A Goodjet Experience GOT-(TRF!)-BVA-GOT
Dec 17, 2002, 2:38 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: SIN
Programs: DL,SQ
Posts: 156
A Goodjet Experience GOT-(TRF!)-BVA-GOT
Intro:
Goodjet is (was?) a Swedish low-cost airline that started up less than a year ago. The initial offering consisted of no-frills internet-purchase-only flights between Gothenburg and Beauvais (BVA). Not counting the occasional blink-and-miss-it EUR 1offers,the best fares were around EUR 40 each way but were typically sold out 2 months before departure. Yielding to my impulses one grey early October day, I clicked my way into a EUR 180 (approx.) deal for a mid-November weekend and my first ever stay in Paris. It was not a great price considering the prices (just under EUR 200) SAS was offering over the internet. I found consolation in the fact that I would not be required to transit in Copenhagen and instead...
Airline: Goodjet (op by Transair)
Flight: TWE601 Gothenburg GOT – Beauvais BVA
Sched: Dep 08.00 Arr 10.10 Date: Nov 15, 2002
Equipment: A320-200 Registration: SE-RCD
"... fly through Oslo Torp. You see, one of our planes encountered some problems yesterday and is stuck in Oslo, so we are routing your flight through Oslo to pick up some passengers also going to Paris. So, the flight will be about an hour late into Beauvais. If you show your boarding pass at cafe by the gate, you will be treated to a cup of coffee. Enjoy your flight!"
That was my cheery welcome to low-cost.
Shoot... my friend Seb was going to meet me at the Porte Maillot bus station at 12.00. I hated having to wake him up at 7 in the morning. Boarding began around 7.45. I finally called when the queue had almost disappeared but he did not answer and his voice mail came on as I approached the gate agent. I hung up and composed a quick SMS on the way down the jetway.
It was to be a quick 25-minute sprint to Oslo-Sandefjord Torp (TRF) airport. The cabin crew went through the safety demo in Swedish (!) only, which reflects who Goodjet / Transair believe their key customers are. Tray tables stowed, seatbacks upright... and armrests down (insisted an FA because otherwise they fall and hurt you).
Oslo-Sandefjord Torp airport was, to quote the song, somewhere out there. The A320 rolled to a stop past the farmhouse... sorry, terminal, did a 180, backtracked and swung into the driveway and parked alongside a KLM Fokker 70 and a Widerœe dash 8. The tarmac was firmly encrusted in ice as snow covered the grass and the trees. Farther away in the open, the technically challenged A320 sat. As it turned out, it was not a quick pick-up. There was a crew change and we hung around long enough that I felt I had to call Seb to inform him of a further delay. Permission was granted for the use of the mobile and I left him a new message saying I would call from BVA. Halfway through the wait, they refueled and passengers were instructed to keep their safety belts undone during the process. Boarding was not completed until around 9.45. In the next 10 minutes the mighty A320 (a giant at this airport) completed pushback, taxied with the starboard wingtip almost scraping a wall of earth, trees and snow, made what felt like an illegal turn onto runway 36 (yes, the same runway we landed on) and took off. I did not want to know how much runway we had, but was sure glad we did not clip a tree or a horse.
The menu in the pocket listed the prices of food and drink in Swedish kronor (they announced they would accept other Scandinavian kronor as well as Euro), and they cost not much more than they would in Gothenburg. That menu and the safety card were the entertainment.
The FA uniform was a black body-suit tight long-sleeved top with the Goodjet logo, to be matched with black trousers. With the crew change, it now clung to a kind-faced middle-aged Swedish lady and two nubile Swedish lads. Depending on your tastes, the sight was infinitely amusing or alluring.
And how could I forget to mention the seats? On Goodjet's website, they had explained that the flights would be operated by Transair using 180-seat A320s. Question: Can you really press 180 seats into an A320? The answer is YES. I walked the length of the aisle and counted 30 rows of 3+3. And no, they did not skip row 13. The result was this amount of legroom.
legroom 1
legroom 2
We reached little BVA at around noon. The bus to Porte Maillot cost EUR 10 each way. I finally reached Seb on the phone and was glad that he got my messages. About an hour and 20 minutes later, a little shorter than estimated by Goodjet on its Beauvais info page, I was safely in Paris.
Airline: Goodjet (op by Transair)
Flight: TWE602 Beauvais BVA – Gothenburg GOT
Sched: Dep 10.40 Arr 12.40 Date: Nov 18, 2002
Equipment: A320-200 Registration: SE-RCC
After a brilliant weekend, I was back in BVA at around 9.15 on a Monday morning. It was crowded with passengers. I looked around and promptly discovered that Ryanair operates 5 flights from various cities (not London) into BVA. Easyjet was also a client. Goodjet had 4 flights (Gothenburg, Malmo, Stockholm and Oslo-Sandefjord) departing within the space of 30 minutes.
I received a red boarding card from the check-in agent who automatically spoke English as soon as she saw my passport. So it was going to be free seating today. The small apron was dominated by a gang of 3 Goodjet A320s. They were later joined by a B757 in Transair colours. I guessed that SE-LCF, the aircraft that caused my unscheduled stop in Oslo Torp three days ago, was still out of action.
Today's passenger load was no more than 30%. Departure was delayed because the onboard passenger numbers did not tally with the number of checked in passengers on this flight. The captain, a chatty Brit, apologised a number of times during the brief wait. When it transpired that the 3 missing passengers had been caught up in some last minute shopping, he announced that we would be applauding the latecomers as soon as they stepped on board. We did so with much gusto.
The manner of departure led me to admire the ground manoeuvrability of the A320. The A320s had been parked parallel to one another, nosed towards the terminal. there was no pushback. A quick 180-degree swing-around (seemingly on the power of a single engine), we taxied out to the runway and to another swing-around point at the end of the runway. Pausing briefly after the positioning at the start of the runway, the throttles were opened and the brakes were released. After climbing steeply for half a minute or so, the aircraft leveled out and the engines were briefly set close to idle, probably part of a noise abatement procedure, before we continued to climb away from the county of Picardie.
Landing back at GOT was fun, if only for the close-proximity downwind which allowed a good view of the airport and the runway. And then a tight 180 in the air followed by final approach and touchdown.
Not the end of the story yet. My checked bag did not show up.
When I reported my missing bag, the agent stated that no one from my flight had reported missing bags. Nevertheless, the she filled out a form and faxed it over to Goodjet. Fortunately, they received and sent my bag to me the following day. There was no trace of rerouting. Where it went, I'll never know. The bag ain't talking.
**************************** End
Hope y'all found this interesting.
JetE
Goodjet is (was?) a Swedish low-cost airline that started up less than a year ago. The initial offering consisted of no-frills internet-purchase-only flights between Gothenburg and Beauvais (BVA). Not counting the occasional blink-and-miss-it EUR 1offers,the best fares were around EUR 40 each way but were typically sold out 2 months before departure. Yielding to my impulses one grey early October day, I clicked my way into a EUR 180 (approx.) deal for a mid-November weekend and my first ever stay in Paris. It was not a great price considering the prices (just under EUR 200) SAS was offering over the internet. I found consolation in the fact that I would not be required to transit in Copenhagen and instead...
Airline: Goodjet (op by Transair)
Flight: TWE601 Gothenburg GOT – Beauvais BVA
Sched: Dep 08.00 Arr 10.10 Date: Nov 15, 2002
Equipment: A320-200 Registration: SE-RCD
"... fly through Oslo Torp. You see, one of our planes encountered some problems yesterday and is stuck in Oslo, so we are routing your flight through Oslo to pick up some passengers also going to Paris. So, the flight will be about an hour late into Beauvais. If you show your boarding pass at cafe by the gate, you will be treated to a cup of coffee. Enjoy your flight!"
That was my cheery welcome to low-cost.
Shoot... my friend Seb was going to meet me at the Porte Maillot bus station at 12.00. I hated having to wake him up at 7 in the morning. Boarding began around 7.45. I finally called when the queue had almost disappeared but he did not answer and his voice mail came on as I approached the gate agent. I hung up and composed a quick SMS on the way down the jetway.
It was to be a quick 25-minute sprint to Oslo-Sandefjord Torp (TRF) airport. The cabin crew went through the safety demo in Swedish (!) only, which reflects who Goodjet / Transair believe their key customers are. Tray tables stowed, seatbacks upright... and armrests down (insisted an FA because otherwise they fall and hurt you).
Oslo-Sandefjord Torp airport was, to quote the song, somewhere out there. The A320 rolled to a stop past the farmhouse... sorry, terminal, did a 180, backtracked and swung into the driveway and parked alongside a KLM Fokker 70 and a Widerœe dash 8. The tarmac was firmly encrusted in ice as snow covered the grass and the trees. Farther away in the open, the technically challenged A320 sat. As it turned out, it was not a quick pick-up. There was a crew change and we hung around long enough that I felt I had to call Seb to inform him of a further delay. Permission was granted for the use of the mobile and I left him a new message saying I would call from BVA. Halfway through the wait, they refueled and passengers were instructed to keep their safety belts undone during the process. Boarding was not completed until around 9.45. In the next 10 minutes the mighty A320 (a giant at this airport) completed pushback, taxied with the starboard wingtip almost scraping a wall of earth, trees and snow, made what felt like an illegal turn onto runway 36 (yes, the same runway we landed on) and took off. I did not want to know how much runway we had, but was sure glad we did not clip a tree or a horse.
The menu in the pocket listed the prices of food and drink in Swedish kronor (they announced they would accept other Scandinavian kronor as well as Euro), and they cost not much more than they would in Gothenburg. That menu and the safety card were the entertainment.
The FA uniform was a black body-suit tight long-sleeved top with the Goodjet logo, to be matched with black trousers. With the crew change, it now clung to a kind-faced middle-aged Swedish lady and two nubile Swedish lads. Depending on your tastes, the sight was infinitely amusing or alluring.
And how could I forget to mention the seats? On Goodjet's website, they had explained that the flights would be operated by Transair using 180-seat A320s. Question: Can you really press 180 seats into an A320? The answer is YES. I walked the length of the aisle and counted 30 rows of 3+3. And no, they did not skip row 13. The result was this amount of legroom.
legroom 1
legroom 2
We reached little BVA at around noon. The bus to Porte Maillot cost EUR 10 each way. I finally reached Seb on the phone and was glad that he got my messages. About an hour and 20 minutes later, a little shorter than estimated by Goodjet on its Beauvais info page, I was safely in Paris.
Airline: Goodjet (op by Transair)
Flight: TWE602 Beauvais BVA – Gothenburg GOT
Sched: Dep 10.40 Arr 12.40 Date: Nov 18, 2002
Equipment: A320-200 Registration: SE-RCC
After a brilliant weekend, I was back in BVA at around 9.15 on a Monday morning. It was crowded with passengers. I looked around and promptly discovered that Ryanair operates 5 flights from various cities (not London) into BVA. Easyjet was also a client. Goodjet had 4 flights (Gothenburg, Malmo, Stockholm and Oslo-Sandefjord) departing within the space of 30 minutes.
I received a red boarding card from the check-in agent who automatically spoke English as soon as she saw my passport. So it was going to be free seating today. The small apron was dominated by a gang of 3 Goodjet A320s. They were later joined by a B757 in Transair colours. I guessed that SE-LCF, the aircraft that caused my unscheduled stop in Oslo Torp three days ago, was still out of action.
Today's passenger load was no more than 30%. Departure was delayed because the onboard passenger numbers did not tally with the number of checked in passengers on this flight. The captain, a chatty Brit, apologised a number of times during the brief wait. When it transpired that the 3 missing passengers had been caught up in some last minute shopping, he announced that we would be applauding the latecomers as soon as they stepped on board. We did so with much gusto.
The manner of departure led me to admire the ground manoeuvrability of the A320. The A320s had been parked parallel to one another, nosed towards the terminal. there was no pushback. A quick 180-degree swing-around (seemingly on the power of a single engine), we taxied out to the runway and to another swing-around point at the end of the runway. Pausing briefly after the positioning at the start of the runway, the throttles were opened and the brakes were released. After climbing steeply for half a minute or so, the aircraft leveled out and the engines were briefly set close to idle, probably part of a noise abatement procedure, before we continued to climb away from the county of Picardie.
Landing back at GOT was fun, if only for the close-proximity downwind which allowed a good view of the airport and the runway. And then a tight 180 in the air followed by final approach and touchdown.
Not the end of the story yet. My checked bag did not show up.
When I reported my missing bag, the agent stated that no one from my flight had reported missing bags. Nevertheless, the she filled out a form and faxed it over to Goodjet. Fortunately, they received and sent my bag to me the following day. There was no trace of rerouting. Where it went, I'll never know. The bag ain't talking.
**************************** End
Hope y'all found this interesting.
JetE
Dec 17, 2002, 6:00 pm
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by terenz:
I heard it folded very recently?</font>
I heard it folded very recently?</font>
So I think it was great that we got this trip report, as I have a feeling that we won't see any more reports from Goodjet!
Dec 18, 2002, 1:06 am
#4
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Vantaa, Finland
Programs: AY Lumo, FB Gold
Posts: 1,667
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by JetE:
Flight: TWE601 Gothenburg GOT – Beauvais BVA
</font>
Flight: TWE601 Gothenburg GOT – Beauvais BVA
</font>
Dec 18, 2002, 5:08 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: SIN
Programs: DL,SQ
Posts: 156
Yes, the Goodjet flights operated from Landvetter. Ryanair flies from Säve, now renamed Gothenburg City Airport. Before Goodjet had their operations suspended, they were also going head to head with SAS on GOT-ARN and MMX-ARN.
Interestingly, a few days ago, Goodjet sent out an email to all customers to refute media reports that they were being sued for bankruptcy. They also claimed to always have paid their debts. Just the following day, the local newspaper reported that their denial was untruthful because the lawsuit had indeed been filed and can be found in the legal records. Meanwhile, Transair is reported to be taking a softer stance on the collection of their dues since Goodjet was their only customer. It was also mentioned somewhere else that Goodjet had been bought out by the Dutch parent of Transavia (?). What a mess.
Interestingly, a few days ago, Goodjet sent out an email to all customers to refute media reports that they were being sued for bankruptcy. They also claimed to always have paid their debts. Just the following day, the local newspaper reported that their denial was untruthful because the lawsuit had indeed been filed and can be found in the legal records. Meanwhile, Transair is reported to be taking a softer stance on the collection of their dues since Goodjet was their only customer. It was also mentioned somewhere else that Goodjet had been bought out by the Dutch parent of Transavia (?). What a mess.
Dec 18, 2002, 12:44 pm
#6
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Sweden
Posts: 5,645
I think Goodjets biggest misstake was to enter the Swedish domestic market. If they ever return up int he air I would suggest they skip the domestic market and concentrate on France and Spain.
The question is however if the Swedish people have faith in them and will book tickets with them again? The people they left stranded in Spain for several days will probably not book tickets with them.
The question is however if the Swedish people have faith in them and will book tickets with them again? The people they left stranded in Spain for several days will probably not book tickets with them.