Flight review - LATAM Boeing 787-9 in Economy, Madrid to Frankfurt & tips on wide body European flying!

Flight: LATAM flight LA704

Route: Madrid - Frankfurt

Aircraft: Boeing 787-9, CC-BGC, 2 years old

Times: 15:05PM - 17:40PM

Date: 11th April 2018

Seat: 21L

My day started in Manchester, where I flew into Madrid aboard Ryanair. I would later take a flight from Frankfurt to Brussels on a Lufthansa A320neo and then Brussels to Manchester on Brussels airlines' A319! It was a fantastic day, but this was the highlight; the LATAM B787-9!

After Arriving in Madrid, I had just enough time to get a car and go to Carrefour:

Carr. Nacional, 16, 28830

San Fernando de Henares,

Madrid, Spain

I got some fabulous shots from there, including Aeromexicos Quetzatocol and Air Europas Skyteam A330! I would absolutely recommend getting there if you can! As it is also in a supermarket carpark, you have access to food and toilets if you need them, which is really handy.

After that great spotting session, it was time to head back to the airport, I would be taking seat 21L today, which is an unusual number to find on aircraft. 21L is a great seat that offers a great view!

Boarding the aircraft was a fairly long, however efficient process. We were boarded in order of priority, as with most airlines. Business class was first, then the elite tier passengers then passengers who booked priority boarding and then economy. We waited until the line wasn't too big before we boarded, as it was very big, as the flight was full.

Once I got onboard the 787, I was immediately welcomed by the friendly crew and the warm cabin. The mood lighting was a very nice touch, standard for these 787s, usually operating long haul routes. This plane had made the 12 hour 35 min flight from Santiago the previous evening and overnight into the morning, and had been on the ground for just over 2 hours. The cabin was clean and modern!

The cabin after boarding

We pushed back soon enough and were on the runway at about 15:15, on time! Soon after departure, the windows were dimmed and the mood lighting changed from blue and red to yellow and orange. It created a very sleepy atmosphere! I actually recall falling asleep, which I never do.

A very, very nice feature for this short haul flight was the seat-back IFE. You were given headphones at the start of the flight to use to watch and listen to the movies, music and to play the vast array of games. Great entertainment for the 2 hour flight! You were also given a USB port and a power socket, that could fit all the major sockets. Legroom was very good.

Seat-back IFE

Seat 21L offers a fantastic view of the wing and I would recommend sitting here. As soon as I sat down, I was entranced. About 1 hour into the flight, the food and drink was served. There is a complimentary sandwich and chocolate bar served, which is unusual nowadays to see on a short haul European route these days, so was very nice to have! I also got 2 drinks, an orange juice and water. I have to say the cheese and ham sandwich was surprisingly very nice.

The cabin after having the lights changed and windows dimmed

The cabin crew were very professional and were very nice. I had an amazing experience on LATAM. I would highly recommend them, and I would urge you to try and fly this route! I would also like to add that, if you can, you should really try to get on a widebody on short haul. Theres nothing better! Here are a few examples, if you need inspiration:

LATAM B787 Madrid-Frankfurt

Ethiopian B787 Stockholm-Oslo

SWISS A330/B777 Zurich-Geneva-Zurich

SWISS B777 Zurich-Hannover-Zurich - *Until 1st June 2018*

British Airways B777-200 London Heathrow-Madrid-London Heathrow

British Airways B767-300 London Heathrow to:

Nice

Amsterdam

Edinburgh

Glasgow

Stockholm

Rome

Athens

Barcelona

Iberia A340/A350 Madrid-London Heathrow-Madrid *A350 starts in July*

TUI B787&B767 - This can be complicated as it is notoriously hard to find the aircraft that will be operating the route, as most major sources don't say what the aircraft will be. When booking TUI don't say what aircraft it will be and they don't offer a seat map to book seats until after booking and even then it needs to be within 90 days of your departure. Kayak and Skyscanner are no help, both not listing the aircraft. However, all hope is not lost! www.flightmapper.net actually can tell you what aircraft the TUI flight you want to know about will be operated by. These aircraft usually operate from Manchester and London Gatwick to:

Cyprus - Larnaca & Paphos

Greece - Rhodes & Crete

Spain - Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza, Alicante, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Menorca & Malaga.

Jet2 A330-200 Manchester to:

Palma de Mallorca

Lanzarote

Tenerife

Aer Lingus A330-300 Dublin-Malaga-Dublin

There are also many others, however these are my personal favourites. Thanks for reading my latest blog and don't forget to follow my instagram!