A Singaporean Travel Blog Presents

Flying StarFlyer from Tokyo to Fukuoka (2026 edition)

2026-09-23T16:02:22.668+08:00

Welcome to my 2026 edition of my Starflyer experience!

This is Starflyer Airbus A320ceo and I photographed this at Fukuoka Airport.

Introduction

Flying to Fukuoka was very much in my mind as I wanted to visit this city to enjoy my Japanese time. The last time I went there was a year ago when I flew there for a short stopover (Solaseed and Skymark flights) so this time I would stay for a few days over there. The question is which airline would fly me there. I thought for a while and ended up I decided on Starflyer.

At the time of booking, I was scheduled to fly on the airline's A320neo but a few days before the flight departure, I received a notification of an aircraft change and that is the A320neo swopping for the A320ceo, but the good news is I would be flying on another A320ceo as the A320 I flew with this airline before left the fleet a few years ago. So without further ado, let's begin this trip report.

Booking with the airline

This time I decided to book with ANA so that I can accumulate mileage points with EVA Air. (Star Alliance)

I chose the window seat for this flight.

The airline's network (September 2026 update)

(Photo: Starflyer's website)

On the day of departure

After departing from my hotel around 10.50 am, it took me about 10 minutes to reach the train station. By now, I am used to taking the trains and Japan has one of the most efficient train systems in the world, still impressed with it till today. Thanks to Goggle map, I was able to trace which route I should take to get to Tokyo Haneda Airport.

The train ride to the airport took about an hour with the need to change for another line. Despite the small inconvenience, it was still more economical to travel by this way.

Once we reached the train station, there is a signboard indicating which terminal you should be heading to.

Tokyo Haneda Airport Terminal 1 Station

Welcome to Terminal 1 of Haneda Airport!

This airport has to be one of my favourites. All 3 terminals have sufficient restaurants and cafes to enjoy, observation decks to do plane spotting, good transport in and out of the airports and there are lockers (chargable) to leave your luggage so that you won't have to tag them along if you are early.

Although it was crowded, I managed to make my way to where I need to go without issues.

There is also retail outlets in this terminal to check out.

Fortunately for the travellers on that day, there were few flight cancellations and lengthy delay.

It was a busy travelling period for the locals.

There are self check-in and luggage kiosks available.

The question here that some of you must be wondering, is it better to hang out to grab a bite at the airside or landside for domestic flights. There are more choices at the landside, so come early and enjoy your meal before your flight. For domestic flights, there is only the security queue to be concerned of. However, there are dedicated security areas for different airlines so the queues won't be long. For me, at the time of departure, it took less than 5 minutes to clear security.

Starflyer's check-in counters are located at the south wing of Terminal 1. You have to use security checkpoint A to get to the airside.

The luggage storage area. (chargable)

I prefer the Yoshinoya in Japan mainly because they serve Non-halal options such as pork and it is absolutely delicious.

One can also spend hours at this airport doing window shopping.

There is even a dedicated exhibition of the history of this airport.

It brings back memories of the past when the airlines were operating the Boeing 747 on the domestic routes.

The old airline uniforms on display

A JAL Boeing 747F (Freighter) aircraft on display with the front cargo door opened.

Anyone else misses the regular sight of the Boeing 747?

This is the cockpit of the Boeing 747-400.

The previous generation economy class seats

The airside

The airside is limited in eateries and shops but there are plenty of seating areas with charging ports available.

This is where my assigned flight departed from.

It was certainly a wet and windy afternoon that day.

Time to board!

Welcome on board!

I am certainly a big fan of this classy livery.

Flight route: HND-FUK

Distance: 884km

My ride: JA26MC

Photo: Haru

My seat: 16A (Photo: Aerolopa.com)

Airline: Starflyer

Flight: 7G51

Route: HND-FUK

Aircraft: Airbus A320neo changed to A320ceo

Registration: JA26MC

Seat: 16A

Departure Terminal: 1

Gate: 3

Load: 100%

Schedule Departure: 1555 (Delayed)

New Departure Time: 1610

Boarding: 1600

Pushed Back: 1622

Take Off: 1659

Flight Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

Actual Flight Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

Departure Runway: 16L

Departure Weather: Raining with Wind

Arrival Runway: 16L

Arrival Weather: Partially Cloudy

My thoughts

The flight announcement was made in regards to our flight due to bad weather therefore our aircraft arrived late. A lot of factors do consider when these sort of thing happen and it is best to understand what's going on and for this, I can't blame the airline or airport for the delay. Safety should never be compromised especially in bad weather. I hate the thought of going through layers of clouds for most parts of the flight only to experience heavy turbulence just to get to my destination on time and besides at this time, there was typhoon going on, passing by Philippines and heading towards Japan.

Once on board, I was greeted by a good set of crew. I made my way to the seat and it was the same one that I experienced in 2013. Once seated, the Captain made the usual announcement I managed to catch a bit here and there and it seemed that our flight was delayed due to the bad weather and he apologised for the inconvenience. (He spoke in Japanese). After 37 minutes later, we were on our way. There were bumps during our climb and it was only after reaching around 23,000 feet then the seatbelt sign was turned off after the clear blue skies greeted us.

Drink service commenced and we had the inflight entertainment screen to enjoy even though the contents is limited. There was no Wi-Fi available on this aircraft, not a big deal since it was a relatively short flight.

We started our approach after 1 hour 10 minutes in the air and it was not a surprise that we arrived late, about 44 minutes behind schedule. This lengthy delay was due to our extended time on the ground at HND as I suspect it was because of bad weather on route and the pilots decided to wait a while for them to clear before departing.

Overall, it was a memorable flight and I thought the crew handled well.

Welcome on board!

This is my window seat.

This aircraft features only 150 seats, 30 seats lesser than the standard configured A320ceo and that's why the legroom space is amazing!

The rear view of the cabin

Seat width is 19.5 inches, about 2 inches wider than the standard seats.

Inflight Entertainment Screen is available on every seat on this aircraft.

View from my seat.

The choice of beverages available on this flight.

Front view of the seats.

These seats are one of the most comfortable ones installed on the A320/B737 aircraft (narrow-body).

Universal and Type-A-charging ports are available.

Each seat comes with an adjustable headrest and earplug sockets.

It was time to leave.

For this aircraft, there is no need to sit at the emergency row unless you are taller than 2 metres.

The cabin crew bid us farewell and thanked us for flying with the airline.

More photos of the seat

Each seat comes with a coat hanger located beside the screen tv.

Legroom space

Front view of the seat

The seat view across the aisle

Universal and USB type-A sockets

Even with the tray table extended out, there was still ample space for me to move around.

The weather in Tokyo at that moment.

What's provided for each passenger?

Inflight magazine

Disposal Bag

Safety Card

Does anyone know which other airline has this foldable-style safety card?

A choice of beverage was offered and I chose a cup of soup. There is even a cup cover provided, useful especially when flying through turbulent weather.

If I am not wrong, it was onion soup.

Window view photos (Take off to Landing)

This was my 2nd flight with this airline and once again departing in bad weather.

I spotted ANA's inspiration of Japan special livery during our taxi. This is JA871A (ANA's Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft).

ANA's Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner with the General Electric engines.

China Southern Airbus A330-300

We waited over here for a while with the Captain updating us on the delay.

Finally we were on our way and we departed in this absolute dreadful weather.

This brought back memories of my ANA's 787-8 flight but the turbulence was not as bad.

We had to navigate through the clouds but fortunately for us, it was only bumps and not the dreaded updraft and downdraft condition which I absolutely hate!

Soon, we were about to clear the cloudy condition.

At this point of time, we were out of the bad weather and for the rest of our journey, it was good condition.

With bad weather happening in Tokyo that means no Mount Fuji view but I managed to catch the view of that mountain in my previous flight.

For the rest of the flight, it was smooth.

Sunset was in sight as we were soon approaching evening time.

We had to made a few turns along the way as we prepared to line up for the runway at Fukuoka airport.

We started preparing to line up to land at Fukuoka airport after receiving clearance from the Airport Traffic Control.

The city of Fukuoka in gloomy weather.

Once the aircraft descended into around 500 feet, autopilot would be disengaged and the pilot-in-command completed the landing procedure. Of course the pilots can choose to use the Auto-landing function and this is up to the Captain or the company's policy.

Flaps is extended out to ensure the aircraft land at the calculated safe speed for arrival.

This would be my 2nd time arriving at this airport. The last time I was here was about a year ago and I flew with Solaseed Air to this airport and return on the same day with Skymark. This time I stayed for a few days to explore the city.

For my trip report of Solaseed Air, click here

Speed brake was deployed together with the reverse thrust to slow the aircraft to taxi speed.

We may have touched down late but what is important is the flight was uneventful and the delay lasted less than an hour.

We took less than 10 minutes to reach our gate from the runway.

We parked beside ANA's Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Our aircraft rested for a short while before heading back to Tokyo Haneda with a fresh set of passengers and crew.

My flight summary

Welcome to Fukuoka Airport!

Thanks for the ride, JA26MC!

It took about 10 minutes to reach the luggage carousel.

My luggage didn't take long to come out.

Once I picked up the luggage, I headed over to the arrival hall.

It is always a pleasant experience travelling in these Japanese airports.

I took the train from the airport to my accommodation.

This is the station I alighted and it took about 10 minutes to walk to my accommodation.

That's all folks! Coming up next, flying from Fukuoka back to Tokyo Haneda with ANA!

(ANA's Boeing 767-300ER interior)

My ratings

Airline Website/Mobile App (ANA): 4/5

Airport Experience (Tokyo Haneda): 5/5

Inflight Service: 5/5

Seat Comfort: 5/5

Inflight Entertainment: 3/5

Cabin Ambiance: 5/5

Cabin Condition: 5/5

Cleanliness: 5/5

Inflight Meal/Beverage: 4/5

Punctuality: 3/5 (Can't really blame the airline for the delay)

Total Score: 44/50

Percentage: 88%

Conclusion

It was another great experience with this airline. With the seat interior the same as the aircraft I flew with this airline in 2013, one would be thinking, shouldn't the airline be thinking about upgrading them? My answer would be no because these seats are still as comfortable as before, in fact, just do regular maintenance on these seats, there is no need to upgrade.

On this flight, I was able to score myself the window seat and enjoy the extra legroom space, making this ride on board this A320 even more comfortable. Competition among the Japanese airlines is fierce and some of these airlines go out all the way to attract and lure passengers to fly with them.

A few advantages about flying with this airline are the comfortable seats and low airfare especially during off peak periods and you can also use ANA to book flights with this airline, allowing you to earn miles with ANA or any other Star Alliance members. The disadvantage is the airline's small network which the airline is operating to just a few destinations. For now, in addition to the domestic routes the airline is operating, it flies only one international route and that is from Kitakyoshu to Taipei Taoyuan airport, 3 times weekly until late October 2026. Meanwhile, the airline is currently replacing its fleet of A320ceo with the newer varient, the A320neo which the ANA Holdings, the parent airline, would be providing for the airline's fleet renewal. With JAL and ANA operating subsidiaries, competition is fierce but that's good for us as more competition on the popular routes means more competitive fares for us travellers. Hope you enjoyed this trip report.

Thanks for reading, have a great one!

Cheers,

Charles

For my previous trip report (Air Japan's last commercial flight from Singapore to Tokyo Narita), click here

Stay tuned for the next trip report (ANA's Boeing 767-300ER flight from Fukuoka to Tokyo Haneda), coming up next.

Returning home with Saudia Airlines (Part 2: JED-SIN Boeing 787-10)

2026-08-27T14:42:30.498+08:00

Welcome to my last part of my Saudia Airlines Experience!

Introduction

This is my last part of my Saudia Airlines 2026 series and also the last flight of my February trip to visit my family in London. After 3 flights with the airline, I was hoping for a better flight experience with this airline, perhaps lighter load on this flight with a whole row to myself? Did I get my wish, do read on to find out. As you can see the aircraft photo of my ride, this classic livery is growing on me more and I certainly prefer over the old livery. Anyway, without further ado, let's begin this trip report!

My transit at Jeddah Airport

I was very fortunate to be able to depart at this time because a couple of days later, the middle east war between Iran and U.S started and this airport was affected with flight cancellations taken place a couple of days later and if I was affected by the cancellation, it was likely I would ended up flying with airline carrier home or a lengthy extented stay in London was very much possible.

The peaceful atmosphere of the airside.

This way to my assigned gate.

I was hoping for more vacant seats on this flight, did I get my wish? Do read on to find out.

The lighting does looks nice at this airport.

This is Malaysia AIrlines Airbus A330-300ceo, dedicated to my Malaysian friends!

These are the passengers on my flight.

Time to go!

My luggage made it to Jeddah on HZ-AR29 and this same aircraft would fly me to Singapore. It would be unthinkable if the airline failed to put my luggage on board this aircraft. So the million dollar question is did I pick up my luggage at Changi Airport? Do read near the end of the trip report to find out!

It turned out to be a full flight and this was the longer sector compared to the London Gatwick to Jeddah sector.

Welcome back on board HZ-AR29!

My ride: HZ-AR29 in the special world cup livery painted few months after my flight.

(Photo: yh0403_WSSS)

Flight Route: JED-SIN

Distance: 1212 km

Average Flight Time:

Airlines Flying On This Route: Saudia Airlines and Scoot

My seat: 56L

Photo: Aerolopa.com

Date of departure: 27th February 2026

Airline: Saudia Airlines

Flight: SV856

Flight Route: JED-SIN

Aircraft type: Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner

Registration: HZ-AR29

Departure Terminal: 1

Gate: A34

Load: 100%

Flight Time: 8 hours 50 minutes

Actual Flight Time: 8 hours 58 minutes

Boarding: 0042

Push Back: 0137

Take Off: 0150

Schedule Arrival: 1530

Actual Arrival: 1546

Departure Runway: 34R

Departure Weather: Partially Cloudy

Arrival Runway: 20R

Arrival Weather: Partially Cloudy

My flight experience

It turned out to be a full flight with many Muslims were heading home and once I got to my seat, every seat around me for my section was filled up. Fortunately, I was sitting beside a slim young man so it wasn't too bad in terms of legroom space.

Our aircraft pushed back ahead of schedule despite the full load and took off smoothly into the skies. This set of crew seemed to be nice and I saw a few Fillipino cabin crew on board with smiles, that's great. As this was a longer flight sector, I was hoping to grab some sleep on board. I manged to do so but I kept drifting in and out so in the end, I felt more tired especially during our descent into Singapore. At least I didn't have to work on that day and I also took a couple of days off later to get my body readjust to Singapore timing.

Business Class

This is the 1-2-1 herringbone style seat designed by Collins Super Aerospace and there are 24 seats in this aircraft. Since I have covered this on my previous trip reports, I would let One Mile At A Time's review cover this cabin product.

Photo and trip report by One Mile At A Time

Click here for the trip report.

Economy Class

You can check out the economy class seats on my previous trip report. (Click here for the trip report)

This amenity kit consists of an eye shade.

A bottle of water was distributed to each passenger before the meal service.

We were given a snack box and a choice of beverage after an hour or so into the flight.

It was certainly tasty.

Hours later before arrival, we were given the second meal, a full meal service.

I chose the chicken option.

This chicken rice was not bad at all.

Inflight Entertainment

I ended up decided on a window seat to rest my head against the window side as I planned to sleep on this flight.

The map route of our flight

Midway through the flight.

Window view photos (Take off to Landing)

Take off from Jeddah on this 8 hours plus journey.

Looking at these photos, I felt relieved that I managed to fly out of there without issues.

One last look at the city before I settled into the flight.

Morning light was out while we were flying near Malaysia Peninsula.

Beautiful weather along the route and during our descent into Changi Airport.

We started our descent and as usual we were placed onto a holding pattern due to heavy traffic at SIN.

We managed to catch glimpse of the islands around Singapore.

We enjoyed this view for quite a number of times due to being placed on a holding pattern. This results to our late arrival into Changi Airport.

Anyone knows which airport does this belong to?

We circled around a few times waiting for traffic clearance to land at Changi.

The view of the runway once again.

Finally, we were given the clearance to start our approach.

We had to fly through some clouds during our descent.

At this point, our aircraft was in landing configuration.

This means we were on final approach onto runway 20R.

Few more seconds to touch down!

We touched down about 15 minutes late.

We taxied towards our assigned gate at terminal 3.

Our aircraft was to rest for a short while before heading over to Denpasar before flying back to this airport later that day and then fly back to Jeddah.

With that, my London trip for February 2026 has come to an end!

The familar sight of the terminal 3's interior.

With an all carpeted area, dragging your carry-on luggage may be a drag.

What I like about my home airport is that immigration process is usually very fast, thanks to the automated machines.

However, we had to wait for a good 15 minutes before the luggage arrived but considering that our immigration process is faster than most airports, this is completely acceptable.

I did a check on the Find My app (IOS), my luggage arrived on the same flight as me.

Hope you enjoyed this trip report! I apologise for my long delay of these trip reports due to work.

For my next trip report: check out my trip report on one of Air Japan's last commercial flights from Singapore to Tokyo Narita! Click here for the trip report.

My ratings

Airline Website/Mobile App: 4/5

Airport Experience (Jeddah Airport): 3/5

Inflight Service: 3/5

Seat Comfort: 4/5

Inflight Entertainment: 3/5

Cabin Ambiance: 4/5

Cabin Condition: 5/5

Cleanliness: 5/5

Inflight Meal/Beverage: 3/5

Punctuality: 3/5

Total Score: 37/50

Percentage: 74%

Conclusion

Apart from the baggage incident, I find the four flights I had with this airline to be quite underwhelming when comparing to my recent Qatar and Emirates economy class experience. However, I have to consider that I was flying during the Ramadan period and majority of the passengers were Muslims and the aircraft were configured with the praying session, I take it as an eye opener to see how it is like, great for someone from another religion.

Let me list down the pros and cons about the flights

Pros

- On time departure and arrival

- Inflight Entertainment was available

- Decent quality inflight meals

- Flight deck crew kept us well updated

Cons

- Average inflight service

- Poor handling of my luggage issue

- Average economy class seats

Which flight did I enjoy the most? It has to be the 2nd flight (787-9 JED-LGW) which I managed to score the whole row to myself, however it was overshadowed by my luggage issue which the luggage was not loaded onto the aircraft and had to wait for 3 days before receiving it. No communication or any form of compensation was given by the airline, this kind of spoils my impression of the airline and as a flight reviewer, I write whatever I have experienced, good or bad, all of you readers out there are curious. Of course, everyone's experience with the airline will be different as there are many factors that plays apart to a good flight such as a good set of crew, that makes a lot of difference when you encounter a set of bad and lazy ones.

Thanks for reading, hope you are enjoying my blog posts so far.

Just in case some of you are wondering why my uploading of posts have been slowed is due to work commitment and it looks more likely I would be grounded for a while in Singapore before my next trip back to Japan for a concert with my favourite singer, Ayumi Hamasaki and a family trip to London probably at the end of the year or early 2027, to be confirmed soon.

Have a good one!

Charles Ryan

For my February 2026 flight trip reports, you can find the links at the start of this trip report. Click here.

Returning Home with Saudia Airlines (Part 1: LGW-JED Boeing 787-10)

2026-08-06T08:29:18.829+08:00

Welcome to my return trip report on Saudia Airlines!

Introduction

The luggage issue still lingered very much in my mind especially with the way the airline dealt with my issue at that time. Its nonchalent attitude towards me speaks volume of the airline and whether this is a one off incident, it gave me a disappointing impression. Anyway, a few days before departure, I did a check on the aircraft for my flight and apparantly the aircraft type was changed from the 787-9 to the 787-10 aircraft and to make it even more surreal, I would be flying on the same aircraft (HZ-AR29) from London Gatwick to Jeddah and from Jeddah to Singapore. This means there is not an excuse for the airline to leave my luggage behind at Jeddah airport. Did lightning strike twice? Do read my Part 2 of the trip report to find out whether I received my luggage at Changi Airport.

So without further ado, let's begin this trip report!

On the day of departure

At this point, I became quite familar with Gatwick airport and it was quite unusual because I normally fly in and out of Heathrow airport.

The check-in desks for Saudia Airlines, I was there when I arrived into U.K, to sort out my luggage issue.

The entrance into North Terminal, London Gatwick Airport.

Since there was nothing much to explore at the landside, I made my to the airside via security check.

Once security check was done, I had to walk through this duty free shop to access the gate area.

It was so easy to find my flight information. (Hint: The one with the green logo)

Passing through the duty free shops.

This is probably my last visit of this airport for this year. My next trip to London, I am looking at coming back by a different airport, stay tuned for it!

The airport layout information

During the busy period, it can be challenging to find a vacant seat.

This way to the my flight's gate.

My ride to Jeddah and Singapore!

This is the new livery which brings back the retro identity of the 70s and 80s.

A retro photo of the airline photographed in 1985, thanks to Paul Robinson.

This is the airline's Boeing 747SP!

A few more candid photos of this Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner.

Which angle of the aircraft do you like best?

For the weather, it was a complete opposite of what I experienced when I arrived into this airport a few days ago with Air Europa.

Time to board!

However, we were stuck here for a good 15 minutes or so.

This would be my first time flying on Saudia's aircraft featuring this livery.

My ride: HZ-AR29

Flight route: LGW-JED

Distance: 4,715km

Average Flight Time: 5 hours 30 minutes

Airlines flying on this route: Wizzair and Saudia

Currently: No flights between this 2 cities

My seat: 65A

(Photo: Aerolopa.com)

Date of departure: 26th February 2026

Airline: Saudia Airlines

Flight: SV100

Route: LGW-JED

Terminal: N

Gate: A34

Aircraft: Boeing 787-9 (Changed to 787-10)

Registration: HZ-AR29

Load: 100%

Flight Time: 8 hours 50 minutes

Actual Flight Time: 8 hours 58 minutes

Schedule departure: 1400

Boarding: 1318

Push Back: 1358

Take Off: 1416

Schedule Arrival: 2300

Actual Arrival: 2246

Departure Weather: Cloudy

Departure Runway: 28R

Arrival Weather: Partially Cloudy

Arrival Runway: 34R

My flight experience

Boarding took place in groups and it took a while before my turn to do so. It was almost a full flight at least for my cabin as every seat was taken up and I chose a window seat to enjoy the view. Unfortunately, I was sitting beside a rather large size gentleman and it got a bit uncomfortable after a while (nothing against him).

It took a while before everyone was settled. The aircraft even pushed back when a few passengers were still keeping their items at the overhead compartment. The crew should have told them to be seated immediately. Once the engines were started, we were on our way. At this time, the airport was not busy but the weather was deteriorating as every minute passed. This sort of weather is very common in London so I am used to it. I did a check on the weather, I would expect a bit of turbulence due to some cross wind during the flight path and that did happen but once the turbulence subsided, the crew started service and some of the passengers began to dress up to do their prayers as it was still the Ramanda period. Eventually the weather was better and the turbulence stopped and it was smooth for the rest of the flight. I managed to get myself entertained for the 5 hours and a half hours. By the last hour, I was a bit restless and couldn't wait to get out of the aircraft. It was a combination of uncomfortable seat due to tight legroom space and the slightly noisy environment has made me feel this way.

For the inflight meals and service, there was nothing much to shout about. We arrived at Jeddah airport ahead of time and I was fortunate to fly with this airline at this point of time because just a few days later, the middle east war started and flight cancellations inevitably happened not long after. If I had flown a couple of days later, I would have been affected.

Welcome to Cattle Class!

The airline's male crew in the airline's uniform.

The cabin interior

This is my seat for this flight, seat 65A.

Since I had to pay for the front cabin even during web check-in, I decided to choose whatever seat that is available for free in the rear cabin. This is the one of the few airlines that still charge you during web check in for seat selection in this section of the aircraft.

I wouldn't mind paying more if there is better legroom space such as better seat width and seat pitch but not for this regular seats.

Just like my photos of the other aircraft I flew on in this class, whether its in old or new livery, the cabin interior is the same.

The last few rows of the front cabin of the economy class.

Each passenger receives a pillow and blanket which is placed on each seat.

This crew member was one of the better ones on this flight.

The front row of the rear cabin. Do note that the window seat of the first row may have limited legroom space due to the emergency door.

Do you all think that the airline should update the seats? I am not a fan of this colour to be honest. But hey, to each his own!

Beware of the windowless seats: seat 62A and 62L!

One advantage of sitting at the windowless seat is you are able to use the wall partition as a pillow support.

I originally chose the second last row, seat 67L but decided to change to 65A.

If you sit at the last few rows, you will be sitting beside the section dedicated to Muslim prayers.

Another view of my seat.

The overview of the cabin

The electronic dimmed window was not locked by the crew on this flight.

Time to disembark!

On my next flight, I would be sitting on the right side of the aircraft and I spotted my seat.

What's provided for each passenger?

Disposal Bag

Safety card

Safety video being played

One highlights about flying with this airline, you get a complimentary amenity kit even in economy class.

It is such a pretty amenity kit, agree?

A bottle of water

My choice of beverage during the meal service: orange juice

This is dinner - I opted for the chicken pasta option which comes with bread, salad, cake, a bottle of water and a choice of beverage. Saudia does not serve alcoholic drinks.

About an hour or so before arrival, we were given a snack - vegetarian pastry to enjoy and I selected the same beverage as the previous meal service.

Inflight entertainment

I won't go too much into details as I have covered this on my previous trip reports but at least it is user-friendly and there are enough movies to keep myself entertained for this afternoon flight.

I am certainly a fan of 'Now you see me' movie. I certainly recommend it. There are currently 3 parts and a 4th is currently under production.

Safety video

Earplugs are provided.

It is good to keep track of the emergency procedure just in case if the worse scenario happens.

One thing I need to inform you readers is if a slide evacuation is required, for ladies, you need to remove your high heel shoes as they may puncture the slide, basically no sharp objects should come in contact with the inflatable slide.

This was quite a nice movie.

This is the inflight map.

The airport layout of Jeddah airport.

I was able to use the Picture-in-picture feature of this inflight entertainment system.

Window view photos

(Take off to Landing)

Passing by this Easyjet A320ceo aircraft.

Beautiful sight of the passenger's bridge of Gatwick airport in this gloomy weather.

Whose A320 is this? Answer is revealed at the bottom of this trip report.

The taxi ride to the runway took quite a while.

We competed with this A320 racing to the threshold.

We were second but better late than never!

Off we go in this dreadful weather.

We were greeted by some cross wind during the take off.

I miss the blue skies!

Just a few moments before we hit the clouds.

Fortunately for us, it was hardly turbulent when we flew through these clouds.

We were finally out of the clouds.

Flying in good weather at this point.

Flying over the mountain alps.

A few hours later, we were greeted with this beautiful evening light.

What a beautiful view, right?

It was night time when we started our descent into Jeddah.

We flew through some clouds with just a few minor bumps along the way.

The city of Jeddah appeared.

Do you prefer night or daytime view when flying? Personally I like night time view especially in clear weather.

A few moments before landing.

We touched down ahead of schedule.

We reached our assigned gate and this gate would also be where I would be departing from.

My flight summary

Welcome to Jeddah!

I had less than 2 hours on transit.

For transiting passengers, we had to go through security and passport/boarding pass check before being allowed into the airside.

The blue hue mood lighting makes it feel like time travel or some sort.

What it is, I find this airport to be not bad at all.

Once we passed security, we have to pass through the duty free shop.

This is the main concourse.

There are shops and restuarants to check out.

To be continued!

What's coming up next? My part 2 of my Saudia Airlines flight experience!

My ratings

Airline Website/Mobile App: 4/5

Airport Experience (Gatwick): 3/5

Inflight Service: 3/5

Seat Comfort: 4/5

Inflight Entertainment: 3/5

Cabin Ambiance: 4/5

Cabin Condition: 5/5

Cleanliness: 4/5

Inflight Meal/Beverage: 3/5

Punctuality: 5/5

Total Score: 38/50

Percentage: 76%

Conclusion

Well, what can I say about the behaviour of some of the passengers on this aircraft. I can't put the blame on the crew because simply there are a lot of them seemed to be ignorant of some of the basic rules of flying such as to remain seated before departure and after arrival. With announcements being repeated to ensure a few of these passengers to remain seated, fortunately they settled down eventually.

For the flight, there was quite a bit of turbulence during take off, once we were out of U.K, the rest of the flight was smooth and for the inflight cabin, it became quite active after the seatbelt sign was turned off, it was undestandable that some of the passengers went over to the praying area to do their prayers. For the inflight service, it was alright, nothing much to shout about but credit must give to them for able to manage this slightly more challenging set of passengers without issues. Despite the flight time being less than 6 hours, I felt like an eternity and was happy to get off the aircraft after arrival. This was certainly not the best flight, but it was one that I felt slightly uncomfortable after a few hours. It is one of those are occasions that I kept looking at the flight arrival time and furthermore I had another flight after this. Anyway, I would do an overview thoughts on this airline and at this point, did I receive my luggage on arrival in Singapore? Do read my final part of my Saudia flying adventure, coming up soon.

Thanks for reading! Hope you have a good one and as always, see you in my next blog post!

Cheers,

Charles Ryan

For my previous trip report (Air Europa Part 2: Business Class MAD-LGW), click here.

For the next trip report (Saudia Airlines final part: JED-SIN, click here

Answer: Titan Airways

Flying back with Air Europa to London (Part 2: MAD-LGW Boeing 737 MAX 8 Business Class)

2026-07-24T17:03:05.512+08:00

Welcome to my part 2 of my Air Europa Experience!

My ride: EC-OGS

Introduction

Flying through Madrid was mainly due to Air Europa's home base and this time round, I got to visit the lounge, a first for me in Europe. It was a good time to fly to the land of the World Cup winners of 2026, a football competition (controversial one) featuring the best teams of all the world taking part in this exciting competition host by Canada, Mexico and United States. I won't go into much details about the world cup but I like to send my congratulations to Spain for winning this year's edition. Why did I say it was a good time to travel there? Mainly for the good weather and the temperature was at a comfortable 20 degrees plus in Madrid. So without further ado, let's begin this trip report!

About Madrid Airport

Adolfo Suarez Madrid- Barajas Airport (IATA code: MAD and ICAO: LEMD) is the primary airport in Madrid and also the second largest airport in Europe with CDG (Paris Airport) being the largest airport in this continent. This airport is home to Air Europa, Iberia, Iberia Express, Iberia Regional, Plus Ultra Lineas Aereas and World2fly. With an airport of such size, it is not surprised to know there are 5 terminals: Terminal 1 to 4 and 4S (5th terminal). This airport started operation in 1931 and has grown in size all these years. the airport in 2014 was renamed to Adolfo Suarez Madrid Barajas in tribute to him.

Currently Iberia dominates the traffic at this airport and with 4 runways in used, it is not a surprised how busy it is with domestic, regional and international flights happening most parts of the day. For flight operation, it is opened for 24 hours but there is a noise rule which restricts the noisest aircraft to arrive or depart between 2300 to 0700 hrs.

Map layout of the airport (Airportmaps.com)

During the transit at Madrid

Terminal 1 was certainly busy with human traffic during my time there.

To find out where your airline is departing from this airport, click here (unoffical airport's website).

It was time to head over to the gate and at this point, I made my way out of the airport lounge.

After exiting the lounge, I made my way to the gate.

For the lounge review, click here

There are vending machines available. Cash and card payment are accepted.

Self automated starbucks coffee

This was my first time departing from this terminal at Madrid as my previous 2 visits, I departed from Terminal 4 which is newer.

I was fortunate to be able to avoid the long queue and joined the shorter one to board the aircraft first.

Ryanair - I have plans to fly with this airline and hopefully try the airline's Boeing 737 MAX 8200. What's the difference between this aircraft and the standard 737 MAX 8? More seats squeezed into this aircraft. Good for the bean counters, but bad for us, consumers.

Walking through the aerobridge.

Spotted Ryanair's Boeing 737 MAX 8.

Almost there!

My first time on Air Europa's Boeing 737 MAX 8.

A member of the Skyteam Alliance since September 2007.

The aircraft's technical information of this aircraft.

My ride: EC-OGS

Photo: DN280

Flight route: MAD-LGW

Average Flight Time: 1 hour 50 minutes

Distance: 1,209 km (Estimated)

Airlines flying on this route: Air Europa, Iberia Express and Easyjet

My seat: 2F

Photo: Aerolopa.com

Date of departure: 24th February 2026

Airline: Air Europa

Flight: UX1015

Route: MAD-LGW

Aircraft: Boeing 737 MAX 8

Registration: EC-OGS

Class: Business

Seat: 2F

Departure terminal: 1

Gate: B31

Load: 50% in J Class

Flight Time 1 hour 50 mins

Actual Flight Time: 1 hour 44 minutes

Schedule Departure: 1500

Boarding: 1422

Push Back: 1508

Take Off: 1525

Schedule Arrival: 1625

Actual Arrival: 1609

Departure Runway: 36L

Departure Weather: Clear

Arrival Runway: 26L

Arrival Weather: Clear

My inflght experience

Boarding took place not long after my arrival at the crowded gate area. It was certainly great to be able to avoid the crowd and the few of us along with the elite members either from the Skyteam or the airline's frequent programme were allowed to board first and I settle down quickly at my seat 2F. It was nice that this cabin was half full and I was one of the lucky ones with the whole row to myself.

Once we pushed back, we taxied to the runway which took about 15 minutes and we were blessed with good weather for this flight. Not long after take off, the cabin crew came and served us our meal service, we were given what was served by this famous chef, Mario Sandoral! You can check out the photos of the meal in my later part of the trip report. Overall, I enjoyed the meal although I am not a fan of Parmesan cheese. Whatever it is, it's nice to be served a nice warm meal on this short flight.

Since this aircraft was not equipped with WiFi at this point of time, I had to settle for the entertainment on my own device and on occasions, enjoy the beautiful outside view, thanks to the good weather. Even U.K surprised me with cloudless weather as usually grey gloomy clouds would greet me when the aircraft started descending and on final approach into one of the London airports but for this flight, it was nice to enjoy a magnificent view of the city.

What stood up for this flight is the fantastic service I received from one of the crew, she was cheerful, friendly and was beaming with smile when I interacted with her. I was lucky to encounter such a nice staff. This has certainly made my 2nd flight experience even better.

Just like the other European airlines, the business class seats are based on the economy class seats with only the middle seat remaining vacant and I hope more airlines would upgrade and reconfigured into a 2-2 mroe comfortable layout for the premium class cabin, this would improve and make it more worth for paying passengers.

Cabin photos

Do note: There are 189 standard seats on this aircraft and only the first few rows of seats are dedicated for business class. Main difference is the middle seat remains vacant.

The curtain divider can be adjusted to cater to the number of business class passengers booked on the flight.

These are the Recaro R1 slimseats which I find it to quite alright in terms of comfort. Since I had both the middle and aisle seat vacant, I was able to stretch out and enjoy the extra legroom space.

This is my seat 2F which is perfectly aligned to the window.

The front view from my seat

The seats across my aisle

Legroom space is standard.

The logo of Air Europa.

The front view cabin from my seat angle.

This is how I enjoyed the extra legroom space.

The curtains offer more privacy for the business class passengers.

With the mood lighting in used, it enhanced the cabin atmosphere.

A few more photos of my seat.

I do recommend seat 2A or 2F.

The headrest with the business class logo

The view of the seats behind me

USB Type A and C charging ports are available on this aircraft.

Foldable tray table

Each row of seats comes with 2 sets of charging ports.

The view of the front seat with the tray table extended out.

These slimseats do help the airlines save a bit of weight.

This is how the legrooms space is like in row 2.

That's me giving all of you a readers, a big cheers!

What's provided for each passenger?

A personalised menu

I chose a glass of tomato juice.

This is the creamy rice with chicken.

This is how the whole meal tray looks like.

We were given a packet of wet tissue.

Later on, I asked for a glass of orange juice.

The inflight menu

(Buy-On-Board) Service

Inflight magazine

Disposal Bag

Safety Card

Inflight entertainment

Unfortunately, WiFi was not available on this aircraft. (February 2026 update)

Window view photos

(Take off to landing photos)

Do you think the fuel truck is as long as the 737 MAX 8200 aircraft? :)

This is Ryanair's 737-8 200

(You can tell by the emergency door behind the wing which the standard MAX 8 verison doesn't have).

This is Malta Air's Boeing 737 MAX 8-200

Look at how nice the weather is!

Passing by some widebody aircraft including one airline that would fly me home in a few days time.

It is certainly nice to be sitting in front of the wing.

It took slightly more than 10 minutes of taxi to get to the runway.

The taxi path to our runway (Photo: Flightradar24)

Passing by some interesting traffic just like this aircraft spotted.

This is TAP's Airbus A321neo, you can check out my trip report of this airline over here.

Passing by Enter Air and TUI's Boeing 737 aircraft.

Tui's livery looks great on this Boeing 737-800, don't you agree?

The view of the terminal 4 of MAD's airport!

Fortunately the traffic was light at this point, so we managed to taxi to the runway without delay.

We finally reached the runway.

Off we go and adiaos, Spain! Once again, congratulations of your World Cup victory!

80 knots.... check...

V1.... rotate......positive climb... gear up......

That's why window seat is important to me!

You can tell how dry the ground is.

We made some turns to follow the path route towards our destination.

Flying over the snowy mountain alps.

With some cloud coverings along the route but there was hardly any turbulence on this flight.

At this point, I was enjoy some movies on my device and I spotted this view.

Flying over the English Channel.

We entered the U.K airspace.

Started our descent into London Gatwick Airport.

Excellent lighting as the light was shining at our aircraft's engine.

It was a beautiful evening with a little bit of windy condition during our descent.

By this time, our aircraft was in a landing configuration with the pilot-in-command taking over the control just about 500-800 feet from the autopilot. He/She will manually land the aircraft.

Look at the number of vehicles!

Few more seconds to touch down!

Welcome back to London Gatwick, Charles!

We touched down smoothly onto runway 26L.

I almost forgot to mention that our captain was a female pilot! Great to know there are more female Captains in the aviation industry.

We exited out of the runway and taxied to our assigned gate.

Almost there!

Turning into our parking lot.

Here we are, we parked at our assigned gate ahead of schedule.

For the aircraft and the crew, they would fly back to Madrid. For me, I was on my way to my accommodation.

My flight summary

Welcome back to London Gatwick!

Thanks for the ride, EC-OGS!

British Airways Airbus A320 being prepared for departure.

The walk towards arrival hall took around 10 minutes.

As I had only my backpack, I walked all the way out.

Once we pass through this, we were not allowed to re-enter. So make sure check that your have all your belongings before you exit.

This is the arrival hall.

I made my way to the south terminal.

At the airport train station, I took the themeslink train to Blackfriar station.

Before heading to my accommodation, I went to meet up with my mum and niece for dinner at Canada Water area.

Hope you enjoy my trip report!

What's coming up next?

My 3rd part of Saudia Airlines (LGW-JED) trip report.

My ratings

Airline Website/Mobile App: 3.5/5

Airport Experience (Madrid Airport (MAD): 3.5/5)

Inflight Service: 4/5

Seat Comfort: 4/5

Inflight Entertainment: 0/5

Cabin Ambiance: 5/5

Cabin Condition: 5/5

Cleanliness: 5/5

Inflight Meal/Beverage: 3.5/5

Punctuality: 5/5

Total Score: 38.5/50

Percentage: 77%

Conclusion

It was nice to have the whole row to myself and enjoy this business class service from one of the outstanding crew who shown great interest in providing a top class service to the few of us in this class cabin. It was less than 50% and I suppose because of the low factor, the price upgrade was quite cheap, not only I got the better seat, I had lounge access which sums up how pleasant the experience is after arrival at Madrid airport for the layover and the flight to London Gatwick. Would I fly with this airline again?Certainly! I did consider flying this airline to South America with the Boeing 787, but after the airline announced the A350 order, I might wait for the new aircraft to arrive then make my plans.

Even for the economy class, the experience was nice with the cabin atmosphere enhancing the and bring comfort to the passengers and with more aircraft having Wifi installed on it, inflight streaming would be available for all and as a member of the skyteam alliance, this European airline is certainly giving its rivals a run for their money! IAG (Owners of British Airways) was supposedly interested in increasing the stake of this airline and if that happens, that would reduce competition and that means higher airfares for the consumers. Fortunately, that decision was not approved by the European Commission. So what does that mean for this airline? It would continue to operate independently and whether another group would buy out this airline remains to be seen, l am happy to see this airline continue to grow and keep the fare competitive especially in Spain.

Thanks for reading! Have a great one!

Charles Ryan

For my previous trip report (Air Europa Part 1: BIO-MAD Boeing 737-800), click here

For the airport lounge review at Madrid airport, click here

For my Saudia Boeing 787-10 (LGW-JED) trip report, click here

Airport Lounge Review: Aena Sala Cibeles Lounge @ Madrid Terminal 1

2026-07-16T16:25:48.545+08:00

Welcome to my airport lounge review at Madrid airport!

Introduction

This lounge visit is made possible thanks to the upgrade offered by Air Europa before my flight from Bilbao to Madrid and I decided to go ahead as I wanted to stretch my legs in the cabin on the 2nd leg (Madrid to London Gatwick) and also to take advantage of the lounge access where I can clear my work in a more private environment. To top it off, this would be my first European airport lounge visit, did I get a good first impression? Do read on to find out.

Do note that Madrid-Barajas Airport has 8 different VIP lounges at Madrid Airport:

Terminal 1

Altitude Lounge

Cibeles VIP Lounge (This lounge review)

Terminal 2

Puerta de Alcala VIP lounge

Terminal 3

Puerta de Sol VIP lounge

Terminal 4

Plaza Mayor VIP lounge

Retiro VIP lounge

Terminal 4 Satallite

Neptuno VIP lounge

Gran Via VIP lounge

For more information of these lounges, you can check out over here.

Welcome to Cibeles VIP lounge!

I was there about 4 hours before departure and I was told to come back in an hour time, so I did just that.

This picture depricts a trio of aircraft doing a fashion style movement on the taxiway of an airport.

The lounge's interior

There is plenty of sitting area in this lounge.

I settled down at the seats besides the wall and managed to get 2 hours of work done.

There are some magazines to browse but most of us these days use the Wifi to either do our work, surf the internet or play online games on our mobile devices.

There are seats by the window and plenty of food and beverage to enjoy in this buffet style arrangement.

A good variety of hot and cold food was offered and the lounge staff came around regularly to check to make sure there was sufficient food.

This part of the lounge is more popular with travellers as most of the seats were occupied.

I really like the atmosphere of this lounge with a lot of natural light and what makes it better is we get to enjoy a good view of the apron that means planespotting and photography is very much possible at this lounge.

Before I settled down for work, I picked up a plate of cupcakes and sandwiches and a glass of juice.

A good selection of sandwiches to choose from.

Cold beverages and yogurt

l avoid these tables with tall chairs as there is not much privacy.

In terms of variety of good, I give this a rating of 9/10.

With many options available, sometimes it takes a while to decide what I want.

There are more food options at this part of the lounge.

So far I have been impressed with the lounge.

Another view of the lounge

This is the view I get to enjoy from one of the windows.

This is Air China's Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, bound for Beijing.

Of course, beverages are served in this part of the lounge, this is the main reason why passengers under 18 years old must be accompanied by an adult and of course they are not allowed to consume any of these.

This coffee machine offers a user-friendly experience of photos of the hot beverages it offers.

This was one of the rounds of snack I had during my work time.

There is a smoking area located outside the lounge.

The outdoor area allows the guests to enjoy their drinks and meals.

I was able to enjoy some planespotting action in this beautiful sunny weather.

Unfortunately the sunlight faced directly at my direction so I didn't hang around there for long.

This way to use the toilet.

Showers are available at this lounge.

It's also a wheelchair friendly lounge and that's great to know!

Non alcoholic beverages

Flight information board

Time to go! I had a good time at the lounge.

Let's go to London Gatwick! (To be continued)

Coming up next: Flying Air Europa's 737 MAX 8 to LGW!

My ratings

Location: 4/5

Staff Service: 4/5

Lounge Interior: 5/5

Selection of Food & Beverages: 5/5

Food quality: 4/5

WiFi Connection: 5/5

Shower: Nil (Unfortunately, I didn't get to use)

Seating area: 5/5

Facilities: 4/5

Overall rating: 36/40

Percentage: 90%

Conclusion

I have to admit I knew nothing about this lounge as I wanted to find out myself how the lounge is like as it exceeded my expectation as I was able to enjoy the few hours there and completed my work in a comfortable environment. This has to be one of the better lounges as it is large enough to accommodate about 5-6 international flights perhaps and I understand why they enforce the 3 hours before flight depature rule as it can get or would be crowded if everyone is allowed in to spend many hours and the biggest problem would be for other passengers finding a place to sit, making the lounge experience less premium.

I certainly recommend this lounge as I find it a good place to hang out, avoiding the crowds and also get to enjoy the Wifi for work or pleasure and enjoy a good meal before departure.

Hope you enjoy my version of Aena Sala Cibeles Lounge @ Madrid Airport (MAD)!

For my previous blog post: My trip report on Air Europa Part 1: Boeing 737-800 (BIO to MAD Economy Class, click here.

For the next trip report: My trip report on Air Europa Part 2: Boeing 737 MAX 8 (MAD to LGW) Business Class, click here

Like as always, see you in my next blog post!

Have a great one!

Cheers,

Charles Ryan

Hotel Review: Holiday Inn Express Bilbao By IHG

2026-07-13T16:00:34.794+08:00

Welcome to my hotel review at Bilbao!

Introduction

Initially the trip to Bilbao was supposed to be a one day trip but because I couldn't find a suitable flight timing to do so, instead I chose to stay overnight at Bilbao and return the following day, flying with another airline (Air Europa) back to London Gatwick via Madrid. Once that was decided, I had a look at the choices of hotel and decided on this hotel as complimentary airport shuttle is available and it was just a 5 minutes drive. So without further ado, let's begin this hotel review!

About this hotel

This hotel is located near the airport and there is complimentary airport shuttle and if you are interested to head down to town, you can do so by travelling to the airport and take the public bus from there. The distance between the hotel and town is about 10km.

Map location of the hotel

Hotel's amenities

- Self check-in kiosks

- ATM Machines

- Laundry

- Wheelchair services

- Lounge/Bar

- Restaurants

- babysitting services

Room's amenities

- Safebox

- Sofa chair

- High speed WiFi

- Flat TV Screen with Satallite channels

- Workspace with desk

Photos of the room

I booked the standard room which comes with complimentary breakfast and this one night stay cost me S$124. (Around U.K 93 pounds)

The bathroom

The room interior

I find the room to be quite comfortable and for most past of the evening, I spent my time at the sofa chair relaxing.

I had a comfortable stay in this room.

Photos of the surrounding

Our hotel is not near to any shopping centre so you need transport to get around.

Sunset time in Bilbao.

This is Bilbao New Hotel Airport.

This is the hotel's car park.

My ratings

Hotel Staff: 7/10

Location: 8/10

Hotel Room Condition: 8/10

Hotel Amenities: 7/10

Nearby Convenience (Example: Train Station, Covenient store...etc): 5/10

Hotel Room Size: 8/10

Cleanliness: 10/10

Bed comfort: 8/10

Shower: 9/10

Value for $$: 6/10

Overall rating: 76/100

Percentage: 76%

Conclusion

This hotel may have been around for quite a while so don't expect much from the facilities but at least the room itself is clean and bed more importantly is comfortable. I was able to get a good night of sleep and got myself refreshed for my return trip to London. What I like about hotel? The decent room, the breakfast that came along with the room and the complimentary hotel shuttle that took me both from the airport to the hotel and vice versa. For the price I paid, considering this is near the airport, I thought it was not a bad deal at all. However, for my next trip to this city, I have to explore the city and for that, I would probably choose an accommodation at the heart of the city.

Hope you enjoy this hotel review!

And as always, see you in my next blog post!

Cheers,

Charles Ryan

For my previous trip report (Brussels Airlines A320neo BRU-BIO), click here

For the next trip report (Air Europa Boeing 737-800 BIO-MAD), click here

Flying Air Europa Back to London Part 1: Air Europa Express Boeing 737-800 BIO-MAD

2026-07-08T11:10:46.564+08:00

Welcome to my Air Europa Express Trip report!

My ride: EC-MVY

Photo: Joseacampelo

Introduction

Flying with Air Europa came into my mind when I did a check on Skyscanner on the flights I could do and taking account on the number of airlines not flown yet, I decided to check out the airlines from any of the alliance and that includes Iberia and Air Europa. I went for the latter as I found a perfect flight back to London Gatwick without paying over the odds for it and since I decided to fly with Brussels Airlines to Bilbao, it was only fitting to do a return flight with Air Europa which includes a stopover at Madrid. This means I could experience flying both the airline's Air Europa Express 737-800 and the 737 MAX 8 on the second leg. Later on, I received a good offer to upgrade to business class and I decided to do so on the second leg as that includes a loung access at Madrid airport. This suits me fine as I had to do some work during my layover and spending at the lounge allows me to do so. With a transit of around 5 hours, I gladly pay up and it was a great decision. Do read on to find out in both parts of my Air Europa flying adventure! Without futher ado, let's begin!

Booking with the airline

The airline's booking app user interface can be improved as stated below but the most important is I was able to navigate and book my flights without issue.

For this booking, I opted for the lowest tier since I had no luggage with me. Only thing is I was not able to do the seat selection even during online check in, the airline selected the seat for me and if I want to change, I would have to pay up .

The layout of the flight information could be done better, spreading it out across the screen would be better.

Too much space in between the add-ons and the bar below for the price information and the option to continue to the next page.

About Air Europa

This Spanish airline is the 3rd largest airline (Behind Iberia and Vueling) in the country is based in Madrid with focus cities like Palma and Mallorca playing a huge role to the airline's contribution to the Spanish aviation. This airline was set up in 1986 and was registered as Air Espana. With the airline being owned by private companies, this airline operated both scheduled and charter flights with its primary fleet consists of Boeing 737 for the domestic and regional routes. This airline joined the Skyteam alliance in 2007 and has since grow from strength to strength, giving Iberia and Vueling much needed competition. Currently the airline operates both Boeing 737-800/MAX 8 and the Boeing 787-8 and -9 aircraft and the airline shocked the aviation world by ordering 40 Airbus A350 aircraft to be used for expansion and replacement for the Boeing 787 fleet. The future certainly looks bright for this airline!

My photos of Air Europa in the old livery

(Photographed at Madrid airport in 2011 - sorry for the poor quality)

Boeing 737-800

Airbus A330-200

About Bilbao Airport

Bilbao Airport started operation in 1948 and it serves the community in northern Spain. It's main terminal was upgraded in 2000, designed by Santiago Calatrava. Currently the airport has 2 runways, runway 10/28 and 12/30 and have a distance of 2,000 metre which means the very large aircraft types such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747-8 are not situable to operate at this airport for passenger use, however for emergency reasons, this airport can handle the A380 and in fact Etihad's A380 landed at this airport before.

Map layout of the airport

(Photo: AtoBtransfer.com)

On the day of departure

I reached the airport around 0630 for the 8 am flight to Madrid. It was not an ideal flight timing but in order to spend a bit of time at Madrid especially at the lounge, this arrangement was worth the effort.

This is the departure hall (landside).

The terminal may not be big but there are some restaurants and shops to check out.

This was where I was supposed to check in for my flight.

I checked in without any issue and sorted out my seats for both flights. For the first flight, there was no window seat left and had to settle for the middle seat at the emergency row. However, for the second flight, I manage to score a window seat for the business class cabin.

The check-in staff was helpful in answering my enquires.

One last look before I headed over to the airside.

The departure information board

Once security check was done, I walked through this duty free shop, making my way to the gate area.

Complimentary Airport Wifi is available.

The airside has a few shops and eateries to check out.

As you can see, there are a lot of early departures.

There are charging ports at certain parts of the area.

This is how the airside departure hall looks like.

A couple of Vueling Airbus aircraft getting ready for departure. For now, the airline is preparing both the ground and flight/cabin crew for the arrival of its first Boeing 737 MAX which is likely to take place in October 2026.

Overall, it is a pleasant airport to be in.

One of the charging stations.

This way to the airport lounge.

There is an airport lounge located near this gate.

You can see a bit of the inside, thanks to the translucent partition wall.

I did a check on flightradar24 and EC-MVY gets the honour to fly me to Madrid. This would be my 3rd time flying on a Spanish registered aircraft. The last time I flew with a Spanish carrier was with the defunct airline, Spanair. You can check out the trip report on this airline over here.

Just like London airports, the gate information will be given at least 40-50 minutes before departure.

My ride had arrived from Madrid.

I headed down the stairs and didn't realise that I could sit around here for the flight until then.

This is the boarding gate for my flight.

Time to go!

Welcome on board Air Europa Express!

A member of the Skyteam alliance

From a first glance, this 737-800 is equipped with the Boeing sky interior.

My ride: EC-MCY

Photo: Joseacampelo

Flight route: BIO-MAD

Distance: 317 km

Average Flight Time: 42 minutes

Airlines flying on this route: Iberia and Air Europa (Express)

My seat: 15B

Photo: Aerolopa.com

Date of departure: 24th February 2026

Airline: Air Europa Express

Flight:

Route: BIO-MAD

Aircraft: Boeing 737-800

Registration: EC-MVY

Seat: 15B

Class: Economy

Gate: A12

Terminal: Main

Load: 100% in Y Class

Boarding: 0742

Push Back: 0829

Take Off: 0838

Schedule Departure: 0830

Schedule Arrival: 0935

Actual Arrival: 0923

Departure Runway: 12

Departure Weather: Clear

Arrival Runway: 32L

Arrival Weather: Clear

My inflight experience

The soft blue sky overhead lighting greeted me when I boarded the aircraft with the cabin crew welcoming me on board. According to the ground staff, the flight is a full one and I was fortunate to be able to grab the emergency row seat as the other few remaining were middle seats at other parts of the aircraft and for this case, the extra legroom space at the emergency row makes up for the lack of window seat. So if you ask me, was it worth paying more of the seat on this flight? Yes because the outside view was spectacular thanks to the beautiful weather.

Before we pushed back, the cabin crew came to us to do the emergency briefing (in Spanish) but noticing me as a foreigner, she did it again in English.

Our take off was slightly bumpy due to the strong cross wind but once we reached our assigned flight level, it was smooth and the cabin crew began the inflight service. I did a check on the inflight wifi, but it was only available for online shopping. However there is entertainment on the overhead drop-down screen and it showed some variety shows and inflight map. BOB service (Buy On Board) was available on this flight. Before I know it, we started our descent and landed quite roughly onto runway 32L ahead of schedule.

Overall, it was a nice and pleasant flight. Although I was stuck between 2 gentlemen, the extra legroom space made up for it and I managed to grab some window view photos, thanks to the sleeping seat mate.

Photos of the cabin

The Boeing sky interior

The curtain divider is used to seperate the economy and business class cabin.

For business class passengers.

Only the middle seat remains vacant. For couples, they can sit beside each other but the other seat will remain vacant.

This is the standard seat.

These are the XL seats which offer better legroom spacev (33 inches) than the standard ones.

This is the view from my seat.

The emergency window seat

I was seated at the 2nd emergency seat row.

The view of the cabin from my seat.

The overhead TV screen showed some shows during the flight.

The seat was quite comfortable especially with the extra legroom space.

My main source of entertainment was enjoying the view from this angle.

At this point, we started our descent.

The overhead TV screen was positioned back to its original place.

Good amount of legroom space

The standard seat with the tight legroom space.

The view of the front cabin

Notice the headrest is different from the ones in front. That is because these seats would not be used for business class.

I do like this cabin interior. What do you think?

The curtain divider can be repositioned when needed.

No extra legroom space for the first row of economy class.

First four 4 rows were dedicated to the business class passengers on this flight.

A maintainence staff was on board to go through the paper work and check with the flight crew whether there are any maintainence issues that need to be addressed before it gets the green light to do the next flight.

For this flight, I opted to rest and enjoy the view and instead for my arrival at the lounge to enjoy my breakfast.

Window view photos

We started rolling down the runway.

We lifted off in this beautiful weather in windy condition.

Goodbye, Bilbao!

For the emergency row windows, the window shade must be down (for this case) at all times, in case of emergency and the passengers sitting near them can be more aware of the situation.

We made a turn towards the south, flying towards Madrid.

Beautiful view of the city.

Enjoying Air Europa's inflight experience during cruising.

At this point, we were on our descent.

Getting ready for arrlval.

We were on final approach.

Landed ahead of schedule.

It was a rough landing!

My flight summary

Welcome to Madrid Airport!

We disembarked at terminal 2.

This is the passengers waiting to board our aircraft. Our aircraft was flying to Lisbon next on flight UX1153.

I made my way to the exit and walk over to terminal 1.

Before that, I had to pass through the baggage carousel.

I made my way to the landside.

Once there, I walked to the exit.

I enjoyed the cooling weather while on my way to terminal 1.

To be continued!

A preview to my next blog post: A visit to the Aena VIP lounge at Madrid.

My ratings

Airline Website/Mobile App: 3.5/5

Airport Experience (Bilbao Airport BIO: 3.5/5)

Inflight Service: 3/5

Seat Comfort: 4/5

Inflight Entertainment: 3/5

Cabin Ambiance: 5/5

Cabin Condition: 5/5

Cleanliness: 5/5

Inflight Meal/Beverage: 0/5

Punctuality: 5/5

Total Score: 37/50

Percentage: 74%

Conclusion

Overall it was a pleasant flight experience with the aircraft arriving and departing on time. I still recommend anyone who prefers window seat to pay for a higher tier to get your desired window seat rather than letting the computer system decide and luckily for me, I managed to score an emergency row seat. I was originally allocated to a middle seat somewhere near the back, thanks to the staff for changing it to a better one. For Bilbao's airport, I thought it was pretty decent with shops and restaurants available even at an early hour. Without lounge access, one is able to find a table to do a work depending on the time of the day, I can imagine it getting crowded during peak period.

I will do an overview of this airline in my next part, flying business class. I decided to pay around 200 Euros to upgrade my next leg for the flight from Madrid to London Gatwick, was it worth the money? Stay tuned to find out!

Thanks for reading and have a great one!

Like as always, see you in my next blog post!

Cheers,

Charles Ryan

For my previous trip report, (Brussels Airlines Airbus A320neo BRU-BIO), click here

For the airport lounge experience @ Madrid Airport, click here

For Part 2 of my Air Europa experience, click here

Discovering Brussel Airlines: (Part 2: BRU-BIO - Airbus A320neo)

2026-06-16T15:06:24.441+08:00

Welcome to my 2nd part of my Brussel Airlines flying adventures!

My ride: OO-SBC

Photo: Luc Van Belleghem

Introduction

Another reason to fly with this airline is to experience the Belgium hospitality at their homebase in Brussels even though the layover is a short one. I have often heard from my European friends about this airport and the city and I have came to this city before but that happened at a very young age with my family and things have certainly changed since then. So how was my experience of this airport and more importantly, did the connecting flight changed my impression of this airline? Do read on to find out.

About Brussels Airport

Brussels Airport is the main international airport in Belgium, located about 12 kilometres northeast of the capital city, Brussels. This airport is the primary airport in Belgium and is a home for Brussels Airlines and a major hub for Singapore Airlines Cargo.

This airport has one terminal connected to 2 piers A and B.

Pier A is used primarily for flights within Schengen zone (European open-border area for EU countries) and Brussels Airlines flights to Africa.

Pier B is used for non-Schengen international flights, flights flying outside the EU countries such as United Kingdom, South and North America and Asia.

Map layout of the airport

(Photo: Brussels Airport's website)

Flight connection at this airport

This is the main concourse.

Passing by the security check area.

This is RwandAir's Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

Tintin's famous rocket is based on the Destination To The Moon story.

One of the many duty free shops in this airport.

Tintin's merchandise

Let's go to the moon!

This display is certainly the center of attraction.

There are a lot of shops and restaurants to check out.

Do remember to check your flight information and give yourself some time to walk over to the gate.

A lot of flights departing at this time of the day.

This airport's airside has a lot of shops to check out.

After checking out the shops, I made my way to the gate.

This is one of the airline's special liveries! The livery is dedicated to both the men and women representing the country in the international football competition.

Unfortunately, I didn't spot the other special liveries as they were flying to other cities.

The announcement was made and it's time to board for my connecting flight.

I made my way towards the same aircraft that flew me here, OO-SBC.

My ride: OO-SBC

Do you prefer the A320neo with the racoon mask or without? Not all the A320neo operators opted for this option. (Photo below)

Do check out Scoot's A323neo, the airline opted for the cockpit without the 'racoon mask'.

Flight route: BRU-BIO

Distance: 1,013 km

Average Flight Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

Airlines flying on this route: Brussels Airlines and Vueling

My seat: 7F

Photo: Aerolopa.com

Date of departure: 23rd February 2026

Airline: Brussels Airlines

Flight: SN3714

Route: BRU-BIO

Aircraft: Airbus A320neo

Registration: OO-SBC

Seat: 7F

Class: Economy

Gate: A51

Terminal: Main

Load: 100% in Y Class

Boarding: 1338

Push Back: 1414

Take Off: 1423

Schedule Departure: 1415

Schedule Arrival: 1610

Actual Arrival: 1603

Departure Runway: 25

Departure Weather: Cloudy

Arrival Runway: 30

Arrival Weather: Clear

My inflight experience

The boarding process was in a mess with many people queuing up all over the gate area but at least we departed on time. The cabin experience is the same as my previous flight so I won't go into details on that and as for the cabin crew, they are a different set of crew. Not much comment about them as there was little interaction with them as they only came around to do the pre-departure and arrival check and take orders for those who wished to purchase food and beverages.

We took off in a slightly windy condition and with the cloudy condition making it as depressing as the weather in U.K. Once we flew out of Belgium, the weather improved and it was clear blue skies all the way to Spain. I watched a pre-download movie on my device and enjoyed the view especially during the descent towards Bilbao airport. Between this and the previous flight, I prefer this for the better weather in Spain. It's a pity that I got myself the same aircraft, a standard livery airline so that means if I want to try my luck to fly the airline's special livery A320, I need to fly with this airline again.

Welcome on board!

The first few rows are designated for business class passengers.

First row - bulkhead row offers ample legroom space.

Shouldn't there be an extra head cover on to indicate the seats are for business class passengers? What do you think?

The view from my seat

My seat: 7F

Tight legroom space for a 192 cm tall person like myself.

Did I manage to score the whole row for myself?

View of the front seat.

The A320 diameter fuselage is slightly wider than the Boeing 737.

Front view of the cabin

Foldable tray table

Inflight magazine and menu are available for each passenger.

The overhead panel

Window view photos

(Take off to landing)

This is Danair.aero's Airbus A320ceo, a low cost airline based in Romania.

Pushing back from the same gate I arrived.

On this flight, I enjoyed the view from the right side of the aircraft.

Heading towards the runway in this cloudy weather.

We lifted off with some bumps due to a bit of crosswind during take off.

One question for you readers: Do you prefer sitting on the left or right side of the aircraft?

Personally I prefer sitting on the left side.

My preferred seat is position slightly in front of the engine which allows this sort of window view.

The view of the airport tarmac

The view of the airport

Flying past some unfriendly clouds.

It looks like a storm was brewing! I don't fancy hanging around outside in this sort of weather.

At this point, we were ready to fly through the clouds.

Here it goes! So far the bumpiest clouds in any region I flown so far has to be the area around Singapore, but for this case, it was hardly turbulent when we flew through the clouds.

A litle peek of the blue sky and that is my sky colour.

It turned out there was another layer of clouds to fly through.

Finally! Out of the dreadful weather as we headed for the sunny weather in Spain.

The window may be slightly dirty but I was able to enjoy the beautiful view that awaits for us later during the flight.

Soon, we started our descent into Bilbao, it was my first time arriving into this airport. I know of this city, thanks to a particular football club, Atletico Bilbao which is commonly known as Atletico Club.

The sun was against my direction during our cruise.

We made a few turns during our descent.

What a scenic view of the mountains!

This view reminds of me of Santiago, Chile!

I was fortunately to be sitting on the right side for the arrival.

What a beautiful view, thanks to the good weather.

Unlike the weather at Brussels, this is much better and the sort of weather that makes me fall in love with aviation.

With an excellent background view with the engine and wing view, what more can I ask from an aviation enthusiast point of view!

The approach into Bilbao airport was a smooth affair with the pilots completing the checklist for arrival.

Few more seconds to touchdown!

Another city and airport added to my list of places visited!

Almost there!

We touched down smoothly thanks to the PIC (Pilot-in-command).

With the reverse thrust deployed, we slowed down to taxi speed.

Last few minutes on board OO-SBC, let's enjoy it.

As the airport is quite a small one, it didn't take long for us to reach our assigned gate.

We parked besides Vueling's Airbus A320ceo featuring this special livery of FC Barcelona!

This is our parking lot for our aircraft. Thanks for the ride, OO-SBC!

For the cabin and flight crew, they prepared the flight back to Brussels BRU airport.

My flight route

Welcome to Bilbao Airport!

Straight away at the gate is an advertisment that caught my attention while walking down the aerobridge.

This is the airside of the departure hall. Since we arrived at the Schengan area, there is no immigration or security check needed to hang around at this area.

Airport Wi-Fi service is available but you need to register an account and log in in order to access.

Whatever it is, I wished I was on a different aircraft for this leg.

Once I finished checking out the airside, I made my way out.

With only my backpack, I made my way out and wait for the hotel shuttle which transported me to the hotel.

This is the arrival hall.

This way out!

This is the departure hall (landside).

The check-in counters are located at this level.

My flight out of this airport would be operated by Air Europa, another new airline for my flight logbook.

This is where I waited for my ride.

That's all, folks! Hope you enjoy my part 2 of Brussels Airlines!

A preview to my upcoming trip report!

My hotel review of Holiday Inn Express Bilbao Airport by IHG

My ratings

Airline Website/Mobile App: 4/5

Airport Experience (Brussels Airport BRU: 4/5)

Inflight Service: 3/5

Seat Comfort: 2.5/5

Inflight Entertainment: 0/5

Cabin Ambiance: 4/5

Cabin Condition: 5/5

Cleanliness: 5/5

Inflight Meal/Beverage: 0/5

Punctuality: 5/5

Total Score: 32.5/50

Percentage: 65%

(No change in the score compared to the flight in part 1)

Conclusion

I felt I overpaid for this budget style experience and I was underwhelmed by the experience, but at least I have finally ticked this airline off my list and also able to share my experience with you. I am struggling to find positives about flying with this airline with the inflight experience is more or less similar to the other european carriers such as Lufthansa, Swiss, British Airways and the few others. Coming from Asia, the experience is certainly lucklaster and different in terms of inflight service and amenites comparing between the European and Asian airlines. Even on short hops such as from Singapore to Jakarta, you get offered a hot service meal even on this short and on the south american regional short flight such as from Santiago to Buenos Aires, beverage and snack service are offered so overall, I was underwhelmed with both flights. What the airline offers on board, I can get them with the low cost carriers and if I have to travel to BRU, I would vote with my wallet and go for the one that offers me the best value: price and flight timing.

Thanks for reading and as always, see you in my next blog post!

Have a good one!

Cheers,

Charles

For my part 1 of Brussels Airlines trip report (LHR-BRU), click here

For my hotel review at Bilbao (Holiday Inn), click here

Discovering Brussels Airlines (Part 1: LHR to BRU - Airbus A320neo)

2026-06-04T12:22:37.648+08:00

Welcome to my trip report on Brussels Airlines!

My ride: OO-SBC

Photo: Luc Van Belleghem

Introduction

This has been an airline I wanted to fly for a long time thanks to the beautiful special liveries featuring my childhood favourte - Tintin! When I was looking at the flights on how to get to Bilbao, I had a few interesting choices such as flying with the low cost carriers but when the chance to fly with this airline came about, I decided to go ahead with it despite having to pay quite a bit more to fly with this airline comparing to flying direct airline with one of the low cost carriers. Vueling was another option and in hindsight, it might have been better to fly with this airline during that time as it is still operating an Airbus fleet because the airline, decided by the IAG group would be converting their fleet to a full Boeing 737 fleet. How I feel about this move, this is another story! So once this option is decided, I looked at which airline would fly me back to London and it was not a difficult decision, Air Europa was my choice and I booked with the airline not long after, stay tuned for my trip report with this airline coming up soon.

Without further ado, let's begin this trip report!

About Brussels Airlines

Brussels Airlines is the national carrier of Belgium and is based at Brussels Airport. This airline is a successor to its predecessors, Sabena and SN Brussels Airlines and is currently managed by the Lufthansa Group. As a member of a the Star Alliance, this airline flies mainly to Europe, North America, some parts of Africa and West Asia and for the rest of the destinations, it does codeshares with other members of the alliance.

This airline was founded in November 2006 and started operation about 4 months later. With size of arouned 50 aircraft, this fully Airbus operator helps the Lufthansa group by operating flights from Brussels onto some of the profitable markets such as Africa.

Map routes of Brussels Airlines (Brilliantmaps.com)

Booking with the airline

I used the airline's mobile app to do the booking and it was easy to use, most importantly, no issues at all.

That's the airfare that the airline was charging me and I opted for the economy classic mainly for the seat selection.

After choosing the seats, I won't have to worry about paying extra if I opted for the economy light tier.

These were the available seats during the time of booking.

For the first flight, I opted for 5A and the second leg, I opted for 7F.

Would I want to pay extra to fly on this business class? I thought about it but decided to give it a miss.

Overall, I give this app a rating of 4/5.

On the day of departure

I left my Airbnb accommodation at an ungodly hour.

Walking to the Barking tube station took about 15 minutes.

What does this design structure looks like to you?

Changing for the Elizebeth line to London Heathrow.

Here we are, welcome to the Queen's Terminal - Terminal 2!

This is the terminal mainly hosting Star Alliance airlines.

The check-in desk area (landside)

Overview of the departure hall (landside)

There are a good mix of airlines from all the continents.

This is quite a pleasant terminal and yes if anyone is wondering, airport complimentary WiFi is available.

Since I had no luggage, I used the self check-in kiosk to obtain my boarding pass.

I obtained the boarding passes for both flights.

Once that is done, I made my way to the airside.

My boarding passes!

Welcome to the airside!

Departure information board displaying your gate information and usually you need to check over here for your flight's gate information.

The overview of the departure hall of Terminal 2 airside.

It is quite a spacious and pleasant terminal to depart from.

I bought a drink from one of the convenient stores.

There is even a vending machine selling budgets, a common sight in Japan.

Food and snacks vending machines.

At this point, I made my way to my assigned gate.

My ride to Brussels and Bilbao.

It was on arrival into LHR, arriving on time.

Here it is and I went over to the gate to try to capture its arrival.

Welcome on board!

My ride: OO-SBC

My flight route: LHR-BRU

Distance: 351km

Average Flight Time: 40 minutes

Airlines flying on this route: British Airways and Brussels Airlines

My seat: 6A

(Photo: Aerolopa.com)

Date: 23th February 2026

Airline: Brussels Airlines

Flight: SN2094

Route: LHR-BRU

Aircraft: Airbus A320neo

Registration: OO-SBC

Seat: 6A

Terminal: 2

Gate: A25

Load: 80% in Y Class

Flight Time: 45 minutes

Actual Flight Time: 43 minutes

Schedule Departure: 1105

Boarding: 1023

Push Back: 1052

Take Off: 1102

Schedule Arrival: 1315

Actual Arrival: 1244

Departure Runway: 27L

Departure Weather: Cloudy

Arrival Runway: 19

Arrival Weather: Cloudy

My inflight experience

I felt disappointing to get myself the standard livery A320neo and that's not the only disappointement, a few hours before this flight, the scheduled aircraft for the 2nd leg was changed to this same aircraft so that goes my chance of flying on one of the special livery aircraft, well that's life! Once on board, I had a good lookat the interior, the cabin looks alright, nothing spectacular especially it is a fully configured economy class seats so that means those who are flying on business class will get the standard business class seats on the 3-seater with the middle seat vacant. How do these airlines get away with this? Premium economy class but not business class standard for the seats and personally this is more important to me than the inflight meal or even the lounge access and extra baggage allowance. Those are the standard business class perks so this is why I didn't bother bidding to upgrade myself especially with a 1105 departure, I would have to arrive at Heathrow very early to enjoy the lounge. Pointless!

Once on board, my only source of entertainment is the window view, a perfect view of the engine wing vew which allows me photograph together with the scenery. There are charging ports available but for entertainment? Nothing, not even inflight streaming is available. This feels like flying on a low cost carrier, not much difference whem I think about it.

With the tight seat pitch, I felt a bit uncomfortable after a while but luckily it was a short flight. As for the inflight meal or beverage service, it didn't exist so the cabin crew had a relaxing time on this flight, just make sure the passengers follow instructions before take-off and after arrival. Our ride to Brussels was smooth for most parts except for the arrival into Brussels where it was quite windy and the pilots had a bit of challenge dealing with the wind especially after the auto pilot was disengaged.

With the aircraft parked at the gate, I could have asked them to let me stay on board since this aircraft was assigned me to fly to my next destination. Of course if there is this option, I won't take it as before this trip, I had not been to this airport and it was nice to explore and check out whether this airport impresses. For that, you have to read up on my next blog post!

Cabin configuration: Y180

180 Geven Essenza Slimline seats configured in a 3-3 layout.

Seat pitch ranges from 28 to 34 inches.

Business Class

The first 5 rows of this cabin for my flight were assigned to business class this means the middle seat for the 3-seater remains vacant.

(Photo: Live and Let's Fly)

You can check out the business class trip report over here.

Economy Class (Limited photos)

For most rows, the seat pitch is at 30 inches, with the emergency rows has a more spacious legroom space of 34 inches.

There is an indication card placed on this seat to indicate which rows are business class.

My window seat

View from my seat

With 2 windows for myself, I have no complaints at all.

Not the most comfortable seat, that's for sure but it was bearable for short flights.

2 charging ports for each row of seats.

Individual aircon vents are available.

How can you call this business class when these seats are exactly the seat with the middle seat blocked out? Premium economy class - yes! This issue also applies to other European airlines with this configuration.

The seat back features the literature holder near the eye level when sitted, foldable tray table and personal storage space below them.

I apologise for the lack of photos due to how full the flight is and it wasn't convenient for me to snap a clean shot of the cabin.

What's provided for each passenger?

Nothing! No inflight snack or entertainment!

Safety Card

Inflight magazine featuring the airline's standard and special liveries.

Inflight sales also helps to bring in some revenue for the airline.

Inflight menu

Disposal Bag

Window view photos

(Take off to Landing)

Pushing back with Icelandair's Boeing 737 MAX 8's tail in sight.

I have plans to fly on Icelandair most probably in 2027, watch this space!

One more look of this airline!

Passing by the aircraft traffic parked at terminal 2.

Air Canada's Airbus A330-300 in old livery with part of the engine cowling in the new livery, making it look odd.

Passing by a British Airways aircraft.

This is the iconic Concorde aircraft parked near the threshold of runway 27L.

I am one of the lucky ones that get to witness the beautiful take off and landing of this aircraft, it often used runway 09 at this airport from what I remember. Those were the days!

We started rolling down the runway.

This is typical UK weather, often overcast with showers taking place quite frequently.

Vietnam Airlines' livery does brighten up this dull weather.

Almost reaching V1....

V1....rotate and what do we have here? An interesting 747 aircraft!

Take off was slightly bumpy due to the windy condition.

At least the view was breathetaking!

After a few turns, we headed towards our direction towards Belgium.

We were fortunately not to have any clouds around our flight path.

This means we get to enjoy the view of the cities along the way.

However as we flew further up, we had to fly through some clouds.

Flying through them to reach our assigned flight level.

Weather at this point was slightly better.

At this point, we started our descent.

It was cloudy condition at our destination.

The weather was similar to London, only difference is the more windy conditions.

Once we broke through the clouds, it was another depressing sight of the city.

Few more seconds to touch down!

We touched down firmly with the windy condition constantly interrupting our momentum.

Speed brake and reverse thrusts were deployed.

Taxiing past the passenger building of BRU airport.

Here we are, we reached the gate with minutes to spare.

This is RwandaAir Airbus A330 aircraft.

That's the weather we had during my brief stop-over at this airport.

I arrived at this gate only to depart from this same gate about less than 2 hours later.

My flight summary

Welcome to Brussels Airport!

With the aerobridge connected to the gate, one would expect it connects to the terminal building. Because this aircraft arrived from a non EU country, it would to depart to a EU country later on, all passengers arriving from a non EU country would have to go through immigration to be allowed into the EU.

So we had to climb down the stairs to make our way to the immigration for the non EU arrivals.

I got to enjoy the view of the tarmac including my ride.

We were ferried to the terminal by the airport bus.

Once we alighted from the bus, we walked towards the entrance to the building.

From here, I followed the sign towards the flight connections.

Once the passport immigration check was done with the friendly officer chatting about local issues, I was cleared to the departure hall.

These were the flights departing in the early afternoon of that day.

This is the departure hall (airside) - gate area of Pier B.

Sign board information is reasonably clear.

There is even a piano for anyone willing to showcase their talent!

I walked towards the main concourse.

A lot of restaurants and shops are available at this part of the airport.

To be continued in my part 2! Stay tuned!

My ratings

Airline Website/Mobile App: 4/5

Airport Experience (London Heathrow: 4/5)

Inflight Service: 3/5

Seat Comfort: 2.5/5

Inflight Entertainment: 0/5

Cabin Ambiance: 4/5

Cabin Condition: 5/5

Cleanliness: 5/5

Inflight Meal/Beverage: 0/5

Punctuality: 5/5

Total Score: 32.5/50

Percentage: 65%

Conclusion

I was expecting more when flying with this airline with at least a complimentary inflight snack or a beverage especially for the price the airline is charging. It's perfectly normal to have the inflight menu available and chargable for passengers if they are still hungry or thirsty.

I could fly with Vueling for three quarter of the price and yet receive a similar cabin experience so overall I find the experience quite underwhelming. On the bright side, at least the aircraft interior was clean and the cabin crew were in a jovial mood.

What I like about the airline? Simple livery but stylish and the newer Airbus cabin interior enhances the comfort level for both the crew and passengers. What I don't like about the airline? No complimentary inflight beverages or entertainment available for the passengers but at least there are charging ports. The feeling I get from this airline made me question what is the role of this airline, is it a full cost airline pretending to be a low cost one or has it quietly become a low cost carrier but charging prices of a full cost carrier!?

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy this review.

Have a good one!

Charles

With that said, the journey continues - see you in my next post!

For my previous trip report (Royal Air Maroc Part 4: CMN-LHR 737 MAX 8), click here

For my next trip report (Flying with Brussels Airlines Part 2: BRU to BIO), click here

Discovering Royal Air Maroc (Part 4: CMN-LHR, Boeing 737 MAX 8)

2026-05-19T16:21:07.001+08:00

Welcome to my final part of my Royal Air Maroc Flying Adventures!

My ride: CN-RHE

Photo: Diego Rui de Vargas - Iberian Spotters

Introduction

This is the final part of my Moroccan trip and it had been an eye opener for both of us. For this flight, I chose the flight back to LHR main purpose is to try out the airline's newer 737 aircraft featuring the newer cabin product so that I can experience it and also share my experience with you. My flight experience with the airline so far has been alright, apart from the basic cabin, at least there are drop down screens on the Boeing 737-800 which beats having no entertainment. If you are flying on the 737-800 from Europe to Morocco, you might want to power up your devices as there are no usb charging ports available on this aircraft, only the 737 MAX 8 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft have it. For this final part, I will fly on the airline's 737 MAX 8 and let me share with you on my experience and thoughts about it, after that I will wrapped up my 4 parts series of this airline in my conclusion. So without further ado, let's begin this trip report!

About Royal Air Maroc's Boeing 737 MAX 8

There are 3 different configurations for this aircraft type.

Configuration A: 156 seats - 12 Business Class and 144 Economy Class

Configuration B: 176 seats - 8 Business Class and 168 Economy Class

Configuration C: 189 seats - 189 Economy Class

The aircraft configuration I flew on was configuration A.

For those wondering which 737 MAX 8 with special livery is under which configuration, this is the information:

CN-MAY (Royal Moroccan Football Federation Partner Special Livery) - Configuration A

Transiting at Casablanca Airport

After managing to avoid the long queue at the international transfer, we headed out to the land side via the domestic arrival.

As we were hungry, we settled for breakfast at this cafe. There was not a lot of options for us, something the airport can improve on with their new terminal and that is more food options.

Royal Air Maroc's office

This is the upper level of the landside.

This is Royal Air Maroc's departure area.

Airside

Do note: both terminals are connected.

Security check was done within 15 minutes after immigration check was completed.

Entering the airside through terminal 1.

After security check is done, you will pass through the duty free shop.

Welcome to the airside!

There is McDonald's at the departure area (airside).

The interior of the airside at terminal 1.

There are shops and restaurants to check out.

Eateries are plentiful.

Departure board

This terminal has recently been upgraded.

This way to terminal 2.

This is terminal 2 departure hall (airside)

Our flight departed from this terminal.

Somehow the interior of this part of the terminal reminds me of Santiago's SCL airport Terminal 2.

Just like terminal 1, there are plenty of cafes and duty-free shops to check out.

I bought a few snacks from one of these shops.

This is where my flight departed from. (Gate A9)

There is a food court in the departure hall (terminal 2 airside) where we would come for our breakfast if we had known.

I made my way back to the other terminal to meet up with my mum.

Our flight is the 2nd LHR flight for the day for this airline as the earlier flight departed about 2 hours after ours. That flight was also operated by the Boeing 737 MAX 8.

Time to say goodbye to Morocco! Thanks for the memories.

Our ride: CN-RHE

On this flight, we got to experience the airline's newer jet.

My ride: CN-RHE

Photo: Diego Rui de Vargas - Iberian Spotters

Flight route: CMN-LHR

Distance: 2,094 km (Estimated)

Average Flight Time: 2 hours 55 minutes

Airlines flying on this route: Royal Air Maroc

My seat: 24F

Photo: Aerolopa.com

Date of departure: 21st Februrary 2026

Airline: Royal Air Maroc

Flight: AT806

Route: CMN-LHR

Aircraft: Boeing 737 MAX 8

Registration: CN-RHE

Seat: 24F

Departure Terminal: 1

Gate: A6

Load: 100%

Flight Time (Average): 3 hours

Actual Flight Time: 2 hours 50 minutes

Schedule Departure: 1345

Boarding: 1315

Push Back: 1350

Take Off: 1403

Schedule Arrival: 1700

Actual Arrival: 1701

Departure Runway: 35R

Departure Weather: Clear

Arrival Runway: 27R

Arrival weather: Raining

My Experience

Over at the airside, there are plenty of restaurants at the international departure hall and we should have headed over there to have our meals but whatever it is at least we know now and one thing for sure, it is certainly more interesting over at the airside than the landside for this terminal.

Boarding process for our gate departure was in a mess asthe ground staff seemed overwhelmed and inexperience. The worst thing is nothing was done to reogranise the queue and we just joined whichever queue that would lead us quickly to the passport and boarding pass check in order to board the aircraft. Once on board, I notice the vast difference between this aircraft and the older 737-800 cabin. Just like the older siblings, this aircraft only has the overhead tv screen but at least there are USB charging ports and universal sockets available on this aircraft. The cabin is obviously newer and the Boeing Sky Interior is certainly an improvement over the previous generation cabin.

This set of crew was not very good, they seem to have their minds somewhere else, at least the ones that served our row during the flight. The announcement were made by both the cabin and flight crew and at least we were kept well updated on our flight progress.

Once we were on our way, my mum and I entertained ourselves with the card game and the meal service started not long after the seat belt sign was turned on. The flight was smooth for most parts except for the arrival into London, we encounted a bit of bumps during our descent.

For the meal service, we had a choice of chicken, fish and vegetarian. We chose the chicken and fish option and we found the meal to be quite alright, nothing excited about the quality. For the Inflight TV programme, they showed the classic Charlie Chaplin but at least the inflight map was shown briefly after take off and before arrival.

Overall it was a pleasant flight and the 737 MAX 8 cabin is certainly more comfortable than the older 737-800 cabin. This was my first flight on the 737 MAX 8 together with my mum and I look forward to fly on other aircraft models with her in the near future, perhaps the Airbus A220 series with her next time!

Business Class

(Configuration A: C12 Y144)

Do note: No inflight entertainment individual screen installed in both classes.

There are 12 business class configured in a 2-2 with 3 rows located at the front of the aircraft cabin.

- Collins Aerospace MiQ seats

- Adjustable Headrest

- Retractable foot rest

- Bi-folding table

- Legroom space of 36 inches

- Seat width of 21 inches

- Seat can recline up to 7 inches

- USB-A Socket is available

- Universal Power Socket is available (110V)

These seats looks narrower than the 737-800 business class and in fact, are you sure this is business class seats? That was my thought when I walked past them.

I wanted to upgrade to this class cabin but end up decided not to and I was glad I didn't because these seats are more of premium economy class and the offer to upgrade was around 400 Euros per person.

With no seatback television, I am glad I saved those Euros!

The extra legroom space is the only good thing about these seats.

On our way to our seats!

The overhead compartment space

Economy Class

There are 144 seats in this cabin, configured in a 3-3 seating configuration.

Row 8 to 32

- The standard seats have a legroom space of 32 inches

- Row 17 and 18 (Emergency rows) have legroom space of 38 inches

- Seat width of 17 inches

- Seat can recline up to 3 inches except rows 16 and 17

- Adjustable head rest

- USB-A Socket is available

- Universal Socket is available (110V)

The first row of the economy class offers more slightly legroom space than the standard seats.

I find these seats to be quite comfortable and the seatback design on it has certainly caught my attention.

The colour of the seatbelt, seat and head rest cover do match with one another.

Do note that seat 12A is windowless and seats 14A and 14F have misaligned seats with the window.

Legroom space at the emergency rows are at a generous 38 inches.

This would have been my selected seat if there was no additional charges to it.

A better view of the emergency row seats

After the emergency row, the window seats are mostly aligned to the window.

The rear view of the cabin

Rear view of the cabin from my seat

I thought it was a pretty comfortable and cozy cabin.

A closer look at the seat

This has to be one of the nicest 737 MAX 8 economy class cabin in my opinion.

View of the seats arcoss the aisle.

Safety demonstration was done on a video shown by the drop-down screen.

View of the cabin with the mood lighting in action.

Inflight Entertainment Screen

Charlie Chaplin in action!

Drop-down screen showing some cartoons

The cabin interior (during disembarkment)

Thanks for the comfortable ride, CN-RHE!

One last look of the economy class seat.

More photos of the seat

The 32 inches of legroom space is not too bad.

What is important is there is no kind of box at the legrest area obstructing or reducing the legroom space.

Legroom space is alright for me. (I am 192 cm tall)

USB charging port and tablet holder are available.

For this aircraft, individual aircon vents are available.

My mum was satisfied with the seat.

The literature holder consists of the disposal bag, inflight magazine and safety card.

The adjustable headrest

Tray tables come in very handy.

Window is perfectly aligned to my seat.

Cabin view during inflight

Universal socket is available.

What's provided for each passenger?

Disposal Bag

Instructions on connecting the wifi (not available on this flight)

Inflight magazine

This is the fish option which comes with rice mixed with veggie.

Along with the main meal, it comes with a piece of bread and cupcake with condiments.

This was my meal, I chose the chicken option.

It was not bad.

For beverage, I opted for a can of coke.

Our Entertainment

Once we again, we played our favourite 'Daidee' game.

Window view photos (Take off to Landing)

The split winglets which all the 737 MAX aircraft have and some Boeing 737NG aircraft opted by some airlines to upgrade the winglets to improve the fuel effficiency of the aircraft.

On our way to the active runway.

The midday traffic at Casablanca airport.

Passing by this colourful livery of this 737 MAX 8.

We reached the intersection of the taxiway.

Getting closer to the runway.

Here we are, we turned into the active runway.

Took off in this beautiful weather!

Just a bit of turbulence during our climb to our assigned flight level.

It was a successful trip, I am glad everything went well despite a few bumps we encountered along the way.

Leaving the land on Africa!

One last look of the African continent before we flew over water.

We were flying over Portugal at this point.

It was beginning to get a bit cloudy at this point.

Despite the slightly cloudy condition, we were able to enjoy the mountain alpes.

Flying into London was a different affair in terms of weather.

We flew through some clouds but luckily it was hardly turbulent.

It turned out, there were a few layers of clouds in the U.K region.

The dreadful sight especially for nervous flyers, flying through thick clouds!

It took quite a while flying through these clouds before we caught sight of land.

Typical U.K weather!

At least we get to enjoy some beautiful scenery during our approach into London Heathrow.

Our aircraft was fully configured for landing.

Few more seconds to touch down!

It would be great to be able to do plane photography over at one of the apartments below.

Notice the scenery changes quickly!

Anyone like to guess how many vehicles there are?

Almost there!

Finally, we touched down smoothly.

With reversal thrust and speed brake deployed.

Some showers for us while we were taxiing to the gate.

Welcome to London Heathrow!

Not the best weather as the rain was coming in quite a fair bit as we parked at our assigned parking lot.

For the aircraft and crew, they were to stay for a couple of hours before returning back to Casablanca.

My flight summary

Welcome to London Heathrow Airport!

We disembarked at terminal 4.

The walk towards immigration took less than 10 minutes.

It was nice to be able to use the automated immigration machines.

Once immigration was cleared, we made our way to the arrival hall.

Passing by the luggage carousel.

This is the arrival hall.

We took the Elizebeth line to Liverpool Street Station.

This way to the train station.

The impressive train interior on board the train on the Elizebeth line.

This is Barking station based along the district line.

My accommodation is about 15 minutes walk from the station.

My accommodation is located near a primary school.

That's all folks!

My ratings

Airline Website/Mobile App: 4/5

Airport Experience (Casablanca Airport): 3/5

Inflight Service: 2.5/5

Seat Comfort: 3.5/5

Inflight Entertainment: 3/5

Cabin Ambiance: 5/5

Cabin Condition: 5/5

Cleanliness: 4/5

Inflight Meal/Beverage: 3/5

Punctuality: 2/5 (Late by 11 minutes)

Total Score: 35/50

Percentage: 70%

Conclusion

All 4 flights completed without any hiccups and from my experience so far, the airline has certainly have a lot to do to catch up with the top tier airlines with better inflight experience and hopefully they can work on it on their new aircraft. Since there is no plans for the airline to install individual seatback entertainment system, at least there should be WiFi installed with streaming of the airline's entertainment programmes made available. While some might argue that is there really a need for Wifi these days, if the airline are charging a lot more thanks to the soaring fuel prices, it's fair for us to have more options on board, with some able to do their work with the Wifi connection, keep us entertained using our own devices, I don't see why not? I can understand why this airline choose to save the weight by not installing the IFE seatback on the narrowbody aircraft to cut down on maintainence fees. For the inflight service on all the 4 flights, it was nothing to shout about, there wasn't any outstanding crew that caught my eye but at least all of them got their job done and more importantly we didn't encounter any rude ones.

Was there any flight in particular that I enjoy? Well, I suppose it has to be the domestic flights as the view were spectacular with good weather blessing us during our stay.

One advantage about flying with this airline is the ability to earn points especially if you are a member of the frequent flyer from the Oneworld Alliance and for this case, I had membership with Qatar Airways. The great news for me after the flights is that I was able to achieve silver status after accumulating points for completing my flights with this airline.

Overall, I am satisfied with my flight with this airline, the airfares may be a bit steep but because there is lack of competition on the route, it is not a surprise the airline is charging higher. However, I won't hestiate to fly with this airline again and perhaps next time on the airline's Boeing 787 aircraft.

A preview to the next trip report

Another new airline for my logbook: Star Alliance's Brussels Airlines!

Thanks for reading, have a great one!

Charles Ryan

With that said, the journey continues - see you in my next blog post!

For my previous trip report (Part 3: RAK-CMN on Royal Air Maroc's Boeing 737-800), click here

For my next trip report (Brussels Airlines A320neo Part 1), click here

Discovering Royal Air Maroc (Part 3: RAK-CMN Boeing 737-800)

2026-05-12T23:19:00.007+08:00

Welcome to my part 3 of my flying adventure with Royal Air Maroc!

My ride: CN-RGG

Photo: Diego Rui de Vargas - Iberian Spotters

Introduction

For the flight back to London, I decided on the Boeing 737-800 flight to Casablanca where we change for the connecting flight to London, I had a choice between Gatwick or Heathrow. I decided on Heathrow as it was not only cheaper, the flight was operated by the Boeing 737 MAX 8 which offers a newer cabin product.

Our flight departure was around 0930 hrs to Casablanca and we would have around 3 hours in transit before our connecting flight to London Heathrow. This would means we had time for brunch in between. We wanted to have breakfast at Marrakesh Airport but because I thought there were cafes inside the airside area, we discovered there wasn't any, so we had to settle for our meals at Casablanca airport instead so for those departing out of Marrakesh, do grab your meal at the landside first before heading over to the airside for your domestic departure.

Without further ado, let's begin this trip report!

Some photos of our time at Marrakesh!

You need to visit the souk!

The market is lively and sells a good variety of local products.

It was a nice walking along the streets, taking in whatever that came along our way.

A shadow of my mum and myself in this beautiful weather at Marrakesh.

A typical street of Marrakesh

I recommend this restaurant, Marrak. The food quality is top notch!

This is what we had for lunch!

This is the street outside of the restaurant.

This "Red city" is unique because most of the buildings consist of a shade of red orche, salmon pink and terracotta. This is made mandatory by the city regulation to match the oxide-rich clay used in construction. These colours have been used in many centuries and in my opinion, it blends in very well to the environment.

We walked to the Menara Mall. However the mall was closed for Ramada - break fast time but it would reopen later that evening, however we decided to settle dinner at one of the restaurants outside the mall.

This is one of the shophouses.

Night time in Marrakesh.

On the day of departure

We left the hotel around 0630 and hailed an Uber ride to the airport.

The beautifully curved structured canopy greeted us once we alighted from our ride.

You can tell that the airport design is inspired by the Islamic principles.

Welcome to Marrakesh Menara Airport!

Before we have a look inside, let me give you a brief information of this airport.

About this airport

This airport has 2 passengers terminals housed in a large building with numerous modernizations to this airport was done which include a new terminal in 2005. The second terminal was added in 2016 to increase capacity. This airport serves Marrakesh and is home to Royal Air Maroc and Royal Air Maroc express. With a single runway in action (runway 10/28), this airport also play hosts to Easyjet, Ryanair and Tui Airlines which fly to many tourist destinations including this airport. Marrakesh is one of the most popular tourists destinations in Africa and it is not a surprise to see a lot of European airlines especially the low cost carriers operate to this airport.

Map of this airport

(Photo: Airportmaps.com)

Entrance to terminal 1

The departure hall (landside)

Most of the flight departures were dominated by low cost carriers.

The check-in desks for RAM is located at the far end of the terminal.

I did the online web check-in the previous day, I couldn't check in for my mum but I had no issue. I hope to solve the issue by using this self check-in kiosk but to no avail, as a result, we had no choice but to join the long queue at the airline's check-in counters.

Look at how long the queue is!

Thanks to my mum's eagle sharp eyes, we managed to find a shorter queue not long after.

The problem with my mum's inability to do the web check-in was solved and the grouchy staff managed to check both of us in and had our seat assignments sorted out too, luckily we got ourselves the window and middle seat, I won't want to miss out on the scenic view.

Once that's done, we headed towards the domestic departure security check screening to access the airside.

In hindsight, we could have stopped by one of the cafes over here to grab some bite.

Check-in counters for Easyjet passengers.

Our flight was departing as schedule.

This way to the airside of the domestic departure.

Once at the airside, this is what we have over there. Vending machines for snack and a selection of hot beverages.

The seating area at the airside departure hall.

That's how small the departure area is at the airside of the domestic departure.

I picked up a couple of hot beverages for both my mum and myself.

We were glad to be on our way.

This way to our bus.

Before that, we had to join a long queue.

It took about 10 minutes to clear.

Was this our ride to our aircraft?

The luggages being transported to the aircraft.

Nope, we didn't take the bus. We waited at the pedestrian's crossing and waited for clearance to walk to our aircraft.

While waiting, I spotted some interesting traffic.

This is Transavia Boeing 737-800.

A group of passengers making their way to the aircraft while an Easyjet A320ceo aircraft passing by.

Ryanair's Boeing 737 MAX 8200

The 2 different generation of Boeing 737 (NG and MAX)

Our ride: CN-RGG

Transavia is currently in the process of retiring the fleet of Boeing 737 in favour of Airbus A320neo family.

This is a Spanish low cost carrier, Volotea Airbus A320ceo departing.

A look at the other side of the tarmac.

My ride: CN-RGG

Boeing 737-86N (Leased from Aircastle leasing company)

Configuration: C12 Y147

Engines: 2 X CFM56

Delivered in October 2011

3815th Boeing 737

Age: 14+ Years Old (May 2026 Update)

Built in Renton (RNT)

We walked towards our aircraft with a ground staff inspecting our tickets before we were given the clearance to head over.

Such a clean and beautiful livery, don't you agree?

The pilots covered the windows so that they can focus on setting up the FMC (Flight Management Control) and go through the before departure checklist prior for departure.

Route: RAK-CMN

Distance: 200km

Average Flight Time: 30 minutes

Airlines flying on this route: Royal Air Maroc and Royal Air Maroc Expresss

Photo: Greatcirclemap.com

Seat: 10A (Photo: Aerolopa.com)

Date of departure: 21st February 2026

Airline: Royal Air Maroc

Flight: AT402

Route: RAK-CMN

Aircraft: Boeing 737-800

Registration: CN-RGG

Seat: 10A

Gate: C2

Load: 100%

Flight Time: 30 minutes

Actual Flight Time: 27 minutes

Schedule Departure: 0935

Boarding the aircraft: 0900

Push Back: 0930

Take Off: 0940

Schedule Arrival: 1025

Actual Arrival: 1007

Departure Runway: 10

Departure Weather: Clear

Arrival Runway: 35L

Arrival Weather: Clear

My Experience

Boarding began at the waiting area without any announcement from the PA system but as soon as I saw a crowd of passengers gathering around the gate area, we made our way there and waited for a few minutes. Once we were ready, we were told to follow a staff who led us to the aircraft. We waited at the pedestrian crossing and at that point, I had a good time enjoying the apron view, doing a bit of planespotting. Once the ground traffic was cleared, we walked to our aircraft.

Our aircraft was newer than the 737-800 which flew us from LGW to CMN. This aircraft had the Boeing sky interior with slightly newer seats which are more comfortable in my opinion. We pushed back ahead of schedule and took off 10 minutes after.

Just like my previous flight on the ATR-72, there was no inflight service on this flight and my mum and I once again played our favourite card game and also enjoying the view. For the seat selection, I forgot to mention on my previous parts, the airline chose the seats for us and this time we scored a good set of seats, sitting slightly in front of the engine. Weather was on our side again and we get to enjoy such beautiful view of the country. The ride this time matches my shortest flight record - Wingo's Boeing 737-800 ride from Medellin to Bogota (Colombian's domestic flight) at 27 minutes of flying time but the distance of Marrakesh to Casablanca is shorter by 16 km compared to Medellin to Bogata (217km).

We landed ahead of schedule and for us, we had about 3 hours plus to spend at this airport before connecting to our next flight. During our time at the arrival, there was a long queue for us to wait to clear the security to connect to the airside and there was an incident with a young lad lecturing my mum about cutting queue which she was not as it was everyone for themselves, no airport staff came about to help organise the queue , I told him off and luckily for him, his father came and made peace. Later on, we realised there was no one going through the exit towards the landside and since we had no luggage check-in, we decided to head over there which made more sense for us.

Business Class

There are 12 seats in this cabin, configured in a 2-2 layout, with no IFE seatback, pretty much a basic business class recliner seat product.

These seats have a seat width of 21 inches, 36 inches of legroom space and can recline up to 3 inches.

The bulkhead row offers a good amount of legroom space.

The 3 rows of business class seats come with a partition wall and a curtain for use after take off and before landing for privacy for the business class passengers.

Economy Class

(I apologise for the lack of photos in this cabin.)

Overview of the cabin

Photo: RZ (Planespotters.net)

View from our seats

Like the previous 737-800 flight with this airline, the only source of entertainment comes from the drop-down screen from the overhead compartment. For this flight, it showed a short clip of a flim and the inflight map.

We were waiting for departure.

The seat legroom space was adequate.

The view of the front seat while in the air.

This mood lighting certainly enhances the cabin experience for the passengers.

No Meal Service

For our entertainment, we didn't bother much watching the programmes shown on the drop-down screen but at least there was the inflight map to look at. My mum and I enjoyed our 'Daidee' game and I can tell how good a player she is, the way she destroyed me, you would also be impressed!

Window view

This is my favourite window view photo! At this point, we started our push back.

Thanks for the memories, Marrakesh!

We had to taxi to the other end of the runway due to the wind direction.

For those aviation enthusiasts like myself, we won't mind living in one of the apartments as shown below.

Not long before we reached the end of the runway before making a u-turn and then take off.

This is the main reason why I prefer flying is you get to enjoy such beautiful view especially in good weather.

For pilot duties, some of the airlines require the pilots to do around 3-4 sectors a day and total flight time around 10 hours per day. So for such short sector like this, the pilots will definitely do a turn around and where do they fly to next? Only the airline operation management knows as they are in charge of assigning duties for both the aircraft and pilots.

Enjoying every minute of the beautiful view.

As we were flying with the tail wind behind us, our flight time is shorter compare to the other direction. (CMN to RAK)

We cruise for not more than 5 minutes before we started our descent.

This is the city of Settat.

We were preparing for arrival at this point.

Fortunately for us, we were sitting with the sunlight facing the other side of the aircraft.

We touched down smoothy onto runway 35L.

As the traffic was light, it took about 5 minutes to reach our assigned gate.

Passing by some remote parking lots.

The old and new livery of Royal Air Maroc.

Royal Air Maroc has certainly made its presence felt at this airport.

Almost there!

This is Royal Air Maroc's special livery, featuring the 60th anniversary. (CN-RGV)

We parked at a remote parking lot.

One last look of the apron before we disembarked.

My flight summary

Welcome back to Casablanca!

Thanks for the ride: CN-RGG!

It's not everytime at the airport you get to walk below the jet bridges!

This way to the airport bus.

Some of the widebody aircraft of Royal Air Maroc were resting and would depart later that day on the airline's long haul routes.

Another Royal Air Maroc Boeing 737-800 arrived after completing its domestic flight duty.

We had to get in fast before the group of passengers from the other flights join us.

This was the way out to the arrival hall. We decided not to join the queue for the international connection security check as we still had enough time to hang around at the land side.

Passing through the luggage carousel.

This is the arrival hall.

We walked down this way in search for a cafe.

This was our breakfast.

Flight Departure

To be continued!

My rating

Airline Website/Mobile App: 4/5

Airport Experience (Marrakesh Airport): 3/5

Inflight Service: 3/5

Seat Comfort: 3.5/5

Inflight Entertainment: 3/5

Cabin Ambiance: 4/5

Cabin Condition: 4.5/5

Cleanliness: 5/5

Inflight Meal/Beverage: 0/5

Punctuality: 5/5

Total Score: 35/50

Percentage: 70%

Conclusion

Our experience at both Marrakesh and Casablanca was certainly not the best especially at Marrakesh airport domestic departure which I hope the airport can provide more for the passengers at the domestic departure with restaurants and cafes available and as for Casablanca airport, for the arriving passengers connecting to international flights, please have airport staff around to handle the traffic and without them, there are likely to be grumpy passengers accusing each other for queue cutting due to impartience and that results to frustration and anger over such a trival matter. As for the flight itself, it was a short one with the crew just need to do a couple of check on us to make sure we follow the rules required for take off and landing, pretty light work load for them especially with no meal or beverage service provided on this flight. Once again like the previous flight, we were blessed with good weather and the advantage of flying instead of taking the train is enjoying the beautiful scenery of the land in clear blue skies with hardly any turbulence.

Overall, it was a pleasant flight and with one more flight to go, I would summerise my thoughts about this airline in my next trip report.

A preview to my next trip report

My last part of my Royal Air Maroc series: Our flight back to London, this time to London Heathrow on the airline's Boeing 737 MAX 8.

Click here for the trip report.

Thanks for reading and have a good one!

Charles Ryan

With that said, the journey continues - see you in my next blog post!

For the previous trip report (Part 2: RAM Express ATR-72-600 CMN-RAK flight, click here

For the hotel review at Marrakesh, click here

Hotel Review: Hotel Ibn Batouta (Marrakesh, Morocco)

2026-05-11T14:13:34.351+08:00

Welcome to my hotel review at Marrakesh!

Introduction

This hotel was only booked due to the issues we had at our original accommodation in Marrakesh. It turned out that the apartment I booked was not suitable for our needs so I went ahead to do quite a last minute booking and honestly speaking, this was not my first choice. Whatever it is, I chose this hotel for the good location and it turned out to be walkable to the places we wanted to go. This hotel may not be as glamourous as the previous hotel we started but it was decent enough and we had a comfortable stay during the few nights there.

So without further ado, let's begin this hotel review!

Location of the hotel

How to get to the hotel from the airport

The most economical way to get there is by taking bus L18 from Aeoroport bus stop which would take about 12 minutes to get to the Grand Poste bus stop and then walk to the hotel from there which take around 5 minutes.

Information about the hotel:

Hotel's website: Click here

For the hotel address: Avenue Yacoub El Marini, Gueliz, Marrakesh, 40000, Morocco

Telephone number: +21 (0) 808 541 566

You can contact the hotel direectly on this page, click here for it.

Hotel amenities and services

- Paid Hotel Shuttle (18 Euros one-way)

- Early Check-in is available (for a fee)

- Rooftop swimming pool and bar

- Restaurant

- TV Room

- Tour/Ticket assistance

Room amenities

- Flat-screen TV

- Mini Bar (Chargable)

- Toiletries

- Air Condition

Photos of the hotel

This is a twin bed room, room is as bit old and has seen better days but it was comfortable and we were able to grab some good rest.

The corridor leading to the hotel rooms.

The lift lobby

It's nice to have information pasted besides the lift button to help you get to wherever you want to go.

The ground level

Buffet for breakfast

(Operating hours: 0700 to 1030 hours)

It serves mostly continental breakfast. Food quality is alright.

The restaurant's interior

View outside the room window

Sunset view

Rooftop with swimming pool

Bar Service

Chill out area

I would love to relax over during sunset.

Beautiful view of the surrounding area

Hardly any clouds around us.

Surrounding area of the hotel

Mosque is a common sight in Morocco.

The vehicles over here are left hand drive.

One more photo of tour hotel.

My ratings

Hotel Staff: 7/10

Location: 7/10

Hotel room ambiance: 6/10

Hotel Amenities: 8/10

Nearby Convenience (Example: Train Station, Covenient store...etc): 7/10

Hotel room size: 6/10

Cleanliness: 6/10

Bed comfort: 7/10

Shower: 10/10

Value for $$: 7/10

Overall rating: 71/100

Percentage: 71%

Conclusion

It was a decent stay during these few nights at the hotel. While the hotel is not new and the room interior looks dated, we were satisified and had no complaints about the room. For the price I paid especially for a last minute booking, I am satisfied but would I come back again next time, I am not so sure as the hotel interior doesn't give me that exciting feeling. However, for the price I paid which includes breakfast, I won't ruled out returning back to this hotel. What I like about the hotel? The location of the hotel is not bad, the complimentary breakfast offering a good variety of food and the rooftop, offering a good view of the surrounding around the hotel building. What I don't like about my stay is the dated looking room which is in need of refurblishment especially the toilet.

Thanks for reading this hotel review, hope you find the information useful.

A preview to my next blog post

A ride on a different Boeing 737-800 from Marrakesh to Casablanca.

Have a good one!

Charles Ryan

With that said, the journey continues - see you in my next blog post!

For my previous trip report (Royal Air Maroc Express Part 2: CMN-RAK), click here

For my next trip report (Royal Air Maroc Part 3: RAK-CMN), coming up soon!

Discovering Royal Air Maroc Express (Part 2: CMN-RAK, ATR-72-600)

2026-05-04T20:14:05.116+08:00

Welcome to my part 2 of my Royal Air Maroc (Express) trip report!

This is CN-COH, my ride to RAK.

(Photo: Michael D.Barker)

Introduction

We had one day to spend at Casablanca and luckily the weather was favourable. My mum and I had a good walk around the city near our hotel and after which we returned to out hotel, picked up our luggages and made our way to the airport. Choosing this flight was ideal since the departure time was in the evening. The flight to Marakkesh was less than an hour, another option to get there is by taking the train which may be faster if you add in the time needed to check in and all that, spending a bit of time at the airport while taking the train do not require checking in and security procedure. So this depends on your travel, if you like to spend more time there, the train option would be better. For us, the flight to Marakkesh with a layover at this city is part of the booking and besides I like to add another airline to my flight logbook. This would also be the first time flying on a turboprop aircraft with my mum as an aviation enthusiast and I can't wait to share this trip with you. So without further ado, let's begin this trip report!

Random photos of Casablanca

Casablanca's tramway is one of the most popular transports to get around the city.

This Tramway has been in service for over 13 years, offically launched in service in December 2012.

This is Casablanca tramway's network (Photo: Transitmaps.net)

We decided to take a walk to a nearby restaurant for breakfast.

We settled for this restaurant as it was recommended on Goggle, the food quality?

My beverage - lemon mint drink

Salad

Egg omelette

This is one of the local dishes - Lamb Tagine with Prunes and Walnuts.

This is Casablanca Cathedral.

These are the shophouses along Rue Idriss Lahrizi road.

At this point, we started walking back to the hotel.

After check out

We walked to the Casa Port from the hotel which took about 15-20 minutes.

Travelling from Casa Port to CMN Airport (By Train)

This is where you purchase the train ticket.

After purchasing our tickets, we still had a bit of time to hang around before heading over to the platform.

This was the timing available for our trip to the airport.

Departure schedule

The interior of the train station

There are a few cafes available at this train station.

This is the platform where our train was waiting for us.

This train is operated by the Moroccan national rail operator - ONCF and it operates from 0600 to 2200 with a train interval of about an hour. The journey to the airport from Casa Port takes around an hour.

There is a luggage rack but because there was no space, I had to keep mine near me.

The train interior gave me the Russian vibes.

This is the airport station.

Thanks for the comfortable ride, train!

We headed to the airport terminal, the walk there took less than 10 minutes.

This train would rest for a short while before heading back to Casa Port station .

We followed the other passengers to the terminal.

There are some rent-a-car shops located at this level.

Welcome to Casablanca CMN Airport!

This airport consists of terminal 1 and 2.

(Photo: Airportmaps.com)

About this airport

This is Mohammed V International Airport based in Nouaceur Province, serving the people in Casablanca, Morocco. This airport was originally built by the United States in early 1943s and have been utilised by the Americans during the world war 2 and continue to do so until 1963 which the American military units have fully pulled out of their country by then. This airport is used for both domestic and international flights in both terminals connecting to each other. The good news for the local people is that there are plans for a new H-shaped terminal to replace this old terminals and that would mean an increase in capacity to make this airport more competitive and hopefully it would complete in time for the 2030 Fifa World Cup which this country would host along side with Spain and Portugal.

- 2 Runways - Runway 17L/35R and 17R/35L (Both are around 3.72 km in length)

- Hub for Air Arabia, Royal Air Maroc and Royal Air Maroc Express

- Operated by Airports of Morocco

This way to the terminal!

Interesting interior design lift structure

This is terminal 1

Departure hall (Upstairs), you can walk over to terminal 2.

This is Royal Air Maroc's check-in counters.

I walked around the terminal to check out what this airport has to offer.

This airport offers complimentary WiFi.

We received our boarding pass for the 2nd flight at LGW airport as we didn't have any check-in luggage, we skipped the check-in counters and head over to the airside without delay.

The self check-in kiosks.

We were fortunate that the airport was not crowded at that time.

Royal Air Maroc's domestic flight schedule

There is a pharmacy store.

On the second level, this is Air Arabia's office, I would like to try out this airline on my next return to this country.

That's how the second floor landside looks like.

Welcome to Terminal 2!

Terminal 1 is dedicated to Royal Air Maroc while Terminal 2 is for other airlines.

Check-in information

Terminal 2 departure hall is bigger.

It is certainly more spacious in this departure hall.

International flight departure takes place at this terminal.

There are more seating areas in the landside for terminal 2 compared to terminal 1.

Domestic Departure Airside (Terminal 1)

This is the seating area near the bus gate.

There was another flight to Marakkesh departing not long before our flight and it was operated by a Boeing 737-800.

Gate D8 was our assigned departure gate.

This was how crowded the gate area is. I recommend you to grab your bite at the landside as choices of food is very limited over this side.

The airport buses are parked outside so all we need to do is to board the bus once we were cleared to head out of the door.

After a short delay, we were finally on our way.

What a beautiful day for flying!

This was our ride, CN-COH. (A 13+ Years Old ATR-72-600)

Look at how low the aircraft is. This was also my first time flying with my mum on a turboprop.

View of the tarmac

This is Air Arabia's Airbus A320.

Another Royal Air Maroc's Boeing 737-800 in sight with a fellow passenger looking on.

My ride: CN-COH

ATR-72-600

Engines: 2 X PW127M

Configuration: C12 Y58

Delivered in July 2012

Age: 13+ Years Old

MSN: 1034

Built in Toulouse (TLS)

Beautiful livery, isn't it?

CN-COH is the registration of this aircraft. (CN tells you that the aircraft is registered in Morocco).

My flight route: CMN-RAK

Distance: 200km (Appromiximately)

Average Flight Time (for ATR-72): 40 minutes

Airlines flying on this route: Royal Air Maroc and Royal Air Maroc Express

My seat: 11A (Photo: Aerolopa.com)

Date of departure: 18th February 2026

Airline: Royal Air Maroc

Flight: AT413

Aircraft: ATR-72-600

Registration: CN-COH

Flight Route: CMN-RAK

Terminal: 1

Gate: D8

Seat: 11A

Load: 100%

Flight Time: 40 minutes

Actual Flight Time: 41 minutes

Schedule Departure: 1605

Boarded the bus: 1532

Started taxiing: 1607

Take Off: 1635

Schedule Arrival: 1710

Actual Arrival: 1716

Departure Runway: 35R

Departure Weather: Partially Cloudy

Arrival Runway: 28

Arrival Weather: Clear

My Flight Experience

Casablanca airport terminals are quite ordinary and there isn't much to do over there but to just sit around have a coffee or two at the land side. I am sure that will change once the new terminals come online! For the boarding procedure, it was a bus gate experience and I was fortunate that the weather was great as at that time, there was quite a bit of bad weather in the European side, so it was nice to get away from the cold and dull U.K weather and enjoy the sun.

Once on board, I had a struggle walking through the narrow aisle with both of our carry-ons getting to our assigned seats. For the cabin crew in charge of our flight, one of them was standing at the door welcoming us while the other was assisting another passenger and that was a good first impression. Once everyone was settled, it wasn't long before our engines were started and we were soon on our way. We taxied to a holding point and we stayed there for a while. The captain made an announcement of it but it was in local language so had no idea what happened. As a result of the delay, we took off about 30 minutes behind schedule and flew for 40 minutes across this beautiful weather. For the take off, it was quite noisy with the PW127M engines working hard to lift us off to our assigned flight level. It's been a while since I last flew on this aircraft model and I didn't remember it was that noisy but it doesn't matter because my mum was feeling alright, that's the most important thing. In addition, once we reached our flight level, the noise was more bearable.

For this flight, there was no inflight service but my mum and I played a few rounds of 'Daidee - Big 2' card game and of course, I enjoyed some view along the way. Not a surprise, we landed about 6 minutes behind schedule and by the time we collected our luggage and at the airport landside, it was close to 1750 hrs.

Welcome on board!

Business Class

Seat map: Aerolopa.com

(Same seats as the economy class)

- Row 1 to 3 (12 seats)

- 32 inches of legroom space

- 18 inches of seat width

- Seat recline up to 2 inches

- No IFE Entertainment system or Wifi installed on this aircraft

- No Charging ports

You can check out Live & Let's Fly review of the business class review over here.

Business Class seat with the 32 inches as the main difference

(Photo: Live & Let's Fly)

Economy Class

- Row 4 to 19

- 30 inches of legroom space

- 18 inches of seat width

- Can recline up to 2 inches

- No USB charging ports

- No Inflight Entertainment including Wifi

The 30 inches of legroom space in economy class.

Inflight magazine, safety card and disposal bag are placed in the literature holder.

These seats are actually not bad in terms of comfort.

For short flights, this seat product is acceptable.

These are the last rows of the cabin.

View of the front seat

Tight legroom space for me.

Tray table being extended

This is what you see with the foldable tray table extended.

We were able to place our personal belonging in the legroom space in front of us.

The overhead panel

Speaker, seatbelt and no electronic sign display

Along with it comes with a pair of adjustable air con vents, reading lights and the call button for the cabin crew.

View from my seat

Do note: there is no inflight entertainment on this aircraft and no complimentary snack and beverages on this flight.

Window view photos

The view of the overwing engine

(Pratt & Whitney 127M engine)

We taxied past a Turkish Airlines aircraft.

I would have preferred a view of the front view of the engines but at the time of booking, the seats in the front rows were not available.

This is Royal Air Maroc's Boeing 787 Dreamliner in the airline's old livery.

We were at the main taxiway.

Another look of this old livery, do you prefer this livery or the current?

The current livery

We were reaching the threshold.

Rolling down the runway!

Off we go in a very noisy take off!

Fortunately, the noise level lowered as our aircraft was cruising in this clear weather.

At this point, we started our descent.

Making a left turn means a better view for us!

Looking forward to visit this popular city.

The sun was starting to set.

Hardly any bumps during our descent.

I wonder how is it like travelling by train. Whatever it is, flying is still my preference.

We were lining up for descend into RAK airport.

Some of the private properties spotted during our descent.

We were on final approach, with our aircraft configured for landing.

Less than a minute to go before touch down.

Let's see how good the landing is.

We touched down quite firmly but it wasn't too bad.

Our taxi to the terminal took around 6 minutes.

Some familiar low cost carriers from Europe were spotted.

I would like to try Ryanair's Boeing 737 MAX 8200 (High Density configured 737 MAX 8) in the nera future.

This is it for our flight. For us, we made our way to our accommodation while for this aircraft, it would return back to Casablanca later that day as flight AT412.

My flight summary

Welcome to Marrakesh Menara Airport!

This is the entrance to the terminal building.

These aerobridges are connected to the terminal building.

We took about 10 minutes to get to the landside.

We were greeted with some fantastic photos of the city.

The luggage carousel area

The landside

I like the interior design of this airport.

This glass rooftop structure is really nice.

A few more photos of the airport interior.

Between this airport and Casablanca, I know which airport I prefer.

I managed to spot the lights before leaving.

Sunset was shining upon the terminal building.

Beautiful airport structure, don't you agree?

This was where we waited for our ride.

Along our way to our Airbnb apartment

There is this incident in which our Airbnb accommodation was shown wrongly in the map and it took a while for us to figure out how to get to our destination. I decided to pay the driver extra for his effort and thanks to him, we managed to finally found the place. However, due to some issues with the apartment, we decided to move and stay in the hotel instead. This was the first time it happened to me and I take this as an experience. Fortunately for us, our Airbnb hosts were friendly and understanding and so after some discussion, the host's wife drove us to our hotel and I managed to sort out this issue with them later on. In the end, we were happy with the outcome and it was a lesson learnt for me. As for my mum, in the end, she was happy and that matters most!

Our original accommodation was located in one of the flats in this building.

We shifted to this hotel Ibn Batouta, located in the city area.

Our room offered this view.

One of the many mosques in this city, located near our hotel.

For most parts of our trip over here, we did walking.

The local market

This is the Koutoubia Mosque

Walking along the narrow aisle

We spotted this poor donkey doing labour work.

Some delicious meals we had during our time over there.

This is Moroccan famous pastry dessert.

This is the Souk which offers plenty of shops that sells carpets, lanterns, leather good, souvernirs, spices and clothing.

This is the park near Menara Hall, along Boulevard Mohammed VI.

Somehow we managed to walk across the city to another part of the city. My mum and I can walk a lot!

Sunset view from our hotel.

That's all for my part 2! Stay tuned for my part 3, coming up soon.

A preview to my next blog post: Hotel Ibn Batouta @ Marrakesh

For the hotel review, click here

My ratings

Airline Website/Mobile App: 4/5

Airport Experience (Casablanca - CMN Airport): 3/5

Inflight Service: 3/5

Seat Comfort: 3/5

Inflight Entertainment: 0/5

Cabin Ambiance: 4/5

Cabin Condition: 4/5

Cleanliness: 5/5

Inflight Meal/Beverage: 0/5

Punctuality: 5/5

Total Score: 31/50

Percentage: 62%

Conclusion

This is an aircraft fitted with basic amenities on this Royal Air Maroc's subsidiary, RAM Express to help support the parent airline transport passengers on domestic flights whether its from a connecting flight or from the local people flying within the country. The parent airline has its own flights within the domestic market and with strong competition from Air Arubia, Royal Air Maroc Express helps to counter the competition with good offers and more importantly the ability to earn points thanks to the parent airline's member to the oneworld alliance and of course partnership with other airlines outside the alliance.

While there is nothing to shout about with the aircraft's amenities, I am glad to be able to enjoy this smooth flight with my mum. I flew together with her on many flights including a chartered flight on a Dash-8 long time ago ( I remember we flew across the Canyon in the U.S on a tour and my body didn't react well in that turbulent flight on the aircraft). Would I recommend choosing the flying option on this CMN-RAK route? If you are transiting in from another flight, yes but if you are staying in the city of Casablanca, I would recommend the train option as you won't be inconvenient by the following: waiting at the airport, the hassle of going through security check and queueing up to check in at the counter and wasting the longer time travelling to the airport than travelling to the train station. In addition, bad weather may play a role causing possible flight delay.

The distance between both cities is around 245 km so for the train ride, it takes an average of around 2 hours 40 minutes and for the flight on average, it takes around 30-40 minutes depending on the aircraft type; Airbus A320, Boeing 737-800 or ATR-72. Do note that the A320 and B737 aircraft fly faster than the ATR-72. So if you consider the inconvenience factors for the flight option which includes possible flight delay, the time taken altogether might end up be around the same time or even longer than the train ride between the 2 train stations. I hope you find this information useful and if you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading and have a good one!

Charles Ryan

With that said, the journey continues - see you in my next blog post!

For the previous trip report (RAM - Boeing 737-800 LGW-CMN Part 1), click here

For my part 3 of my Royal Air Maroc Adventure: RAK-CMN on the airline's Boeing 737-800, click here

Hotel Review: Radisson Blu Hotel @ Casablanca City Centre

2026-04-30T08:14:00.001+08:00

Welcome to my hotel review @ Casablanca!

Introduction

Since RAM (Royal Air Maroc) offered a one or two night layover at Casablanca, we took advantage by staying a night at this city. A close friend recommend us to spend more time at Marrakech so we would be staying 3 nights over there and one night over here. Is it enough time to explore this city? Well, from my experience, yes. I picked the evening flight the following day is mainly to fly on RAM's subsidairy, RAM Express and they only had the 6 pm flight available which turned out to be great for us because on the first day after arrival in Casablanca, we would be able to explore the city until mid-afternoon and then travel to the airport for our next flighto Marrakech.

I considered a few accommodations and picked this one as it looks more comfortable than the others in my shortlist. Besides that this is a reputable hotel brand and I had no hesitation booking with this hotel. So without futher ado, let's start off this review.

The location of the hotel

Address: 2, Boulevard Mohamed Diouri, 20300, Casablanca, Morocco

For the hotel's website, click here

How to get to the hotel from the airport (CMN):

1. Taxi or Private company (I recommend Uber)

2. Bus

This is roughly how the route looks like and it takes about 1 hour 15 minutes to get there.

Take the bus L001 from Terminus Casa Port to Place Nation Unies and take a 15-20 minutes walk to the hotel.

3. Train (My recommendation)

Although this route is just slightly longer than the bus route, sitting on the train could be more comfortable and safer especially for the ladies. From the airport, take the train station all the way to Casa port. Once there, you can walk to the hotel which also takes around 15-20 minutes.

How did we get there?

We landed at the airport around 8 pm and the only mode of transport for me at that time is Uber. I called for the Uber and it didn't take long for the driver to arrive and the journey took about 45 minutes and the ride cost around MAD362 (Around S$50 or UK29 pounds).

A brief information on the hotel

This is a 5-star rated hotel based in heart of the city has a capacity of 120 rooms comprising of Superior room, Superior room skyline, Premium room, Junior suite and One bedroom suite.

Check-in time: 1500 hours

Check-out time: 1200 hours

Emaill address: info.casablanca@radissonblu.com

Phone number: +212 522 080808

Breakfast timing:

Weekdays: 0630-1030

Weekends: 0630-1100

For more information on the hotel, you can check out the hotel's website over here

Welcome to the Radisson Blu Hotel!

Amenities offered by the hotel

- Airport Shuttle (Chargable)

- Indoor pool

- Breakfast buffet (Chargable)

- Spa (Chargable)

- Luggage Storage

- Laundry Service (Chargable)

- Hair Salon (Chargable)

- Meeting Facilities

- Fitness Center

- On-site Dining (Chargable)

-Concierge service

-Safety Deposit Box

The hotel's lobby

The seating area

The reception and main lobby

Let's take a look at the room!

I booked the Superior room and paid about S$175 for the one night (Around UK 101 pounds)

The superior room with twin beds

Amenites

- Minibar/Fridge

- In-room safe

- Expresso Machine

- Iron and ironing board

- Flat Screen TV

- Cable TV

- Rollaway beds

The mirror near the entrance.

The toilet featuring the shower

The twin bedroom

The toilet glass is translucent, perhaps they should have a curtain to cover.

This was my charging station space.

The room door entrance

The twin bed

Although the room space is limited, it was comfortable for the night.

Cable TV

Showing the lobby of the hotel.

My thoughts of the room

- Room was slightly on the smaller scale for a twin bedroom.

- No USB A or C charging ports available

- Bed was comfortable and we were able to gain some good rest.

- Toilet glass window is slightly translucent, some may feel uncomfortable about it.

- Good for short term stay.

Surrounding view outside the hotel

I decided to take a walk late at night to check out the surrounding area.

The quiet streets with the tram appearing on occasion.

It was a pleasant part of the city and apart from some weirdos hanging around, it was quiet.

There were some unfinished buildings located near my hotel.

After 20 minutes, I was back at the hotel.

The view of the surrounding area during daytime.

Somehow this part of the city reminds me of Johor Bahru.

My ratings:

Hotel Staff: 7/10

Location: 10/10

Hotel room ambiance: 10/10

Hotel Amenities: 8/10

Nearby Convenience (Example: Train Station, Covenient store...etc): 9/10

Hotel room size: 8/10

Cleanliness: 10/10

Bed comfort: 10/10

Shower: 10/10

Value for $$: 8/10

Overall rating: 90/100

Percentage: 90%

Conclusion

It was a comfortable stay in this hotel, right in a heart of the city and it is easy to get around by foot or by public transport. Both of us had a good rest with the amenities in the room and toilet matches up to the 5 star standard. I would be more than happy to return to this hotel the next time I visit this city.

What I like most about the hotel is the convenient location, we were able to grab some food along the way and walk to the nearest cathedral, thanks to the goggle map, we managed to spent some meaningful time exploring the city before our next adventure in Marrakesh.

Although the price was slightly steep, it was worth the one night rest and most importantly my mum was able to catch a much needed rest after the day of travel from London.

With that said, the journey continues - see you in my next blog post!

Thanks for reading, hope you find the information useful and have a good one!

Charles Ryan

For my previous trip report (Royal Air Maroc Part 1: Boeing 737-800 from LGW to CMN), click here

Next trip report: (Royal Air Maroc Part 2: ATR-72-600 from CMN to RAK), coming up soon.

Discovering Royal Air Maroc (Part 1: LGW-CMN, Boeing 737-800)

2026-04-23T17:10:55.635+08:00

Welcome to my Royal Air Maroc Trip Report!

This is Royal Air Maroc's Boeing 737-8 (CN-MAY) featuring the Royal Moroccan Football Federal Partner special livery. I photographed this aircraft at Casablanca Airport (CMN).

Before I begin, I like to dedicate these 4 parts of my Royal Air Maroc trip reports to my mum for being there for me all these years, love you mum! Glad I went with you on this trip. :)

Introduction

I wanted to take my mum somewhere this year after the successful Lisbon trip the year before and so I did a bit of research on which cities to visit. My few options were Vienna (Austria), Casablanca (Morocco), Santiago (Chile) and Rio De Janeiro (Brazil) and in the end after much consideration, I decided on Casablanca as it would be both a new destination for both of us and less expensive than flying to the South American countries. Not only that, RAM would be a new airline for me and for my mum, it would be her first time visiting South Africa and the flight time is bearable for her. So with that destination set, all I had to do is to decide on which cities to visit and of course my favourite part, the hotel and accommodation were all decided by me.

It was an easy decision choosing this airline and the airline's website booking allowed us to do a short layover at Casablanca which I decided to take up that option, arriving in Casablanca and staying for a night there before spending the remaining days at Marakkesh. I wanted to take it easy for both of us, so we decided to stick to these two cities and besides at that time, some of the beautiful cities were still recovering from the heavy weather that happened not too long ago.

So without further ado, let's find out more about this African representative of the Oneworld Alliance member!

Booking with the airline

I used the mobile app to do the booking and it is quite user-friendly and had no issues navigating, so overall it was a pleasant experience. Likewise with the website, I used it do a check on my booking and was able to read through the conditions and add-ons without problem.

I had a few flight options with different timing and also aircraft type. As I wanted to add it's subsidiary (RAM Express) to my flight logbook, I had to choose the evening flight from Casablanca to Marrakech in order to fly with this airline and it would be operated by the ATR-72-600. The airfare at this time of booking was not too bad, I paid about Euro $400 per person for the entire itinerary. On the return flight, we would fly back to London Gatwick from Marrakech with a brief layover at Casablanca.

This is the itinerary I chose for both ways. Flying there from London Gatwick and from back to London Heathrow, I can also try out the airline's Boeing 737 MAX 8.

We departed on Saturday so that my mum can go back on the day before her birthday to celebrate with the rest of the family.

We were able to do our web check-in without issue.

Like most of the other apps, you don't need to register in order for the app to store your flight itinerary.

Our journey to London Gatwick

I met my mum at her place and we took the district line to Blackfriars underground station. From there, we walked over to the national rail station.

These are the information board of the trains.

No matter what this is not as complicated as the ones in Japan (Shinkansen).

I purchased my ticket and it cost me around 16 pounds for the one way ticket.

There are clear signs leading you to the correct platform.

The platform

The train information display is clear and easy to understand.

That's how the train looks like.

There were a few commutors also heading to the airport.

Checking what aircraft I was flying on, CN-ROR gets the honour to fly us to Casablanca.

The aircraft had taken off about half an hour ago.

London Gatwick Station

Once we reached the station, we followed the signboard towards south terminal. This airport is smaller than London Heathrow so to navigate around is not as time consuming.

About London Gatwick Airport

This airport with the airport code of LGW is one of the several airports based in London. There are 4 more airports based in this city, they are London Luton, London Stansted, London City, and London Heathrow.

This airport is situated in West Sussex, about 50 kilometres south of Central London. It was first opened in May 1958 and is a hub for British Airways. With 2 terminals, South and North, these terminals help to bring in many passengers making it the 2nd busiest airport in the UK in terms of number. This airport may have 2 runways (runway 08L/26R and 08R/26R) but they cannot be used at the same time due to how close proximity they are so that means only one runway can be used and if the main runway is not in operation, the other runway will be used. There are plans to expand this airport with a possible 3rd terminal and a 2nd runway (plan has been approved by the government) to be able to handle more traffic.

Map layout of London Gatwick Airport

(Photo: Airportmaps.com)

Welcome to London Gatwick!

We reached the departure hall level.

Following the human traffic and signboard to the terminal.

The list of airlines based in the south terminal.

We need to walk through this terminal to get to the airport shuttle train station.

This is the departure hall of the south terminal.

This way to the train shuttle to the north terminal.

North Terminal

This way to the terminal.

This looks familiar as I had arrived in London earlier with Saudia at this terminal.

There are cafes at the landside but if you are looking for food and have a ticket to somewhere else, I recommand you to look for good at the airside as there are a good variety of cafes/restaurants over there.

Complimentary airport wifi is available.

Zone D is where we had to go.

Here is zone D.

The check-in desks for Royal Air Maroc, luckily the queue was not long.

We received our boarding passes for both flights.

Once that was done, we headed towards the airside.

Immigration was quick as we just need to scan our passport and that's it then after that we went through security check.

Airside

Looking at the information board, it is quite obvious who dominates this terminal.

As usual, we had to go through the duty-free shop.

Nothing in here caught our attention.

Here we are, at the airside.

It was quite crowded.

We decided to grab something at a restaurant.

One thing for sure, there are far more shops and restaurants to explore than the landside.

This is what I had at the restaurant, the Red Lion.

I can't remember what is this but it was not bad.

Accompanied by my favourite gingle beer drink.

Once we finished our meals, we decided to explore abit before heading over to the gate.

I did a check on our aircraft's location and it was descending into LGW.

It was better to get out of this crowded area.

Walking towards our gate.

This part of the airside looks like a hospital building, don't you agree?

Those aircraft are parked at the south terminal.

There are airport lounges located at this part of the terminal.

I decided to head back to the main concourse to have a last look.

The overview of the departure hall at the main concourse.

Back to the gate area

There are travellators along this area.

Almost there.

At this airport, remember to give yourself some time to get over to your flight's gate.

This is my ride, CN-ROR.

Off we go!

Another look of our aircraft.

Entering the jetbridge

We had to wait over here for a short while.

This is my 2nd African airline experience! My first goes to Ethiopian Airlines which I had flown several times.

A member of the Oneworld alliance

The information of the aircraft

My ride: CN-ROR

Photo: Teemu Pesonen

Flight Route: LGW-CMN

Distance: 2,065 km

Average Flight Time: 2 hours 45 minutes

Airlines flying on this route: Royal Air Maroc

My Seat: 23A

Photo: Aerolopa.com

Date of departure: 17th February 2026

Airline: Royal Air Maroc

Flight: AT803

Route: LGW-CMN

Aircraft: Boeing 737-800

Registration: CN-ROR

Seat: 23A changed to 23C

Departure Terminal: North

Gate: 52

Load: 80%

Flight Time: (Less than 3 hours based on the Captain's announcement)

Actual Flight Time: 3 hours

Schedule Departure: 1610

Boarding: 1530

Push Back: 1600

Take Off: 1611

Schedule Arrival: 1925

Actual Arrival: 1912

Departure Runway: 08R

Departure Weather: Cloudy

Arrival Runway: 35L

Arrival Weather: Clear

My travelling experience

Once on board, I realised this gentleman was sitting at my seat but the first thing that I noticed was how dirty the window is, I told my mum, it's ok, let him have it. Luckily for me, my mum was alright with sitting in the middle seat so I took the aisle seat for this flight. However, I still think that passengers should be aware of where they are sitting and not either act blur or hoping that passenger in that seat will just give up to them.

Anyway, once our aircraft pushed back, the Captain made the announcement and we were on our way. The best part about this is we departed 10 minutes ahead of schedule, all thanks to the passengers and the ground staff for making this possible. Once we were on our way, we lifted off into the cloudy weather but our ride was to the Northern Africa city was mostly smooth. We kept ourselves occupied with our favourite card game and in between our meal service was served to us, you can check out those photos below.

Inflight service sadly didn't give us a good impression as their body language showed me that they couldn't wait to end their duty but at least they were professional and completed the meal service. As for entertainment, there was only the overhead TV screen that showed limited shows including an old classic black and white Charlie Chaplin's show!

We arrived into Casablanca about 13 minutes ahead of schedule and the first thing I need to do over there was to change for dirhams (the Moroccon's currency). This currency is considered a closed currency so that means you can't do overseas trade with this money and one can only change for this money in the country itself. This was certainly a new experience for me!

Welcome on board!

Business Class

There are 12 seats configured in a 3-3 arrangement in this cabin with a seat width of around 20-21 inches and legroom space of around 38 inches according to my observation. These seats can be recline up to 3 inches. Although these seats are more spacious but they are the old basic type of seats which offers no seatback inflight entertainment screen. I did consider paying more to upgrade both of us to this class cabin, but in the end, we felt it was not worth it.

There is a partition wall, separating the economy and business class cabins.

The legroom space is certainly one of the pros of this seat.

There are no usb charging ports in this class.

Truly a flashback to the olden days of flying!

Whatever it is, these old seats bring back nostagia memories of my flying adventures in the 90s and early 2000s.

Economy Class

This cabin consists of 147 seats arranged in a 3-3 configuration and the seat width is around 17 inches. As for the legroom space, I believe it should be around 31 inches. Just like the business class seats, there are also no USB charging ports and individual entertainment IFE system. Wifi connectivity is not installed on this aircraft as the upcoming Boeing 737 MAX 8 or the future aircraft order would replace this aircraft.

This is the first few rows of the economy class seats.

Seat 14A and F window seats are to be avoided as the seat and window are not aligned.

The cabin view

Cabin view during inflight with the dropdown screen activated.

View of the cabin from the rear of the aircraft

The old Boeing 737 style cabin interior

The cabin emergency procedure instructions

The cabin crew at work!

Another view of the cabin

View from my seat

At this point, we were preparing to land.

The seat of the economy class

We were waiting for departure.

These may be the old seats but it was bearable for the 3 hours flight.

The emergency row seats.

No headrest on these seats.

This is row 14K seat, you need to bend forward in order to look out of the window.

More photos of the seat

Legroom space is slightly tight for me.

These seats are matched with the red carpet.

The front view

A true economy class experience

The seat pocket is located below the tray table.

The tray table's size is capable of handling the size of a laptop.

This old style Boeing interior is replaced by the Boeing Sky Interior which is much more comfortable and pleasing to look at.

For a 3 hours flight, this seats are fairly comfortable but I won't fly more than that in this cabin.

Would you like to see me reviewing more African Airlines?

What's provided for each passenger?

Disposal Bag

Inflight magazine

Safety Card

Inflight meals

Both of us choose different options

This is the beef option which comes with bread, yogurt, condiments and a choice of cold or hot beverages.

This is the chicken option which also comes with the same side dishes.

I had a cup of apple juice for my beverage.

Our entertainment

Since the overhead tv screen didn't interest us with the programmes, we decided to play our favourite card game - 'Big2 aka Daidee'.

Drop-down screen

Charlie chaplin classic show, matches the atmosphere of the cabin well.

The inflight map

We started our descent and was getting prepared for arrival.

Lavatory

This is the lavatory located at the rear, it was small.

My one and only window view photo.

I was supposed to sit on the window seat but a male passenger was sitting there but end up, I decided to sit on the aisle seat since the window was very dirty (as shown below).

My flight summary

Welcome to Casablanca Airport!

It was nice to be able to walk around after the flight.

We had a good 10 minutes of walking from the gate to the immigration.

One last look at our aircraft! Thanks for the ride, CN-ROR!

There were a bit of queue to use the toilets.

The airport Wifi is complimentary.

Anyone else is a fan of the passport stamp? More airport these days are going digital but I still prefer the stamp chop onto my passport.

Immigration took a short while and the officer even engaged with a friendly conversation with both of us, recommending places to visit, how nice of him!

This is the arrival hall (landside).

The first thing I had to do is to look for the currency exchange counter.

Once we had the currency exchanged done, I called for Uber and we made our way out.

The temperature is at a cooling 20 degrees celcius.

The exterior of the airport

We walked to the pick up point where our ride drove us to our hotel.

One last look!

Stay tuned for the next part!

My rating

Airline Website/Mobile App: 4/5

Airport Experience (London Gatwick): 4/5

Inflight Service: 2.5/5

Seat Comfort: 3/5

Inflight Entertainment: 2.5/50

Cabin Ambiance: 3.5/5

Cabin Condition: 4/5

Cleanliness: 3/5

Inflight Meal/Beverage: 3/5

Punctuality: 5/5

Total Score: 36.5/50

Percentage: 73%

Conclusion

It is certainly great to be able to travel with someone for a change. This trip is meant to be a gift for my mum to let her see Africa for the first time and I am glad to be able to see this part of the world and trying out a new airline as well. While the experience is not as fantastic as the top airlines out there, it was still one to remember with the airline offering basic amenities with the old cabin showing its age. This brings back the olden days of flying without the inflight entertainment individual screens, cabin installed with the older generation of seats and the old Boeing cabin interior with condition of the cabin looked like they have seen better days. In addition, the cabin crew seemed disinterested in their jobs but at least they served us our inflight meals though the quality is pretty ordinary. Flying with this airline, do remember to bring your own entertainment if you are flying on the Boeing 737 or ATR-72. However for the Boeing 787, that aircraft has IFE entertainment individual screens installed for that aircraft is primarily used for high demand medium haul and long haul routes.

Overall, it felt like a budget airline with only the complimentary inflight meal the main difference comparing to one. For this aircraft, it is reaching 20 years old in a couple of years time so it doesn't have many years left before being replaced by newer aircraft, the 737 MAX 8. For that, the airline will not or has no plans to refurblish any of the older Boeing 737-800 as they are currently counting down to retirement in the near future.

A preview to my next blog post: A Review of Radisson Blu Hotel Casablanca City Centre (Morocco)

Click here for the hotel review.

With that said, the journey continues - see you in my next blog post!

Have a good one!

Charles Ryan

For the part 2 (Royal Air Maroc Express) trip report, click here

For the previous trip report: (Flying with Saudia Part 2: JED-LGW Boeing 787-9), click here

Discovering Jeddah & London Gatwick Airports With Saudia Airlines (Part 2: JED-LGW)

2026-04-18T23:30:00.172+08:00

Welcome to my 2nd part of my Saudia's Flying Adventure!

My ride: HZ-AR12

Introduction

For the flight to London, I decided to fly to Gatwick as I have flown to Heathrow far too many times and besides the last time I flew in and out of this airport was more than 10 years ago so its time to find out how much as changed to this airport. At this point of time, the airline doesn't fly daily on the JED-LGW route but luckily for me it flew on the date I selected and also the smaller version of the 787 (-9 series) operated on this flight so that means I get to fly on the airline's Boeing 787-9 and -10, that's a good combo if you ask me.

The timing of arrival into London Gatwick was around noon time and that is perfect for me because I could head down to my sister's apartment to meet up with my mum before heading over to my accommodation at Becontree station, which is along the district line at the far east of London. Later on I discovered that the time taken to travel from Gatwick Airport to my sister's place was faster than travelling from Heathrow to her place near Tower Hill Station. I took the Themeslink train from the airport to Blackfriar station which then I changed to the district line to Tower hill, I find this way more convenient. Maybe I might use Gatwick Airport more often.

Since the first flight was full due to the Ramanda period with many Muslims flying to Saudi Arabia for their religious practice, was my second flight to London Gatwick as pack as the first flight? Do read on to find out.

A brief history of Saudia Airlines

Saudia is the national carrier of Saudi Arabia with its main hub at Jeddah Airport and also secondary hubs at Medina, Dammam and Riyadh. However once Riyadh Air is established, by 2030, Saudia will vacate the Riyadh hub to allow the newly launched airline to dominate the market over there. This airline was formerly known as Saudi Arabian Airlines and around the end of May 2012, the airline rebranded to its former brand name, Saudia which was used many years ago before it was known as Saudi Arabian Airlines. At that time, the airline also entered the Skyteam alliance as part of its rebranding initiative.

In Septemeber 2023, the airline announced a brand and livery rebrand and you can see here the difference in the liveries as shown below.

This is the airline's old livery

Photo: N94504

This is the new livery

Owners: Saudia Group

- Core Airlines: Sauda (Full Service) and Flyadeal (Low Cost)

- Subsidiaries: Saudia Cargo, Saudia Technic, Saudia Catering and Saudia Private Aviation

Alliance for Saudia: Skyteam

About Jeddah Airport

This airport is also known as King Abdulaiziz International Airport is one of the major international airport located in Jeddah and is considered one of the busiest airports in the Middle East due to the annual Haji pilgrimage. This airport was opened in 1981 and was built to replace the previous airport located in Al-Kandarah. The founder of Saudi Arabia, King Abdulaziz was named after this airport.

Currently, Saudia, Flynas and Flyadeal are the main operators of this airport and this airport operates 3 terminals: Haji Terminal, Terminal 1 and North Terminal. With 3 parallel runways in operation at this airport, this airport also shares its airfield with RSAF King Abdullah Air Base with its own royal terminal.

The 3 parallel runways are designated as 16L/34R, 16C/34C and 16R/34L.

Map layout of Jeddah Airport (Photo:Airport's website)

My Airside Experience @ Jeddah Airport

I had only an hour and a half to spend on transit at this airport.

Duty free shops

Eateries are on the next level.

The departure hall

The mixture of bright white lighting with the blue hue lighting on the escalator in the background, what do you think?

I am not a fan of the blue hue and avoided the escalator for this very reason.

The wavey ceiling design certainly caught my attention.

There are plenty of seats near the gate area with limited charging ports.

I am glad the security check is done after immigration.

This is the far end of the pier with many seats available.

I spent a short time resting over here.

Saudia's Boeing 787 aircraft including one with the latest special livery.

My first impression thoughts

It's a nice airport to transit, with a modern looking interior, I find it pleasant. For those who need to do some work or use the social medila, you be pleased to know there is complimentary airport wifi but the connection can be spotty at certain parts of the terminal at least from my experience. Other than that, my time there was a pleasant one.

Time to board the aircraft!

The walk to our aircraft took a while.

A sneak peak of our aircraft.

First glimpse of HZ-AR12!

The nose of the Boeing 787

Almost there!

I am certainly a fan of this old livery.

My ride: HZ-AR12

(Photo: Diego Rui de Vargas)

Route: JED- LGW

Kilometre: 4715

Average Flight Time: 6 hours

Airlines Flying On This Route: WizzAir and Saudia

My seat: 52A (Photo: Aerolopa.com )

Date of departure: 12th February 2025

Airline: Saudia

Flight: SV101

Route: JED-LGW

Aircraft: Boeing 787-9

Registration: HZ-AR12

Departure Terminal: 1

Seat: 52A

Class: Economy

Gate: A37

Load: Around 50% in Y Class

Flight Time: 6 hours

Actual Flight Time: 5 hours 52 minutes

Schedule Departure: 0825

Boarding: 0742

Push Back: 0830

Take Off: 0844

Schedule Arrival: 1200

Actual Arrival: 1136

Departure Runway: 34C

Departure Weather: Partially Cloudy

Arrival Runway: 28L

Arrival Weather: Cloudy

My departure experience

Boarding took place a bit late considering this is a wide-body and I wasn't surprised when we pushed back about 5 minutes behind schedule. What I like about this flight is that I have the whole row to myself, luckily the passenger sitting on the aisle seat move to a vacant row so most of us in the rear cabin had a row to ourselves, quite a difference comparing to my previous flight.

For the flight announcements, they were only made by the cabin crew as the flight crew decided to go radio silence on this flight. So we had no idea about the weather on route and on arrival, come on, you pilots, it would be great to hear from you at least once, update us on the weather the very least! Anyway, we hit a bit of turbulence while flying over Pteria (Greece) but other than that, it was smooth for most parts of the journey. As for the inflight service, it was quite similar to the previous flight, the lack of warmth and friendliness of the crew was quite obvious.

For the inflight entertainment, I spent most of the time on the Inflight entertainment screen while stretching my legs and on occasions, enjoyed the beautiful mother nature has to offer while relaxing in my "mini suite". As for the meal quality, it was not bad, slightly better than the previous flight.

Another thing I like about this flight is the fantastic view we get to enjoy while on route to London Gatwick but for the weather near UK, it was as dreadful as it gets with the typical grey and depressing weather greeted us while we were descending and landed at London Gatwick. Overall it was a pleasant flight and I had a good rest on board however my baggage didn't follow me on this aircraft, do read on at the last part of the trip report to find out how the airline dealt with the baggage delay issue.

Welcome on board!

Business Class

Photo: Live and Let's Fly (Matthew Klint)

For the detailed trip report of this class, do check out Live and Let' Fly's version over here.

Economy Class

(This trip report)

There are 274 Collin Aerospace Pinnacle seats configured in a 3-3-3 arrangement.

- 32 inches of legroom space

- 17.1 inches of seat width

- The standard seats can recline up to 3 inches

- Adjustable headrest

- 9 inches of HD Touchscreen Display

- Universal Power and USB-A sockets are available

The bulkhead row of seats usually offer better legroom space.

The cover seats have that crumpled look like how you see them on a men's or women's shirt when they are not ironed.

Personally I am not a fan of these cream coloured seats.

I am familiar with these seats as the Boeing 787-10 on my previous flights also use the same seats as this aircraft.

For a daytime flight, window seat is as must for me!

Fortunately for us, the electronic dimmed windows were not locked by the crew.

The last row of the economy class seats in the front cabin.

This is the rear cabin of the economy class.

This is my window seat, 52A.

The rear view of the cabin from my seat.

This aircraft also has the section for praying located near the rear of the cabin.

The view of the last few rows of the left side of the economy class.

The overview economy class of the rear cabin

That's me enjoying the flight with my new Airbus A350 T-shirt!

The rear view of the cabin after the flight.

The side view of the cabin

Time to disembark the aircraft!

The first 2 rows of the economy class cabin

From these photos, what do you all think about the cabin?

They are not the newest products and I won't be surprised if they launch new economy class seats in the near future.

More photos of the seat

Legroom space is 32 inches, not too bad for my legs.

Whole row to myself!

A lady had already made herself comfortable before departure but she was told to sit upright until after take off.

Bi-foldable tray table

Completely unfold

The selection of movies

This is the older IFE system compared to the 787-10, and also comes with the remote control.

The touchscreen display is responsive and there is no need for the remote control.

Universal AC socket is located near the foot of the seat.

Adjustable headrest

One last look of my seat

What's provided for each passenger?

Blanket

Pillow

Disposal Bag

Safety Card

A wet towel was distributed to us before departure.

Earphone - decent quality.

A beautiful amenity kit

A bottle of water

Amenity kit and a bottle of water were distributed at the same time.

I chose a cup of apple juice for the first beverage service.

I choice the chicken option and it was not bad. That comes with a bread, a cup of yogurt, a small container of fruits, a bottle of water, condiments and my choice of beverage.

Later on, I chose a cup of coffee to enjoy the morning flight out of Jeddah.

We were given a snack box containing pizza about less than 2 hours prior to arrival at London Gatwick.

This Pizza brand seems familar as I had it before with another airline, I just can't remember which airline!

Inflight Entertainment

9 inches of IFE screen display

Remote control

Keyboard with game console buttons

The reeommended movies

Choice of movies are not bad but as not intensive as Qatar or Emirates.

Safety Video

A short religious pray is played before the flight.

Inflight Wifi

Notice the price to use the WiFi? This has to be most expensive deal I have seen. US$50 for 200MB of allowance usage.

This is the flight information but there is one problem, I am on flight SV101 not SV123!

The flight map

We were reaching London Gatwick, following the ATC's instruction to land at LGW airport.

Lavatory

Clean condition.

This lavatory has definitely seen better days.

That's me enjoying the flight!

Window view (Take off to Landing)

A race between Airbus and Bus?

Our aircraft was still being refueled and for those wondering why must we not fasten our seat belt at this time? Well because if there is a fire on board, without the seat belt fasten, you are able to exit the aircraft without delay.

Another Airbus vs Bus race!

On our way to runway 34C for departure.

Passing by the airport traffic control tower.

We had to made a few turns to get into the main taxiway.

Soon we reached the threshold of runway 34C.

Turning into the active runway.

Off we go!

We lifted off gracefully into the clear blue skies!

Our aircraft was quite light as we took off quite early and also knowing later that we took off without my baggage!

These are the Haji terminals.

The city of Jeddah from the distance

Flying past residential area.

That's why I like flying, you get to see beautiful views like this.

I am glad to have experience Saudi Arabia even for a short layover.

The flex wings of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

One last look of the country!

We were flying over the sea, heading towards Greece.

Some beautiful views along the way.

We were blessed with clear skies for most parts of our flight path.

Meal service began at this point and I was slightly distracted because of views like this.

Flying over water once again.

This part is interesting as we flew over the snowy mountains.

Beautiful isn't it? Unfortunately we were facing the sun at this point.

Whatever it is, I got to enjoy the view!

We flew for quite sometime passing over these snowy mountains.

Usually when I fly over in the middle east towards Europe, it would be cloudy but not on this day.

I managed to spot an aircraft during my enjoyment of the view. It looks like an Airbus, what do you think?

About an hour before arrival, we were flying over cloudy conditions.

We started descending at this point.

Getting ready to fly through the clouds.

We flew these clouds but it was hardly turbulent.

Look at how low the clouds are.

Almost out of the clouds in this dull looking weather.

We were on final approach onto LGW's runway 26L.

Would you like to guess how many vehicles are there in the photo below?

Jet2.com is an airline I am keen to try, watch this space!

I had a good view of the airport while we were taxiing to our assigned gate.

The airport traffic control tower at LGW.

We parked besides an Easyjet Airbus A320.

It is nice to be able to experience taxiing underneath the overhead bridge of London Gatwick airport.

The view from our parking lot.

My flight summary

Welcome to London Gatwick Airport!

This is London Gatwick North Terminal.

It was a nice walking exercise after the 6 hours flight.

At this point, I received the text message and what I should I have done is to look for the airline staff and report about the baggage delay. Instead, I went over to the airline's check-in counter to speak to the manager and after filling up some paperwork, I was on my way. I was promised by the manager that my luggage would come within 24 hours.

It was weird to walk out without my baggage.

This is the check-in desk for Easyjet, I went in search to find Saudia's.

Once I completed the report of my baggage claim, I made my way out and headed towards my sister's place.

I had to take the airport train to South Terminal.

From the train station, some walking is required to reach the South Terminal.

We reached the south terminal.

South terminal is connected to the train station.

I purchased the one-way ticket to Blackfriars station.

This is the Themeslink train which transported me to Blackfriars station.

Baggage Delayed Incident

After touching down at London Gatwick Airport, I received a SMS notification about the baggage delay and the airline would send the luggage to me on the next flight. It didn't state which flight would it be on as the airline also flies to London Heathrow. Later on I did a check, SV100 was not operating on the following day and I was hoping that it would be put on the flight to London Heathrow either that day or the latest by the following day. However that didn't happen and there was no further notification from the airline until few days later. Luckily for me, I had the airtag placed in my luggage and I knew exactly where was it. I did inform the airline about it but there was absolutely nothing they can do about it unless I contacted the staff in charge in which they didn't disclose how to contact him/her.

As you can see, it was about 3 days later only then my baggage was sent to me. Before that I had no idea when I would receive my baggage, I went ahead to buy essential items such as toothbrush, clothings...etc to cope for at least a few days, my mistake was not to put in a few clothings in my haversack or carry-on baggage just in case but because it was full with presents therefore they were all packed inside the check-in baggage, luckily my jacket was in my carry-on baggage. Initially I was thinking of checking in both baggages, thanks goodness I didn't do that!

My luggage had an unexpected 2 days of layover at Jeddah Airport.

It was then placed on the Gatwick flight 2 days after my original flight. To the airline: Please don't promise the customer that the luggage will be sent within 24 hours if you cannot deliver. This is what your ground staff mentioned to me at LGW airport on the arrival.

Once the baggage arrived in LGW, it stayed for one day and I messaged to the X (Twitter) team whether I could go down to the airport to collect the baggage as there were essential items I needed to use. However, that request was turned down and I had to wait for another two days before it was delivered to my sister's apartment. Since it arrived at a late hour, I had to wait until the following day before I was able to gain access to my luggage and sort out my stuff.

From my observation according to the airtag (find my app), my baggage was stored at LGW airport for a day or so before it was sent to London Heathrow airport, most likely it joined the other delayed baggages at the airport to consolidate them into one vehicle and then the delivery company would sent them all out to the respective passenger's addresses. According to the text message, my baggage was supposed to be delivered within the time frame (20:26 to 21:26) but it came 20 minutes late. Better late than never!

For those wondering why I messaged to the X (Twitter) team is because of their fast response comparing to email or phone call to the airline.

There are the essential items I purchased from Primark.

At least they bother to update me but the process was slow and the website's update was not accurate. I had to do my homework to find out where my luggage was, what a waste of my time really!

With the Saudia's team on X (Twitter) not much of the help, I sent a few emails to the airline directly regarding this issue and seek compensation for the delay but I was dismissed without any reason given and the case was closed without my agreement! What kind of service recovery is this?

Although I received my undamaged baggage, it took them the 4th day to do so and furthermore my luggage arrived unlocked and it was quite obvious that it was opened for inspection but the worst thing is there wasn't any notification from the airline regarding this. Fortunately, nothing was removed.

So now, I share with you what happened and you decide for yourself regarding this matter. Don't you think those affected in this situation deserved some form of compensation, is that unreasonable to ask? Not even reimbursement for the items I purchased, I think this sums everything up. These few days of waiting had caused anxiety and frustration but at least, I received the baggage without damage or had anything inside stolen. However, this incident left me with a poor impression of the customer service and I develop trust issues with the airline. I did consider cancelling my return flight and book with another airline home but after much consideration, I decided to fly back with this airline and for the baggage check-in for the return flight, I decided to rearrange my items, placing the more important ones in both my carry-on luggage and haversack instead and of course I didn't check in my carry-on baggage and have it with me along with the haversack. Once bitten, twice shy! Did history repeat itself on the return flight? Stay tuned for the part 3 of my Saudi Airlines flying adventure.

Luckily for me, my travel insurance settled this for me. So do remember to get one before your travel! You never know when you need it.

Here is the photo of my baggage and includes the constant exchange between myself and the airline's representative on X (Twitter).

My ratings

(40% of the total score is deducted due to the poor service recovery)

Airline Website/Mobile App: 4/5

Airport Experience (Jeddah): 3/5

Inflight Service: 3/5

Seat Comfort: 4/5

Inflight Entertainment: 3/5

Cabin Ambiance: 4/5

Cabin Condition: 5/5

Cleanliness: 5/5

Inflight Meal/Beverage: 3/5

Punctuality: 5/5

Total Score: 39/50

Score deducted due to the poor service recovery: 16 (Estimated)

Actual Score: 23/50

Percentage: 46% (Disappointing)

My final thoughts

The last time my baggage was delayed by the airline, this happened many years ago. I remember that the airline bothered to communicate and gave us a voucher to compensate for the delay and that should be the way if you want to regain the trust of the travellers especially traveller flying on your airline for the first time. With strong competition from Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha, the last thing you want to do is to provide a lousy or non existence service recovery. While things can happen such as this scenario, it's up to the airline management to provide a protocol for the staff to manage and communicate with the affected passengers to ensure that everything goes smoothly. For my scenario, I felt neglected by the airline and have the impression that the management doesn't give a damn about those affected in this fiasco. I won't say that I was furious because I know this kind of situation can happen but I was certainly anxious and disappointed with how the airline handled the situation especially from an established one.

Whatever it is, this incident overshadowed the pleasant flight I had on this second leg. The economy class cabin on this flight was about half full with many vacant seats especially in the second cabin of the economy class and that made my flying experience more pleasant and enjoyable especially comparing to the first flight. In fact, this flight has to be one of the lightest loads among all my flights to London whether it is to Gatwick and Heathrow. Now the question is how did my baggage along with others (probably inside a container) fail to make it onto this aircraft?

For this flight, it is certainly better compared to the previous flight due to lesser passengers on board and therefore the inflight service was faster and also with the extra legroom space which means better comfort for my legs, I managed to grab a few hours of sleep. Inflight service and meals were alright and for that I have no complaints. Unfortunately the bad news came in after landing and I had to deal without my baggage for a few days. The worst thing about this whole experience is the airline management handling of my matter, not willing to compensate and reimburse for my expenses for the few days without my luggage is just too much. Nobody deserves to be treated this way whether you are flying in economy or business class.

For my final thoughts of my flying adventures with this airline, stay tuned for the part 4 to be published soon.

A preview to my next trip report

Coming up next!

Thanks for reading and have a good one!

With that said, the journey continues - see you in my next blog post!

Charles Ryan

For the part 1 of Saudia Airlines trip report, click here.

For the next trip report: Flying Royal Air Maroc (Part 1: LGW-CMN Boeing 737-800), click here

For my return flight with Saudia (Part 1: LGW-JED), click here

My First Flying Adventure for 2026 (Saudia Airlines: Part 1 SIN-JED)

2026-04-13T21:34:00.008+08:00

Welcome to my first flight for 2026!

This is my ride: HZ-AR26 (Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner)

Photo: Dimitri Steendijk

Before I get started with this report, let me share with you my flight adventures for this trip.

I have to decided to celebrate with my mum's birthday by taking her to Morocco and add a side trip to add another 2 more new airlines to my flight logbook. Since this is the first flight, I will compile the list of flights for my February Flying Adventures for 2026. Once they are completed, the link will be added, hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Photo: Greatcirclemap.com

SIN-JED (Saudia Boeing 787-10) This trip report

JED-LGW (Saudia Boeing 787-9) Click here for the trip report

LGW-CMN (RAM Boeing 737-800) Click here for the trip report

CMN-RAK (RAM Express ATR-72-600) Click here for the trip report

RAK-CMN (RAM Boeing 737-800) Click here for the trip report

CMN-LHR (RAM Boeing 737 MAX 8) Click here for the trip report

LHR-BRU (Brussels Airlines Airbus A320neo) Click here for the trip report

BRU-BIO (Brussel Airlines Airbus A320neo) Click here for the trip report

BIO-MAD (Air Europa Boeing 737-800) Click here for the trip report

MAD-LGW (Air Europa Boeing 737 MAX 8) Click here for the trip report

LGW-JED (Saudia Boeing 787-10) Click here for the trip report

JED-SIN (Saudia Boeing 737-10) Click here for the trip report

For the hotel review @ Bilbao, click here

For the lounge review @ Madrid Airport, click here

Introduction

I was considering which airlines would fly me to London on this trip and since I had done this route on both non stop and stop over flights, I like to try out a new airline and Saudia was my top choice for this trip. I like to see how good is this airline is today and whether it is as competitive as the top Middle Eastern Airlines such as Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Emirates. Not only that, I could visit Jeddah Airport and have a good look at the airport. I took a good look at the airline's social media, I was intrigued by what was happening with a new livery (not exactly new), more on this in my trip report and checking the aircraft types, I get to fly on both the airline's Boeing 787-9 and 787-10. At this moment, the airline is flying 4 times weekly on the Jeddah-Singapore-Denpasar route and for the Singapore-Denpasar route, this is considered a 5th freedom route and the good news is this airline is allowed to sell tickets on this sector and same goes for those who wish to travel from Denpasar to Singapore.

So without further ado, let's begin this trip report.

Airline's mobile app

The app interface is not bad at all.

I was able to select my seat but in order to do so, I have to obtain the OTP from either my mobile phone or email to access the seat map keying in the digits required to access. It was troublesome! Unfortunately I had to use the email as the mobile phone option didn't work for me.

Although I booked the medium tier economy class, complimentary seat selection was limited to the second cabin of the economy class. The rest of the seats in the first cabin is chargable and I didn't want to pay over the odds for the seat selection.

I had a chance to make a bid for the upgrade but the price was not to my liking.

As you can see, the green seats are complimentary but for the blue seats (preferred seats), the airline was charging almost US$40 for it.

I wanted to sit in the first cabin, but no way am I going to pay that much for seat selection. I blame that airline for starting this trend of charging seats for lower tier economy class seats on these long haul routes. It is what it is, that's today's travel for us.

On the day of departure

I took the MRT to the airport

This is Changi Airport MRT Station.

Saudia departs from Terminal 3 in Changi Airport (April 2026 update), so this was where I was heading to.

There were a lot of passengers queueing up. Unfortunately no separate queue for web check-in passengers so I had to join the long queue.

It took about half an hour before receiving my boarding pass and my luggage was check-in to the London Gatwick. Unfortunately, something happened to my luggage and for that, you need to read about it on my part 2: Jeddah to London Gatwick sector.

That's me with my Airbus A350 T-shirt! I wanted to see whether any of the crew would react when they see it.

This is my ride: HZ-AR26, flying in from Denpasar.

Some decoration was spotted at the departure hall.

This is terminal 3 departure hall.

From time to time, we see different sorts of decoration making the visit to Changi Airport for some, interesting.

Overall, I find this terminal to be quite classy.

I received my boarding passes for both flights! This time I was flying to London Gatwick for a change.

At this point, I was ready to head over to the airside.

I grab some dinner at the Hawkers @SG at the airside.

This is the famous meat bone soup also known as 'Bak Kut Teh', a local popular dish.

I did another check on my aircraft, it was arriving soon with traffic quite heavy at SIN at that time.

This is the departure area (airside).

Walking to the gate may take some time from the main concourse.

This is one of the gates that can accommodate the Airbus A380 aircraft.

The interior of the gate area is quite dull looking if you ask me.

At least there are sitting areas for passengers waiting for the boarding gate to open.

To connect to terminal 4, take the bus shuttle over. I haven't done this before but I will one day.

Vening machine selling trading cards (hobby).

Time to board!

It's always nice to fly on a different airline! Saudia is my 130th airline.

Welcome on board!

My ride: HZ-AR26

Photo: Zhou You

Boeing 787-10

Delivered to airline on December 2019

Configuration: C24 Y333

Engines: 2 X GEnx 1B

Age: 6+ Years Old

942th Boeing 787 Built

Age: 6+ Years Old (April 2026 update)

Built in Charleston (CHS)

Flight Route: SIN-JED

Distance: 7,350km

Average Flight Time: 8 hours 40 minutes

Airlines flying on this route: Scoot and Saudia

My seat: 65J (Photo: Aerolopa.com)

Date of departure: 12th February 2026

Airline: Saudia airlines

Flight: SV857

Aircraft: Boeing 787-10

Registration: HZ-AR26

Seat: 59A last minute changed to 65J

Departure Terminal: 3

Gate: B10

Load: 100% in Y Class

Actual Flight Time: 8 hours 26 minutes

Flight Time: 8 hours 50 minutes

Schedule Departure: 0225

Boarding: 0137

Pushed Back: 0242

Take Off: 0312

Schedule Arrival: 0655

Actual Arrival: 0637

Departure Runway: 20C

Departure Weather: Clear

Arrival Runway: 34R

Arrival Weather: Clear

My experience

When I went through the entrance towards the automated immigration clearance, I was pulled aside to do a secondary screening. This is random and I am puzzled how do they select these passengers and why do they do need to do so, its either you screen all or you don't. It is annoying but that is what it is. Like I mentioned before I rather have the security check done either before or after the immigration. What I like about travelling out of Changi Airport is the fast immigration thanks to the automated machines and this one requires your face screening before being cleared to pass through, there is no need for passport check but one (local) has to bring the passport as the rest of the world requires your passport in order to allow you into the country.

Many travellers praise and vote this airport as the best airport in the world, I have to be one of the minorities. Once inside the airside, I find the terminal 1 to 3 quite boring, perhaps maybe I have travelled in and out of this airport many times but whatever it is this airport may be in my top 3 list but not the number 1. Well, I would save this topic for another day to explain why.

Before checking in my luggage at the check-in desk, I decided to change my seat to an aisle seat to make myself more comfortable for this flight as I found out that this was a full flight. Later on on board the aircraft, I was welcomed by a couple of Saudia crew before making my way to the seat. Most of the passengers were heading to Jeddah and possibly to Makkah or Medina for prayers during this Ramadan period. As the flightw as departing around 0200 hrs, there was no fasting involved but those that want to pray during the flight were allowed to do so after take off and before landing. This would make it more challenging for the crew when they did their meal service.

For this flight, 2 Captains were in charge of our aircraft and for the crew, they were managed by male crew and trust me, they are not the friendliest out there. Our flight departure was delayed for unknown reasons and the cabin was slighty stuffy due to the lack of air conditioning. It took quite a while to reach the runway and we took off, it was a pretty noisy one especially I was sitting near the rear. Within 2 hours after take off, we were given supper - a pastry and a choice of beverage. During the flight, there were a lot religious passengers doing their prayers at the praying area the during the midflight, there was an announcement asking for assistance from a doctor! Fortunately, a diversion was not required. I managed to catch some sleep and the most satisfiying part of the flight was able to finally watch the last series of the Mission Impossible movie, I missed it in the cinemas and I get to watch it at last!

The second service was served about slightly less than 2 hours prior to arrival at Jeddah and it was slightly slow but I won't blame them due to how full the flight was. One more observation I notieed during the flight was there a lot of coughing was heard at least at my cabin.

Despite our late departure, we managed to land ahead of schedule at Jeddah thanks to the tail wind. The flight was quite a smooth one, hardly any bumps.

Business Class

There are 24 Collins Aerospace Super Diamond Seats configured in a 1-2-1 reverse harringbone style. 6 rows of these are situated at the front cabin. Each passenger flying in this cabin would get to enjoy 47 inches of legroom space, 21 inches of seat width and not only that, these seats can be converted into a lie-flat bed. For entertainment, the Inflight Entertainment screen has a display of 17 inches HD touchscreen and the passengers can charge their devices using the USB-A and Universal power sockets.

Photo: TrippVibes

Due to the full load, I didn't request to visit the business class cabin, but you can check out trippVibes's trip report over here.

Guest Class (Economy)

These seats are designed by Collins Aerospace and it is the Pinnacle model and there are a total of 333 seats in this aircraft. They are arranged in the infamous 3-3-3 configuration that comes with a seat pitch of 32 inches (for the standard seats) and seat width of 17.1 inches. The headrest is adjustable and for the entertainment, each pasenger gets to enjoy the 12 inches of HD Touchscreen display in front of them for the standard seats. Universal Power and USB-A sockets are available.

This is the bulkhead row and it offers better legroom space. I would love to have selected these seats but they cost a lot and even during check-in, these seats along with the others in the first cabin are still chargable.

These seats are fairly comfortable in my opinion.

The cabin interior of the airline's Boeing 787-10.

Avoid the windowless seats (Row 62A and 62L).

The 3-3-3 configuration is unpopular with the passengers mainly due to the crampy feeling.

This is the window seat ot the row I am stting at. I decided to skip the window seat for this flight.

I wish there is more cushion on the seat back.

The last row of the economy class in the first cabin.

This is the lavatory and crew's seat located near the rear of the aircraft.

The crew's work space at the rear.

This is a small dedicated area for prayers.

Instructions for both the crew and passengers.

This is how the dedicated praying area looks like.

There is enough room for around 10 passengers.

This airline is one of the few that have dedicated praying space for the passengers.

The information screen display for the praying passengers.

Cabin view of the economy class

The mood lighting certainly enhances the cabin atmosphere.

The view of the cabin seats during daylight.

The seat pitch of 32 inches is acceptable.

Overhead bin compartment

The middle seats

Time to disembark!

I won't mind settling for this window seat next time as I can recline without bothering anyone.

The IFE display size is adequate for ecomomy class standard.

Few more photos of the cabin

Notice one of the seats in fully recline mode?

More photos of the seat

This is the sort of window seat I like. The window is perfectly aligned to the person sitting at this seat.

The view of the seatback

Legroom space is fine for me

Foldable tray table

Electronic dimmed windows, are you a fan of it?

What's provide for us?

Disposal Bag

Safety Card

Amenity kit consists of eye cover, a pair of ear plugs, small packet of tooth brush and tooth paste and a pair of socks.

This is the pastry snack distributed to us not long after take off.

I am glad they served this instead of a full meal at this hour.

I chose a cup of apple juice as my choice of beverage.

It was a chicken pastry.

This was our breakfast.

Egg omelette with vegetable, potato and tomatoes. It comes with fruits, yogurt and a cup of water.

Later on the crew came to serve us bread in addition to our meal, I must say the food portion is generous and I enjoyed this meal as I was quite hungry at that point of time.

Once again, I opted for a cup of apple juice.

Inflight Entertainment

Kuwait is another city that I like to travel to once the war is over.

There are many languages available.

A good variety of movies, not a lot but there are quality ones.

The 3D inflight map

Praying times were displayed on the screen for this Ramadan period.

The system was easy to navigate.

The standard livery of Saudia Airlines.

The weather report

Did you see the word Trump? Yes, your eyes are not playing a trick.

It's been a long time since I last saw a movie by Paramount organisation.

I also watched this movie along with Mission Impossible but I fell asleep midway through the movie.

PIP (Picture in Picture) is available on this system.

The flight map

The pilot's eye view

I like the airline's corporate colours.

Lavatory

The lavatory was spacious enough for me to take a photo liks this.

The bassinet

Standard lavatory door

No window view photos

As the flight time was mostly in the dark, I decided to choose the aisle seat so for that, I opted to add in my first experience at Jeddah airport instead.

My flight summary

As you can see despite the late departure, our aircraft landed ahead of schedule.

Welcome to Jeddah Airport!

Thanks for the ride, HZ-AR26! This is the old livery and later on during a maintenance check, this aircraft will be painted into the new livery.

Jeddah, one of the many cities in Saudi Arabia!

There are signboards leading you to the international flight connection for the security check clearance.

Complimentary Airport Wifi is available.

After the security clearance was done, I was at the departure hall, airside.

This is a map layout of the terminal.

The interior of the main concourse.

I find the ceiling design looks nice.

On the second level, there are restaurants and cafes

As my transit was less than 2 hours, I spent just a short while checking out the main concourse before making my way to the gate area.

My connecting flight was departing from gate A37.

The interior of the departure hall (airside)

What a beautiful airport traffic control tower!

Now to make my way to the assigned gate.

There are seating areas with charging ports at selected seats.

I was lucky to spot the latest special livery of Saudia. This is the 'Welcome to Arabia' special livery, unfortuately not operating on my flight.

I had to continue walking after admiring that livery.

Another look of the tower.

Personally I like this terminal interior.

To be continued in my next trip report.

My ratings

Airline Website/Mobile App: 4/5

Airport Experience (Singapore): 5/5

Inflight Service: 2.5/5

Seat Comfort: 3/5

Inflight Entertainment: 3/5

Cabin Ambiance: 4/5

Cabin Condition: 5/5

Cleanliness: 5/5

Inflight Meal/Beverage: 3.5/5

Punctuality: 5/5

Overall Rating: 40/50

Percentage: 80%

My final thoughts

There is a lot of catching up this airline has to do to compete with the big names in the middle east but at least there are making progress. Flying during this period (Ramadan) with this airline was an unique experience, I got to experience to see the Muslims doing their praying in this dedicated praying area near the rear of the aircraft. During the flight, it was crowded with most men doing their praying but apart from that, I was able to rest. There is this curtain that can cover that enclosed area so it didn't cause any distraction as I had my earpiece with me, I was not affected by what was going on. The only complaint I have is one of them took a long time to use the lavatory, waited for almost 20 minutes for my turn and during that time, the cabin crew were helpless as they spent a good amount of the time at their workspace.

Apart from that the flight to Jeddah which was pretty smooth, inflight meals was alright but for the cabin service, seeing one of them telling the passenger off like a teacher scolding his/her student, is just not the right in my eyes. Inflight meals were ok and as this was my longest flight on the Boeing 787-10, it was not a bad experience at all. Overall the flight was alright, but for the inflight service, seat comfort and inflight entertainment, the airline loses out to Qatar and Emirates, the only bright side this airline offers is the amenity kit which is slightly better than what Qatar offers and for Emirates, they don't offer this in economy class. I would do an overview of my experience with this airline in the 4th part of my Saudia experience coming up soon.

Was my next flight better? Stay tuned for the next part!

A preview to my next trip report!

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this trip report.

With that said, the journey continues - see you in my next blog post!

Have a good one!

Charles

For my Part 2 of my Saudia flying adventures (JED-LGW on Boeing 787-9), click here

Farewell Air Japan: A Tribute To This 2-Year Old Airline

2026-04-02T09:09:00.009+08:00

Welcome to my first trip report for 2026!

Introduction

This was not any ordinary flight, it was an emotional flight for all those involved with this comapny for the past 2 years. On this day, 29th March 2026, it marked the end of the airline's low cost operation and both JA801A (BKK flight) and this aircraft, JA803A were the last aircraft to fly on this day and this means the end of the contribution this airline given to aviation with many travellers were transported to Japan and to the 3 destinations it flew to. The last time I flew on such an occasional flight was on board Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 farewell flight! That was really a memory to remember as a lot of aviation enthusiasts were on board and some of them were like me, did a turn around. Well for me, there is no turn around flight, instead I would be taking this last flight from Singapore to Tokyo and made plans to do some domestic flights in Tokyo and meet some good friends during my time there. After that I would fly back to Singapore with another low cost carrier but personally this airline's standard doesn't match up with Air Japan, for that, you have to stay tuned to find out more in one of my upcoming trip reports.

About 3 months before this date, during my last overseas trip in London, it was only then I decided to go for this trip, hoping to be able to experience something different from a normal flight. I was hoping for a water cannon salute possibly after the arrival at Tokyo Narita. For Water Cannon salute, usually that is done for special occasion, is this considered as one? Maybe but my gut feeling was that there wouldn't be one for this last flight. Perhaps they reserve this celebration for happier occasion? Perhaps so but whatever it is, it depends on the airline management. So did we receive an water cannon salute on this flight? Do read on to find out.

About Air Japan

Air Japan is a subsidiary of ANA Group (Parent of All Nippon Airways) founded in 1990 (World Air Network) and was initially operated as a charter airline. It became a scheduled airline 10 years later and operated flights on behalf for ANA. It was only in 2022 when the parent airline established Air Japan and a couple of yerars later, this airline took delivery of 2 Boeing 787-8 and a 3rd joining the fleet just a few months before the airline ceased operation. This fleet featured it's own livery and are fitted in a one-class, 324 high density configuration. The airline started operation in February 2024, operating routes to Bangkok (BKK), Seoul (ICN) and Singapore (SIN). There were plans to operate to more routes and more aircraft to be delivered ot the airline but that didn't materialise and instead the airline made an offical announcement to suspend all flight operations of this airline. The last flight departing from Bangkok and Singapore would take place on the 29th March while for the last flight departing out of Seoul would take place a day earlier.

For Air Japan Co., Ltd, this company will continue to operate and operate flights on behalf of All Nippon Airways using their aircraft and for the 3 Boeing 787-8 under Air Japan, they will be re-configured and transferred to ANA. For the staff working for this airline, they will be reassigned within the ANA group.

My booking

Website's version

The 3 different types of fares - listing down the advantages of each tier.

The different colour codes representing the seat availibility with different prices or not available.

Since I sat at seat 2A and 2K on my previous flights, I decided to choose the standard window seats. At that time of booking, there were not many window seats left.

Initially I picked seat 22A but later on I changed to seat 23A due to the better window alignment with the seat.

Mobile website version

The mobile version works well too.

A few more window seats opened in this second cabin of the aircraft just a few days before departure.

On the day of departure

It was a surreal feeling to see this check-in counter screen display as the airline only operated for 2 years.

After 15 minutes of waiting, I received my boarding pass. I chat with the ground staff, sadly there is no farewell ceremony held at the gate area.

I did a check on which aircraft was flying me to Tokyo NRT. The honour went to JA803A. JA801A was on its way to Bangkok while JA802A had finished its flight schedule (ICN-NRT was the last flight for this aircraft). This aircraft (JA802A) was the latest aircraft to join the fleet, it joined about a few months before the last day of the airline's operation.

The airport interior of terminal 2

The digital image of the waterfall

Chocolate, anyone?

Man City was leading 3-0 against Man Utd in the women' professional league game.

The airport tarmac at terminal 2 was undergoing upgrading with construction going on.

I settle for a meal over here.

I had a the fishball rice noodles which comes with fish cake and a bowl of soup.

It is nice to see a Jeju flight flying to Batam. I might try that route one day.

Singapore Airlines' Lounges are located on the upper level.

The mini garden never fails to impress the passengers.

It was time to head over to the gate.

Gate F50 was chosen for this last departure of Air Japan.

To connect to terminal 1 or 3, you can take the skytrain over but for terminal 4, you have to take the airport bus which is located near the Terminal 2 Transit area (near transfer lounge F).

This is the gate area, one has to pass through security to enter the holding room for flights departing in Terminal 1, 2 and 3. It is extremely troublesome especially when you need to use the toilet.

This is JA803A! Unfortunately this is the best view I can get about this aircraft.

USB Charging ports are available at random seats.

Most of the passengers were Japanese, heading home.

There was a long queue of passengers waiting to refill their water bottles.

My last time boarding an Air Japan flight

An aerobridge with transparent windows would be nice for this occasion.

Here is the moment! About to step on board JA803A.

I decided to board the aircraft from the first door.

The friendly crew greeted us in a true Japanese style.

My ride: JA803A

Photo: Tokyo Spotter

Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner

Originally delivered to ANA and Air Japan operated on behalf for the airline

Delivered to Air Japan in NQ's livery on the 9th Februrary 2024

Configuration: Y324

Engines: 2 X Roll Royce Trent 1000

Age: 13+ Years Old (April 2026 update)

7th Boeing 787 in production

Built in Everett (PAE)

Aircraft has since been returned to ANA on the 29th March 2026.

Flight route: SIN-NRT

Distance: About 5,349km

Average Flight Time: 6 hours

Airlines flying on this route: Scoot, Singapore Airlines, ANA, Japan Airlines and Zipair

My seat: 23A (Aerolopa.com)

Date: 29th March 2026

Airline: Air Japan

Flight: NQ4 (Last flight)

Route: SIN-NRT

Aircraft: Boeing 787-8

Registeration: JA803A

Seat: 23A

Terminal: 2 (SIN)

Gate: F50

Load: 100%

Flight Time: 6 hours (On average)

Actual Flight Time: 5 hours 54 minutes

Boarding: 0027

Push Back: 0058

Take Off: 0114

Schedule Arrival: 0840

Actual Arrival: 0812

Departure Runway: 02C

Departure Weather: Clear

Arrival Runway: 34R

Arrival Gate: 57B

Arrival Weather: Partially Cloudy

My experience

From the gate, an announcement were made about this last flight and the usual farewell speeches and I saw a couple of Japanese people watching while the passengers were boarding, I believe they are representatives from the company but whatever it is, this last flight was kept low profile as there was no farewell message from the company's CEO or anything to commemorate this last flight.

Once on board, I notice the cabin was a bit stuffy but it was better after taking off. The Captain only came on the speaker after take off and he did mention about the last flight and the weather on route. The meal service would start only after we were clear of the turbulent area and then the seat belt sign was turned off. Since the flight departure took off around 0114 hours, it was sleeping time for most of us.

The crew mentioned about the meal service taking place shortly after the seat belt sign was turned off, for this, I would have preferred them to give us an option (online) on when would we like our meal to be served, give us 2 or 3 specific timing would be ideal so that some of us can sleep and wake up about 2 hours before landing and we can consumed them then. Anyway, the seat belt sign was turned off not long after take off and my sushi box came after. I wasn't so hungry but yet I finished it off quickly because it was that good! For the flight, it was smooth for most parts except for one part when the aircraft experienced sharp jolts and the seat belt sign was turned on and the crew returned back to their seats. Luckily that didn't last long. I managed to grab some rest but didn't really sleep well as I kept waking up due to the background noise. Another thing I need to mention is we were given a last flight certification card and a sticker as a souvenier.

Once landed, it was a long taxi to the gate and sadly, no water cannon salute for this occasion. There were a few of us stayed on board a bit longer to take photos of the cabin and interact with the cabin crew, it was a bittersweet moment for all of us. I am glad that Air Japan's crew would be transferred within the ANA group and I wish them all the best! After walking out of the aircraft, the airline's staff were waiting at the aerobridge, witnessing the last batch of passengers exiting the aircraft and thanking us for flying with them. Thanks for the memories, Air Japan!

I managed to catch sight of all 3 Air Japan's Boeing 787-8 as they were parking side by side. This would probably be my last sight of these aircraft, the next time I see them, they would probably be painted in ANA's livery.

Cabin photos

As this is a high density configured aircraft, there is no galley between the first and second section and second and third section of the economy class.

For the standard seats, they have a legroom space of 32 inches.

Each seat has an adjustable headrest and has a seat width of 17.1 inches.

There are 6 lavatories installed on this aircraft's configuration.

There are other keen travellers also taking some photos

I find these seats to be quite comfortable and a waste for them to remove and dispose them. (Hopefully not)

Cabin view photos

The seats of the last row of each section can recline.

The spacious overhead compartment can store more things compared to the older generation aircraft.

The 3-3-3 configuration on the Boeing 787 is certainly not popular among travellers!

The electronic dimmed windows were not locked on our flight.

One last look of the cabin

More photos of my seat

I certainly like the design of the seat.

This was my seat, 23A

The front view of my seat

Legroom space at 32 inches is pretty generous for a low cost carrier.

Front view from my seat

This is how the seat in front looks like when it is fully reclined.

Last look of my seat

This is the Safran Z110i slimline seat.

A selfie of myself before disembarking JA803A aircraft.

What's provided for each passenger?

Certificate and sticker of the last flight

Inflight menu

Wifi Guide

Inflight wifi advertisment

Safety card

Disposal bag

Inflight meal

The meal you pre-order comes with a bottle of water. If you are seated from row 1 to 9, you are given a complimentary drink.

A good selection of sushi - always a fan of it.

Inflight entertainment (Wifi)

The inflight details

WiFi Charges

Pointless to pay for the 24 hours plan considering there are no more flights after this.

Window view photos (Take off to Landing)

The view of outside at the gate of departure. (Sorry for the poor quality)

We reached the threshold, all ready for take off.

Enjoying every minute of the flight in this beautiful weather.

The wing of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Can you see a mountain from far? That is Mount Fuji!

A closer view of Mount Fuji

At this point, we started our descent into Tokyo.

Hardly any clouds nearby, we were blessed with such good weather, a fitting end to flight NQ4.

We deviated a bit to maintain safe distance from other aircraft and usually we need to join the queue (for landing and taking off) especially at heavy traffic airports.

On final approach onto runway 34R.

Our aircraft was in landing configuration. The pilots have the checklist to follow to make sure that the aircraft is properly configured.

We flew through some low clouds.

If you are flying to NRT, I recommend sitting on the left side of the aircraft, you may get both the Mount Fuji (Depending on weather) and airport view during landing (Depending on runway in used).

Do you recognise the operator of that Airbus A321?

We touched down about 17 minutes ahead of schedule.

Slowing down to taxi speed as I looked back and reflect my past flights with Air Japan.

The taxi to our assigned gate took a while but I don't think anyone on board mind.

We were parked at gate 57B and with that, the last flight of NQ4 came to an end.

My flight summary

(Thanks to Flighty and Flightradar24)

Goodbye Air Japan!

This is JA803A, thanks for the ride!

The airline and airport staff thanked us for flying with the airline during our disembarkment.

It was an emotional walk towards the immigration.

This is Air Japan's entire fleet. (JA801A, JA802A and JA803A)

While walking towards the immigration, I recalled some of my fond memories of Air Japan. You can check out my previous trip reports of these airlines over here.

Trip 1: SIN-NRT (Click here)

Trip 2: NRT-SIN (Click here)

I like how the Japanese airport staff arranged the luggage in such an organised manner.

The baggage belt for our flight, I waited less than 10 minutes before my luggage came out.

My thoughts

The final flight of Air Japan wasn't marked by a farewell ceremony on this Singapore to Tokyo Narita flight. however there were announcements mentioning about it. For this flight only a handful of aviation fans were on board, I suppose more of them were on board the Tokyo to Bangkok flight because they had a ceremony on that flight.

As the aircraft lifted off into the skies for the last time under the Air Japan name, there was a subtle weight in the moment, it is not easy to say goodbye especially to a decent airline. I had flown with defunct airlines such as V Air, Transasia, Far Eastern Airlines (Taiwanese) but their situation are different, they went bankrupt due to financial reasons. For Air Japan, the airline would still continue to operate but under a different strategy and sadly, we won't see this airline's livery in the near future.

Now that I have flown the airline on its last flight, a fleeting chapter in aviation, now complete. There is a story to tell among aviation enthusiasts about this airline and along with others and I am happy that to be one of the million of passengers that have been part of this airline's history.

What do I like about this airline?

- Delicious meals (Japanese style)

- Affordable airfare

- USB type A and C Sockets are available

- 3 types of fares (easy to understand)

- Wifi is available

- Comfortable leather seats

- Managed by an established company (ANA Group)

My tribute to this airline (I managed to photograph this during my time at Nagoya Airport (NGO) - don't mind the quality of the photos!)

JA801A did many loops around the airport airspace including touch and go on this airport's runway for a few hours on 8th April 2026 at NGO (Nagoya) Airport.

Hope you enjoy this flight review and as always, the journey continues - see you in my next blog post!

Those that are new to my blog, do feel free to check out my past trip reports. I am always looking ways to improve my trip reports, so if you have any feedback, please drop a comment or send me an email.

Coming up next: Off to visit my folks in London with a new airline: Saudia (Part 1: SIN-JED)

For the next flight (in Japan), flying on Japan's domestic flight (HND-FUK) with Starflyer trip report, click here.

Have a good one!

Charles Ryan