abrelosojos From Venezuela, joined May 2005, 4915 posts, RR: 55 Posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 1 day 17 hours ago) and read 22454 times:
Feedback always appreciated.
I > Background:
Like a lot of others, I have a desire to see the world. Going off the beaten path and meeting diverse people truly inspire me and gives me that silly smile that the world is indeed a beautiful place. I have been truly fortunate in life, grateful for what I have, and hopeful for the future. With this in mind, I decided to finally make a dream come true and visit São Tomé and Príncipe (STP).
For those of you know have not heard of STP, it is a small island country located around 250 kms away from the northwest coast of Gabon in Africa. With a population of 163,000 people, this former Portuguese colony, is the least populated country in the world that is not just an overseas territory, trusteeship, or European microstate. Check the location here:
Besides checking out this country and meeting the people, an added bonus would be to cross the line of Equator. Of the 14 countries this imaginary line crosses (and I have done 7), this would probably be the hardest - a remote country, and then the line being in a remote island of Ilhéu das Rolas off this remote country.
Finally, there are only 4 airlines connecting STP to the outside world. TAP with a twice-weekly service to Lisboa, TAAG with a twice-weekly service to Luanda (one of them goes on to Praia), and a connection by CEIBA International to Libreville. There are some fly-by-night operators like Gabon Airways that provide inconsistent service as well. Of course for me, it was a no-brainer ... I had to fly the "national airline" STP Airways with its solitary flight to Lisboa.
Unless I am wrong (pretty often), this would be the first trip report from STP, and feature STP Airways operated by Euro Atlantic Airways.
II > Pre-Flight:
a) Before Airport:
STP Airways is the flag carrier of STP. Banned by the EU, it does a damp/wet lease from Euro Atlantic Airways which provides a 757 to operate a weekly rotation to connect STP with Lisboa. In the past, the service has also been extended to Luanda.
Surprisingly for an airline of this small size, STP Airways has a website (www.stpairways.st) and even more shocking is that the airline has a fully integrated credit card booking mechanism. All in all, I was super impressed - true, I could not book my seat, but that in this instance is a minor difficulty.
b) At Airport:
Lisboa is one of my favorite European cities and after spending two good days roaming the streets of Alfama and some heavy partying at Lux, it was time to embark on my African adventure. Even my Portuguese friends were surprised and shook their heads - they have friends go to other parts of the former Portuguese empire - but STP remained an enigma to them as well.
Lisboa's Portela Airport had come a long way, and had increasingly become a very pleasant experience. Moreover, the near midnight departure of this flight meant that the area was deserted with only 5 flights - 4 of them going to former Portuguese colonies.
As I entered the airport, a great sense of adventure dawned on someone who takes planes more than bus journeys. I knew I was going to a special place, and the sense of adventure overcame me as I stood in line watching the very African line snake its way all across the terminal. I was there 3 hours prior to departure, and already, the line was L-O-N-G. I did not mind as I started taking in the scene of the Portuguese who still live in STP and the natives going back home - each passenger had over 2-3 bags and the entire area had a feeling of a big family reunion.
When I got to the agent, she was a little surprised to see my Liechtenstein passport wondering "WTF" was I doing there. Her bigger surprise came when I said I had no bag to check. She literally kept on saying, "no no ... check bag please" ... and I kept on saying "no no ... no checked bag". The amused supervisor then came over to see if there was a problem and the kind man (a ethnic Sao Tomean) and I started chatting about the purpose of my visit. We traded "war stories" of airline operations and the interesting chap started telling me of all the random Euro Atlantic charters including the 757 flights to Australia and their pit stop in Bali. The whole conversation recaptured the romantic era of flying. After my boarding pass was issued, I let him get back to his job and started my walk to security. As I was leaving the counter, he came running and presented me with a souvenir of STP Airways - a nice pen! WOW! It was touching gesture and I thanked him profusely.
Security and immigration were a breeze at the empty airport and I was soon at the boarding gate. Flight was delayed by 75 minutes due to a technical problem and I watched as the boarding gate soon became an area for people to sleep in. When boarding was called in, everyone jumped and we were all herded on to a bus and to our aircraft parked on a remote part of the airport. I smiled - it was midnight, there were plenty empty direct access gates, but as we were taking this "exotic" flight, we had to go to an exotic part of the airport.
Both doors were open and I entered through the aft cabin. My pre-assigned exit row seat had generous legroom, but I moved to a front part of the cabin to take an entire row of 757 seats. Y load was around 60%, J load was around 80%.
Airport - External:
(Lisboa Airport)
*
Check-in:
(8F Check-In Area - look at the queues)
Airport - Internal:
*
*
(FIDS)
(Post Security @ LIS)
Scenes of the tarmac:
Lounge: NONE
Boarding:
(Gate Area)
(Boarding)
(Bus)
III> In-Flight:
a) Service Schedule + Impressions:
After take-off, following service and order: headphones, meal service, duty free, and then a small snack just prior to arrival.
b) Aircraft + Seats:
Euro Atlantic Airways 757-200 show their age. While the inside is well maintained, there is an overall sense of dinginess that exists throughout the cabin. The old-school lighting further "enhances" this feeling. While clean, the bathrooms also had this "old aircraft" vibe. The seats themselves are actually quite smart looking, and typical of your average economy class seating. Both pitch and recline were far from generous, and in line with most other charter companies. One thing that was positively surprising was the amount of duality in the various touchpoints - with logos of both STP Airways and Euro Atlantic present - even including a dual-toned in-flight magazine. Impressive because this is a weekly flight for Euro Atlantic.
c) Meal + Beverage:
Meal service commenced soon after take-off and had consisted of an "interesting" medley of pasta, chicken, and mushrooms. It was a very mediocre meal, and I was actually surprised I was being given food at 0200. The salad and the dessert was also very standard with what an economy class offering in the 1980s would be - together with the aircraft environment, I actually felt I was in the 1980s. Wine choice was surprisingly nice, and I did enjoy the several drink runs.
Prior to landing, we were offered a snack consisting of various snack bars.
(Dinner)
*
(pre-Landing snack)
d) Inflight Entertainment:
Old styled IFE screen showed a movie with complimentary headphones. Positively surprising inclusion of dual toned in flight magazine of both STP and Euro Atlantic - sort of how some airlines have dual toned languages in their in flight magazine. I had never seen anything like that before.
(IFE Screen and Control)
*
*
(“In-flight magazines”, Boarding Passes, etc.)
(Note the awesome dual-themed magazine on the right, and the other on the left - pretty impressive for an airline with 1 flight a week)
*
e) Crew:
An interesting arrangement of the onboard crew meant that Business Class passengers were served by crew from STP Airways, while the crew in Economy Class were from Euro Atlantic. The crew were very nice. They welcomed me onboard with a smile, served food with a smile, and did drink runs throughout the flight. When I had missed the morning snack bar, I went to grab one, and a young girl told me what her favorite was and insisted I have a few. Small gestures like these are always memorable and enhanced a great flight.
IV> Post-Flight:
After a quick 5 hours or so, we approached São Tomé, and my excitement only grew as I saw land. I could only imagine what the Portuguese explorers may have felt while landing on these shores. The landing itself was one of the most memorable ones I have encountered. We landed in the middle of a jungle in the most unsecure runway with various kids all coming to the plane as we were touching down. It was the weirdest thing I had ever seen - there were kids on the actual live runway!
The "fun" continued as we disembarked and went to the arrivals building. It was locked (now, I had seen this a few times - mostly in Latin America), but usually after waiting, someone usually opens it up. In this case, this was not the case, and a group of people start banging on the various doors. I started taking photos of the 757 looking beautiful in the dawn light - but got yelled at by the security man who wanted to delete the photo. Pretending dumb and saying "no understand ... no understand", I just kept walking to where the local crowd was heading to. In minutes, a door marked "VIP" was forcibly opened, and we walked into the clear VIP room - full with a VIP bar and very African faux leather couches. The locals harassed the poor security guy and then an official looking person came in and everyone was quiet. He asked foreigners to go on one side, and locals on other side. Even the white foreigners were all STP residents. I was the only person on a "tourist visa", and the official carefully took all my notes down on the bar area of the VIP room. After 10 minutes, he handed me my passport. And just like that, I was officially and legally in STP. Welcome to São Tomé I thought as I went outside after the weirdest arrival procedure I had ever encountered.
Oh, and I managed to sneak in some blurry pictures with my mobile phone camera ...
(Arrival @ TMS - approaching the island)
*
(Aircraft on arrival)
*
(Africa Connection Dornier)
*
(Other aircraft)
*
(Kids running to live runway)
*
(Other visitors as we taxi-in)
*
(TMS Airport)
*
(Arrivals is closed)
*
(Filling immigration work at VIP lounge)
V> Impressions + Scores:
The point of flying to STP and trying STP Airways branded Euro Atlantic was never to see how it stacks with "real" airlines of the world, or even in Africa. I flew STP Airways to STP to fulfill my ongoing love affair of flying to relatively obscure places of the world.
It was thus an added bonus that overall service level on the airline was more than adequate. The highlight of course was the staff - excellent ground personnel at LIS and some really jovial crew onboard enhanced my experience. On board, the meal and seat were average. The old-school IFE was also passable - after all "real" airlines also are able to provide similar products on similar stage lengths. The in-flight magazine was a nice bonus!
Overall, a thumps up! I would fly STP Airways/Euro Atlantic in a heartbeat - it provides a far more interesting alternative to TAP. And if you want to go explore an forgotten part of the world, why not go all the way and experience something difficult along the way? I would fly them again for sure!
(Note on Codes: Y – Economy, J – Business, F – First :: I/D – International/Domestic :: SR/MR/LR – Short/Medium/Long Haul)
(Note on Date: Dates are modified to be +/- 3 days from actual flight date to not reveal actual flight pattern)
VII> Other Pictures:
(Enjoy these beautiful pictures of this incredible country, and let me know what you think)
(Banana Beach in Principe)
*
(Had to take a car, a bus, and then a boat to get to the island where the Equator crosses)
*
(Picture of the island and the boat man)
*
*
(Other pictures of São Tomé)
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
(And my favorite picture, that captured the essence of my trip, and the country)
JetBlue777 From United States of America, joined Jul 2009, 1427 posts, RR: 1 Reply 1, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 1 day 17 hours ago) and read 22408 times:
WOW! What a great trip report, as usual!
It's always great to see these kind of TRs from airlines and airports we don't here very often. It's also surprising that your flight was a decent one and the meal looked great.
Quoting abrelosojos (Thread starter): (Enjoy these beautiful pictures of this incredible country, and let me know what you think)
(Banana Beach in Principe)
BrusselsSouth From Belgium, joined Aug 2001, 598 posts, RR: 5 Reply 2, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 22377 times:
Hi Abrelosojos,
Most interesting report, once again. Congrats for making your dream come true, Sao Tome certainly is an off the beaten path place.
It seems the EuroAtlantic 757 was rather below average, but that was compensated by a motivated crew. I'm a bit surprised to read about your arrival at TMS, with the locked building. I mean, the arrival of the LIS flight must be THE event at that airport (I understand that in addition to the flight you were on, TAP Portugal also operates a weekly flight to TMS).
This, with the kids so close to the runway must give the weird feeling that you've just landed in a special place.
Thanks also for sharing those non-av pics. Some depict beautiful places while other show some rather decayed or old fashioned things, but they all give a sense of a unique, less known place.
Widebodyroga From United States of America, joined Sep 2008, 472 posts, RR: 4 Reply 3, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 22355 times:
Wow. Every time I read a report of yours I think that it would be impossible to outdo yourself on the next one. You prove me wrong pretty much every time. I never expected to see a TR from STP. Glad you enjoyed the trip. The photos are breath-taking. Thumps up.
PS: In the 7th photo of the "Other Photos", what is that huge boulder-looking thing in the distance?
WideBodyroga
Visit my aviation page: http://widebodyroga.weebly.com/
okapi From France, joined Jun 2006, 184 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 22334 times:
Wow! Triple Wow! and welcome back. I was starting wondering to what funky place you ventured to. Your outstanding TR is the answer. Such a nice experience. And that coffee with pasteis (is it called this way?) was definitely worth the trip. So, what about your outbound flight? Hope you share it with us soon.
Obrigado!
PS. BTW, the eighties were just so fine. No silly security procedures at airport and those 757's look so modern then...
Quoting BrusselsSouth (Reply 2):
Most interesting report, once again. Congrats for making your dream come true, Sao Tome certainly is an off the beaten path place.
= Thank you.
Quoting BrusselsSouth (Reply 2): It seems the EuroAtlantic 757 was rather below average, but that was compensated by a motivated crew. I'm a bit surprised to read about your arrival at TMS, with the locked building. I mean, the arrival of the LIS flight must be THE event at that airport (I understand that in addition to the flight you were on, TAP Portugal also operates a weekly flight to TMS).
= You know. I thought of it exactly as well. But then again, some African countries are great travel destinations just for this reason ... expect the unexpectedness.
Quoting BrusselsSouth (Reply 2):
This, with the kids so close to the runway must give the weird feeling that you've just landed in a special place.
= It was surreal. I was actually worried because the kids were in an active runway as the plane was landing.
Quoting BrusselsSouth (Reply 2):
Thanks also for sharing those non-av pics. Some depict beautiful places while other show some rather decayed or old fashioned things, but they all give a sense of a unique, less known place.
= There was a certain amount of charm that no new buildings could ever capture.
Quoting Widebodyroga (Reply 3): Wow. Every time I read a report of yours I think that it would be impossible to outdo yourself on the next one. You prove me wrong pretty much every time. I never expected to see a TR from STP. Glad you enjoyed the trip. The photos are breath-taking. Thumps up.
= Haha. Thanks mate! It will be hard to beat this.
Quoting Widebodyroga (Reply 3):
PS: In the 7th photo of the "Other Photos", what is that huge boulder-looking thing in the distance?
= No one knew for sure. I just felt the whole place had an eerie "Lost" (TV Show) feeling to it - the rock seemed to have "mystical" properties. Creepy. Don't you agree?
Quoting okapi (Reply 4): Wow! Triple Wow! and welcome back. I was starting wondering to what funky place you ventured to. Your outstanding TR is the answer. Such a nice experience. And that coffee with pasteis (is it called this way?) was definitely worth the trip. So, what about your outbound flight? Hope you share it with us soon.
= Thanks Okapi. I have been on client site a lot with strict confidentiality issues to access A.Net. Hence, the change of access. Thanks for the kind words. Ya, pasteis - best is from Belem in Lisboa. My outbound flight would be the topic of the next report. Though, it is not a return flight. Don't you think that would be too not A-Net ?
Quoting okapi (Reply 4): PS. BTW, the eighties were just so fine. No silly security procedures at airport and those 757's look so modern then...
colts001 From United States of America, joined Mar 2009, 88 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 1 day 14 hours ago) and read 22188 times:
An amazing trip report. This whole country has a 80's feel to it.
WhereToNext From United States of America, joined Jul 2010, 96 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 1 day 13 hours ago) and read 22149 times:
Thanks for the trip report! I hadn't realized Euro Atlantic had been using their metal on trips to TMS... then again, Euro Atlantic has always been an enigma to me for some reason. This has piqued my interest to do some further research. Thanks for shedding some light on this operation.
Quoting abrelosojos (Thread starter): (And my favorite picture, that captured the essence of my trip, and the country)
My favorite part about going to anywhere in the Portuguese empire is getting to eat the ubiquitous pastéis de nata. I recently was in Macau and indulged myself for the duration of my stay
Burj From United States of America, joined Nov 2007, 838 posts, RR: 4 Reply 8, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 1 day 12 hours ago) and read 22068 times:
Wow very cool! I am so glad you do these TR's so we can all go on your adventures with you!
kiramakora From Argentina, joined Aug 2006, 532 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 1 day 12 hours ago) and read 22063 times:
Brilliant TR Alex. I just must congratulate you on your adventures. No one on the A.Net take these risks continuously and go off the beaten path like you do. Really. Even the professional photographers can learn from you.
Sao Tome looks brilliant. I look forward to the next one!
gabrielchew From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2005, 2512 posts, RR: 13 Reply 11, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 21728 times:
Wow, you're photos of STP look amazing. Some beauitful beaches there! Seems like your flight on 'STP Airlines' was good.
LH4116 From Sweden, joined Aug 2007, 1672 posts, RR: 15 Reply 12, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 21717 times:
Fantastic report Alex, great job!
I had never thought of STP being the least populated country on earth, I had always imagined the Pitcairns Islands being the least populated country on earth with only 50 inhabitants. Then again it could be as you say, an overseas territory.
Seems like you had a very nice experience with the staff at LIS. When I was there last year, people were very rude, at least the security guys. The terminal looked pretty okay, although I'm not a fan of the mosaic on the wall. Also in some places, it looks pretty sterile.
Interesting that you got to fly a charter 757 to STP. Seats looked pretty okay, although you're right about the 80s feel. Those striped upholsters looked very much like remnants from the 1980s, also the yellow'ish fluorescent lights in the cabin helped adding that feel. Food looked rather decent, did they offer any free alcohol?
Thanks for sharing, and I hope to see some more reports from you!
//Jonas
I won't stop complaining until SAS reintroduces free service in Economy Class!
PlaneHunter From Germany, joined Mar 2006, 6190 posts, RR: 79 Reply 13, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 21674 times:
Great report Alex, you never cease to surprise us with your choice of airlines and destinations. And I really liked the destination pictures, simply beautiful!
These could be former TUIfly seats...I guess there were many of them available after X3's 73G fleet was transferred to AB.
Quoting abrelosojos (Thread starter): I started taking photos of the 757 looking beautiful in the dawn light - but got yelled at by the security man who wanted to delete the photo. Pretending dumb and saying "no understand ... no understand", I just kept walking to where the local crowd was heading to.
Ah, the usual nonsense. I'm wondering where that picture paranoia comes from.
JetBlue777 took that word right from my mouth. WOW, what a great report on a unusual destination. This is why I love this forum so much, you get to read about excotic places and airlines I would never even hear about otherwise.
Quoting abrelosojos (Thread starter): Like a lot of others, I have a desire to see the world. Going off the beaten path and meeting diverse people truly inspire me and gives me that silly smile that the world is indeed a beautiful place. I have been truly fortunate in life, grateful for what I have, and hopeful for the future. With this in mind, I decided to finally make a dream come true and visit São Tomé and Príncipe (STP).
Great introduction and great attitude.
Quoting abrelosojos (Thread starter): As I was leaving the counter, he came running and presented me with a souvenir of STP Airways - a nice pen! WOW!
This kind of thing really make a journey more memorable.
Quoting abrelosojos (Thread starter): The landing itself was one of the most memorable ones I have encountered. We landed in the middle of a jungle in the most unsecure runway with various kids all coming to the plane as we were touching down. It was the weirdest thing I had ever seen - there were kids on the actual live runway!
Amazing. A good spotting position
Quoting abrelosojos (Thread starter): Enjoy these beautiful pictures of this incredible country, and let me know what you think
Beautiful pictures. Just stunning.
Thank you for this trip report, it is always great to get some coverage of Africa.
globalflyer From United States of America, joined Dec 2005, 803 posts, RR: 2 Reply 16, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 21440 times:
Hi Alex. It is great to see some more of your exotic adventures! This place looks beautiful! The beaches and lush of the island are extraordinary! Thanks so much for sharing! Quite a unique experience! Cheers, William
Landing on every Continent almost on an annual basis!
MHTripple7 From United States of America, joined Feb 2008, 1050 posts, RR: 5 Reply 17, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 1 day 1 hour ago) and read 21378 times:
Thank you! As you may know, I do take an interest in these ex-Portuguese colonies, so I too have an interest in Sao Tome & Principe. Was it difficult obtaining a visa? Wondering if it's anything similar to Angola...
Your pics of STP are excellent, and it does look like a nice place to visit. Where did you stay if you don't mind me asking. Is it tourist-friendly?
Quoting abrelosojos (Thread starter): STP Airways is the flag carrier of STP. Banned by the EU, it does a damp/wet lease from Euro Atlantic Airways which provides a 757 to operate a weekly rotation to connect STP with Lisboa. In the past, the service has also been extended to Luanda.
Very strange that an airline operates only two flights a week!
Quoting abrelosojos (Thread starter): Lisboa's Portela Airport had come a long way, and had increasingly become a very pleasant experience.
I agree, LIS was actually quite nice the last time I passed through. There's just a lot of walking.
Quoting abrelosojos (Thread starter): (Note the awesome dual-themed magazine on the right, and the other on the left - pretty impressive for an airline with 1 flight a week)
Despite their various weaknesses, these Lusophone African airlines are all extremely thorough on branding. It's very interesting.
Quoting abrelosojos (Thread starter): The landing itself was one of the most memorable ones I have encountered. We landed in the middle of a jungle in the most unsecure runway with various kids all coming to the plane as we were touching down. It was the weirdest thing I had ever seen - there were kids on the actual live runway!
Wow that is weird indeed. Not sure if I should think it's funny or if it's a security / safety hazard.
Quoting abrelosojos (Thread starter): The "fun" continued as we disembarked and went to the arrivals building.
PieterBoth From Belgium, joined Jan 2010, 55 posts, RR: 0 Reply 18, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 1 day ago) and read 21323 times:
Wow wow wow! I have long been obsessed with remnants of Portugal's colonial past - ur report made for an awesome read! Sao Tome looks every bit as stunning as I thought it would. How did you get around when u were there on the islands? I'd love to go there one day. This summer I go to some other Lusophone Atlantic islands, the Azores, and I'll hopefully do a TR
Quoting abrelosojos (Thread starter): With a population of 163,000 people, this former Portuguese colony, is the least populated country in the world that is not just an overseas territory, trusteeship, or European microstate.
This will sound really pedantic (sorry !) but there are quite a few smaller countries in the world by population. I think the smallest is Tuvalu, popn 10,000
abrelosojos From Venezuela, joined May 2005, 4915 posts, RR: 55 Reply 20, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 21 hours ago) and read 21149 times:
Quoting colts001 (Reply 6): An amazing trip report. This whole country has a 80's feel to it.
= Agreed .
Quoting WhereToNext (Reply 7): Thanks for the trip report! I hadn't realized Euro Atlantic had been using their metal on trips to TMS... then again, Euro Atlantic has always been an enigma to me for some reason. This has piqued my interest to do some further research. Thanks for shedding some light on this operation.
= Curios - why the interest in Euro Atlantic? I do agree though - it does have an interesting pedigree. Sort of reminds me of a few other such airlines.
Quoting WhereToNext (Reply 7): My favorite part about going to anywhere in the Portuguese empire is getting to eat the ubiquitous pastéis de nata. I recently was in Macau and indulged myself for the duration of my stay
Agreed. Best still though is Pastéis de Belém in Lisboa. Have you been?
Quoting Burj (Reply 8): Wow very cool! I am so glad you do these TR's so we can all go on your adventures with you!
= Thanks Burj. I try.
Quoting kiramakora (Reply 9): Brilliant TR Alex. I just must congratulate you on your adventures. No one on the A.Net take these risks continuously and go off the beaten path like you do. Really. Even the professional photographers can learn from you.
= Thanks A. Don't be so modest - you were the inspiration!
Quoting MSS658 (Reply 10): Another wonderfull trip report, I loved reading it. Always nice to see an exotic flight/destination.
= Thanks mate.
Quoting gabrielchew (Reply 11): Wow, you're photos of STP look amazing. Some beauitful beaches there! Seems like your flight on 'STP Airlines' was good.
= Thanks. Ya, great beaches for sure. I read that the Banana beach was in some famous commercial. I have not been able to locate it however on any commercial.
Quoting LH4116 (Reply 12): Seems like you had a very nice experience with the staff at LIS. When I was there last year, people were very rude, at least the security guys. The terminal looked pretty okay, although I'm not a fan of the mosaic on the wall. Also in some places, it looks pretty sterile.
= What happened? Why were they rude? Who were you flying?
Quoting LH4116 (Reply 12):
Interesting that you got to fly a charter 757 to STP. Seats looked pretty okay, although you're right about the 80s feel. Those striped upholsters looked very much like remnants from the 1980s, also the yellow'ish fluorescent lights in the cabin helped adding that feel. Food looked rather decent, did they offer any free alcohol?
= Agreed.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 13): Great report Alex, you never cease to surprise us with your choice of airlines and destinations. And I really liked the destination pictures, simply beautiful!
= Thanks PH.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 13):
The one and only 757 in the fleet is a veteran from 1988.
= PH, where does this aircraft come from?
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 13): These could be former TUIfly seats...I guess there were many of them available after X3's 73G fleet was transferred to AB.
= You know ... I was trying to figure out where the seats came from.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 13):
Ah, the usual nonsense. I'm wondering where that picture paranoia comes from.
= It is all over Africa - part because of the non democratic spy atmosphere, and some with the culture of your soul being "captured" in the camera.
Quoting SloAir (Reply 14):
JetBlue777 took that word right from my mouth. WOW, what a great report on a unusual destination. This is why I love this forum so much, you get to read about excotic places and airlines I would never even hear about otherwise.
= Thanks Blaž,
Quoting SloAir (Reply 14): Beautiful pictures. Just stunning.
Thank you for this trip report, it is always great to get some coverage of Africa.
= I have some others from Africa coming up. Why do you have an interest in the region?
Quoting KLAM (Reply 15): VERY NICE TRIP REPORT! It's always a pleasure to read your stuff, you go to many interesting places!! Thanks for showing it!
= Thanks a lot.
Quoting globalflyer (Reply 16): Hi Alex. It is great to see some more of your exotic adventures! This place looks beautiful! The beaches and lush of the island are extraordinary! Thanks so much for sharing! Quite a unique experience! Cheers, William
Thanks William.
Quoting MHTripple7 (Reply 17): Thank you! As you may know, I do take an interest in these ex-Portuguese colonies, so I too have an interest in Sao Tome & Principe. Was it difficult obtaining a visa? Wondering if it's anything similar to Angola...
= I did not know you had an interest in Lussophone countries. You should meet my friend and fellow A-Netter "kiramakora". He knows them well. Where does the interest come from?
Visa was HARD to get. You're in the U.S. right?
BUT TOTALLY WORTH IT! I really recommend an adventure seeker like you visit.
Oh, and the visa is nothing like Angola - it is just that there are very FEW STP Embassies out there.
Quoting MHTripple7 (Reply 17): Your pics of STP are excellent, and it does look like a nice place to visit. Where did you stay if you don't mind me asking. Is it tourist-friendly?
= Stayed at some pousada - it is NOT tourist-friendly at all. But, that was the charm for me. There is two 4-ish star hotels in the entire country ... but you're young, so just do it man.
Quoting MHTripple7 (Reply 17):
Very strange that an airline operates only two flights a week!
= Ya - well, 1 flight a week now roundtrip.
Quoting MHTripple7 (Reply 17): Quoting abrelosojos (Thread starter):
Lisboa's Portela Airport had come a long way, and had increasingly become a very pleasant experience.
I agree, LIS was actually quite nice the last time I passed through. There's just a lot of walking.
= Agreed ... especially if you are flying outside Schengen ya?
Quoting MHTripple7 (Reply 17):
Despite their various weaknesses, these Lusophone African airlines are all extremely thorough on branding. It's very interesting.
= You know what - you're so right!
Quoting MHTripple7 (Reply 17): Quoting abrelosojos (Thread starter):
The landing itself was one of the most memorable ones I have encountered. We landed in the middle of a jungle in the most unsecure runway with various kids all coming to the plane as we were touching down. It was the weirdest thing I had ever seen - there were kids on the actual live runway!
Wow that is weird indeed. Not sure if I should think it's funny or if it's a security / safety hazard.
= It was weird, surreal, and definitely a hazard.
Quoting MHTripple7 (Reply 17):
Quoting abrelosojos (Thread starter):
The "fun" continued as we disembarked and went to the arrivals building.
That's hilarious yet somehow unsurprising.
= Though, nothing like LAD. I could write a book on Luanda.
Quoting PieterBoth (Reply 18): Wow wow wow! I have long been obsessed with remnants of Portugal's colonial past - ur report made for an awesome read! Sao Tome looks every bit as stunning as I thought it would. How did you get around when u were there on the islands? I'd love to go there one day. This summer I go to some other Lusophone Atlantic islands, the Azores, and I'll hopefully do a TR
= Azores is beautiful. Check my report on SATA. Let me know if you need any advice.
Quoting PieterBoth (Reply 18): This will sound really pedantic (sorry !) but there are quite a few smaller countries in the world by population. I think the smallest is Tuvalu, popn 10,000
= Oh ya. Forgot Tuvalu ... pretty sad because I returned from FUN a few months back.
Quoting NDiesel (Reply 19): Awesome - been waiting eagerly for a new copy of your excellent reports!
Sao Tome is definitely on the list from now on.
Thanks!
= Good. You won't regret it.
Thanks a lot for reading, and for your feedback. As always, much appreciated.
reifel From Germany, joined Feb 2005, 1135 posts, RR: 1 Reply 21, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 19 hours ago) and read 21042 times:
Wow, Alex, what a terrific report! I heard of STP before, but never actually seen any pictures. This island is sooooo beautiful. Is it a safe place? However I never heard about STP airlines, so this was very interesting. Thank you very much for sharing, looking forward to the next great report.
usflyer msp From United States of America, joined May 2000, 1785 posts, RR: 0 Reply 22, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 18 hours ago) and read 21026 times:
Great report, I love it! I thought about visiting TMS on my trip to Africa next year but the logistics of getting there from ACC proved to be too difficult and time consuming so I decided to go to OXB instead. Now, I can visit there vicariously through you, it looks just as beautiful as I imagined. I am glad you had a great time!
bananaboy From United Kingdom, joined Oct 2004, 1558 posts, RR: 26 Reply 23, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 16 hours ago) and read 20964 times:
Thanks for the report. You said that you were going somewhere exotic, and seems you're true to your word. I particularly like the photos at the end - such great colour.
Very rare - only ever come across that once I believe. I flew TravelCityDirect which if I recall correctly had a magazine which was half about that "brand" and half about Excel Airways, who were the owner/operator of the TCD aircraft anyway.
Nice to see you still managed to get an F-class experience anyway, even in Y, with the "econo-suite" 3-abreast bed!
Finally, I would have freaked out seeing the kids running that close to the aircraft. Still, that's what memories are made of.
Cool report - thanks again.
Mark
All my life, I've been kissing, your top lip 'cause your bottom one's missing
alsberg From United States of America, joined Aug 2010, 136 posts, RR: 0 Reply 24, posted (1 year 10 months 2 weeks 15 hours ago) and read 20942 times:
Thank you for such a great trip report!
What an amazing country, the pictures of it looked absolutely beautiful. I found it quite funny to hear that the flight attendants in J are from Euro Atlantic while the Y flight attendants are from STP.
25 WhereToNext: Euro Atlantic just seems to me that they fly under the radar (pardon the pun) as a European charter carrier. They've created a nice niche for themsel
26 abrelosojos: = The island is completely safe. Between their communist past, and general isolation, I think they take time to warm to foreigners, but otherwise, to
27 eastafspot: Hi, Alex Your African serie continues pretty well indeed. As the other fellow A.netters stated this wonderful TR enlightens another unknown side of th
28 ba319-131: Hi Alex, Good read, something diffent for sure! - Never heard of them! I had the pleasure? of flying one of their 757's as a sub on BA services during
29 717Flyer: Hi Alex, Thank you very much for sharing this interesting report with us. It was interesting to hear about what Euro Atlantic was like onboard - I had
30 swedenflyer: Hi, Alex! I enjoyed reading about São Tome and Principe. It is not a country we hear about often, and I enjoy reading reports about those countries.[
31 WhereToNext: Doing a simple search, I can't confirm this but I believe you're right... if the depths of my memory serve me right. -Matt
32 abrelosojos: = Léo, you're way too kind! = Wow. That bad huh? Were the crew mostly Portuguese Mark? = You know, I had totally forgotten about this before Mark an
33 The777Man: Hi Alex! Thanks for a fantastic report with amazing pictures especially the one from Sao Tome' and Princicpe. Looks like the flight was okay although
34 717Flyer: Hi again, I hope I will get there some day, but at least yo can always keep dreaming. Thanks once again for the report 717Flyer
36 PlaneHunter: It's history is quite interesting: The plane first flew as D-AMUY for LTU, then as SE-RCE for Transair Sweden and Goodjet and then as TC-OGD for Atla
37 ba319-131: - Hi Alex, yes indeed, shame as the Portuguese are generally very warm and inviting people. Cheers Mark
38 airbuseric: Hi Alex, wanted to say, I really enjoyed also this report on a rare airline, route, destination etc. etc. You make most out of it for sure, and the pi
39 debonair: Nice to see you back again... No- seat pockets, ash-tray and the IFE panel is not fitting to an ex TUIfly seat. I remember these seats from the old LT
40 MHTripple7: Countries like Mozambique, Sao Tome, and especially Angola have very troubled pasts which have not ended until fairly recently. I've really only rese
41 abrelosojos: = I distinctly recall that trip report of yours. Ya - I find flying out of Lisboa fascinating as it is a completely different experience based on whe
42 debonair: Hi my dear friend... Yes, very common. But it get even more crazy... Do you remember FUTURA INT. from Spain?! FUTURA was flying ex AirBerlin B737-400'
43 abrelosojos: = WOW! I guess I have not flown many charter-type airlines so have not really encountered this. Thanks for the education! = Wow thanks again ... yet,
44 akhmad: Hi Alex, Another marvelous report of yours. Thanks to you, I have learned many worldwide hot spots. This time it happens to be Sao Tome. Oh? I did not
45 MHTripple7: That's a very good question. I guess time will tell. There's also a huge Chinese presence in Angola, which stirs things up a bit. Yeah I've heard goo
46 paris380: The country looks very poor. Good reporting however.
47 abrelosojos: = Thanks Suryo. You're most generous with your comments! = Ya. Apparently, their routing is usually via CAI and GOI. = Ya. It went through a renovati
48 kiramakora: When do we get the report of your trip out of TMS?
49 RvXKaz: Hi abrelosojos, This is truely a rare insight into a little known country and its airline! Thanks so much for sharing! I know so little about São Tom
50 abrelosojos: = Very soon. Been on the road again. I think I need a vacation. My life seems to have gone south with new work committments. = Glad I could "help" ..
52 turk223: LOVE your trip reports! But... you may want to check your facts regarding that statement! It think Grenadians, Vincentians, Kittitians, Dominicans, a
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