Longhaul Flights Appraisal

[mcgillianaire]

Since my arrival in Montreal I have now flown with five different long-haul aircraft carriers in my quest to get home to Oman and back. By far and without a doubt the best of these has been British Airways and the worst, Al Italia. Inbetween there has been Lufthansa, Swiss and Air Canada. There's only KLM and Air France left to try out... :)

I definitely recommend flying British Airways, but the only problem with their flights to Oman is the untimely arrival in London Heathrow with respect to my connecting flight to Muscat - otherwise for pure service, comfort and airport quality, they outscore all the others quite comfortably.

Economy class, no doubt. In business/club and first class there is a lot less difference between the airlines, although I must admit I've only flown it once on BA and once on Lufthansa so I can't say for sure about them.

This week I flew with Swiss International, for the first time since the previous carrier Crossair/Swissair closed down a couple years ago. Initially I wasn't looking forward to the 6 hour transit in Zurich but luckily Switzerland has virtually the same visa regulations as other EU countries so getting out without a visa was not a problem. As such I was able to meet up with a friend who I hadn't seen in a couple years and she was able to show me and a couple friends from my highschool around the city. It's such a pretty little town set amidst a beautiful lake, snow capped mountains in the distance and a chilly fresh air...

The major downer with Swiss are its tiny seats. I had a very uncomfortable journey from Muscat to Zurich but the 2nd leg to Montreal was much better... or maybe it was the presence of a aesthetically pleasing passenger sitting next to me. ;)

The movie choices are amazing in BA, pathetic in Lufthansa, Air Canada and Al-Italia and several but old with Swiss. BA always has the latest movies on offer which has me confused why the others can't follow suit...

What I did enjoy about Swiss the most however was its choice of games. I must've spent a good 2-3 hours playing Who Wants to be a Millionaire along with several rounds of Multiplayer Trivia and other goodies...

Moral of the Story, take BA for longhaul flights.

Comments

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

yeh, ive heard a lot bout the toronto-delhi route. that's an amazing one but from the ones i know whove taken it, more often than not they've had to make stopovers in places like stockholm or rejaivik (sp?) for extra fuel.

the other problem with heathrow is when u've not got much time and need to transfer terminals. need i say more...

you've got me hooked onto taking singapore!!! that's unfuckingbelieveable service!!! blimey! i'm quite shocked cuz it's been well over 15 years since i flew it and i cant really say i remember what it was like when i was 5.

and i havent been to changi but i keep hearing so much bout it. why did u find kl's 'port better?

yeh, pacific routes dont really make much sense unless ure traveling from the west coast. or to me at least.

[ungarsfragile.livejournal.com]

I thought KL was a little fresher and a little less manufactured, i like the way they integrate windows and greenery into the terminals.

Singapore was fantastic when I took it, but the flight is loooong. The run was calgary->vancouver->taipei->singapore->madras, and it was around 30 hours if I recall correctly. Europe is faster by at least four hours.