gabrielchew From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2005, 2512 posts, RR: 13 Posted (2 years 9 months 6 days 1 hour ago) and read 7271 times:
Aerocarribean, Baracoa to Havana
As part of my recent trip to Cuba, I took one domestic flight with Aerocarribean. I flew, as part of an organised group, from Baracoa to Havana, the longest flight in the country. My international flighs were with Iberia and British AIrways from London in Business Class - hopefully the report will be up later in the week.
When we arrived at the airport, there was a Cubana Antonov on the tarmac. I has hoping we would get on this, but it turned out not to be. We were handed out our tickets, and we ended up on Aerocarribean instead, and a very boring ATR 72.
Baracoa sees only one or two flights a day, and the terminal is tiny.
Secturity takes place behind a curtain, and passengers are called through two at a time into a room with around 50 seats, one toilet, and a tiny shop. There were no information montitors. Our tickets said that our flight was at 1400, but after the Cubana flight took off around 1330, there was no more activity on the tarmac.
My boarding card - not sure what the name is supposed to say...
Finally at 1430 (or thereabouts), our aircraft finally arrived from Havana. A fairly quick turnaround later, and the door was opened, and everyone surged out onto the tarmac.
Exactly and hour late, everyone was aboard, and we taxied the short distance to the end of the runway.
Service on board was scarse to say the least. There were two cabin attendants, and neither were seen for the first hour. I assumed there would be no service, but then out of the blue, they rolled a trolley to the front of the cabin. On offer was water and boiled sweets. Not sure why it took them so long, but it did.
We overflew HAV before arriving, which gave some good views of Cubana’s fleet.
We touched down nearly an hour late at Havanas domestic terminal.
I was hoping for this
or this
Our bags took a while to arrive, but after a 20 minute wait, arrive they did.
So Aerocarribean…not bad, could be a lot better, but given the circumstances, they could also be a lot worse!
FlyingFinn76 From Finland, joined Jun 2009, 1705 posts, RR: 41 Reply 2, posted (2 years 9 months 4 days 17 hours ago) and read 6396 times:
Hey Gab,
That's an interesting report about something not that widely covered here. Shame you didn't catch that CU Antonov, that would been a very interesting experience, but I guess Aerocarribean is a good consolidation price anyway.
Let's see when I can find the time to read the main report!
airbuseric From Netherlands, joined Jan 2005, 4015 posts, RR: 52 Reply 3, posted (2 years 9 months 4 days 14 hours ago) and read 6271 times:
Hi Gabriel!
great report! Although I can of course also understand your feeling and you would be more happier on a Russian prop, Aerocarribean ATR is for sure something you won't fly every day either.
Thanks for the good pics on HAV. Seems 1 active Il-62 still around.
Eric
"The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going"
WhereToNext From United States of America, joined Jul 2010, 96 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (2 years 9 months 3 days 18 hours ago) and read 5896 times:
Gabrielchew,
Another great trip report! It appears you got to experience a lot of Cuba while on your travels.
Quoting gabrielchew (Thread starter): Secturity takes place behind a curtain, and passengers are called through two at a time into a room with around 50 seats, one toilet, and a tiny shop. There were no information montitors
Seems incredibly inefficient and antiquated, but it also somehow seems to add to the aurora of traveling to this part of the world.
This seems pretty long for a trip on an ATR. Was this your observation or was it tolerable?
It would have been a lot more tolerable if I'd bought some lunch with me. I was starving, and no options to buy food. I really savoured my boiled sweet!
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 2): Whoa, I had no idea Cuba was *that* large - but yes, indeed it is 539 great circle miles:
Yes, I was surpised too, I thought it'd only be an hour or so. Of course, the plane wasn't the fastest either!
Quoting airbuseric (Reply 3): Aerocarribean ATR is for sure something you won't fly every day either.
Palmjet From United Kingdom, joined Nov 2001, 1051 posts, RR: 16 Reply 6, posted (2 years 9 months 2 days 5 hours ago) and read 5576 times:
Thanks for your report - but I can't see the pics now. Says you need to upgrade your account because bandwidth has been exceeded.
Likewise, I was disappointed not to have got a Yak 40 on my Cayo Coco - Havana flight last month but it was still great to be on a Cuban domestic flight and whilst the service was basic, it was done with a smile and we were actually 30 mins early arriving into HAV. Can't complain about the experience I had with Aero Caribbean.
Seems like you had a great time in Cuba. We really enjoyed it too.
gabrielchew From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2005, 2512 posts, RR: 13 Reply 7, posted (2 years 9 months 2 days 4 hours ago) and read 5548 times:
Sorry, images are back. I was contemplating going elsewhere for photo storage, but in the end I couldn't be bothered, so just upgaded again.
Quoting Palmjet (Reply 6):
Likewise, I was disappointed not to have got a Yak 40 on my Cayo Coco - Havana flight last month but it was still great to be on a Cuban domestic flight and whilst the service was basic, it was done with a smile and we were actually 30 mins early arriving into HAV. Can't complain about the experience I had with Aero Caribbean.
Well, my experience wasn't as good as yours, but could have been worse.
Quoting Palmjet (Reply 6):
Seems like you had a great time in Cuba. We really enjoyed it too.
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