Dazbo5 From United Kingdom, joined Mar 2005, 991 posts, RR: 0 Posted (2 years 6 months 6 days 23 hours ago) and read 22746 times:
Onur Air Flight OHY380 1st September 2006, Manchester (MAN/EGCC) – Dalaman - Mugla International Airport (DLM / LTBS), Turkey. Friday
Flight Details:
Date: 1st September 2006
Departure Airport: Manchester International (MAN/EGCC) Terminal 2
Airline: Onur Air
Flight: OHY380
Equipment: Airbus A300B4-605R
Registration: TC-OAH
Departure Gate: 300C
Destination Airport: Dalaman - Mugla International Airport (DLM / LTBS), Turkey
Seat: 5C
Scheduled Departure: 1100
Actual Departure: 1240
Scheduled Flight Time: 3hrs 50mins
Actual Flight Time: 4 hrs
Scheduled Arrival: 1650 (GMT +2)
Actual Arrival: 1840 (GMT +2)
I’m off on my travels again! After booking this holiday back on 31st October 2005, it was a long 5 months to wait before the day arrived for my fourth visit to Icmeler, Turkey. Originally, we were booked on a Pegasus Airlines flight from Manchester, departing at 2300. For some reason, this flight was cancelled and changed to Onur Air 6 weeks prior to departure. I would have preferred to fly with Pegasus considering Onur Air’s reputation and recent issues, but I always give things the benefit of the doubt until I’ve experienced things for myself. It also meant I’d get my first ride in an Airbus A300B4-605R and it would be a daylight flight so I could get a few photos, providing I got a window seat that is.
After all the troubles in August 2006 with airport security, I was pleased to see things had been relaxed for baggage allowance and hand luggage. I know security is paramount, but part of my enjoyment of travel is taking my camera equipment with me to snap away out of the aircraft window and take my underwater video equipment for scuba diving. I was determined these mindless idiots who caused all the security issues, regardless of their reasons for doing it, would not effect my holiday in any way. If they did, it would mean they’ve won and I was going do all I could to make sure that didn’t happen.
After weeks of trying, there was no way I was going to be able to take my marine video housing on the aircraft as hand luggage as I have done over the previous 4 years. I tried contacting Onur Air, firstly by email then by telephone to explain the situation and ask them if I could have extra ‘hold’ luggage allowance in lieu of hand luggage. I would pay excess baggage if required. The camera weights in at just over 7 kg. I’ve never had a problem with airlines in the past once I’ve explained the camera fits under the seat in front, but since I wouldn’t be able to do this, the only way I could take it was in my suitcase. Well, I got no response from the airline so that was that, no underwater filming on this trip.
After all the problems with trying to get the camera to Turkey, and failing, the holiday had got off to a bad start. The taxi picked us up promptly at 0715 for the 1 hour drive to Manchester Airport. The M61 was very busy as usual but we made steady progress and got to the airport for about 0830. We got dropped off at departures in terminal 2 to find we were to check-in at desks 209-212 which are located by the new Excel desks in the arrivals hall. That’s a first; checking in at arrivals. I didn’t expect to be in that part of the terminal for another 2 weeks! The queue wasn’t too bad considering we were travelling on the largest aircraft in the Onur Air fleet, a 315 seat Airbus A300B4-605R. I was quite looking forward to it since it would be my first ride in an A300B4-605R, but a little apprehensive given their reputation. 20 minutes in the queue, and it was our turn to check-in. We handed the check-in agent our passports and tickets and she had a good look at them, not surprising with the heightened security. To my surprise, I was asked if I was sure that the passport I’d given was mine! She said the photo didn’t look like me and preceded to ask me some personal details, date of birth etc, to try and catch me out and make sure it was me. The passport is 8 years old so I know I’ve changed a little, less hair than I had then, but the photo still looks like me! She was satisfied with the answers and we checked in without too much fuss. I quickly checked the boarding cards and my heart sunk; seats 5C-E. No window seat! As much as I love flying, part of the enjoying for me is looking out of the window and taking photo’s. That wouldn’t be possible on this flight.
With the extra security at the airport and warning of big queues, we decided to go straight through to the departure lounge. It was about 9am and the flight wasn’t leaving for another 2 hours, but we were expecting it to take a while to get through security. We didn’t think the queue would be as big as the one that greeted us though. It was huge! The end of the queue was back in the check-in area, snaking its way up and down the shopping area landside in T2. This was going to take some time. It took around 60 minutes in total before we got to the security checkpoint. Once at security, we were asked to take belts and shoes off. We’ve had to do this in the past, but things were way more stringent than normal. We all passed through with no hassle. I got searched but that’s nothing new!
Once in the departure lounge, it was time to see what aircraft were around. Out came the camera! The terminal was very busy with the usual transatlantic schedule and charter flights all lined up; VS075 747-400 for Orlando, US197 A330-323X for Philadelphia, PK717 747-240 for Lahore and the usual Excel, Thomsonfly and First Choice charters.
US197 being prepared for its flight to Philadelphia
First Choice Airways G-OOBM 767-324/ER, I flew to Cuba on this in March 2006
We were just in time to see the aircraft we were to be flying to Dalaman on taxi in and park on remote stand 217; we would be travelling on TC-OAH. It landed a little behind schedule, about 20 minutes, not too bad.
After a good look at the apron and a look around duty free, our flight was called for boarding from gate 300C at 1030. We proceeded to the gate where the two Delta flights to Atlanta and JFK were also boarding from, 300A and D respectively. The other Onur Air flight of the day, OHY508 to Bodrum was boarding from 300B. It got a little crowded but things soon eased as busses ferried passengers to awaiting aircraft. Everything was set, all the busses were lined up and the agents were at the desk ready, but we didn’t seem to be going anywhere fast. 11am came and went, so did 1130 and so did 1200. Finally, at 1215 our flight was called for boarding. I was expecting a slight delay since the aircraft landed a little late, but not as long as this. There was no indication of a delay by the ground staff and when questioned, they couldn’t provide any information as to why there was a delay. It would be apparent when we boarded the aircraft but I’ll leave that until later!
The Bodrum flight being prepared
We were called to board by row number. Since we were in row 5, we were on the last bus. After a 2 minute bus ride around the apron, the aircraft came in to view. She was gleaming in the Manchester sun and looked quite smart in the new livery. We boarded from the only set of steps by the L2 door. It made a first for me to get on an aircraft and turn left! It wouldn’t be business class unfortunately but I still turned left! The front section of the aircraft only had 8 rows so it was nice and cosy up front. Seating is arranged in columns of 3 (3-3-3) for the most part, the rear of the aircraft is 2-3-2 as the fuselage starts to narrow. First impressions of the aircraft were quite positive; seat pitch is 30” so there’s a decent amount of legroom. There isn’t any IFE on these aircraft, just a screen positioned on the bulkheads showing airline advertisements and flight information such as ground speed and a moving map of our current position. However, things started to go downhill from this point.
The huge CF6-80C2A5 power plant that produces 61,500 lb of thrust
Everyone took their seats and the doors were closed in preparation for take off. All announcements were made in both Turkish and English. I know this is a Turkish airline, but the clientele is English holidaymakers and the Turkish accent combined with a poor, crackling PA system made the announcement difficult and sometimes impossible to comprehend. We pushed back at 1230 for the trip down to runway 24R. Our scheduled departure of 11am would have meant taking off from 24L but since 24L closes to traffic between 1200-1500, 24R it was. The safety announcement was made during the 10 minute taxi to the runway. The briefing was poor by most airline standards. A combination of the poor PA system, the announcement being rushed and accent made it virtually impossible to understand the safety procedures. It’s less of a problem for frequent fliers, but for those who were flying for the first time or are not regular flyers, important information will have been missed. There wasn’t a safety card in my seat either so there was nothing to refer to. Once the announcement was complete, I was expecting the crew to make a final tour of the cabin to ensure the cabin was prepared for take off before they took their seats. To my surprise, all the cabin crew disappeared in to the galley located in the centre of the aircraft behind row 8 and the curtains drawn. As we taxied on to the runway for take off, there were no crew in the crew seats by any of the doors. I’ve never seen doors unmanned during take off or landing before. Surely it is standard operating procedure to have cabin crew seated by the emergency exits during these critical phases of the flight?
We lined up on runway 24R, waited for what seemed like 30 seconds then the engines spooled and we were off. Plenty of thrust was applied and we were soon whizzing down the runway, rotating in front of the Northern Executive Apron. Take off was at 1240, 1 hour 40 minutes behind schedule.
Once we were airborne, we made a 180 degree right turn towards the east coast before turning south-east and heading for East Anglia. There weren’t any announcements made by the flight deck so I assume the route would take us out across the North Sea towards Holland, through Germany in to northern Italy where we’d cross the Alps. From there, we’d head across eastern Europe, straight through mainland Greece before turning south once we reached the Turkish coastline. We’d then follow the coastline south until our descent in to Dalaman. The expected flight time was 3 hours 50 minutes and the distance 1882 miles.
The crew finally emerged from the galley when the seat belt signs had been turned off to start their duties. First thing was a drink service. Although Onur Air is a low cost airline, all non-alcoholic drinks are complimentary as is a meal. Limited alcoholic drinks such as Efas, Gin, Whiskey and Brandy were available at a charge. I started off with a coke but since I was on holiday, I soon ordered myself a can of Efas! It was only £1 a can which is cheap by airline standards. It was soon evident the cause of our technical delay. Apparently, the toilets had stopped working on the inbound flight and the engineers in Manchester tried to fix them. They managed to get the one at the front of the aircraft functioning, just, but the rest were out of order and all taped up. That meant only one functioning toilet on an aircraft with 300 passengers on board. Not good. As you can imagine, the queues were rather long at times. About an hour in to the flight, the meal service began. This took the form of a tray filled with cous cous type stuff with cold chicken strips garnished with a lettuce leaf and followed by a piece of sponge cake. It was a little dry but edible.
Once the meal was over with, it was no good, I had to try the facilities. There was a bit of smell coming from it so I was a bit apprehensive about going but when nature calls, you have to answer. I joined the queue and was rather shocked when I finally got to the front. I’m not surprised there had been a problem with the toilet facilities judging by the state of the front one. The cubical was filthy and the toilet bowl itself, lets just say it looked liked it hadn’t been cleaned in a long time. The toilet wasn’t flushing properly and there was a distinct smell coming from it that as the flight progressed, got worse and worse. Again, I know this is a basic low cost flight, but there are certain standards which you expect. More than one functioning, clean toilet is one of them.
The front section of the aircraft
The main cabin
A duty free service was carried out half way through the flight with some very attractive priced tobacco. A further drinks service then it was time to start our descent in to Dalaman. The descent was progressive as we came in over the water. Due to the high terrain in the Dalaman region, the preferred approach is over the water for landing on runway 19, even if this means landing in a slight tail wind. A vague announcement was made over the PA that we’d started our descent in to Dalaman and we should return to our seats and fasten seat belts for landing. The cabin crew didn’t come round to check the isles were clear and all seat belts were fastened, they congregated in the galley again and the doors left unmanned. As we approached the airport, I managed to see the airport at about 45 degrees to our left. We banked left to start our final approach. I felt the front of the aircraft kick up as we flared and we hit the runway rather hard. This was probably the hardest landing I’ve experienced for a while. That isn’t a criticism against the pilot in command, captain or first officer; I later saw there was a crosswind so it could have been the conditions. It’s purely an observation but it was a hard nonetheless. Once on the ground, plenty of brake pressure was applied but no reverse thrust as we rolled to the end of the runway. We taxied past the old terminal building, which I believe is now used for domestic flights, before pulling up at gate 2 at the new terminal building.
The cabin crew emerged from the galley and the L2 door opened. The airbridge lead straight up in to a huge terminal building. The new terminal was quite impressive and a vast improvement over the old one, but you got the impression it wasn’t finished. The opening had been delayed for a few months so it could be they decided to open the terminal early. The lighting was a bit inadequate, everything was dark and there were bare pipes and wires. I’m sure everything was safe. Since we were the only flight to have landed, the queue at the desk to purchase our £10 visas was short. Once we’d got our stickers, we headed over to immigration and proceeded through no problem. Once through immigration, there was a small selection of duty free shops. Baggage reclaim was located on the lower level where carousel 1 was already circulating baggage from our flight. All our bags were soon repatriated and we made our way through to arrivals to greet the Regal Holidays representative. Our driver was waiting for us to whisk us off to Icmeler and the hotel L’Etoile where we’d spend the next 2 weeks relaxing and diving.
View of the terminal building from the car park
I would normally do a return trip report, in this case flight OHY379 on Friday 15th September 2006 but there isn’t much more to add. The return flight departed on time and was hassle free. The aircraft on the return flight was TC-OAA, A300B4-605R.
And seen here a few weeks later in a hybrid livery for Hajj charter
I was allocated seat 10K. Since this is a window seat, I managed to grab a few photo’s on the return flight. This time, the cabin crew seamed much better and the PA system on the aircraft functioned much better; announcements were audible. Doors were still left unmanned during take off and landing, but apart from that, I had no complaints on the return journey.
OHY379 illustrated in photo’s:
Our flight being prepared at gate 1
The departure lounge and duty free area
Rotating from runway 01 with the aircraft shadow in the background
To sum up, the outbound flight gave me cause for concern. Not only were the toilet facilities onboard the aircraft defective, the safety briefing and lack of cabin crew at exits on take off and landing just seemed very odd. Although the return flight was much better and more akin to what should happen, there was still cause for concern. Onur Air may be cheaper than mainstream airlines, but not by much. I would feel more comfortable paying that little bit extra to fly with mainstream airlines than fly with Onur Air again. The A300B4-605R as an airframe was very nice. If I was asked the question of whether I would fly with Onur Air again, I think the answer would be ‘yes, but only if they are my only option and I really wanted to get to that destination’.
Darren
Equipment: Canon EOS 50D & 350D; Sigma 10-20 EX DC HSM, 50-500 EX APO DG, Canon 24-85 USM, 75-300 IS USM,Speedlite 430EX
GCDEG From Greece, joined Jan 2006, 352 posts, RR: 6 Reply 1, posted (2 years 6 months 6 days 23 hours ago) and read 22721 times:
Darren,
Nice report and pics on an unusual airline.
Quoting Dazbo5 (Thread starter): Once the announcement was complete, I was expecting the crew to make a final tour of the cabin to ensure the cabin was prepared for take off before they took their seats. To my surprise, all the cabin crew disappeared in to the galley located in the centre of the aircraft behind row 8 and the curtains drawn. As we taxied on to the runway for take off, there were no crew in the crew seats by any of the doors. I've never seen doors unmanned during take off or landing before. Surely it is standard operating procedure to have cabin crew seated by the emergency exits during these critical phases of the flight?
Quoting Dazbo5 (Thread starter): The cabin crew didn't come round to check the isles were clear and all seat belts were fastened, they congregated in the galley again and the doors left unmanned
Quoting Dazbo5 (Thread starter): the safety briefing and lack of cabin crew at exits on take off and landing just seemed very odd. Although the return flight was much better and more akin to what should happen, there was still cause for concern
That is horrendous. I've never heard anything like it. They were totally disregarding their standard operating procedures. There must always be a member of crew at least at each pair of doors. I cannot believe that they just sat in the middle of the cabin with the curtain shut. God forbid if anything had gone wrong who would have opened those doors for you to evacuate?? If I were you I would have spoken to an Onur Air representative as soon as possible if not the CAA or Turkish equivalent.
Infodesk From Switzerland, joined May 2006, 411 posts, RR: 7 Reply 2, posted (2 years 6 months 6 days 22 hours ago) and read 22686 times:
I agree the that above sounds very worrying. I wouldn't have felt very at ease on this flight. And as for the toilets, that's not acceptable either. I've known an AC flight to be cancelled because a certain number of toilets were inoperable.
Your report made for a very interesting read. Thanks!
"Do nothing in haste, look well to each step and from the beginning think what may be the end" - Edward Whymper
DALCE From Netherlands, joined Feb 2007, 1220 posts, RR: 16 Reply 3, posted (2 years 6 months 6 days 22 hours ago) and read 22667 times:
Hi Darren,
Thank you for sharing your experience on this charter-airline. We see a lot of Onur traffic around AMS, but I have my doubts about them. After reading your TR my doubts turned into a confimation of my feeling, and I never hope to fly them.
It's crazy that the lack to occupy the doors during take off and landing!
Considering the A300-600 you are right, it's a very convient aircraft to be a passenger on. I can only judge the LH A300's.
Hope your holiday was great as Turkey seems to be a beautiful country!
Brgds,
DALCE
flown on : F50,F70,CR1,CR2,CR9,E75,143,AR8,733,735,736,73G,738,753,744,319,320,321,AB6. Next flights AMS-CFU-AMS with OR
TurkishWings From Turkey, joined May 2006, 1060 posts, RR: 9 Reply 4, posted (2 years 6 months 6 days 22 hours ago) and read 22664 times:
Great report. Thanks for sharing... Although Onur Air is usually the cheapest on domestic flights as well, I still refuse to fly them I am always willing to pay a bit more to fly TK or Atlas Jet.
OA260 From Ireland, joined Nov 2006, 16783 posts, RR: 53 Reply 5, posted (2 years 6 months 6 days 22 hours ago) and read 22660 times:
Hi thanks for the TR . OHY actually look better than I thought they would be . They do alot of charters to ADB from DUB. I wouldnt actually mind going on them especially if I could get a seat in that front section.
Olympic Air "Η Ελλάδα ψηλά" - ''Flying Greece Sky High''
BA319-131 From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 6155 posts, RR: 52 Reply 6, posted (2 years 6 months 6 days 21 hours ago) and read 22606 times:
Great report, nice set of pictures too!
Quoting Dazbo5 (Thread starter): meant only one functioning toilet on an aircraft with 300 passengers on board. Not good.
- Not good that.
Quoting Dazbo5 (Thread starter): The toilet wasn’t flushing properly and there was a distinct smell coming from it that as the flight progressed, got worse and worse
- Hmm, nice!
Quoting Dazbo5 (Thread starter): The aircraft on the return flight was TC-OAA, A300B4-605R.
- Great, nice to get a different aircraft
Quoting GCDEG (Reply 1): That is horrendous. I've never heard anything like it. They were totally disregarding their standard operating procedures. There must always be a member of crew at least at each pair of doors
ThereAndBack From Turkey, joined Aug 2005, 656 posts, RR: 5 Reply 7, posted (2 years 6 months 6 days 21 hours ago) and read 22594 times:
Nice report. I have never seen an A300 with a 3-3-3 configuration. TK's A310's are 2-4-2. Nice report and great pictures.
About the DLM airport. I think they left it bare and left pipes exposed as part of the design to make it really modern i am not sure about the inadequate lighting though. I hope you had a good holiday.
KangarooMAN From Ireland, joined May 2006, 127 posts, RR: 4 Reply 8, posted (2 years 6 months 6 days 20 hours ago) and read 22545 times:
To be honest non of this suprises me at all.
I used to clean this airline at MAN and always thought the aircraft were horrendous inside and as with the toilets wow I could tell you plenty of stories. Plus the crews were very snotty and obnoxious
But i'll tell you that on the 321's that some of the return catering was "stored" in one of the rear toilets so personally I would never want to fly this airline
And to cap it all off tonight the flight to Bodrum was delayed from 19:00 to 00:20 calculated the poor passengers couldn't believe when i told them how long they were delayed as check in hadn't told them!!
Roo
A/C Flown EI 146&320, MYT 763&333, WW 733&735, AZ 319&MD80, LS 146, FR 738, 2L F100, LX 320&321, A3 RJ100, FI 752 AB 738
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From United Kingdom, joined Mar 2005, 991 posts, 
From Greece, joined Jan 2006, 352 posts, 
From Switzerland, joined May 2006, 411 posts, 
From Netherlands, joined Feb 2007, 1220 posts, 
From Turkey, joined May 2006, 1060 posts, 
I am always willing to pay a bit more to fly TK or Atlas Jet. 
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