Our flight from Stansted on Saturday morning 12 May took off after a delay on the tarmac. Apparently, the air traffic was very busy and so we ended up waiting for a slot for 30 minutes.
We were heading to Palma airport in Majorca for a First Choice holiday at the Luz MarinaHotel in C’an Pastilla for seven nights. Please also see my opinions on First Choice and on Majorca.
We had previously travelled to Majorca two years earlier and once again had chosen accommodation available through First Choice only. We then also flew with their Air 2000 sister company. That was when the seats were actually padded. Now they looked like a schoolboy’s prank; toilets with material on top, not pulled quite tight enough so a small dip was visible, waiting for you to fall down into the abyss as soon as bum met cloth.
At least this year I would not have to buy one of those silly adaptors that fit onto your headphones so you can enjoy the in-flight TV and radio. I had come prepared and packed two in my hand luggage. So it was somewhat disappointing to find that this plane didn’t actually require these adaptors. As it turned out, I did not need the headphones either, as the in-flight entertainment never took off. Perhaps the Captain had already judged that no headphones could block out the sounds of the screeching baby two rows in front or an upper class Ned Flanders in the row behind.
The meal was adequate and helped to pass a few fleeting moments on what was a comfortable trip. The flight took around 2 hours 15 minutes and ended with a smooth landing. The leg space was expectedly minimalist and reduced further every few seconds as the kid in front seemingly used his seat as a rocking chair.
The midday return trip from one of the busiest airports in Europe started with (for us) the usual delay. However one hour and 12 minutes was a huge improvement on the 16 hours a year earlier in Ibiza.
This time we had no complaints about the legroom as we had been awarded with the seats by one of the emergency exits. With this benefit comes the responsibility of opening the door in an emergency (pull this, pull that, wait for this). We were kind of hoping that the instructions would not be necessary. In these seats, you lose the option of hand luggage under the seat in front, so it will probably mean a couple of trips to the overhead compartments during the flight.
This time the entertainment was provided and so my adaptors had not been wasted after all. However, the sounds on the different channels were different levels and my volume control did not work. The most comfortable station for listening to was the TV channel. An episode of a BBC sitcom was followed by Pukka Tukka, the Jamie Oliver programme that is, not the in-flight meal, although the Lancashire Hotpot, toffee muffin and accompaniments were very pleasant.
The seats also had better, if not superb, padding and the trip was once again very smooth with hardly a noticeable landing. The flight took less than 2 hours, which had the hostesses struggling with the duty free-ish goods at the end, and is probably why my Trekking Wallet never arrived.
Safety is always the first issue with flying, and I had no problems at all with Air 2000. Next for me is punctuality. On this issue, they were pretty average. On comfort, they scored poorly for the outward trip. In-flight meals and entertainment were also average overall.
I would not go out of my way to choose this airline, but they would not deter me from booking any more First Choice holidays or booking a flight only, if the price was right.
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good op - there is always an annoying baby on every flight I go on which wouldn't be so bad if the parent had some idea how to control them or either better don't bring them on a flight until they are a couple of years old at least.
LostWitness 27.05.2001 11:33
A useful opinion because you have referred directly to your own experiences. :)
danieletheridge 25.05.2001 07:47
You have done something here which I find amazingly irritating. Although it's a very good op, you seem to blame the airline for the kids in front. Perhaps you could take another look at that! Cheers, danieletheridge.
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xr2i16v 28.12.2000 ·
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Review of Air 2000
May 25th, 2001
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