The seat, cabin and inflight entertainment system were top-notch, in fact I am even prepared to go one step further and say the hard product (called LAN premium business class) is one of the best business class product around at the moment. At least if you ask me...
The cabin was very elegant, not overwhelming, but elegant in a minimalistic way.
The seat was very comfortable, quite advanced and one of the few business class seats that can be made almost fully horizontal. The legroom was very decent and there was ample storage.
The inflight entertainment system was also great, nice looking menus, a great screen with an excellent resolution, superb sound quality and many options.
All-in-all a stellar product!

The only drawback was the meal service which was below average for this route, QF and NZ would have served a hot meal on a similar flight.
I was expecting this so it was not a surprise and actually I did not mind just a light meal. But others may think differently.

In conclusion a very nice flight and based on this experience I would definitely not mind flying LAN Airlines again in the future...

slippahs

Just wanted to add: great report! Look forward to the next installment.

HHConrad

Simply so far outstanding.

hbush

Excellent! Couldn't stop reading. Thank you so much for writing this travel story!

jacob_m

Time to continue towards the South Pacific, this time on Air New Zealand.
The flight between Auckland and Papeete/Tahiti was rather long with a flight time of five hours.

Transfer in Auckland

After getting off the LAN flight from Sydney I followed the signs for connecting flights.
Transfer security was very quick (despite a large number of passengers arriving from Sydney) and the staff were actually both friendly and polite.

I still did not have a boarding pass to Papeete, so this had to be sorted out at the airport.
There were two options, either check-in at the Air NZ transfer centre, or in the lounge.
Since I wanted to stretch my legs a bit and do some shopping the choice fell on the transfer desk.

The Air NZ transfer desk is located right in the middle of the upstairs tax-free area, there was just one agent working, but on the other hand there was no line.
It took a bit of time to get everything sorted out, especially as I had a paper ticket, however eventually she made some progress.
I had seat 04A prebooked for the flight, however I decided to ask her about the flight load and if there was someone sitting next to me. She said the flight was nearly full, but there were a few empty seats in business class.
She changed my seat assignment to 01K which would give me two empty seats. Nice!

Pics
The transit hall
Apron view

Air New Zealand lounge, Auckland

After some shopping I made my way to the Air New Zealand lounge.
They were doing a major reconstruction of the transit hall so the lounge was a bit tricky to find, even though I had been there before. The location of the lounge has not changed, but a completely different corridor is used to get to the lounge.



I was warmly greeted at the entrance by a friendly female agent. Just as I was going to show her my boarding pass I noticed the usual SK*G was missing so I asked her to check in the system.
Just as expected my SAS FF-number had disappeared for whatever reason, but she happily entered it and even printed a new boarding pass.

I also enquired if they had showers in the lounge, I had been travelling for over 24 hours (with quite a few more hours to come) and I could almost kill for a shower and a change of clothes.
There was a large shower section in the lounge and that shower did wonders!

The Air New Zealand lounge in Auckland is a very pleasant lounge to use.
The lounge had a nice, modern and comfortable interior, however there were a few more unusual things that really made an impression.

After half an hour in the lounge manager came on the PA in the lounge. However rather than making a boarding announcement she welcomed all guests to the lounge, introduced herself, and told us about the facilities and the food offerings in the lounge this evening.
I have never experienced anything like that before, it was very pleasant and I think many other lounge guests appreciated the hospitality.
Very well done Air NZ! ^

The lounge manager also informed that passengers travelling in Business Premier on longhaul flights (i.e. to Asia/US) were offered free massage in the lounge. Nice touch!



I was still not very hungry but I got some light snacks and a cup of coffee from the self-service buffet and surfed the internet using the free WIFI.
The selection of food was quite decent with some soup, cold cuts, pasta salad with chicken and lovely homemade scones and apple muffins. Yummy!



Air NZ also has one of the most extensive selections of wine and beer I have ever seen. However the selection of spirits was slightly less impressive, especially the brands.

Overall a pleasant place and my 3˝ hour transfer in Auckland passed in no time.

Pics
The entrance to the Air New Zealand lounge
Inside the lounge
Scones, muffins and cookies
Bread, cold cuts and soup
Very decent selection of beer and wine
Different fruit juices
Spirits
Sitting areas
I like the nice and peaceful interior

Boarding



The NZ 40 flight to Papeete was departing from gate 4.
Boarding started at 6 pm, 35 mins before departure, with priority boarding for passengers with small children followed by business class and Star Alliance gold.
There was a separate lane for business class and Star Gold on the right side of the counter, very clearly marked by a large sign.



A friendly crew greeted us at the entrance to the Boeing 767 and directed us to the appropriate aisle.
I immediately remembered why I think Air NZ is one of the best airlines around. The very pleasant crew joked with passengers and tried to address the French-speaking passengers with a cheery “bonjour”. Even the small children boarding the aircraft got some attention by the FAs.

There were four rows of business class on the Boeing 767 with a 2-2-2 configuration.
The flight seemed very full however just like the transfer agent had told me there were a few empty seats in business class and the seat next to mine stayed empty during the flight.

Pre-departure drinks were offered in the cabin, a choice between orange juice, water and champagne. After a shower and a few cups of coffee in the lounge I was ready to go into champagne mode again...
Newspapers were also offered and I was very positively surprised to be given an amenity kit for the flight, actually a very nice but unusual grey cotton bag.

There are no overhead monitors in business class, so all passengers have to use their personal monitors to watch the safety demonstration video, which have to be stowed again directly afterwards in preparation for take-off.
It was not hard to notice the crew also found the set-up a bit stupid, but of course there was no other choice.

I like the Air NZ safety video though. It is very straight-forward and doesn’t go into excessive details about every possible safety feature onboard, or every single electronic device you are not allowed to use. Very professional, easy to follow, and straight to the point.

Pics
Evening apron view, the B767 at gate 4 will take me to PPT in an hour
Departure board
The Boeing 767 at the gate
The gate, a proper priority boarding lane is available to the right of the desk
The business class cabin
Business class in preparation for departure

Auckland-Papeete, flight NZ 40 operated by Air New Zealand
Departure: 18:35
Arrival: 01:35
Aircraft: Boeing 767-300
Class: Business Class
Seat: 01K

Pushback right on time at 6.35 pm and we took off a few minutes later at 6.48 pm from runway 05R.
The seatbelt sign is turned off almost immediately on Air NZ, sometimes within only a minute after take-off. This was a positive thing for me as I was really feeling the effects of all the drinks in the lounge and on the plane before departure and had to rush to the lavatory.

The flight time to Papeete was expected to be around five hours.

After departure more drinks were offered in the business class cabin.
While taking drink orders all passengers were addressed by name and I asked for another glass of champagne, they served the Piper Heidsieck onboard.
The drinks were served with some lights snacks including olives, mushrooms and vegetables, and of course some peanuts.

Pics
Pushback from gate 4
Passing an Air NZ B747 and an Air NZ B777

The menu

The business class menu was handed out and I was also offered a copy of the Air New Zealand wine list which I happily accepted.
The wine list contained all wines served on Air NZ, obviously not all of them were available onboard on this flight, but the FA let me know which ones they had so I could look them up in the small booklet.

This is the dinner menu for the flight to Papeete:

Pics
The menu and wine list

The meal service

I was offered more champagne and then the table was prepared for the meal service with a white table cloth. Hot towels were also offered.

The appetiser was tuna with a light with red onion compote and wasabi crčme. Pretty good!



There were three choices of main course and I chose the snapper served with potatoes, vegetables and salsa.
I asked for some white wine with the main course and after looking through the booklet with the wines the choice fell on Church Road, Reserve Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2008.
A rich and fruity white wine with an aroma of peach and grapefruit, the booklet also mentioned it should work well with this type of main course.



There were two choices of dessert and I chose the raspberry and hokey pokey ice cream.
The charming female purser also tricked me into a glass of dessert wine. I was actually hesitating having more to drink, but she made the decision easy for me.



Finally a cart with a selection of New Zealand cheeses passed through the cabin and the crew also offered coffee and tea.
I declined all of it, I was very full and wanted to get some rest, however I asked for a glass of Chivas Regal to get sleepy and doze off a bit.

Pics
Champagne and amuse bouche
Appetiser
Main course
Ice cream dessert and dessert wine

Seat and inflight entertainment



The black leather seat in Air New Zealand business class is quite comfortable, it’s naturally not comparable to the newer Business Premier seat which becomes fully flat, but I found it adequate for the length of the flight.
The business class seat is just a standard recliner seat, but it was fine for a two hours rest. Possibly there could have been some more legroom, the seat pitch is 50”.



The inflight entertainment system on Air NZ is quite decent, it’s one of the newest versions with a good selection of audio and video on demand (AVOD).
It also has a very cool flight map including the view from a simulated cockpit which shows the major cities located along the route.

During the flight I watched an interesting documentary about gypsy weddings followed by a documentary about air ambulances.
The audio selection was rather extensive and the sound quality very good and I turned on some relaxing music while trying to get some rest.

I had a long night coming up so I needed to get all the rest I could get...

Pics
The business class seat
IFE menu
Celine Dion Essential Collection
IFE control
Flight map

Arrival in Tahiti



We started the descent to Tahiti around 0.50 am local time.
Landing cards were handed out but very nicely EU-citizens did not have to complete one since French Polynesia is part of France (which is a member of the European Union).

Before landing the purser passed through the cabin and thanked each passenger for choosing Air New Zealand. She also made sure we were all happy with the flight, well I certainly was.

Chocolate pralines were also handed out before landing.

We finally landed at 1.30 am on runway 04 at Tahiti Faa’a airport.
Landing at night in the South Pacific is always an adventure as many islands are small and the first lights appear less than a minute before touch-down.
It’s pitch-dark outside, the only thing you see is water and you just have to keep your fingers crossed the captain has actually spotted a runway somewhere in the darkness.



We taxied to the end of the runway (where you can actually see the city of Papeete and the port in the far distance) and then back-tracked to the terminal building.

The crew informed us about the strict quarantine regulations in French Polynesia, similar to New Zealand.



There are no passenger bridges in Papeete so you walk from the aircraft to the very exotic terminal building.
It was 1.30 am, right in the middle of the night, but still nearly 25 degrees Celsius in the air. A very tropical feeling!

Inside the immigration two musicians were playing and singing Polynesian songs and all passengers were also given a small tiare flower by a young woman.

A large part of the terminal is in open air, which means that not just passengers can easily enter the terminal, but also animals. There was a large crab on the floor in the immigration hall, not what you would expect to find while waiting for passport control.
In fact I did not notice it and nearly tripped over it.

Very interestingly there were two lines at immigration, one for passengers holding European passports and one for all other passengers.
It is such a strange feeling to travel to the other side of the world and find a separate lane for EU passports at the airport. Passengers with EU passports do not have to complete a landing card when entering French Polynesia and do not have to present a return ticket.

Baggage delivery started extremely quickly. Priority baggage arrived first, but there was quite a lot of it so my suitcase was around nr 25 on the belt.
I was very happy it had made all the transfers.

Pics
Approaching Papeete
41 minutes to go
Just landed at Tahiti airport
The Air NZ B767 on the apron
The very tropical terminal building
The terminal building - arrivals section
Welcome to Tahiti Faaa airport!
Two musicians playing
Separate line for European passports - on the other side of the world! Very strange!
Baggage reclaim

Verdict

A very pleasant flight on an airline that is one of my absolute favourites.

I just love the Air NZ crews and their ability to find the perfect mix between being polite and respectful while at the same time friendly and laid-back.
Some airline crews just become too distant and are almost afraid to talk to passengers, others that are the complete opposite, they become overly friendly and obtrusive.
But on Air NZ they get it just right.

Food and drinks were pretty good, good selection of drinks and rather tasty food with several options, I was certainly well fed onboard.
The seat was fine, but obviously nowhere near the fully flat Business Premier seat. I would have liked a little bit more legroom in the cabin.

The lounge in Auckland was also a positive experience. The fact that the lounge manager addressed and welcomed all the passengers in the lounge using the PA was a very nice touch. I have never experienced that before.

All-in-all a nice flight which will certainly bring me back to Air New Zealand again in the future.


Next it’s time for what is easily my craziest transfer during the entire trip!

fcs

I have to comment and give thanks for the most excellent trip report I have ever read. I'm sure you enjoyed your trip, but you can rest assured that I also thoughly enjoy reading about it. Keep up the brilliant work - I can't wait for the next installment

Best regards

Peter

jacob_m

This is probably the craziest and weirdest thing I have ever done, at least in terms of flying, but Tahiti was not my final destination either.
In fact I was going to Noumea and New Caledonia. Anyone who is familiar with the South Pacific region will know New Caledonia is not exactly around the corner from Tahiti.

If you are not familiar with the region, have a look at this map and see yourself!

Why this transfer?

Again it was all about maximising the experience. Why not add another two flights and another two airlines when the price is pretty much the same? (and not to forget, lots of extra mileage)

Noumea had an excellent airport webpage displaying all international departures and arrivals at the airport every week, which I made good use of.
Well it was a rather short section as there are only about 3-6 international flights per day, but nevertheless a good overview.
When I saw the once a week arrival from Papeete my creativity got going again. I checked the flights between New Zealand and Papeete and there was an instant match.
There are three flights a week from Auckland to Papeete and one of them connected perfectly to the Noumea flight with just about five hours in Tahiti (although right in the middle of the night...).
As a nice coincidence this once a week connection was available on just the day of the week I wanted to go.

I had the itinerary checked on the Orbitz webpage, and it worked! The price difference between going directly to Noumea from either Australia or New Zealand vs going all the way to Tahiti and back was very small, pretty much just some more taxes to pay.
Amazing! We're talking about a serious detour...

1:30 am - Arrival in Tahiti



My flight from Auckland touched down at 1.30 am. Both immigration, baggage reclaim and customs were very quick and I was standing in the arrivals hall with my checked luggage at 1.45 am. Very impressive and surely that priority tag made some difference.

Since I had so many segments it was not possible to tag my suitcase all the way to Noumea, there was simply no space on the baggage tag for any more flights.
Eventually it saved me the embarrassment having to explain why anyone with any kind of sense would fly five hours to Tahiti, to spend five hours at the airport in the middle of the night, and then fly six hours all the way back again in the morning.

The arrivals hall was pretty crowded. Lots of people had gathered to greet the passengers arriving on the full flight from Auckland. There were also a lot of tour companies and hotel representatives waiting for arriving passengers.

1:50 am - The departure hall



I made my way to the departure hall and the check-in area just a short walk from the arrivals hall (it is not a very big airport, everything is on one floor).
With a bit of luck there would be a check-in counter open where I could deposit my luggage again and get a boarding pass and lounge invitation. However no such luck!
There were just four Air New Zealand check-in counters open for the return flight to Auckland and they were just about to close.

1:53 am - Some fresh air



I went for a stroll around the airport to stretch my legs a bit. The entire airport, with the exception of the transit hall and the baggage reclaim, is in open air.
Tahiti Faa’a airport (pronounced Fa-ah) is certainly not your average airport, it is very tropical and exotic and a far cry from my regular Arlanda airport in Stockholm.
It was 1.53 am local time, a 12 hours time difference from where I started. The colleagues at home were probably having an afternoon coffee.



2.28 am - The airport cafe



A few of the airport shops opened in connection with the Auckland arrival/departure, but they closed again as the arriving passengers had left the airport and the departing passengers were all in the transit hall.
The only thing open was the small airport cafe...

There was an interesting bunch of people in the cafe. Some were holidaymakers who had arrived on the same Auckland flight as me and were now waiting for the morning domestic departures to the outer French Polynesian islands.
Others were locals and tourists who were waiting for the international departures around 6-7 am and simply did not want to pay for an extra hotel night.

A very relaxed but also very interesting experience!

French Polynesia is one of the most expensive countries in the world, but the airport cafe was surprisingly affordable. I had a coffee and a croissant and got a book from my bag.
A positive thing was also that both French Polynesia and New Caledonia use the same currency, the French Pacific Franc (or "Comptoirs Français du Pacifique Francs"), so I could sort out my money matters and use the same currency while waiting at Tahiti airport.

There was WIFI available at the airport, but you had to get a voucher to use it and none of the shops that apparently sold it were open.

3.20 am - Check-in opens



The flight to Noumea was to depart at 6.20 am and check-in opened exactly three hours before departure.
Quite a few locals had arrived very early and were already lined up as I arrived in the check-in area at the far end of the terminal just after 3.20 am.
Some of them had an absurd amount of luggage, and not just suitcases, but lots of other stuff as well. One woman was checking in two umbrellas.



There was a separate line for Air Calin Classe Hibiscus/Business Class, the young woman at the assigned business class desk was checking in another passenger but a minute later she waived me over to her desk.
The check-in process was swift. She confirmed my pre-assigned seat and also helped me enter my AF Flying Blue number since I had not been able to do that earlier.



A yellow Air Calin priority tag was attached and finally she issued me a lounge invitation for the common airport lounge in the transit hall.

A very quick and straight forward experience!

3.40 am - Still in the departure hall



I was happy to be checked in and was now looking forward to some rest in the lounge, I vaguely remembered from my last visit four years ago there were very comfortable couches in the lounge.

However getting inside the transit hall was harder. The doors leading to passport control, security and eventually the transit hall were closed with big signs saying “Accčs Reglementé”.

At the same moment a customs officer passed, I asked him if it was possible to get inside as I wanted to get to the lounge.
His answer was a firm “no, it is not possible, it opens 2˝ hours before departure".

Fair enough, that would be in ten minutes.

3.55 am - Still in the departure hall

3.50 am passed (plus a few more minutes) but no sign of any officers and the doors were still closed.
I clearly heard the officer using the word “demie” which means half an hour in French.

The airport was now coming to life as there was one international arrival and three international departures within the next three hours.
At 3.50 am I could hear the Air France Boeing 777 land on the other side of the terminal building bringing passengers from Los Angeles and Paris CDG.

4.20 am - Still in the departure hall

4.20 am, doors still closed. I was getting really sick of waiting in the departure hall, and that cup of coffee I had two hours earlier had stopped making any effect a long time ago...



I had the lounge invitation, but could not get to the lounge...

4.24 am - The doors open, finally!

I could see the lights being turned on through the tinted glass and at 4.24 the doors finally opened. Not exactly 2˝ hours before departure, but perhaps this is French flexibility?!

The officers were clearly very tired but the whole process was quick. Once again my laptop had to be removed and screened separately.



The transit hall had been greatly refurbished since my last visit four years ago. It actually looked very nice, but the facilities were lacking, just one cafe and a small tax-free shop.
There were actually more shops landside than airside, I seem to remember this part was much better on my last visit.

4.29 am - The lounge!



I was the first person to arrive at the lounge located one floor above the transit hall.
The entrance is a nice wooden door with two cool Polynesian statues.

I was warmly welcomed at the entrance and invited inside as I presented my lounge invitation.



There is just one lounge in Tahiti used by all international airlines (i.e. TN, NZ, AF and SB).
It is not spectacular, but adequate for the rather small airport. Lots of very comfortable couches and armchairs and a small self-service buffet area. Passengers travelling in Air France (and I believe Air Tahiti Nui) first class have access to a small roped-off area in an adjacent room. I don’t know if there is any difference between the sections, I didn’t bother checking, I guess technically anyone could enter and have a seat there.
The view is a major highlight though, there is an excellent view of the apron and the runway from the lounge.



As I arrived they were preparing the buffet with some breakfast items including toast, pastries, croissants and cereals.
The selection of drinks was adequate with beer, wine, spirits, soft drinks, tea and coffee. Nothing extraordinary but perfectly fine.



I made myself a small breakfast and had a glass of Johnnie Walker from the buffet.

A few moments later a middle-aged man entered the lounge followed by a young woman.
The young woman must have been just as tired as me, she approached me and the middle-aged man and asked if we would mind if she lied down on one of the couches.
The middle-aged man had no objections and neither had I, in fact as the lounge was still very empty I decided to do the same and moved to one of the couches in a rather secluded corner.

Oh thank heaven for comfortable couches!
This was my second night on the road and I think something like 38 hours had passed since I checked in at Hong Kong airport. Still six more hours of flying before I would see a proper bed again.
I managed to get about an hour of sleep in the lounge, as I woke up quite a few more people had arrived for the morning flights to Noumea, Tokyo and Los Angeles.
I don’t know if the others had any opinions about me sleeping on the couch, but I seriously couldn't care less!

5.45 am - Boarding to Noumea!



Eventually at 5.45 am I left the lounge and headed for the gate right below the lounge where boarding was just about to start.

Next flight was going to be on the rather unusual Air Calin, which I don’t think has been covered here before.
6 hours and 40 minutes in their “Classe Hibiscus” (Business class) between Papeete/Tahiti and Noumea/New Caledonia on an Airbus A330.

This was one of the most interesting and strangest flights I have ever taken!

r0l4nd

Nice cliffhanger ..

Seriously .. one of the best TRs ever! I hope it goes on for many more episodes.

jacob_m

Many thanks for the kind comments!

r0l4nd, very welcome to Flyertalk! (since I notice this is your first post)

Yes there are more instalments to come! Depending on how I decide to structure the report there should be 13-15 instalments left.

deconz

Ditto!!! Only when I did it about 10 years ago it was operated by a 733.

Really enjoying your trip report

jacob_m

OK, so after my little “cliffhanger” it’s time to test one of the most exotic airlines included in the itinerary (actually there will be one more extremely unusual airline later).

6 hours and 40 minutes between Papeete and Noumea in Air Calin business class



Air Calin

Air Calédonie International, or simply Air Calin, is the national airline of New Caledonia.
The airline is based at Noumea La Tontouta airport and operates a fleet of one Airbus A320 and two Airbus A330-200.

Shorthaul destinations include Brisbane and Sydney in Australia, Auckland (New Zealand), Nadi (Fiji), Papeete (French Polynesia), Port Vila (Vanuatu) and Wallis and Futuna.

Longhaul destinations include Osaka and Tokyo in Japan and Seoul in South Korea.

The airline has a close cooperation with Air France and in particular the flights to Japan are used to feed passengers to Air France and onwards to Paris and Europe.
All Air Calin flights also qualify for point earnings in AF/KLM Flying Blue.

The flight

This flight was interesting for many reasons, but one interesting aspect is that it crossed the entire South Pacific region.
The flight originated in Tahiti (which is as far east as you can get in the region) and ended in New Caledonia (which is as far west as you can get in the region). Well technically you could travel slightly further in both directions, but if only looking at major airports and islands this route is quite maximised.

With a scheduled flight time of 6 hours and 40 minutes it shows how massive the South Pacific really is!
If you live on the other side of the world (like I do) it’s almost hard to imagine.

Boarding

After an hour of sleep in the lounge I made a quick visit to the restroom to freshen up and then headed to the gate.
Tahiti airport has a very interesting numbering of the departure gates. There are basically four international departure gates but they have numbered them with what seems like random numbers between 30 and 61.
Well the transit hall is not massive and with 3-4 daily international departures you are not likely to get lost.

Boarding started at 5.50 am, 30 minutes before departure at gate 40.
Priority boarding was offered for business class passengers and there was a separate line on the right side of the gate counter which was also clearly indicated on the gate monitor.

The first boarding announcement was made just as I arrived at the gate so I was one of the first passengers to be processed.

There are no passenger bridges in Tahiti, just short covered walkways leading from the terminal to the apron and then you walk outdoors to your aircraft.
Again with only 3-4 daily international departures you are unlikely to end up at the wrong aircraft.



It was a very nice and warm morning and it was actually quite refreshing to walk from the terminal to the aircraft, parked at the far west corner of the apron.
I passed the Air France B777 that arrived earlier during the night followed by the Air Tahiti Nui A340 departing for Tokyo at 7 am and eventually I arrived at our Air Calin A330.
I believe the aircraft arrived in the late afternoon the previous day and had spent the night at the airport.

There were two stairs in use for the aircraft and I obviously used the forward one leading to door 1L. I believe there was also a man checking boarding passes to make sure only eligible business class used the forward stairs.

Pics
Boarding at gate 40
Apron view
The Air Tahiti Nui A340 will leave for Tokyo in an hour
The Air Calin A330 on the apron
Boarding the A330

A first impression of Air Calin

I was greeted at the entrance by a friendly crew and escorted to my seat 03A.
I was the first business class passenger to board which was great as I could take a fair number of photos before the others arrived.



There were 26 seats in “Classe Hibiscus” (as they call their business class) with a 2-2-2 configuration on the Airbus A330. There were four rows of seats except for the left side of the cabin where there were five rows.
The rows were named 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6, but interestingly there was no row 4.



The cabin was in excellent condition with a very nice interior in attractive blue colours and a small bar counter in front of the cabin where drinks and bottles were kept during the meal services (and newspapers before departure).
I was actually very positively surprised!

I was offered a departure drink (orange juice), newspapers and even an amenity kit. I was not expecting an amenity kit on a 6 hour morning flight. Another positive surprise!

The amenity kit was in fact one of the better ones I got during the trip, a nice light grey bag with plenty of contents.
Other than the regular stuff there was also a small bag inside containing four skin products from Clarins in Paris.

Pics
Welcome onboard Air Calin!
The business class cabin
The interior is actually rather attractive
A glass of orange juice before departure
Amenity kit

An odd passenger on an odd flight

As I wrote earlier this was an interesting but very strange flight for many reasons.
As for the cabin experience I was easily the oddest person in the business class cabin.

I am not just thinking about my age, yes I am pretty young (still in my 20s) and the fact that people sometimes stare at me in lounges and premium cabins is something I stopped caring about a long time ago, but that was not the only reason.

All other passengers in business class had French as their first language, pretty much all of them seemed to reside in the region, and I believe the vast majority were French expats living and working in either New Caledonia or French Polynesia.

During the flight random passengers started talking to each other, and they immediately found things they had in common.
I did not want to listen to private conversations, but of course it was inevitable at times. Conversations I did hear were things like: “oh so you know Monsieur X, I believe he is a former colleague of my wife”, or “oh so you live in that neighborhood, we are actually thinking of moving there”.
At some points it felt like the flight was nothing but a social gathering in the region. It was so weird!

I obviously did not fit whatsoever in the description of a typical Air Calin business class passenger. Then on top of everything else, with the exception of a baby I was easily the youngest passenger in the cabin.

My very odd presence was also manifested in my first conversation with the young male FA in business class:

Him: Monsieur, welcome onboard! Can I get you either “Les Nouvelles de Tahiti” or “Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes”?
Me: Ehm… (trying to think if I have even heard of any of the titles he just mentioned)
Him: Monsieur, do you speak French?
Me: Yes I do, but I am neither Tahitian, nor Caledonian.
Him: Oh, so where are you from then?
Me: I am from Sweden
Now he got quiet, probably pondering over if he had ever heard of the country I just mentioned and if he would be able to locate it on a map.
Him: Ehm, well I’ll get you both newspapers, so you can have a look in both.

Just classy!

There were no English newspapers in the cabin by the way…

Papeete-Noumea, flight SB 601 operated by Air Calin
Departure: 06:20
Arrival: 10:00
Aircraft: Airbus A330-200
Class: Classe Hibiscus / Business Class
Seat: 03A

Business class ended up being quite full, but the seat next to mine stayed empty.

A safety demonstration video was shown on all monitors before we pushed back right on time at 6.25 am.
The purser also welcomed us onboard, scheduled flight time to Noumea was 6 hours and 40 minutes but the expected flight time was slightly less, around 6 hours and 20 minutes.

After a nice taxi in the morning sun we took off at 6.45 am from runway 22.
As I was sitting on the left side I got a gorgeous view through my window of the island of Tahiti, the mountain and the coastline. I have no words how beautiful the place is...!!





Pics
Almost ready for departure
Pushback with the runway and the control tower in the background
Seconds after take-off from runway 22
That’s the Intercontinental Resort Tahiti in the foreground
Wonderful view of the island of Tahiti

The menu

The menu was handed out already on the ground, just a small printed paper with the menu and the drink list. According to the menu there was also supposed to be a “carte des vins” with the “vintages specially selected for the flight”.
However I did not see one, maybe I missed it?!

There were two meals during the flight, a light breakfast just after departure and a more extensive hot meal/lunch around 90 minutes before landing.
This suited me perfectly! I was so happy there would be a proper hot meal and just a light breakfast (rather than the opposite). It is such a waste to buy a business class ticket and then just get breakfast onboard with a rather average omelette.
In fact I was really looking forward to the lunch service, New Caledonia is well-renowned for its cuisine.

Here is the menu for the flight:

Pics
The business class menu

Breakfast



The breakfast was served straight after take-off, actually they did not call it a breakfast but rather “hot drinks with rolls from the bakery”.

Hot towels were offered, white table cloths were laid on the tables and then the breakfast tray was handed out.
The tray included some fresh fruits, butter, marmalade and a croissant.
Bread rolls were offered by the crew as well as coffee and tea.

I thought this was absolutely perfect! Everything was very fresh and I liked the china with blue and green flowers. Very exotic!
More coffee was offered before the tables were cleared.

Pics
Business class breakfast

The seat



I was really tired by now and was very eager to lower the window shades and recline my seat for some proper sleep. I fell asleep almost immediately and slept for a good three hours.

The business class seat was very comfortable. It’s just a recliner seat, but one of the newest versions and the recline was in fact very decent and I slept really well in the seat.
No complaints whatsoever!

The seat was controlled by four buttons located in the armrest and the entire seat and all the features were very nicely described in the seat guide, available in the seat pocket.

Pics
The business class cabin
The business class seat
Seat controls
A short seat guide in French, English and Japanese. Nice!

Lunch

After a very nice three hour sleep I was actually starting to get a bit hungry again, well fortunately I had a lunch service to look forward to.

About 90 minutes before landing (around 11.15 am Tahiti time) the crew started preparations for the main meal service.
Hot towels were handed out and white table cloths were once again laid on the tables.



A meal tray was then handed out which contained the appetiser - the swordfish tartare. It was really delicious!
Bread rolls were offered by the crew followed by drinks. I had some red wine to drink and a glass of water, unfortunately I can’t remember the name of the wine and the grapes (all wines were French though).
I later found out they had champagne onboard as well, for the records they served Piper Heidsieck.



There were two choices of main course - veal or haura.
I had absolutely no idea what “haura” was, I checked both the English and the French version of the menu, but it was called “haura” in both languages.
Anyway, I am always happy to try local food, so I ordered the “haura” which was served with mashed potatoes.
After searching on the internet it seems like it was some kind of local fish, although it certainly tasted more like meat.

After the main meal there was a cheese plate on the tray and a very nice pineapple dessert.
More wine was offered by the FA followed by more bread rolls and crackers for the cheese, digestives and finally tea and coffee.

All-in-all the meal was absolutely superb! A real culinary experience! ^

I have already given a few anecdotes about this rather “interesting flight”. Well during the meal I got another fine example.
There were three FAs working in the business class cabin: a young woman, a young man (who did most of the work in the galley), and a middle-aged man who I believe was also the purser.
The young woman did most of the hard work in the cabin, including offering hot towels, placing table cloths on the tables, serving the meals, refilling glasses and clearing the tables.
She did that for both aisles in business class.

The purser was probably expected to do an equal amount of work, that didn’t quite happen!
No, he had one type of red wine which he seemed to like more than anything else, and instead of helping his colleague he took the bottle and went on a promotion tour in the cabin trying to persuade almost every single passenger to taste it (while at the same time chatting about random topics). After the meal service he was eager to promote the digestives they had onboard.

I thought the whole scene was just hilarious, I still get a smile on my lips when thinking about it, but I did feel a bit sorry for the young woman.
But in all fairness, “his red wine” was actually quite tasty!

Well the service onboard was fine and since I am pretty much fluent in French they did not have to treat me differently, which I think was a positive thing.
The meal service was also fine, althought it could have been slightly better coordinated if they had divided the tasks better. As a small example they forgot to offer me more water.
Nevertheless, with all these small “events” the service really stood out from most other flights I have taken...

Pics
Appetiser
Red wine to drink
Main course
A cup of coffee after the meal

Inflight entertainment system



There was an inflight entertainment system onboard which I did not make much use of as I spent most of the flight eating and sleeping.

The IFE menu was quite nice with many interactive options, for example information about Air Calin, the destinations and transfer info. However the 12 movies available were non-AVOD if I remember correctly.

There was also a nice and rather advanced flight map which could also be zoomed in and out.

Pics
The inflight entertainment menu
The IFE control
Flight map

Arrival in New Caledonia

We started our descent around 9.20 am local time. Before landing chocolate pralines were offered in the cabin.



The approach to Noumea was very beautiful. We flew right along the coast and I got some excellent first views of New Caledonia and in particular the smaller islands outside of Grand Terre (the main island).
We then made a sharp right turn and made the final approach next to a green and very mountainous area.
We finally landed at 9.53 am on runway 11 at Noumea La Tontouta airport.



The airport is quite small and there are no passenger bridges to use, so all passengers have to walk the short distance from the aircraft to the terminal building.

The terminal looked very 70’s, it did the job but it was certainly not a stunning piece of architecture.

As New Caledonia is also part of France (which is a member of the EU) immigration was rather easy and straight-forward for me and I did not have to complete a landing card.

It took a bit of time before baggage delivery started, but at least the priority-tagged luggage came out first.

Pics
A first view of New Caledonia
Final approach to Noumea
Just landed at Noumea La Tontouta airport
The Air Calin A330 on the apron after disembarkation
The terminal building
Baggage reclaim

Finally some proper sleep, in a real bed!

I passed through customs and went to one of the desks to arrange an airport transfer.
Most people use one of the airport shuttle companies to get to Noumea, they are shared so you get a larger car which is shared with a few other passengers.
This is the most convenient option to get to Noumea while still being cheaper than taking a taxi. The airport is quite a distance from Noumea, around 50 km.

As I arrived at the hostel in downtown Noumea around noon I had been travelling nonstop for two days. In fact 49 hours had passed since I checked out of the Marriott hotel in Hong Kong (and before the short overnight stay in Hong Kong I had been travelling for another full day).

I fell asleep within minutes after entering the room, fortunately it was raining heavily outside, so I did not miss much anyway.
I was completely exhausted, but really, what an experience!!!

Verdict

As I wrote in the beginning this was one of the most interesting but also one of the strangest flights I have ever experienced.
But other than my odd presence in business class and a few hilarious moments with the crew it was a nice and pleasant flight.

The cabin was spotless and the interior very attractive, I also found the seat to be very nice and comfortable.

Regarding the meal service they seemed to have the same mindset as me, a quick breakfast and then a proper lunch service instead. I am sure many other airlines would rather have served a proper breakfast and then just a light snack before landing.
The food was a real highlight, very tasty, interesting options and great quality! The drinks were also very nice!

Priority boarding was well enforced in Papeete and the priority tag worked well in Noumea.

On the whole a nice experience, a flight that will certainly stay in my mind for some time, for many different reasons.
I certainly don’t regret making that detour via Tahiti!

jacob_m

Thanks!

A really strange flight indeed! Now that I have posted my flight review, do you recognise any of it?

ajs123

Jacob, this is a terrific trip report! I'm extremely curious to learn the details of preparing this trip; how many miles/money did you (approximately) spend, and how many miles did you earn!

deconz

It's been a while but based on your experience it's improved no end!!! Using the 733 the flight stopped in Nadi (NAN) in Fiji which is where I got off. Flight departed early from PPT and breakfast was minimal with no second service However, the crew were charming which made up for any meal short comings.

They offer some great one way fares from AKL to OSA so I might given them a whirl again