THE FLIGHT: KM0117 from London Gatwick South Terminal to Malta in business class, operated by an Airbus A320 – one of seven in its fleet. The three hour flight is a codeshare operation with bmi.
THE CHECK-IN: Blissfully empty for this lunchtime flight – in both classes – and we were airside in no time as even the security queues were negligible.
THE LOUNGE: Unfortunately I didn’t have time to try out the Servisair lounge so I headed straight to the gate.
THE SEAT: Business class is a cabin of 16 seats configured 2-2 with the middle seat of three kept unsold and converted to a useful table. The seat was a comfortable blue leather armchair style with a pitch of up to 33 inches.
THE SERVICE: It was pleasant and courteous service throughout the flight. A range of English and Maltese papers were given out soon after entering the cabin. There were no menus but a verbal offering of chicken or salmon, and a complimentary bottle of water was issued to each passenger. Lunch wasn’t bad at all, with decent-size portions. It kicked off with a parma ham and mozzarella starter, then salmon on a bed of rice with green vegetables, followed by a sticky cake, cheese and biscuits, bread rolls and several passes of tea and coffee. The lunch service was on white china with real cutlery and included frequent passes for drinks. Even the breakage of a glass was treated courteously and swiftly!
THE ENTERTAINMENT: Overhead screens rather than in-seat ones meant some neck strain from peering over seats to watch the in-flight movie, forgetting that this was the norm until very recently.
THE ARRIVAL: A quick disembarkation was spoiled by a disappointingly slow baggage retrieval process.
THE VERDICT: The flight was delayed from 13.05 to 13.30 but, as were only called to the gate at 12.30 and boarded at 12.50, we weren't waiting on-board for too long.
THE DETAILS: Air Malta operates double daily flights between London Heathrow and London Gatwick to Malta, and five times a week from Manchester during the winter schedule, plus economy class-only from Birmingham with three flights a week. Lead-in prices for Club Class ex-Gatwick are £319 return including taxes and charges; £99 for economy class.
www.airmalta.com Gillian Upton
