Avioimpex (Other airlines...)

Member Name: stmatth

Product:	Other airlines...
Date:	18/08/00 (95 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Get lots to eat

Disadvantages: Not advisable if you don't like Balkan lifestyle

Avio-Impact? No, Impex is socialist slang for "import-export-company", and Avioimpex is one of the airlines of the FYR Macedonia. Don't know if it still exists or has gome bust in the aftermath of NATOs Balkan bombing, though.
I flew from Stuttgart (Germany) to Skopje in May 1998 (a year before Skopje became headquarter of the NATO war), and it was thoroughly enjoyable. The aircraft was an oldish Russian machine, and the pilot seemed very experienced - I have never had such a smooth start and landing, my usual BA, Lufthansa, Sabena or KLM flights always seem to try and shake people a bit to make them feel that they are really flying.
There were no seat numbers - we just had to grab a seat somewhere, and although there was - in principal - a non-smoking and a smoking area, the passengers (mostly Macedonian guest workers living in Germany) did not seem to care that much, soon people were smoking everywhere - and Macedonians do smoke a lot. However, the staff was very helpful and successful in finding a smoke-free seat for a mother and her small child, and although I am usually a bit allergic to smoke, I found that it wasn't actually that bad during the flight - perhaps due to the particular Macedonian brand of tobacco.
The meal was much more filling than the tiny cheap BA sandwiches - and, what's best, it was effectively an "eat as much as you like"-event, because as soon as the meals were served, everybody started to change with their neighbours - where "neighbour" is loosely defined as "everybody else on the plane". Once you had finished your plate, somebody would offer you a bit of his, and if you left over a bit, you could be sure that somebody from the other end of the plane would come along and ask for it. More a Macedonian family feast than a inflight meal.
The ground staff also had a peculiar Balkan way of doing things. We were ready to check in, and the check-in counter was already open, but
the officer informed us, that our type of ticket needed a special stamp that we would only get on a different counter. But: At that other counter, there was nobody. Back to the check-in, enquiring why that stamp was so important: "Well, I don't know either, but the man at the other counter doesn't actually do much beside stamping tickets, so if you don't do it, he doesn't have anything to do." Ah, that explains it.
Yes, I would fly again.

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