Ok, I am back! After taking a sabbatical from trip reports for 5 months, here is the first installation from a series of trip reports. Mid-August to mid-November 2007 saw the craziest of my travel plans. 69 flights totalling 175,028 kms on 35 airlines, visiting 49 airports in 34 countries in all 6 continents. And, here is the best part … all of them were part of a 4month break from life … pure vacation, and pure food for the mind, body, and soul. Together, they mounted to 21/2 round-the-worlds that was truly insane. As usual, all long haul flights were on Business or First Class; short haul was on Economy Class.
As I have tried for A.Net audience in the past, several of the reports will be firsts on A.Net. These include either first time airline coverages, routes, airports, flights, or countries.
This report on Transairways Mozambique INH-MPM will be the first for the segment, and the first to feature the small coastal airport of Inhambane. The reason for the trip was to lie on the beaches near Inhambane. Also, I was initially supposed to take a bus back … but heavy partying the night prior meant a missed bus and a very expensive last minute ticket.
II > Pre-Flight:
a) Before Airport:
Transairways is one of the 2 private airlines linking cities in Mozambique. It utilized B1900 aircrafts to connect small primarily coastal towns with the capital city of Maputo.
As mentioned, booking was done at the airport itself on a last minute basis due to missed bus due to lots of drinking … oops.
b) At Airport:
Inhambane airport is small and the tourism growth seems to have outstripped the facility. There was a LAM flight to VLX, and a Air Max flight to JNB during the same time … this translated into the lines heading well outside the airport entrance.
My bag was weighed, and an interesting boarding pass issued. I cleared the joke of security … very amusing that there even was security given you could walk to the aircraft from all other parts of the airport totally bypassing security. Pictures will show what I mean.
Boarding was efficient from the only gate to the parked aircraft. Upon boarding, I was greeted by a rather cheery flight attendant. The B1900 looked good and had a 95% load. Any ideas on where this bird comes from?
Airport - External:
(Small Inhambane Airport)
Check-In:
(There are no real counters. My check-in agent sat on one of those yellow chairs, and had a desk, and worked from there. AWESOME!)
Airport - Internal:
(When there are 2 flights taking off, the entire airport gets filled and spills outside)
(No security and easy access to super ramp-side fun)
(Other side of the airport – taken from ramp)
Scenes of the tarmac:
Lounge
LOL
Boarding:
NONE
III> In-Flight:
a) Service Schedule + Impressions:
Beverage service for this short flight.
b) Aircraft + Seats:
B1900 has superior legroom for aircraft in its class. Recline was barely noticeable. The aircraft had leather seats and no bathroom, with open cargo hold.
Aircraft:
Views from Aircraft:
(Climbing up and leaving the beautiful coast behind)
Seat Leg-Room:
(Not too shabby)
Seat Recline + Angle View:
Cabin:
c) Meal + Beverage:
Flight attendant poured coke or passion fruit juice into small LAM! glasses and distributed them to passengers. The bottles of coke and juice were kept in a freezer box at the back of the aircraft.
d) Inflight Entertainment:
None. Not even an inflight magazine.
(In-flight magazines, Boarding Passes, etc.)
e) Crew:
The one cabin crew was awesome. He was very excited doing his limited functions. The highlight was when upon seeing that I was taking pictures from the window, he quickly went back and got a window cleaner and cleaned the window! NOW THAT IS AWESOME!
IV> Post-Flight:
Maputo´s airport has no gates. We parked next to the only other aircraft … an Air Corridor 732. Baggage delivery was efficient. Here is an interesting thing … the only bathroom at the arrivals side is inside the secure baggage claim area. After having gone outside, I had to use the facilities and an airport cleaner directed me to go back to the secure zone … there was no security, and I walked right into the baggage claim area … with complete unobstructed access back to the tarmac with NO security.
(MPM Airport Exterior - no jet bridges)
(MPM Airport Terminal – Domestic)
Ok – this is interesting. So the bathroom is inside the baggage arrivals area. One could technically go to the bathroom, and then simply walk back to the tarmac as there are NO security guards to prevent you! Love it!
V> Impressions + Scores:
Short flight with low expectations. I wanted to share with A.Netters a Transairwats flight rather than make a commentary. For the routing in question, TWY provided all one can ask for … clean, efficient, on-time service. The bonus was a great member of the crew who took pride in his job. Definitely would fly with them again.
(Note on Codes: Y – Economy, J – Business, F – First :: I/D – International/Domestic :: SR/MR/LR – Short/Medium/Long Haul :: I have designed these codes so people don’t believe my scores are comparing apples with oranges)
VII> Other Pictures:
It has now become customary to share some images of the place I went to, and some other related aviation pictures. Hope everyone enjoys!
Bofredrik From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 3, posted (5 years 6 months 1 day 22 hours ago) and read 9830 times:
Thanks for a very interesting report with nice shots.
It is always nice to see new and unusual airlines
and airports. I love props and it seems that they
are in good condition.
Abrelosojos From Venezuela, joined May 2005, 4915 posts, RR: 55 Reply 5, posted (5 years 6 months 1 day 19 hours ago) and read 9711 times:
Quoting EK20 (Reply 1): Nice report. Does that lounge have business class facilities?
= Oh ya. Lots of them . Anything you ever wanted ...
Quoting PHLstudent (Reply 2): You have some of the best trip reports here on A.net. Thanks for sharing your expierneces with us.
= Thanks a lot. That means a lot to me.
Quoting Bofredrik (Reply 3): Thanks for a very interesting report with nice shots.
It is always nice to see new and unusual airlines
and airports. I love props and it seems that they
are in good condition.
= There is so much to see in the world compadre. Just lose the guidebook and get lost .
Quoting Vio (Reply 4): Is there a kiosk you can buy stuff from? Water, juice, beer?
= Yup. The kiosk sort of opens to the outdoor lounge hangout area. Its a very well stocked bar, with the best cafe I had in Mozambique to cure my painful hangover. Oh wait, it was 5 cafes. The morning is a bit blurry.
B747forever From United States of America, joined exactly 6 years ago today! , 16574 posts, RR: 11 Reply 10, posted (5 years 6 months 2 hours ago) and read 9105 times:
Really interesting TR,
The pics are really good.
The cabin is really really narrow.
Awsome crew service. Had to been a kind of surprise when he came to clean the window.
- Never mind, as long as you had funthat's all that matters.
Quoting Abrelosojos (Thread starter): The one cabin crew was awesome. He was very excited doing his limited functions. The highlight was when upon seeing that I was taking pictures from the window, he quickly went back and got a window cleaner and cleaned the window! NOW THAT IS AWESOME!
- Amazing, never heard of such dedication- can you imagine that happening anywhere else??
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From Venezuela, joined May 2005, 4915 posts, 
From , joined Dec 1969, posts, 
From United States of America, joined May 2006, 498 posts, 
From , joined Dec 1969, posts, 
From Canada, joined Feb 2004, 1284 posts, 
. Anything you ever wanted ...
. 
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