This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
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Cabin Crew
Airside 4 was very busy at this time with a total of 7 flights (VS to LGW and MAN, 2x BA to LGW, Norwegian to Oslo, Lufthansa to Frankfurt and TAM to Sao Paulo). With about 45mins to go, boarding commenced and we took our seats in the bubble - I was in 23K - where sparkling wine was offered along with a choice of the 'i' or the Daily Mail. Boarding was complete on time and the captain made an announcement welcoming us on board. He explained that the flight time was "longer than usual" but mentioned we would still arrive on time, so I took it as there being no tailwinds tonight which often result in earlier arrivals, as well as claiming that the weather made for "perfect flying conditions" which, as I will explain later, wasn't entirely true.
We took off and whilst waiting for the evening meals to come round, I watched Star Wars on the IFE over a Tiger beer before opting for the penang vegetable curry option. After this was consumed, I finished watching the film and then decided to settle down for some sleep.
As I was tired, I was asleep for pretty much until about 45mins before arrival back into MAN. The only events being at least 3 instances of turbulence, which by my definition wasn't exactly perfect flying conditions as the captain suggested earlier...unless the weather changed in between boarding at MCO and flying through the pockets of turbulence?
Anyway, soon enough we started our descent and we were on the ground into Manchester ever so slightly behind schedule, but thankfully we didn't have to circle the skies directly above my house as is sometimes the case if MAN is busy. Upon arrival on stand, we disembarked, cleared immigration in a reasonable amount of time and the baggage was soon coming through on the carousels in order of UC, PE and Economy. As my bags were one of the first of the PE batch off, I said my farewells to my friend and went up to departures for my lift back home.
Overall, it was another great PE experience. As mentioned in my first TR, I am flying this route again in September in PE and I have noted the reports about the number of cabin crew being reduced, so it will be interesting to see how much this effects the quality of the service offered to passengers.