Fiji's Paula Dranisinukula. Photo / photosport
Stephanie Holmes flies from Auckland to Nadi aboard Fiji Airways FJ410.
The plane: Boeing 737-800. These older planes are still going strong in Fiji Airways' fleet.
Class: Economy.
The seat: 35A, a window seat towards the back of the plane (there are 39 rows in total). It was comfortable and reasonably spacious, helped by the fact the middle seat was empty.
On time: An hour late to leave. No reason was given, but the captain apologised for the delay.
Flight time: 2hr, 55m.
Airport experience: My flight had been delayed an hour (which I didn't realise until I was on the way to the airport, as Fiji Airways doesn't have an app with automatic alerts, and despite checking in online and supplying both email address and mobile phone number, I didn't get an email or text alert either). Screens at the airport said check in wasn't open for another 30 minutes, but I went straight there and things were open and operating fine. I breezed straight through. The new security screening hall was working well and the duty-free shopping area looks quite impressive. The construction work has now moved on to the departures area, which is a bit of a hassle, but once finished, if it ends up as good as the bits already completed, it will be worth the wait.
Food and drink: I wasn't planning to eat much of my meal, but the chicken curry was actually so tasty I finished the lot. The rice was well cooked, too. Dessert was a miniature lemon and coconut cheesecake, which was super-sweet, so I was glad it was only a bite-sized serving. The Wolf Blass red wine was passable.
Entertainment: These 737s only have drop-down screens, so you have only one option — on this flight it was the Lego Movie. I caught up on some work instead. Other entertainment came from the fact the victorious Fiji Sevens team — who had triumphed at the Hamilton Sevens the night before — were on the flight ... with many players sitting in Economy (I bet you never see an All Black in Economy on our national carrier). There was a lot of excitement — and many selfies being taken from fellow passengers. The captain even made a special announcement congratulating the team on their win, letting them know how proud their country was, and asked the passengers to give a round of applause. We obliged.
On arrival: At Nadi Airport, there was a huge crowd waiting to welcome their victorious heroes home, with the fans breaking out into beautiful, harmonious song when the team came through. It was a really lovely scene to witness.
Service: Friendly and efficient, from the all-male crew.
Toilets: Pretty standard.
Would I fly again? Absolutely. The food was actually pretty good, and who needs a huge choice of movies and entertainment options for a flight of less than three hours? We're all pretty connected these days, so bring your own entertainment. Or use it as an opportunity to completely switch off.
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