Fiji Airways + Fiji Airways Lounge Nadi

Fiji Airways is probably a less well known airline that operates across Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the West Coast USA including Hawaii. Fiji Airways offer a competitive pricing for their flights and I am going to be trying out their economy class from Auckland to Hong Kong via Nadi, Fiji.

AKL - NAN:

Check In:

Checking in at Auckland Airport seems to be an organised mess. When I arrive at the check in area, there was a long queue and right in the middle of the queue system is an open area for passengers to use their self service check in machine.

I tried using the self check in however it didn't recognise my passport as the order of my name is different on the passport (an issue that seems to be consistent with all airlines; although I was told they are working on changing that). I went to the staff at the desk and they told me that I have already checked in and told me to proceed to the bag drop but he was also issuing boarding passes and baggage tags to other passengers, which I do not possess. He told me that will be issued at the bag drop counter which I am slightly confused as to why they issue it to certain passengers but not others since I'm already there. There should be better clarity and the staff that was sitting in the middle of the queue could have done the check and direct passengers to the correct lane.

After completing check in, I went through security and headed to a bar at the departure lounge as I only had an hour before boarding starts, I didn't want to spend my lounge pass for only less than an hour.

Boarding:

Boarding started when I arrive at the gate lounge, it was nearly time to board the economy class. Since I am sitting in 38A, which is the last 2 rows of the aircraft, I get to board first. This flight is nearly full, however fortunately my seat neighbour went to a row that is empty and I am left with an empty seat next to me.

Seat 40 D,E and F are reserved seats, they have a blind that covers the 3 seats which I am assuming is for crew rest during long haul. The A330-200 comes in a 2-4-2 configuration, with the last 4 rows in a 2-3-2 configuration. Extra leg room and seats in the ⅔ of the economy are paid seats, with the remaining ⅓ of the last few rows open to passengers to reserve for free.

The meal service started about 30 minutes into the flight, and being the last row we also got served last. 1 hour after the meal service, the crew came and clean up our trays. Since this is a short flight, it means we only have about 30 minutes until we start the descent.

Meal option today includes Chicken or Vegetarian. The crew that was serving us cherry pick and ask some passengers with the meal option while skipping on others and assume that they would take the Chicken option I suppose. I got served the chicken dish without being asked, which is very small but tastes good. It is a very basic meal and comes with a side of bun and biscuits, which is slightly underwhelming.

The seat itself is nothing to brag about, legroom is average. The seat comes with a USB port and a power outlet There’s a double foldable tray table however it is not clean. The safety card has chewing gum on it which is really gross and also since it is a legal requirement to have this on every seat and for passengers to use it, they should probably pay more attention and replace/clean the card every few days or preferably everyday.

Their IFE system is basic but with a decent amount of movies and TV shows. Blankets are available on request.

NAN - HKG:

Check in:

Check in at Nadi is slightly less complicated than Auckland, however took a long time to get through the line as well.

After check in, the security check told me that my 75ml hand sanitizer cannot be brought through unless it is in a clear plastic bag, and I have to go back out to the shop to buy one, which makes no sense given it doesn't worth much and also the hassle to have to buy a plastic bag just for that (plus contributing to more plastic waste), so I told them to dispose it. I have not encountered any rejection at any airport for not putting it in a clear bag, this is the first time for me and I suppose some countries enforce rules that are non sensical.

Lounge:

I had a brief visit to the Fiji Airways Lounge at Nadi Airport using my Priority Pass. Walking through the entrance, you will be greeted with a live garden wall, will plenty of seating all over the lounge which is mostly occupied. There are self service buffet, a good range of food options and smoothie bar. The drinks bar are well stocked with alcoholic beverages, soft drinks and barista made coffee. There are 3 juices on a ready to dispense tower, however it was running low on 2 of them and it wasn't refilled.

While walking around the lounge, I can see a lot of people sleeping on the chair or floor, occupying a large amount of space where a few extra people could be seating. I am not sure why people are sleeping all around the lounge but it made the place seem like a motel that people use to sleep for an overnight layover.

Boarding / Seating:

I boarded with a nearly full flight load, which was rather surprising given the situation in Hong Kong right now.

Passengers on the aircraft are slightly less well behaved, people are talking on the phone, playing music and video chatting.

My seat neighbour is also rather annoying, spending his legs nearly to my side of the seat and playing music through the phone speaker (headphone please!).

On the seat, a pillow and blanket have been placed, I am on the exact same aircraft as the Auckland to Nadi flight, so I have reunited with the chewing gum again.

After a very scenic takeoff, there has been some turbulence through some thick clouds given we are in a tropical region and clouds get to build up much thicker and larger.

We have 2 meal services on this 9 hours 45 minutes flight, first meal got served an hour after takeoff, while the second meal gets served 2.5 hours before landing. They go around offering drinks a couple of times before eventually taking the tray. I feel like that is taking too long and is obstructing people’s limited space, they should take the tray table and leave the cup there, since it’s a double foldable table they can continue to offer drinks after taking the tray.

After an hour of sleep or so, I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep. The person sitting behind me kept opening and closing the window which can make it hard for others to sleep since the bright light shining in make us realise it is still daytime. That went on a domino effect with others doing the same, and a kid on the other side of the cabin decided to leave it wide open. Given we’ve departed very early HK time, the crew should probably do the passengers a favour and get people to not open the windows until at least mid morning HK time. Some people have their headphone volume up very loud which is also very disturbing.

Throughout the flight the cabin crew are walking around checking and offering water, passengers also went to the galley to get drinks and snacks.

The inflight entertainment system is not the best given it is also an old aircraft. The system has frozen once and especially when loading up the flight map it takes a while to show up. The flight tracker is just a slideshow version, in both Mandarin and English version cycling through.

The seatbelt illumination is very low, which can be hard to see when the cabin is bright. Mood lighting is installed on the aircraft, and is on throughout the flight, however it is not very distracting since the brightness is very low.

HKG - AKL:

Check in:

There were just less than 10 people queuing up at the check in, however it still took about 15 minutes to get to me. There is a bag drop lane and since I have checked in online, I asked the staff whether I can use that but he said I have to queue up on the regular line. It is contradicting the system that they put in place in Auckland. Again, they should have a standard way to checking people in or have a staff directing people to the right lane.

They offer paid upgrades to their Business Class but by looking at the pricing, I didn't feel like it is justified since I have only paid under NZD$600 for the return flight.

By the time I arrive at the boarding gate at the listed boarding time, all the passengers have already boarded. During check in, I switched my seat to a row where it showed I would have an empty neighbour seat, however when I got there, a guy has taken my seat and I had to take an aisle seat instead.

Flight:

This passenger next to me is probably the rudest one I have ever encountered, having his whole leg slide into the seat in front of me was just the start, speaking loudly and coughing without covering his mouth is just as disturbing and disgusting to me. After the meal service, when he requests additional meals and drinks and it wasn’t delivered to him in time, he started lashing out by slamming the tray table, which is rather childish and it shows how immature some passengers could be. Sitting on the same row over on the middle section and right side of the cabin are also middle age Asian that seems to have become friends and talking loudly throughout the flight, they ordered some alcohol during the meal service which probably doesn’t help.

The first meal service, we were given the choice of Chicken with rice or vegetarian noodles, I have observed a cabin crew who would ask each passenger their choice of meal instead of assuming, however another crew serving didn’t bother asking and rudely hand it to my side and told me to take it, which is really unprofessional (oh and he didn’t even give me a bread that I am supposed to have as well). The contrast makes all the good work that some of the crew overshadowed by the bad.

Given it was after 11pm in Fiji after the meal service, lights were off to allow passengers to sleep, the party is going strong on the other side of the cabin and the lights were all on, luckily I have my earplugs, sleeping pill, eyeshade all ready to hopefully allow me to have some sleep on this 10 hour flight. If you are gonna be watching a movie, please do not blast it through your phone’s speaker, no one is interested in joining your little movie experience when they are trying to sleep, that's what the invention of a headphone is for.

2 hours before arrival, I got tapped by the seat neighbour since he wanted to get out to use the lavatory, and I was still slightly dizzy from the sleeping pill. The breakfast choice was scrambled eggs or congee. This time around this crew member did the same and gave me a tray contained scrambled eggs when I wanted congee, so she passed it to my seat neighbour without asking what they would like. This is very disappointing to see, My overnight experience in Fiji during my outbound flight showed me that Fijians are a lot better than this.

The flight map on the IFE stopped working shortly after the start of the descent, so that’s the only information we get to see and the map doesn’t work or show anything. This continues onwards the Nadi - Auckland flight as I was on board the same aircraft.

For the breakfast on Nadi to Auckland flight, I opted for the scrambled eggs and sausages. The meal tasted fine however I wasn't particularly hungry since I have just eaten about 2 hours ago.

Conclusion:

After 2 long haul and 2 medium haul flights with Fiji Airways, their aircraft is definitely outdated and in need of a refresh, which is where their A350 comes in. The new aircraft will be operating in limited routes for now but as they receive more of the new aircraft, they would eventually introduce it to more routes and allow their customers to experience their new hard product.

The crew is another big issue since the on board experience is a mix and it really depends on who you end up with and it could be a really bad flight experience. Some of the crew are very friendly while some seem to be not enjoying their work and could not uphold the standards that their colleagues are presenting in the exact same aircraft.

Fiji Airways offer very competitive airfare, however I cannot recommend this airline if you are paying a fare similar to other airlines operating a more direct route or an airline with a higher/better reputation.