BALIX
17th Nov 2003, 05:19
Encountered bmi's transatlantic service last week on a trip from MAN to IAD and back. Overall, I was very impressed with the level of service provided, the sheer volume of inflight entertainment and the quality of the food which was excellent, despite being in steerage class both ways (really must try and blag an upgrade next time to see how it compares ;) ) Oh, and the cameras in the nose and belly that relayed live pictures to the PTVs were cool!
Slightly less impressed with the seats, some of which has metal boxes underneath that restricted the legroom of the person behind (ie, me on the outbound leg). Not sure what is contained in those boxes but perhaps it could be contained somewhere else... This was my first time on an A330 so perhaps they are all like that.
Onto the cabin crew - they were smart, attentive and polite but, I have to say, not overly friendly. The only real thing I had a problem with, however, was on the way back after the meal had been served and cleared up. Faced with three hours of nothing to do, a number of them congregated at the back of the aircraft and had a right good gossip, their voices carrying a long way and making the difficult job of getting some kip even harder. Also, whilst it was no skin off my nose (ooer), having an overtly gay steward prattling on about how much he fancied Colin Farrell was not, I suspect, something many people wanted to hear.
The flight seemed full on the way out but I would guess that less than a hundred were onboard on Thursday's return flight. This gave us a bit of room to spread out and made things much more comfy even though we were bounced around for a good hour over Newfoundland at FL410.
I would definitely recommend bmi as a transatlantic carrier. Flew Delta earlier this year who weren't bad but not in the same league. Hope they will expand their services a bit. Hey guys, how about one out of Glasgow so I don't have to bother with that tedious tranfer at Manchester business :ok:
Slightly less impressed with the seats, some of which has metal boxes underneath that restricted the legroom of the person behind (ie, me on the outbound leg). Not sure what is contained in those boxes but perhaps it could be contained somewhere else... This was my first time on an A330 so perhaps they are all like that.
Onto the cabin crew - they were smart, attentive and polite but, I have to say, not overly friendly. The only real thing I had a problem with, however, was on the way back after the meal had been served and cleared up. Faced with three hours of nothing to do, a number of them congregated at the back of the aircraft and had a right good gossip, their voices carrying a long way and making the difficult job of getting some kip even harder. Also, whilst it was no skin off my nose (ooer), having an overtly gay steward prattling on about how much he fancied Colin Farrell was not, I suspect, something many people wanted to hear.
The flight seemed full on the way out but I would guess that less than a hundred were onboard on Thursday's return flight. This gave us a bit of room to spread out and made things much more comfy even though we were bounced around for a good hour over Newfoundland at FL410.
I would definitely recommend bmi as a transatlantic carrier. Flew Delta earlier this year who weren't bad but not in the same league. Hope they will expand their services a bit. Hey guys, how about one out of Glasgow so I don't have to bother with that tedious tranfer at Manchester business :ok: