|
Aircalin review by Paul Stevenson
13 May 2008 Customer Trip Rating : 
SYD-NOU return. What a disappointment-after reading some of the good reviews, I was looking forward
to the trip. The check in at SYD was a disaster-4 economy desks with only one manned until they
could find one more as the economy queue got longer and longer Also the outward journey was delayed
by 45 minutes with little explanation . Once onboard, the cabin crew were condescending if you spoke
no French and the food was stale. The PTV was ok on the A330, but I returned on the A320 which only
had limited audio. This flight was also late. There was hardly any legroom and to top it all off the
bags didn't arrive at the carousel until at least 40 minutes later.
Aircalin review by Peter Sierwald
12 March 2008 Customer Trip Rating : 
SYD-NOU Economy A330. Wonderful flight and service - especially compared to Qantas on the way back!
Great food. Lovely wine and digestif..
Aircalin review by I Heim
20 December 2007 Customer Trip Rating : 
SYD-NOU: We departed with an hour's delay and arrived late, not too bad though. The plane was super,
very new and very clean, the staff attentive and the food great. It was a very French experience,
their English could be improved.
Aircalin review by S Martin
22 May 2007 Customer Trip Rating : n/a
The planes are quite new A320 & 330, roomy and comfortable, featuring
blue lagoon (fishes) seats. Nice PTVs (reliable and good quality screen
and content) in A330. A320 have footrests, adjustable headrest and good
pitch even in economy. Hibuscus business class seats on 320 & 330 are
very good, especially for 2 or 3 hours flights. Meals are good, even on
short flights (NOU-BNE, 1:35) you have a hot meal with choice of 2
dishes if the flight is on lunch or dinner time, if not, a snack or
breakfast. On medium (PPT) to long haul flight (NRT & KIX), you have two
meals. Wines, champagne in business class, liqueur after meals and
aperitif. Overall good FA, although it can really depend : there are
better and worse FA. The check-in is usually efficient, excepted during
christmas holidays : additional flights and Noumea Tontouta's 12 check-
in counters are not enough for 3 flight nearly at the same time.
Boarding is quick, and flight rarely late.
Aircalin review by Bill Atkins
26 February 2007 Customer Trip Rating : n/a
SYD-NOU Business Class. Nice roomy A330 - very clean and well
maintained. Friendly crew - nice champagne and wines but food not up to
much. Pleasant relaxing and uneventful flight.
Aircalin review by Thierry Magnier
31 August 2005
NOU-NRT return. Almost new Airbus A330, good flight entertainment system but the crew
wasn't nice and seem to be inexperienced and not very conscious about safety
(customers walking in the cabin while the seatbelt sign was on). The meals were
similar to low cost airlines and choice of drinks was also very poor. I wish I had the
choice of another airlines between Noumea and Tokyo but unfortunately Air Calin is the
only one on this destination.
Aircalin review by
Steven Morrow
2
December 2004
Brisbane-Noumea-Brisbane. The legroom on the A320 was great. The cabin
service was ok. The entertainment program on both legs was very ordinary and the food abysmal - I
am sure that the sandwiches and cake for the Sunday flight were prepared on Friday - they were
extremely dry and the cucumber in the sandwiches had dried out and pickled itself.
We did see a menu left behind from the previous segment from Auckland - it looked much better. The
quality of food and entertainment really let the airline down.
Aircalin review by
Tony Burns
6
September 2004
As a regular traveller throughout the Pacific for over 30 years, I have found the Aircalin services
especially good.
The check in service is excellent and friendly, the staff helpful for those who don't speak French.
The menus are always a surprise with generous meals and drinks presented in immaculate style.
Their new planes are first class in comparison with the Qantas 767 Sunday afternoon flight from
Noumea to Sydney, where old planes (200 series) and grumpy staff generally bring you back to earth
with all of the finesse of a smack in the face.
Aircalin review by
Geoff Hudson
28
April 2004
Travelled SYD-NOU-SYD with Air Calin. The experience could only be described as brilliant. Take-off was on-time in both directions, food
was very acceptable, in-flight service was impeccable with wine, drinks and quality French brandy
offered to all in economy class. The aircraft was new and very clean.
I would highly recommend them and would definitely fly with them again
Aircalin review by
Adrian Wiseman
25
April 2004
Air Calin AKL-NOU (originally also NOU-AKL as well - but they decided to go on
strike).
Apart from boarding the aircraft (a beautiful A330) and waiting around an hour for who knows what
reason as all passengers were seated and ready for some tropical sunshine and
French culture which
awaited us 3 hours away, it was a pleasant and well done flight.
My Kosher meal was bought to me before take off so I could "break the seal" and it could be heated
up for me - the meal was nice but lacked presentation and creativity of everyone elses
meals - which
looked and smelt divine.
The FA's all very well groomed and with mediocre manors were to some extent inhibited with their
english skills which were good but just hidden behind shyness.
The seats were very comfortable, excellent PTV entertainment with each movie in four languages and
at least 6 options + games - too much for a less than 3 hour flight. The inflight mag was also good
but there wasn't much in the way of newspapers.
Very scenic approach to Noumea - however I was a bit concerned about one of the
stewardess' continuing
a conversation with a passenger she obviously knew for half the flight (not actually doing any thing
else after the meal was served) and continuing it until about 20 seconds to touch
down - way after
the announcement had been made to be seated.
Tantouta airport is not made to handle a full A330 on a summer day, it felt like there was no air
con and the lines were horrendous - made worse with another wait for our bags. Customs was very
relaxed though...as was any laws regarding smoking.
Coming home was a bit of a feat. We turned up at the airport at 5 am after being told that there
was only one previously delayed flight going to AKL due to a flight attendant strike or something
along those lines. We were put up in a rat hotel by the airport by Air Calin until 1am in the
morning when we were all shuttled back to the airport to check in etc (more lines) and a few
hours
later find out that our rescue ride home hadn't even left NZ yet - more waiting in one of the least
entertaining airports in the world. Finally our air NZ plane arrived (on which my boarding pass was
labelled with KSML yet did I get one - pity as I was looking forward to the far more entertaining
Air Calin to carry me home and end my French Fling in my favourite holiday destination with a French
Flair and decent service!
Aircalin review by
Mark Thomson
12
February 2004
I recently travelled Aircalin BNE-NOU-BNE in economy class and cannot report with the same
enthusiasm as other reviewers. The meal out of BNE was served immediately upon take-off and fell
well short of the 'French-style cuisine' advertised on Aircalin's website, consisting of a stale
bread roll, 4 slices of cold meat and a bland lettuce salad. The seat pitch in economy was
reasonable and the PTV's on the A320 offered a good range of options, including movies, games and
destination info. FA's were efficient, though it was obvious that French-speaking passengers were
receiving preferential service. The return flight was delayed by 2 hours due to the crew needing a
rest (bad scheduling?). Meal on the return flight on the smaller 737 was better, again served
immediately upon takeoff. FA's were not to be seen for the rest of the flight once the meal service
was over. No PTV's on the 737 and the entertainment on the main screens was only in French, with no
subtitles. Generally, the experience was very average and I would not be in a hurry to fly Aircalin
again.
Aircalin review by
Yohan Delathiere
22 October 2003
Aircalin NOU-SYD and it was a very pleasant flight. Check-in staff was friendly and helpful.
The meal provided for this early morning flight was very good and plentiful. Got an omelette, with
sausages, French bread, croissant, brioche, fresh fruit, yoghurt, cheese, tea and coffee. There was
also a second round of warm bread and drinks. The cabin crew was very pleasant and smiling. The
plane was their 737-300 and it was a bit run down, but Aircalin is replacing the aircraft with a
brand new A320 in January. Well done Aircalin, you are doing New Caledonia proud.
Aircalin review by
D Tate
20 October 2003
SYD-NOU-BNE in coach and was pleasantly surprised by their product & service.
The aircraft was a brand new A330, cool blue interior (seashell feature), each seat had its personal
tv, reasonable seat pitch given that I'm 6.2ft tall. The check-in staff at NOU were very friendly &
helpful given that I don't speak french!
Aircalin review by Stephane Le Junter
22 September 2003
I have just completed a round rip from Papeete to Osaka via Noumea with Aircalin.
I was extremely surprised by the quality of service provided onboard and on the ground. I
flew their Hibiscus Business class PPT to NOU then coach and I have to say that Aircalin beats
several major airlines I have travelled with during the last few years. The plane used was a brand
new A 330 aircraft and once onboard you can expect to be greeted with warm and friendly smiles from
the flight attendants. The food was plentiful and varied. The entertainment system was tip top.
All in all for very long flights a generally pleasant experience, would definitely consider flying
Aircalin again.
|
PAGE:
1 |
2 | |
Customer Rating = from 1.0 (very poor) to 5.0 (excellent) |
IMPORTANT NOTE
Comments and opinions contained in these pages do not represent the views of Skytrax. All features contain unsolicited input from site visitors, and we
seek to exercise the minimum level of editorial control and censorship to ensure the widest debate and platform for customer opinions. We
will not publish submissions that contain abusive language. We cannot guarantee to publish all opinions submitted.
ADD YOUR COMMENTS HERE
These Review pages are designed to offer guidance and assistance to other travellers, and we ask
respondents to use an "informative" style of comment and share any travel tips for the
airline in question.
Your First Name (or initial) and Family Name, and E-mail address MUST be supplied.
When submitting comments, please DO NOT insert paragraphs.
Please check you use Upper and Lower case only - submissions made all in CAPITALS will
NOT be accepted.
Comment submissions that require extensive text editing CANNOT be published.
|