I had a bit of a late dinner at a very nice restaurant near the famous Roman arch. The couscus was excellent and the baby camel was good too, though tasted a bit like a camel smells.
Not realising the time, I had to rush to the airport. I got caught with only 15LYD on me, but my fixer managed to convince a taxi driver to take us to the airport for that via his house to pick up my bag.
21:30 was the cutoff time to check in, and I arrived at 21:35. The man at the desk gave me a bit of a cross look and pointed to his watch but let me check in anways. My bag was tagged and I was handed my boarding pass. Which if you've read my earlier TRs, you'll know was blank! Yes, blank! It had a 90 written on it, which I can only assume meant SEQ90, but I counted only about 50 people on the plane.
There was no ID check at any point, my camera bag, body armour, or checked bag weren't weighed!
I then ran up to security, which took about 5 minutes. I took everything out of my jeans pockets but before I could do the same with my jacket, I was waved through (still wearing it). I of course set off the metal detector and got a quick pat down, but not an invasive one. There was no problem either with the bottle of water in my camera bag or the bottle of contact lens fluid in my jacket pocket. So much for security!
at 21:45 we made our way from the waiting gate to the boarding gate, with boarding called a few minutes later. There was one man who saw my US passport and kept looking at me with a cross between shock and a smile. I don't think he had ever seen an American before!
You made your way down a set of stairs and out onto the tarmac as the jetbridges weren't working. You then ID'd your bag and the baggage handlers loaded it for you. This is done because a flight was blown up in the 1980s where a passenger checked a bag with a bomb in it and then didn't board. Because nothing is computerised on who ends up boarding, it is the only way to make sure the bag and its owner are both on the flight. If only the bag shows up, it is removed and destroyed.
Seating is a free-for-all but as I was one of the first on the plane and the plane was almost empty, I had my choice. I took 4A, but was asked to move a few minutes later to make way for a passenger with a leg cast. Not a problem of course as there was plenty of room. The seats don't recline and I don't know the seat pitch, but it felt nice and roomy.
One person was sitting in each of the four exit rows except for one of them! Besides the guy in the exit row in front, no one was on that side for at least 5 or 10 rows! It stayed that way for both takeoff and landing!
The plane seemed very new and was very clean. It was also equiped with OnAir, but they didn't turn it on. There were overhead screens showing a map and distance to go in both English and Arabic, but the flight safety video was played in Arabic only with no manual demonstration.
Pushback was at 22:13, 17min early, with takeoff at 22:22, 8min before we were even scheduled to leave the gate.
The takeoff roll was very short, probably the shortest one I have ever had in a plane the size of an A320. (It was an A320-200)
The flight was fairly turbulent on the climb to 29,000ft, but was nice and smooth once there. We leveled out 14min after takeoff cruising at 516mph.
A drinks round was at 22:41. Choice of juice, water, tea, or coffee. I had juice which was fresh not from concentrate nothing else added orange and something-else-I-couldn't-figure-out-jucie I was asked if I would like anything else and asked for a glass of water. The cabin crew were very polite and accomidating with everyone.
The man who was surprised to see me at the airport sat next to me in the aisle seat. When drinks came me motioned for a toast, so I oblidged.
We began our inital decent at 23:00, 111mi out, after spending only 24 minutes at cruising altitude. There was moderate turbulance again on decent.
Mints were offered 8min before landing. Flaps down at 23:15, gear down at 23:18. Just as the gear came down the cabin crew did a final water run (yes on final approach!!!)
Touchdown was at 23:22 with "Gate" arrival at 23:25. I was off the plane 3 minutes later and onto a bus to take us the 200m or so to the terminal. As we taxied in, I spotted an IL-76 on the tarmac and they are huge!
I got my bag at 23:48 (waited about 25min) and was then on my way to the hotel.
Now even though the plane probably only had 50-60 people on it, the airline may still have made a profit. Fuel is incredibly cheap, and by my calculations they spend about £415 on fuel for the flight (it is about 7-10p per L) You can fill your car for less than a fiver! 60 passengers at £30 each adds up to £1800 in income. Minus the £415 for the fuel and you get £1385 to pay for landing fees (negligable), crew, food/drink (negligable), and ground staff. So even 1/3 full, it is possible they came out ahead! Crazy when you think the fuel surcharge on a VS flight could be £415 just for you! Yet they paid the same amout for fuel for the ENTIRE flight!
