Flight 1: CV700 Auckland – Wanganui
Aircraft: Convair 580 (ZK-CIE)
Scheduled departure time: 8:30 (Actual: 08:50)
Scheduled arrival time: 09:30 (Actual: 10:00)
Check In
Check-in was straight-forward. In Auckland's domestic terminal Air Chathams has a single check-in desk which is combined with the Barrier Air counter. There was only one staff member manning both counters, but with no line I was checked in straight away. The lady just asked for my last name and I was issued with a boarding pass.
From there it was just a short walk to the regional departures area. Interestingly there were no security checks prior to boarding.
Boarding began soon after the scheduled departure time of 08:30 and we ended up leaving 20 minutes late. I didn't quite catch the reason for the delay given in the captain's announcement over the background noise on the aircraft.
The Plane
Now, I've flown on a few aircraft before that were older than me (many of them operated by American Airlines). But this aircraft was not just older than me – it was older than both of my parents!
The Convair 580 operating today's flight was originally delivered in 1957! I thought it must have been a mistake when I first discovered this, but after stepping on board I thought it seemed about right. The cabin was seriously old-school. The microphone used by the flight attendant to make announcements was an actual telephone on a long cord. And the flight attendant call bell was a lever that you had to pull out of the overhead panel.
The interior:
Having said that, the plane was really comfortable to fly on! There were 50 seats, configured in a 2-2 configuration. Rows 3, 5 and 8 were exit rows with superb leg room, but even the regular seats appeared to offer generous legroom. I also noticed that the windows were very wide.
There were no allocated seats, so the flight attendant instructed everyone to simply choose a seat in row 5 or beyond as they boarded. With less than 20 passengers on board, this was all very civilised and there were plenty of seats for everybody.
I settled for 8D, one of several exit row seats. This was the legroom:
And the view out the window:
There was one toilet at the front of the aircraft, although there was no running water for the flushing mechanism, nor a sink.
The Service
Every Air Chathams employee that I encountered on this trip seemed genuinely friendly and willing to help. Violet, our flight attendant, was no exception.
There was definitely no in-flight entertainment on the flight, but there was a copy of
Go Travel New Zealand magazine in the seat pocket. This was not an Air Chathams publication, although I noticed that there was an advertisement for Air Chathams on the back page featuring the same flight attendant as the one working our flight.
A "light refreshment" was served. Shortly after take-off everyone was offered a small cup of water, followed by a single tim tam that almost made Virgin Australia's catering look good!
When the seatbelt sign was switched on for landing, the flight attendant picked up the phone and asked if anybody could hear. With her voice all but drowned out by the aircraft noise, Violet resorted to pointing to the illuminated fasten seatbelt sign and made a seatbelt gesture.
We arrived in Wanganui half an hour late.
