Last leg of this outbound itinerary to Madrid from Paris with TAP.
As a reminder, here is the itinerary followed:
Boarding
Pendant mon séjour au salon, j’ai remarqué le départ serait décalé d’environ 25 minutes sur FlightRadar24, bien que rien ne soit annoncé sur le FIDS.
In fact, I left the lounge just as the words “Boarding” appeared on the FIDS, some 40 minutes before the theoretical departure time. Not surprising at first sight, since the flight was operated by an Embraer 190, and parking at a remote stand is the rule.
When I arrived at the gate, priority boarding was ending and before my boarding pass was scanned, it was stopped and the passengers already in the jetbridge were brought back to the front of the gate. Not a good sign, but absolutely no announcement was made in either Portuguese or English to explain the problem. After a good half-hour’s wait in the dark, boarding began, and we made our way down the stairs to the tarmac.
There was no bus, which took almost 15 minutes to arrive.
After a long walk along the airport taxiways, we finally reached our aircraft and could board.
Cabin and welcome
The Business cabin of this Embraer 190 had 3 rows, separated by a curtain from the Economy cabin. Obviously, it’s night and day compared with the previous flight.
Moreover, TAP does not block the adjoining seat on regional aircraft in Business class. Fortunately, I didn’t have a neighbor for this short hop to the Spanish capital.
At the end of boarding, the captain announced an air traffic control regulation which imposed a further 30-minute delay in departure.
It was almost 1 hour 20 minutes late before we left our parking stand.
Service and catering
Service began some twenty minutes after takeoff, which seemed a long time for such a short flight.
The tray served was obviously smaller than on the previous flight, but that was understandable given the time spent in the air.
The ham and cheese sandwich was very good, and the fruit very ripe.
I had a Black Label on the rocks to accompany it, which kept me refreshed until we landed at Madrid Barajas.
Arrival and disembarkation
We arrived in Madrid a good hour behind schedule, but I was soon landside.
Bottom line
An average flight with an average crew. And an unacceptable delay.
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