THE FLIGHT
Hello everyone!
About one month and half ago I started talking with my parents about going to visit Airbus Factory in Toulouse and they agreed to make it be my Christmas gift :D
I booked the plane about three weeks before leaving with easyJet, which seemed to be the best solution in term of price and time
The only alternative was with Alitalia which costs about 110€ instead of 79€ I payed for this flights
I also booked a very nice and cheap hotel close to the Matabiau Railway Station, 15 minutes walking from the city center
One week before leaving I checked-in through EZY app
That's the itinerary
2nd December Rome-Fiumicino FCO - Toulouse-Blagnac TLS (YOU ARE HERE)
4th December Toulouse-Blagnac TLS - Rome-Fiumicino FCO (here)
My parents brought me to Leonardo da Vinci Airport about one hour and half before departure. Having only cabin baggage and BP I didn't need extra time
Since we live close to Rome Great Ring Road we arrived at the airport in about half a hour
Fiumicino Airport Motorway (A92)
New welcome sign at the entrance of the airport
Unfortunately all that poles obstruct the photo
As soon as the rest of my family was leaving for a trip in Tuscany they left me at the Drop-Off without parking
Terminal 1, which hosts AZ and SkyTeam flights to short and medium haul destinations
Terminal 2 (on the right) used by some low cost carriers as FR, and Terminal 3 (on the left) with the ATC tower recently refurbished
Terminal 3, FCO's main terminal and base for EZY flights
It hosts most of Internationl and AZ long haul flights
The check-in hall is large and bright
Very nice and huge FIDS
My flight was reported to be on-time and the boarding would took place at gate D5
I headed directly to the security checkpoint
The whole area, recently renovated, has been equipped with eGates to check BPs and tables to prepare in advance the baggage
I remember how this area was dark, cramped and caothic 4/5 years ago
As soon as there was no queue I went airside in less than 5 minutes
On the left there is passport control for non-Schenghen flights and on the right all the other gates
The day before Gates G-H had been renamed respectively Gate E31-44 and E51-61 due the upcoming opening the new pier and boarding area
Other FIDS
Also this area was quite cramped and caothic in the previous years but it has been renovated totally
Moreover passport control desks' number has risen and Automatic Border Control for ePassport holders have been installed
The fire broken out in May 2015 gave the airport a good pulse for renovations
My destination
The new international pier ready to be open
The boarding area D hosts most of European flights while AZ uses mostly area B
I went upstairs to Gusto Café to drink something and to make some photos
The sight is towards Pier B and AZ technical zone so I could only spot AZ tails
Pier B
Alitalia Triple-7 in new livery parked inside engine testing area
Some AZ A320s in both new and old livery and BV 767 at remote stands
Having about 45 minutes before boarding I decided to make a walk towards boarding area C
I found a good window to take some photos
FR 737 and TP A320 at Pier D
AZ A320s at Pier B
AZ A320 EI-DTJ in special livery equipped with thoughts and phrases written by AZ employees
This quite nice idea was made before the launch of AZ new brand in June 2015
Lufthansa A320 departing to Munich (seen on FlightRadar)
Meanwhile EI-DTJ left the gate to depart to Munich too
AZ new livery is totally AMAZING :) loving it
Germanwings A319 just landed from Cologne
Old-style Pier B
Norwegian.com 737 departing from RWY 25 to Oslo
Swiss A320 departing to Zurich
Czech Airlines A319 departing to Prague
One of my love :D Emirates 777 departing to Dubai
As soon as boarding time was close I came back to my Gate, which was changed from D5 to D6
Even if there was a quite big queue the plane wasn't full
Going down the jetway
Our plane, G-EZBU, delivered on March 2007
AZ A320 and FR 737 departing at the same time
Who will win the race? XD
Finally on board
I gave the flight report form to the Purser and I headed to my seat
As soon as the plane wasn't full (76% of load factor) I took the entire row 5 for me
Quite tight pitch for me (I'm 1,82 in height)
The view from my seat inside the plane…
…and outside
The pushback was on time and we were on our way to RWY25, generally used for departures at FCO
Germanwings departing
And our turn to go
Terminal 3 expansion: new departure lounge (left) and New Pier (right)
The new departure lounge will host 8 bus gates (E1-8) and a large shopping area with Italian luxury brands and food excellences
The pier will contain 14 gates (E11-24), 4 of which capable to handle the A380
The Satellite (Gates E31-44), currently the only building handling international departures
Qatar Airways 787, Royal Air Maroc 737 and Alitalia A330 and A320s
At remote stands there were also AZ 777 and Etihad A330
Overpassing RWY 16R-34L, mainly used for landing of heavies
The town of Fiumicino
Banking over Roman Coastline
Flying over clouds above Tyreean Sea
EZY Winglet
Unfortunately the sun ruined some of the pics :/
Moreover the window was quite scratchy
The Purser came to my seat to give me back the flight report very well filled
I always appreciate the availabilty of some crews
Approaching French Coastline
French countryside while starting to descent
Toulouse peripheric neighborhoods approaching TLS
We landed on time at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport
Airbus area in the distance
The beutifully-ugly A300 Beluga
British Airways A320, TUIFly 737 and Iberia Express CRJ
Air France A320s
No doubts about where we are
Turkish Airlines A321
EasyJet A320s and HOP! CRJ while parking
Blocking on time but we won't desembark through the jetway
Last views of our bird taking the paxbus
Airbus Delivery Center in the distance
We were brought by the paxbus to the Terminal were a passport control was done
This is done as result of the terroristic attacks in Paris and Nice
It took about 10 minutes
Welcome to Toulouse! Bienvenue!
Air France A320 with Paris2024 promotional logo
The arrivals hall
I took the Tramway 2 to the city center and in about 40 minutes I reached my hotel ready to enjoy Toulouse
In the TR of the return flight I will post some bonus pics of AIrbus Plant and Aeroscopia Museum
See you next ;)
AEROSCOPIA MUSEUM AND "LET'S VISIT AIRBUS A380"
The factory is located in the northern part of Toulouse-Blagnac Airport and it's easily reachable by Tram 1
Let's visit Airbus consits in a bus tour around A380 assembly line and a view of the builiding's inside from a terrace
Unfortunately photos are strictly forbidden
Two of the three A380s parked inside were destined to Emirates while the third was of former SkyMark Airlines
Airbus A350 destined to Lufthansa waiting for engines
Inside Aeroscopia Museum
Airbus A300B4
Inside A300
Cockpit
Business Class
Economy Class
Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde
Inside the Concorde
Seats seems very tight
Beluga's ancestor
Aero Spacelines "Super Guppy"
Last Concorde to fly
Withdrawn for use the 27th June 2003
The end of an era
Air Inter Sud Aviation Caravelle
Airbus A400M
The day after in Toulouse Place du Capitole
A Beluga flew over the city and a lot Toulousaine recognize it and looked at the sky
I think is something very familiar if you live in Toulouse
Thanks for sharing this FR!
I like how the paint on the engine cowlings has worn off to say “EasyJ”
“AZ new livery is totally AMAZING :) loving it”
- Couldn’t agree more, a very subtle change, but the silhouetting is great.
Of the European LCCs, U2 is probably the one that find the most appealing. Their cabins aren’t too grossly overdone with ads and the seats look decent. Also, the newly renovated parts of FCO are really nice, some of the older areas of the airport are still in extremely poor condition.
Thank you for your appreciation ;) I agree with you about U2 but I don't understand why they say the plane is full and ask for baggages to be send even if there is enough space for all
Even FR become more tolerant I think
About FCO you're right there are still many thinks to do but living here and using this airport quite often make me see the differences in a short time
If they continue working with this rhythm in 4/5 years we will have hopefully a very European-level competitive hub
In the FR about return flight I will post some other pics of some good renovations of T3 ;)
Nice one.. :)