Airline: TUI Airways
Flight: TOM4266
Type: Boeing 737-800
Regristation: G-TAWI
Flight of origin: London Gatwick, UK North Terminal
Location: Malta
Type of travel: Non-Schengnen within the European Union
Flight time: 2 hours & 45 minutes
It's lunch time in London Gatwick's North Terminal everyone is starting to enjoy their Summer Season 2018 including myself. Today this is my report on TUI Airways to Malta.
I used the self service kiosk to check my luggage with 17kg I got offered to check-in my carry on luggage with only 4kg which is a bonus. Iv'e always had luck with British Airways self service kiosk in the past offering extra luggage because sometimes depending how much you pay your luggage, you'll get a chance to check your carry on.
During boarding unfortunatley was a slower process when Cabin Crew advice the passengers to make itr quicker as possible otherwise their are chances of losing slots causing delays also at the gate too. The staff promised it will start boarding in 5 minutes time all we get is 15 minute wait without knowing.
This was the first time I flew with a Boeing 737NG that featured Split Scimitar Winglets. This is because every airlines who built or modified the 737NG Winglets to have Split Scimitar is to save fuel cost by 2% I'm not sure if the aircraft's noise makes it quieter say like compare to Ryanair Winglet which the aircraft noise from the cabin or spotting is louder than the Split Scimitar Winglets.
After takeoff from London Gatwick we've bumped into turbulence till reaching the English Channel coast of France the seat belt sign is off. "Typical British Weather in April" since then the flight is is smooth.
This is also the first time I've seen a new modern look of the 737NG cabin from later editions of the 737NG Family. Other European airliners Ryanair and Norwegian Air Shuttle also included the new look with blue lighting ontop the cabin trying to make it like a Boeing 787 Dreamliner in my opinion. New change for cabin crew on these newer cabin including the MAX the safety equipment for demonstration uses & spare life jackets are now located ontop the cabin other than overhead compartment.
The No Smoking sign was a mystery to me because normally has a light showing you can't smoke. All the sudden it's a sticker without the sign to be eliminated "So is the No Smoking switch in the cockpit is removed?" overall I really prefer the new look of the cabin. My complaint is that the seats is at a different angle for window seat passengers but the seats is comfy enough though.
Another problem their is no flight entertainment throughout the flight compare my 2004 flight with Thomsonfly Boeing 757 that has all the entertainment you need so that you should be aware of TUI on short haul flights. I'm not sure what Boeing 757's are like now with short haul if they include flight entertainment or not.
Lunch I had bacon roll with beer & my favorite Pringles flavor Sour Cream. After my first bite of the roll it was tough to chew bacon at first tasted nice ish I prefer smoked backed than unsmoked. I don't understand why cabin crew give us cutlery for passengers but for aviation enthusiast like myself is a collectors item.
Finally I arrived back in Malta runway 13 with little bit of a bumpy landing. Overall I really enjoyed the flight with TUI Airways & I will be travelling with them again in the future so thank you TUI!
My overall rating from Aircraft Aviation in Europe:
- Cabin: 10/10
- Hygienic: 10/10
- Food: 8/10
- Cabin Crew: 9/10
- Service: 10/10
Overall: 9.8/10
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