My first long haul experience to the United States of America August 2015 Part 1

Well I did it! On 24th August 2015 I went to the United States of America! the first ever long haul flight I have traveled not in history of Aircraft Aviation in Europe it's also in my hole life! If you mention I had a disappointing flight on the way to the US I will tell you why.

First flight wasn't Thomas Cook Airlines it was an airline based from Portugal called Hi Fly. Now Hi Fly has 13 fleets they own 1 Airbus A321 by Belgian Air Component, 5 Airbus A330 200, 3 Airbus A340-300 1 operated for LA Compangine in France and 2 Airbus A340-500. Hi Fly is or was a subsidiary with Hi Fly Malta owned few Airbus A340-600 based from Malta. If you wan't to see my full flight video CLICK ME! on YouTube to watch my video.

When I arrived at the gate for my flight we was giving out a letter from Thomas Cook Airlines about the aircraft we be flying with. Why did we travel with Hi Fly? Because Thomas Cook Airlines is short on 1 Airbus A330-200 aircraft from Air Tanker still on order, because Thomas Cook is ending London Stansted flights because the Summer Season is almost over it will be going to Glasgow, UK and Manchester, UK as it's not Seasonal. I paid £1,200 for this flight NOT travelling on a different airline operating for Thomas Cook!

 Hear is Hi Fly Airbus A330-200 aircraft! the registration as I mention is CS-TFZ. Let's begin with the first issue we had, first the flight was delayed for 2 hours we meant to depart London Stansted at 9am instead we left 11:30am because there have been lack of cleaners or not many staff cleaning the aircraft which is ridiculous!

This is the cabin of Hi Fly's Airbus A330-200 what it looks like. Unfortunately it's nothing special compare to other European airliners I wen't. When I was sitting on the seats they are OK to sit if you are travelling short haul instead long haul, the cabin looks like typical Airbus A320 family. The cabin crew and pilots are full of Hi Fly staff  from Portugal when we landed in Glasgow, UK there has been change some Hi Fly cabin crew to Thomas Cook Airlines cabin crew.
 

We landed in Glasgow, UK roughly 12:30pm for re-fuel and pick up more British Nationals and Thomas Cook cabin crew most are from Scotland. When we stopped I saw two aircraft  at the same parking bay where KLM is. First aircraft KLM is PH-BGI Boeing 737-700 just started boarding to Amerdam, The Netherlands when it left Glasgow Jet2 arrived G-GDFN Boeing 737-300 new to EasyJet in 1998 ex G-EZYH. We had another issue when other passengers finished boarding & re-fuel... we got delayed for 3 hours! I couldn't understand what the crew said by Portuguese cabin crew said...

We finally left Glasgow at 3:30pm so I decided to rest my eyes for a little bit till the pilot said we are flying above Greenland after couple of hours flying above North Atlantic Ocean. I quickly switch the camera on and took any decent photos I can take! however the next photo you'll about the see makes my day after many long delay.

Yes it's British Airways Airbus A380 in Greenland's Airspace! I have no idea where it was heading to I could guess San Francisco or Los Angles, USA or anywhere in Canada from London Heathrow, UK.

Anyone for dinner? Today's food from Thomas Cook is either beef or curry. I choose chicken curry with rice then crackers, rolls and chocolate mousse mixed with crunchy chocolate and caramel then coffee afterwards. The food was OK I guess.

I haven't mention about in flight service yet! Unfortunately it's not really that good the touchscreen is very poor, all movies & tv shows are dubbed in Portuguese language and live in flight map don't work! the only part it works is how long you arrive in Las Vegas, time of duration and time you have departed from Glasgow not London Stansted.

Finally we are over the Nevada Desert not far to Las Vegas! there was another problem of landing it's not the airline's fault it's the Air Traffic Control. It's because there was a very important aircraft coming to land in Las Vegas. Do you wan't to know who was that very important person is? If you been following me on Facebook I mention what it is, it's US President Barack Obama! In November 2016 President Obama will be Vice President of the United States. Candidates for next US President are Lincoln Chafee, Hillary Clinton, (wife of former US President Bill Clinton) Martin O'Malley, Bernie Sanders and Jim Webb. Anyway it was awsome seeing current President Obama's Boeing 747 aircraft I'll mention on another blog soon.

Finally I have arrived in the United States of America! also the first time I got my passport stamped in Las Vegas on my current passport for the first time in 10 years I last got stamped on my previous passport in the UK before Malta joined the European Union in 2004. We come to the end of part 1 of my first long haul flight experience. What do I think of the flight? VERY DISAPPOINTING! I will start doing part 2 it will be on here later.