An airline you've probably never heard of (Novair)

Member Name: kingseany

Product:	Novair
Date:	23/03/04 (491 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Polite / friendly staff, Multi-lingual

Disadvantages: Drinks not free, Not that comfortable, Limited routes

I'd never heard of Novair until we recently took a flight from Stockholm Arlanda to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. I'm not sure how useful this review will be for you as you are unlikely to fly with them unless you are based in one of the Scandinavian countries such as Sweden, Norway or Denmark. Novair flies from various airports in Scandinavia to destinations such as Fuerteventura, Tenerife, Kos etc as well as places further afield including Thailand, the Dominican Republic and India. They are a small airline, only flying some 1/2 million passengers each year on a fleet of just seven aircraft. The aircraft they use are Boeing B737-800, Airbus A321-200 and the newest being the Airbus A330-200.

We flew on the latter, being built as recently as the year 2000. This is one of the largest aircraft we have flown on, with a capacity of 371 passengers, 2 pilots and 10 cabin crew. The seats were laid out in threes, with nine seats wide in total - and two narrow gangways. These aircraft have a maximum range of 9200km, so are designed for long-haul flights.

Baggage allowance is 20kg per person, which includes hand baggage - although they didn't weigh it. Surprisingly they also didn't ask the usual questions about sharp objects or whether we packed the bags ourselves...We were allocated seats, but found we were seperated by the aisle, and would have thought they could have done better than this considering we were one of the first in the check-in.

There was some delay for takeoff, of almost an hour, but we were always informed. After facing a 10hour flight, there's nothing more annoying than being delayed though. Once we had taken off though, the safety video was shown - there are numerous screens throughout the centre of the aircraft, and on the whole if everyon
e is seated, you can see it fine. The video was shown in both Swedish and English - although I'm not sure there were any other English speakers except me on board. The video screens later showed maps and technical details during the times when the films weren't being screened. This was useful, so we could see exactly where we were (mostly over the Atlantic), also our altitude, ETA, outside air temp etc (-60 at times!!) During our flight we were informed that we had to change route and land in Bermuda to re-fuel, due to shortages in the Dominican Republic. This would add another hour and a half to the journey at least. Fortunately (although it would have been nice to see Bermuda) the crew managed to sort this out on the way, and we were soon back on course again.

The crew as with all airlines seem to be busy - and with 37 passengers to each crew member, it's understandable. It's dissappointing these days to find that getting you to spend more and more seems more important than providing a good service. What I mean by this is the duty free and bar service seemed to be top priority, and free teas and coffees were thin on the ground. Children and those with special dietry requirements were served first, a good idea I thought, but made us hungrier waiting. I'd have liked a cuppa within 30 mins of takeoff, but it seemed like hours before it arrived, and after the first meal. The meal was ok, chicken as I remember, along with a starter salad and desert too. Teas and coffees were handed out afterwards, a a top up 5 minutes later. All other drinks were chargable, including water - seemed a bit harsh on such a long flight. Another light meal was provided later on in the journey, which again wasn't too bad as airline food goes. The bar prices weren't too bad, and we were able to pay on a card towards the end of the jo
urney, rather than each time we ordered. I'd say the crew were quite friendly, I didn't notice anyone particularly flustered or "in a bad mood".

Three reasonably recent films were shown, but if you wanted to hear them, headphones cost you (we used our own though). At times it was difficult to see the screens as queues would often build up due to the crew serving drinks, and no-one could pass. The seats in the middle were best for viewing, as no-one could get in your way. IF you prefered to listen to music, there were 10 or so channels available providing a good selection of different genres.

I've never found any aircraft particularly comfortable, and this was no exception. Although the seats recline, they were small and sleeping was out of the question. Blanket and pillow were provided but didn't really give much extra comfort. There were plenty of toilets down the stairs, and they were reasonably clean, even towards the end of the journey.

Tourist visas were handed out to everyone before landing, so plenty of time to fill them out, saving time at the airport. These were in Spanish, but a sample translated was also provided - good thinking. They also handed out booklets showing all the things you could buy duty free, with any orders placed being delivered to your seat on the return flight. We took advantage of this and it worked quite well.

So all in all, not too bad as airlines go.

More information about Novair can be found at http://www.novair.net/ The site is in 4 languages including English.

Summary: