Most Obscure Commercial Airline That You have Flown

[Cossie]

Following on from the OneWorld Airlines that you have flown, started by Coyote25, how about listing the most obscure commercial airlines that you have flown?

 

[lowan74]

Definitely mine is Hongtu Airlines, who I flew on last week. My flight was flight number A67109 on a very modern A321 (B-8285) from Kunming to Hefei, in China. Hadn't heard of the airline before booking it last week, but went from where I was to where I needed to go at the right time. I see they have a fleet of 3 planes..

Very squashed up seating in this A321.. Wouldn't try to fly them again.

 

[Cossie]

Definitely mine is Hongtu Airlines, who I flew on last week. My flight was flight number A67109 on a very modern A321 (B-8285) from Kunming to Hefei, in China. Hadn't heard of the airline before booking it last week, but went from where I was to where I needed to go at the right time. I see they have a fleet of 3 planes..

Very squashed up seating in this A321.. Wouldn't try to fly them again.

Had to look that one up!

 

[Nug300]

Flew on Governors Aviation in Kenya from Wilson Airport in Nairobi to Musiara (Masai Mara).

They fly Cessna caravans to various locations.

On the return trip the pilot let me sit up front in the coughpit, strictly advising me not to touch anything.

Was a great experience!

 

[Guvner]

By "commercial" I assume you mean they have scheduled flights, and not charters?

Star Marianas Air: Saipan to Rota.

 

[Cossie]

By "commercial" I assume you mean they have scheduled flights, and not charters?

Star Marianas Air: Saipan to Rota.

Charters are fine, I didn't want to include military type flights.

In fact one of the more obscure airlines I flew with was DanAir, well at least now it is, a charter company, long since gone.

 

[Boris spatsky]

Cimber Sterling, low cost 737 carrier in Denmark. Never heard of them until i needed to get from Copenhagen to Montpellier.

 

[moa999]

Air Nostrum (Iberia subsidiary, back when it had J class)
Monarch (UK LCC, just a lot smaller than easy and Ryan)
Spring (China LCC, mostly Shanghai based)

 

[henleybeach]

Cinnamon air - Colombo to batticola a couple years ago, just had a look
and they are still going !

 

[Daver6]

Many many years (early 90s) Arkia Airlines from Tel Aviv (Sde Dov) to Eilat and return. Pretty sure the aircraft was a Dash 7.

 

[nlagalle]

Compass airlines back in 1991 and sunflower airlines in Fiji in 97 and 99

 

[andye]

Peach Air- UK to Greece in 1990s. I think there is/was an Asian carrier with a similar name which is clearly popular for anagrammatic reasons

 

[Milboo]

Sun Air in Bay of Plenty, NZ.

Landed on on a grass strip and was even allowed to fly the plane for a short time!

 

[VPS]

Compass for me too- remember getting a refund a couple of years after they went broke

Also People's Express LGW to Newark for 99 quid in 1983 - had to take your own food and put your bag on the trolley on the Tarmac

 

[defurax]

What about JQ?

Not that obscure, but in my case it's TY from GEA to ILP

 

[juddles]

Not obscure as such within Colombia, but have flown a few times on their airline "Satena" - this is a government owned airline that does all the routes that are not economically viable (or safe!) for commercial operators. Can't remember the airplane of the last trip, but it was some chinese thing that flew slow and low and had no trouble with a dodgy jungle airstrip. I actually loved it as it had the biggest windows I have ever seen on a plane - sort of a huge wide-screen thing. Fantastic to see the jungle from above! And the pilots are all Colombian airforce - very professional people.

 

[docjames]

Compass and Air Zimbabwe on my list.

Cubana would have been but cyclone meant cancelled flight and we rebooked instead with Mexicana.


Looking back at that list, I must have a thing for defunct airlines! Look out Cubana.

 

[Flying mermaid]

UKrainian air and Crimean in 1999. Ukrainian was the most interesting - you kept your luggage with you and then lifted it up to be loaded into the cargo bay. The overhead luggage were just nets above and you had a webbing seatbelt and the tray table kept flopping out on take off and landing. This was a domestic flight from Kiev to Simferapol. Crimean Air to Turkey seemed quite civilised by comparison. Flown quite a few small aircraft (Botswana, Kenya and Tanzania) - they were sort of scheduled flights not charters, but the schedules were more of a "guideline".

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

Tara Air (a subsidiary of Yeti Airlines!) recently from Kathmandu to Lukla in a DHC-6 Twin Otter.

 

[casanovawa]

1Time airlines in South Africa... No longer operating as far as i recall...