“The most reasonable price and the most sophisticated service.” By hour 10 of my experience aboard the latest flight to link Europe and Asia, I had concluded that the two were mutually exclusive. I was aboard a 15-year-old ex- Aeroflot Airbus A330.
But the 5,000-mile flight from Zagreb in Croatia to Seoul in South Korea was undoubtedly the most reasonable price. A British person buying a flight from Croatia to Korea on a French-built, formerly Russian-owned aircraft? The bill will be in Singapore dollars, obviously. Who cares, when it translates as barely £200.
I imagine that fare will increase: any new route tends to operate at a loss to begin with, before building the market and raising average prices. The flight was far from full, which was a blessed relief after a fairly gruelling day getting into position for the intercontinental journey. My day had begun at Birmingham airport at 6.
30am, and had included Beauvais along the way. I even had time to visit central Zagreb before the long-haul flight. After that, all I wanted to do was lie down.
So to find an empty row of four seats – the thrifty traveller’s dream trip – guaranteed I would enjoy the trip, by dint of being asleep for at least half of it. Were I to make the same journey on a packed plane, my review would be rather different. Please read it in that context.
First, that unusual name. The airline says: “The ‘t’ in T’way stands for together, today and tomorrow.” The next level in this togetherne.