Tunis Air (Arabic: الخطوط الجوية التونسية) for those that are not familiar with the name, is the flag carrier airline of Tunisia and is rated as a 3 star airline by Skytrax. It was formed in 1948 and currently operates 113 scheduled international routes flying into over 80 European, African and Middle Eastern airports. It has a fleet of around 32 aircraft and since 1961 has been continuously renewing this fleet ensuring that the airline keeps up with the changing demands of its' passengers.
Just to give you some basic information about the airline itself before i give you my experience of flying with them;
Please note: Seat Pitch is the distance between a row of seats - the measurement from the same position on two seats, one behind the other - it is NOT the legroom area as some believe. (Taken from Skytrax website).
I flew with Tunis Air on 1st April 2008 and returned on 4th April 2008. I flew out of London Heathrow and into Tunis Carthage International Airport. All of the following sub-headings relate to economy class.
Check-In service:
The check-in service both in Heathrow and In Tunis was actually one of the friendliest i have ever experienced. Usually when you check in i find that the staff don't really make conversation, don't really make any effort with you and be quite rude and intimidating but, the staff on the desk at the time i checked in were very friendly. They made me feel very comfortable indeed, made polite, but not forced conversation with me and made me laugh. I was really surprised at how great the staff were.
Punctuality:
The flight on the outbound was delayed twice by about an hour. However, when we were finally allowed to board it took no longer than 25 minutes to get everyone on the plane and ready to fly. The staff were very efficient and still maintained the level of friendliness i had experienced at the check in. On the return flight, we boarded on time but we ended up being delayed by about 30 minutes but we weren't told why.
In-flight Entertainment:
Again, i was pleasantly surprised that Tunis Air, in economy, had individual seat back TV's with on demand services such as TV programmes, latest films not out on DVD yet, lots of musiccd's to make your own play lists from and a selection of games for all ages! After take off, the stewardess came round with earphones to plug in....i thought it was wonderful! That is until i realised that the control for the games etc was jammed into the seat the wrong way round so that i couldn't get it out. However, i was informed that i did not need the remote because it was touch screen but i had already selected a game and the screen had frozen. I kindly asked the stewardess to re-set the row and she did so very quickly. I decided to opt for a kid's film, "The Bee Movie" and so plugged my earphones in but.....no sound. I flew with 18 people all together and each one said that they trouble with something on the on-demand service whether it was sound or frozen screens. I was quite disappointed really that with such up-to-date technology in front of me i had to opt for the old-fashioned magazine to pass the 2 hour 30 minute flight away. Unfortunately, we must have had an older aircraft on the return flight as there were no seat back TV's, although there were overhead screens (1 per 3 rows) but no films were shown. Very disappointing.
Airline Magazine & Newspapers;
There was a selection of newspapers as you boarded the plane but they were all Arabic! The only magazine available was the shopping magazine and there was only 1 available for the row of 3 seats.
Economy Class meals:
I thought the food was really nice! We had beef, vegetables and potatoes on the outbound and seasoned white fish with cous cous on the inbound and i loved it!! You also received a small salad, 2 bread rolls, butter, a piece of cheese and a dessert. You were also served a cold drink and a hot drink! I wasn't too keen on the dessert going out as i wasn't too sure as to what it was...some kind of cake that tasted a little like sesame snaps (if anyone has ever tried them). I looooved the bakewell they served on the way back and i ended up eating my friend's portion as well....ooops!! All in all i would say the food was delicious, served hot and was plentiful.
Staff attitude, friendliness & service efficiency:
The level of friendliness of the staff was impressive; it wasn't forced or false and everything was done with a genuine smile. If anything was requested like a drink or pillow or a problem arose, the member of staff dealing with it was quick, efficient and apologetic if necessary. Considering English is their 3rd language they spoke it very well but there were occasionally a few blank expressions but luckily my French (their 2nd language) isn't that worse for wear and i was able to communicate my needs.
As i have probably expressed quite clearly i was surprised at the professionalism from this little known airline. I was impressed with the staff and their friendliness, helpfulness and efficiency; the food was lovely; the cleanliness of the aircraft was of a good standard and the seats were very comfortable and spacious. The only reason i am not rating Tunis Air as excellent is due the lack of in-flight entertainment. It was such a shame that passengers could not use the latest technology available on the aircraft to make their flight more enjoyable and fun.
I would recommend Tunis Air to anyone!
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