Auckland Trip Report

[Guest Darren Masters]

Well all here is the trip report of my trip from Sydney Auckland-Auckland Sydney for my cabin crew interviews and assessments.

 

Tuesday 6th Jan 2009 Flight AR 1183

 

 

 

My aircraft was Aerolineas Argentinas A340 rego LV-ZPX. I boarded through gate 58 in Sydney and was seated at window seat 41H on the right-hand side up the back. Flight was quite full with a mostly South American crowd. One thing I noticed straight off was my window had the **** scratched out of it which made it 'milky' in appearance and not real good for pictures. Also, the aircon seemed to not be working and the cabin was quite hot. Check-in in Sydney was a little slow but proceeded through customs without any problems at all. There were no IFE screens infront rather a center screen in the aircraft. Captains name was captain Sopo (or similar). Take-off in the A340 was rather sedate. Not the real throw-back in the seat with other types and a gentle climb-out. This was my first trip in an A340.

 

Below: 9M-MPN at another gate prior to boarding my flight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below: Singapore Airlines 747-400 9V-SPP at another gate prior to boarding my aircraft. Incidently, this was the aircraft that took me to Singapore to Vietnam on my trip in March 2008.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below: My aircraft LV-ZPX.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below: The cabin of my aircraft LV-ZPX.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We pushed-back right on time at 12.20pm. Took off on RWY 16R almost immediately. Made a gentle right-hand turn with Cronulla and Sutherland clearly visible out of my window. Our cruising altitude was to be 39,000ft over the Tasman. Meal service commenced and I must say it was one of the most bland meals I have ever had. A cheese, egg and bacon type cold roll, a slice of apple cake. The best item was the beer. The cabin crew were quite unfriendly and just seemed they did not want to do their jobs. Not an airline I would recommend. The other pax told me that LAN Chile was much better.

 

Below: Inflight meal service.

 

 

 

 

 

Some 2hrs 45min later we were approaching the East Coast of Auckland.

 

Below: East Coast of Auckland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below: Auckland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some turbulence on approach to Auckland but it was not too bad. I still could not get over how warm the cabin was!!! Landed on time in Auckland with a bounce on the landing, flying again then the pilot applied power and we eventually touched down. Also seemed like there was some confusion on taxii as we were going one way then turned and went the opposite parking beside a LAN aircraft and various Air New Zealand aircraft. Noted quite a few Air New Zealand Dash 8's and Beech 1900D's which I thought was an interesting sight. Made the long walk to customs and the baggage area. The whole process took around 35-40min before I was able to catch the airport bus to my hotel. The next few days were cabin crew assessments and going out and having an amazing time in Auckland. Weather (but last few days) was perfect.

 

Below: Some Auckland/surrounds sights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday 11th Jan 2009 Flight QF 50.

 

 

 

Can't say I woke up this morning as I never went to bed. Thought it was a good idea to stay up with the other backpackers drinking beer and playing pool before having a shower at 3.00am and leaving the hostel at 4.00am. One of the staff of the hostel was nice enough to drive me out to the airport. There was torrential rain leaving Auckland this morning. Aircraft was Boeing 767-300 ER rego VH-OGL. Boarded via gate 6. Check-in was relatively fast though customs/immigration was a little slow. Had a Burger King breakfast then sat at the gate for a little while having a bit of a look around too before boarding commenced. Flight was quite full. Pushed-back only 5mins after schedule at 6.35am. We taxiied out for a RWY 05R departure from Auckland. My seat was window 40A. There was quite a strong Westerly cross-wind happening. I just love the roar of the engines and thrust in the 767!! Captain for this flight was captain Shepherd. Had a nice view of Auckland for a few minutes before climbing up through a thick layer of cloud that stretched up to 20-something thousand feet.

 

Below: Climbing out of AKL.

 

 

 

 

 

Below: Some sunshine at last!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below: Various cloud formations inflight at FL 360.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breakfast onboard was quite nice even though I had the Burger King I still managed the meal (minus the banana) which was orange juice with a sausage, omlette, bacon and tomato with a choice of tea or coffee and blueberry muffin. I opted for another glass of orange juice and a can of Sprite after that.

 

Below: My breakfast onboard QF 50 VH-OGL.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cabin crew were quite professional and conducted their duties well. Had a little bit of a sleep onboard. Flight time to Sydney was around 3hrs with a few holding patterns just out off the coast. A panel fell off one of the overhead lockers onto the floor and luckily did not hit someone on the head. One of the female cabin crew members took the offending piece of plastic away sticking it somewhere up the back of the aircraft!

 

Below: Some interesting lighting conditions on approach into Sydney.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Landing was on to RWY 34R in Sydney landing 5mins ahead of schedule at 7.50am. Landing was a little hard but not too bad.

 

Below: Approach into Sydney's RWY 34R.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All up I had a great time in Auckland. The assessments/interviews were quite draining but well worth it. I look forward to making Auckland my new home at the end of Feb/early Mar. Hope you enjoyed this trip report.

 

 

[Guest Chainsaw]

Good report Daz. Thanks for sharing with us mate :)

 

 

[Guest Glenn]

Excellent reports and great photos

 

 

[Guest Darren Masters]

Thanks guys

 

 

[Guest OzChris]

Darren - great report, loved it!

 

Great job in NZ mate - bet you are excited about the move!

 

 

[Guest David C]

Great trip report Darren ... I told you the A343 was a bit sedare in the t/o dept , and only climbs thanks to the curvature of the Earth :biggrin:... I will remember not to fly AR on any of my trips !! .... All the best mate for the future ..

 

Dave C

 

 

[nzom_pilot]

Nice report Darren

 

Glad to see you got to see Auckland at its best, and also got a small taste when you left of it in the rain - get used to that!

 

I have flown LAN from AKL to Santiago and my best friends have several experinces with Aerolineas, Auckland-Buenos Aries and return. I can say without a doubt that LAN is definately the better of the two. Especially as Aerolineas have a habit of overselling their flights by a large margin, and you aren't guaranteed a seat until you have a boarding pass in your hands.

 

I'm not surprised you has taxiing issues in Auckland. Last time I was in Auckland the Aerolineas flight from Buenos Aries arrived about 9hrs late and took one of the high speed exits from the runway, then stopped dead with its tail still overhanging the runway, causing an Air New Zealand 737 to abort its take off roll and an Air Pacific 73H to do a go around.

 

 

[Strawberry Muppet]

That meal looks very poor for a 3hr flight, especially as it was lunchtime. And what's with the hideous blue canteen style trays? It doesn't even match the colour shade of the seats!

 

Anyway, I'm pleased you had a very successful trip to Auckland!

 

P.S. Nice photo of the SIA 744 in Star Alliance livery.

 

 

[Uncle Chop Chop]

Great Report and Great Photos. What are the prices like for Aerolineas Argentinas compared with some other carriers?

 

 

[Robbo]

awesome Dazza !!!!!!!!!

 

 

[Guest Darren Masters]

Thanks for the comments guys. Glad you enjoyed the trip report. Yes, poor standard indeed Strawberry Muppet. I mean, I was in cattle class and there is only so much you get there. The QF meal was not exactly spectacular but atleast it tasted ok and the plastic matched the interior of the a/c (sort of). I am excited about the move but not excited about all the paperwork I just got having to fill out for the airline :eek: Dave, I do like the get up and go of the 767 though!!! Chop, not sure of prices of Aerolineas versus other carriers. It must have been cheaper though as Flight Centre was able to bring the prices down significantly going over with Aerolineas. NZOM, I have heard comments before of people receiving calls from them advising the flights were cancelled etc etc. Not good for some. I must have been lucky. I was thankfull I got there. If something had gone wrong it would have been a disaster.

 

 

[Robbo]

I look forward to making Auckland my new home at the end of Feb/early Mar. Hope you enjoyed this trip report.

I am getting all teary eyed, awww I goner:icon_sad::headshake: miss you :frown:

 

 

[Nick]

Great trip report mate. A340 over and the faithful old 767 back. I honestly love that aircraft its just got a certain ring to it. I flew her all the way to Honolulu and back and even with no entertainment i still loved it.

 

 

[Guest Darren Masters]

Great trip report mate. A340 over and the faithful old 767 back. I honestly love that aircraft its just got a certain ring to it. I flew her all the way to Honolulu and back and even with no entertainment i still loved it.

Thanks Nick Was that the 767 you flew in? Yeah, not a bad aircraft at all considering she is getting on. Wonder how much longer they will have her for? Maybe when the 787 comes in?