TRIP REPORT: XL Airways, Paris - Newark
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Written by Mirza
A bit of an unusual report - an obituary
A bit of an unusual report - an obituary
We commemorate exceptional service by devoting extensive reports about aircraft, seats, IFE, meal service… This time I wanted to share my report on XL Airways France - the last flight that departed from Paris CDG. I ended up booking this one-way option on my way to the US from Zagreb.
The first leg was on ČSA with the routing Zagreb – Prague - Paris continuing to Newark on XL. They went bankrupt on September 19 (a “perfect” present for my birthday). However, they did not stop flying; each two or three days they would update a list of flights they would operate within the next few days. Ten days ahead of my flight, it was a stretch to think they would still be operating. However, the 29th came and I was on my way.
For an airline that stopped selling tickets a while ago, the flight was pretty full (cca. 90%). Everything went smoothly - the flight was on time, IFE was ok, imagine they even offered 3D cinema Skylights glasses for 15 euros (if we go, we go in style). In normal circumstances it would be interesting to mention that Airbus 330-200 F-GRSQ had 3+3+3 all economy configuration (only airline having this configuration and operating in ExYu is Air Transat).
This was not the first time that I had a close encounter with bankrupt airlines. On October 2, 2017, at around 5:25 I came to Gatwick to find out that Monarch Airlines ceased all operations. I just turned around took a train to Central London and headed to Heathrow, booked and checked in for my BA flight to Zagreb - the only one for that day at 8:15 AM. There was no place for misconnections for me to be on the new flight as I needed to give a lecture that afternoon. While Monarch was dirty cheap (30 USD for a two-hour flight) it was nice to have back-up with BA Avios (around 7000 Avios plus 25 USD for a last minute booking worth 250 USD).
Farewell, XL. Too bad it had no national government willing to pump in money…
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