Kia Ora! Welcome to the next report in this series of flights down under! This report will cover a Trans-Tasman fight on the LAN Airlines 5th freedom Auckland to Sydney route.
Here is the full routing:
Washington Reagan National DCA ✈ Dallas - Fort Worth DFW : American Airlines, B737-800, Domestic First class
[HERE]
Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok HKG ✈ Singapore Changi SIN : Cathay Pacific, B777-300, Business Class
[HERE]
Singapore Changi SIN ✈ Sydney Kingsford Smith SYD : British Airways, B777-300ER, Premium Economy
[HERE]
Melbourne Tullamarine MEL ✈ Sydney Kingsford Smith SYD : Qantas Airways, B737-800, Business Class
[HERE]
Sydney Kingsford Smith SYD ✈ Christchurch Airport CHC : Qantas Jetconnect, B737-800, Business Class
[HERE]
Queenstown Airport ZQN ✈ Auckland Airport AKL : Air New Zealand, A320-200, Economy Class
[HERE]
Auckland Airport AKL ✈ Sydney Kingsford Smith SYD : LAN Airlines, B787-9, Business Class [THIS REPORT]
Sydney Kingsford Smith SYD ✈ Singapore Changi SIN : British Airways, B777-300ER, Business Class
[HERE]
Singapore Changi SIN ✈ Tokyo Narita NRT : Japan Airlines, B767-300ER, Economy Class
[HERE]
Tokyo Narita NRT ✈ Chicago O'hare ORD : American Airlines, B787-8, Business Class
[HERE]
Although I was not looking forward to leaving Middle-Earth, New Zealand is just such a breathtakingly beautiful country, I was very much looking forward to this flight. This will not only be my first 787 Dreamliner flight ever, but it's on a cool 5th freedom route on the other side of the world!
The night before the flight, I received a text message, voicemail, and e-mail from Qantas (tickets were bought through Qantas.com) advising of a delay on the morning LAN flight due to a late departure from Santiago de Chile. The delay was only an hour so I wasn't too worried about it. I appreciated Qantas' efforts to notify us of this change.
In the morning, we got to the airport about 2 hours prior to the normal scheduled departure. You never know that delays can be shortened if the flight from SCL makes up time in the air so it's important to arrive about on time for normal departure time.
Interesting curbside coffee shop.
Although there was only one family in front of us in the Business class check-in queue, it took the agent a good 15 minutes to get them checked in–maybe this was due to the delay. Only one agent was working the Business class line and none of the Economy check-in agents thought to call us over to shorten the wait. Once we got to the check-in counter, the agent was friendly and efficient. We had a connection from SYD on BA on a separate ticket and she checked our bags through on the BA flight with no problems.
Security was a breeze and we were through and airside in just a few minutes.
The Qantas First and Business lounges are located upstairs. The Emirates lounge is just to the right of the Qantas lounge. Had we been flying Qantas, we would have had access to the Emirates lounge, but because we were flying LAN, we were limited to the Qantas lounges.
Upon entry and check of boarding passes, a friendly agent points us to the First class lounge to our left.
The First class lounge is on the small side, but as there are very few people in the lounge, it is pleasant and cosy.
Large choice of newspapers and magazines are available
Hot food and a decent choice of beer and wine are self-serve. Hard liquor, however, is not available until 11:30AM. Luckily, I wasn't in the mood for a Bloody Mary.
Good champagne is always better than a Bloody Mary anyway, no matter the hour :-)
The hot dishes were closer to lukewarm, but I like that they had Eggs-Benedict.
There is a small work area in a separate room with 4 computer stations. I printed the boarding passes for the BA flight here to save a trip to a transfer desk in SYD.
As I didn't see any FIDS in the First class lounge, around 0800 I went out to ask the lounge agent if she knew the status of the LAN flight to SYD. I had seen online that the inbound flight had arrived at 0640 and figured we would be boarding soon. The agent called the gate and was told that boarding would begin in 10 minutes. Perfect timing!
View of our beautiful LAN 787-9 as we approach the gate.
As I came down the escalator to the gate area, I could see it was a mess in the gate area.
It was bad. Way worse than the usual U.S. Gate Lice mess–this was the most chaotic boarding I'd even seen. There were 2 very long lines of people lined up in from of 2 agents working at gate podiums. I have no idea what all these people were doing in line, maybe getting rebooked for missed connections. Normally, that should have been done in SCL.
Agents looked stressed out and noone was making any announcements. After about 15 minutes of waiting with no information, announcements are made that boarding will begin shortly. Agents make announcements to make room for boarding as there are still two long lines blocking the way. The announcements are made only in English, and it is obvious that a lot of people don't understand.
When boarding begins with Business class, noone can even get to the front to board. The agents just sit there staring into space. Not without difficulty, we were able to make our way to the front for boarding. We ended up being the first on board, which was nice.
As soon as we step on board, the chaos of the gate area is quickly forgotten. Despite the 2-2-2 configuration not affording direct aisle access to all passengers, the cabin is very chic and modern. The grays and reds go well together with the soft mood lighting.
The cabin and seats are spacious.
The IFE screens are nice and large.
My seat in row 3.
Legroom is excellent.
View from my seat
Our neighbor.
As soon as we are settled in, the very friendly FA brings pre-departure drinks. Water and orange juice are the two choices–no champagne, most likely because of the morning hour.
Lovely mood lighting and 787 architectural features.
Menus were already in the seat pocket, but the flight attendant comes to point them out to us in case we hadn't see them.
Let's take a look at the menu.
Two options for main dishes. A charcuterie plate of a plain omelet.
Seat controls
The armrest can come up to create a privacy partition.
The remote control for the IFE is under the armrest along with a universal power outlet and USB port.
Noise cancelling headphones
Window glass controls - unique feature to the 787
Difference between the darkest and lightest setting. The 3 windows in each row are linked so that pressing the button on one of the windows darkens all three.
As boarding continues, Flight Attendants passed out amenity kits. These were very simple kits–I'm guessing these are for short/medium-haul.
Boarding of Economy seemed to take forever. We had already been onboard for almost half an hour and boarding was still in full swing.
The door was finally closed at 0850.
And we pushed back a few minutes later. Announcements on board were made in English and Spanish. The Captain apologized for the delay, but didn't go into detail about the causes.
The Safety video plays during taxi
A beautiful sight for an AvGeek, an Air New Zealand 787-9 in All Blacks livery
Korean Air A333
Air New Zealand A320 landing
Cathay Pacific A343
Behind an Air New Zealand B772ER for departure
We finally took off at at 0915
Auckland CBD in the distance
Some nice scenery on the climb out.
The mood lighting is turned on a few minutes after takeoff. It looks really good IMO.
Quick visit to the restroom. Nothing terribly fancy, but some decent products. Overall, the space isn't as large as I was expecting.
Breakfast was served about a half hour into the flight. There is a hot option and a cold plate, as we saw earlier. Neither one sounded terribly appetizing, but I went for the "plain" omelette. And plain it was! It had no flavor, not even a little bit of salt. I guess that's what the salt and pepper shakers are for, but still, super bland. I would have thought a South American airline would have served something with a little more taste, and spice. The omelette wasn't the only bland item–basically everything on the main dish had no flavor. The Rösti potatoes tasted like watery grits–not crispy as they should have been. And the tomatoes had no seasoning. The croissant, fruit, and pound cake were fine.
The saving grace was the Louis Roederer Brut champagne.
The FAs came regularly to check on drinks and refill champagne.
After the meal, I watched a movie and stretched out.
The seat is great in full-flat position, and it's reasonably easy, if you're in the window seat, to climb over the aisle passenger when in bed mode, as the seat in full-flat mode is low to the ground.
Business cabin, mid flight, with all the windows darkened
Before we know it, we were over Sydney and it was time to land.
The cabin is prepared for landing.
In previous reports, I had mentioned that it was cloudy and rainy every time I land in Sydney. I wasn't kidding…this time is no exception.
Nice diversity of traffic on landing.
Korean Air A388
Garuda Indonesia A333
Singapore A388
Qantas A333
We pass the SQ A380 again to our left.
Air Asia X A333
Sydney CBD
Lineup of Cathay and Qantas tails
Emirates 77W
We park next to Qantas B744 VH-OEJ "Wunala" in special Socceroos livery.
Last view of the cabin
This report ends here. See you soon for the next segment of the BA 5th Freedom flight from Sydney to Singapore.
Thanks for reading!
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Tourism Bonus: New Zealand North Island
After bonus pics of the South Island in the last report, here are some pics from my short few days on the North Island.
Auckland
Mount Eden, a dormant volcano 4km south of the Auckland CBD
The crater
Another volcano across the bay
Auckland Sky Tower, the tallest man-made structure in the Southern Hemisphere.
Auckland Harbour
Hobbiton Movie Set near Matamata, Waikato
While most of the outdoor scenes in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies were filmed in the majestic scenery of the South Island, the setting for Hobbiton, and the Shire is the rolling hills of the North Island.
Bag End
Rotorua
Rotorua is the capital of New Zealand's Maori culture, as well as being famous for its geothermal hot springs.
Private lakefront geothermal pool at Polynesian Spa. So relaxing.
Hello Kevin
Thank you for this FR.
Breakfast without taste, that's disappointing !
Hopefully the delay didn't impact your connection with the BA flight. At least the check-in agent was able to check you luggage through to SIN.
Nice bonus :)
Thanks Kevin! I had plenty of time in SYD (originally 8 hours), so I wasn't worried about the connection to the BA flight. Originally, I was going to go to the into the city for a few hours with such a long connection, but just ended up spending more time in the QF First lounge :-)
Thanks for sharing another beautiful report Kevin!
Pretty frustrating check-in experience from the sound of it. Only 1 premium line looks like poor planning on their part.
Interesting curbside coffee shop.
- It looks like one of the those old toasters from a 50s kitchen.
Hard liquor, however, is not available until 11:30AM” and “but I like that they had Eggs-Benedict
- National law? Like state laws prohibiting alcohol sale on Sundays before noon? The lounge does look small, but I can't imagine there is too much traffic through AKL on OW (emeralds). I wouldn’t have expected to see a separate F lounge at all TBH. How did the yolks hold up just sitting out?
maybe getting rebooked for missed connections. Normally, that should have been done in SCL.
- What is the transit procedure in AKL? The ex-SCL passengers were deplaned?
The grays and reds go well together with the soft mood lighting.
- A very nice cabin to the eyes. This 2-2-2 is not ideal, but better than most of the other 2-2-2 products out there. This cabin colors would look even better with Cirrus seats. I like that the armrests raise that high to create a privacy screen, but it also takes away your ability to use the armrest.
The 3 windows in each row are linked so that pressing the button on one of the windows darkens all three.
- I was in a bulkhead in Y that gets 2 windows and I also noticed this feature. This is both good and bad IMO. If you only want to undim one window to quick grab some shots out the window, you don't want all three windows undimmming and blinding the cabin.
These were very simple kits--I'm guessing these are for short/medium-haul.
- Nice gesture, not as good as QF, but given a day flight more than adequate. Reminds me of how EY would give the long-haul Y kit on fifth-freedoms in J.
Neither one sounded terribly appetizing
- The meal looks very bland from the pictures with a lack of color on any of the food (from cooking the potatoes or tomatoes). Often when I see plain omelets it is a cheese omelet, so you lucked out by avoiding some lactose ;) Some fresh Chilean salsa would have looked much better with the eggs. Your breakfast in the lounge was far more appealing ;)
So... how was your first B787? Was it as fancy as the hype or did just feel normal? I've never really been impressed, but I will admit my eyes do feel less dry on them. And the B789s are pretty, especially in the All Blacks livery.
Thanks for this beautiful report !
I was not looking forward to leaving Middle-Earth, New Zealand is just such a breathtakingly beautiful country
- I cried for real when I left New-Zealand, I was so sad to leave this breathtaking country.
Very nice cabin !
And quite nice trans-tasman flight, unfortunately the catering wasn't as expected...
The B789 is much more beautiful than the little brother -8. I saw the B789 All Black livery when I was in Auckland, he is super beautiful :)
See you soon !
Thanks for your comments!
I cried for real when I left New-Zealand, I was so sad to leave this breathtaking country.
- Oh, I totally understand! Plus you were living there for a few months right? It would be soooo hard to leave if I'd been there for that long.
Very nice cabin! And quite nice trans-tasman flight, unfortunately the catering wasn't as expected
- Yeah, it doesn't really get any better product wise on the Trans-Tasman route, except for Emirates A380 maybe.
The B789 is much more beautiful than the little brother -8.
- Yes! So much better looking. The 787-8 looks too stumpy
Thanks for stopping by!
Exactly ! I lived in New Zealand during 4 months (only...) but really really hard to leave yes...
Lovely report-- we too have always had nice experiences on LAN/TAM on our way down to Paraguay (in my pre- F-R days...) I got a good chuckle at the hot mess at the gate...seems to be standard operating procedure for Latin American carriers from our experiences. Somehow, it always works out in the end and at the very last moment :)
Danke!
I got a good chuckle at the hot mess at the gate...
- It was a hot mess! I don't have enough experience with South American carriers to say what's typical, but in my head I was like of, course, typical! which is an awful thing to think, I know.
Somehow, it always works out in the end and at the very last moment :)
- Yep! Well, it certainly makes it more interesting.
Thanks for your comments!
Thanks for the FR.
I understand the excitment of flying a new aircraft on 5th freedom right flight.
How did you like that 787? Did it flex it for mama?
Visiting the EK lounge would have been another nice touch of exotism indeed.
The cabin does look classy but the seats somehow look of an older generation.
In spite of everything, it seems the flight on QF JetKonnect was better, but it was on a 737...
Yes, that Dreamliner had some good wingflex! LOL
Visiting the EK lounge would have been nice! Oh, well, maybe next time!
The cabin does look classy but the seats somehow look of an older generation.
- That's my same feeling. I like the look and colors, but it doesn't seem cutting edge. Nevertheless, I find is generally aesthetically pleasing.
In spite of everything, it seems the flight on QF JetKonnect was better, but it was on a 737...
- Yes, Qantas had better service overall, but of course, the 737 cabin can't compare to a dreamliner. If the QF soft product could be combined with the LA Dreamliner, it would be perfect!
Thanks for the FR!
When I saw the report picture, I was almost sure it was another MAD-FRA or FRA-MAD on LAN but I was wrong!
This cabin looks really nice and I love the fact that they have proper ottomans and not tiny cubicles like in some other airlines.
Catering look really good but if it was as plane as you described it, it's really sad.
I like the idea of the armrest going up for partitionning the space since you don't need the partition while seated but you need the armrest and it's the opposite when lying down.
Thanks again for sharing this other great LAN's 5th freedom.
Thanks for your comments!
When I saw the report picture, I was almost sure it was another MAD-FRA or FRA-MAD on LAN
- Haha, yeah, there are a lot of those! Shows how popular LAN 5th Freedom flights are.
This cabin looks really nice and I love the fact that they have proper ottomans and not tiny cubicles like in some other airlines.
- Yes, it really adds to the spacious feeling. Having small cubbies for feet can be constricting.
Catering did look good visually, but lacked any kind of flavor, sadly.
I like the idea of the armrest going up for partitionning
-Yes, it's perfect when lying down, so you have a bit more privacy.
Thank you Kevin for sharing this exclusive and unique FR on LA's 787.
The check-in experience is a let down and the mob scene at the gate compounded to the negative impression. Thankfully once onboard things improved with a good inflight crew.
Personally I don't like the warm tones in the cabin. I would have preferred the previous blue tones that were much more soothing. No pisco for pre-dept.?
The meal is disappointing, but at least your omelette was miles better than the breakfast travesty that I was served when I flew with them from LIM-SFO in J.
Gorgeous spotting and bonus as always.
Thanks Adan!
exclusive and unique FR on LA's 787
- Ooh, you make it sound so fancy! I like it :-P
The check-in experience is a let down and the mob scene at the gate compounded to the negative impression.
- Yes, it was unfortunate, but I didn't really let it ruin the experience. To be honest, I wasn't surprised by the chaos at the gate which made it easier to handle. Plus, I'm used to plowing my way through gate lice in the U.S., I just had to do it in Spanish, lol
Personally I don't like the warm tones in the cabin. I would have preferred the previous blue tones that were much more soothing
- I like the color palette of the cabin--I find it to be more authentically Latin. Whereas the light blue tones of the older cabins seem kind of generic to me, albeit pleasant to the eye.
No pisco for pre-dept.?
- Hah! No...I didn't even think about that! Now I feel ripped off haha. It would have been nice
but at least your omelette was miles better than the breakfast travesty that I was served
- LOL, It was a real hot breakfast, and that deserves credit. With a little salt it was ok. I get that airlines are reluctant to have too much salt or spice in the food as some people don't like that. So they rather make food bland and let you season to your taste.
Thanks for your comments Adan!
Hi Kevin, great report!
Too bad that the meal was disappointing, however at least you got a good crew, which certainly makes the flight better!
As boarding continues, Flight Attendants passed out amenity kits. These were very simple kits--I'm guessing these are for short/medium-haul.
Yes, they give some nice Ferragamo kits on longer flights.
Great pics of NZ by the way! I hope I have the chance to visit that part of the world in the near future!
cheers,
Thanks for your comments!
Yes, a good crew always makes the experience better and can make up for shortcomings elsewhere in the product.
Yes, they give some nice Ferragamo kits on longer flights.
- A Ferragamo kit would have been a waste on a short flight like this. I'm glad that they have an amenity kit at all. Most airlines don't on medium-haul.
NZ is probably the most beautiful country I've ever been to. I definitely recommend a trip there.
Thanks for stopping by!