Home > Aerolineas Argentinas > Review

Taken 10 June 2006 from London, England (Gatwick Airport) - LGW to Madrid (Barajas) - MAD

These flights were operated by Air Plus Comet on behalf of AeroLineas Argentinas. Everything once on board says "Aerolineas Argentinas". Seat covers, safety cards except the crew's uniform and the plane's livery.

Check-in at LGW was quick, but very strict carry-on luggage regulations were applied: 5kg per bag. We had one roller suitcase for two which had to be checked-in (10.1 kg). The check-in agent at LGW mentioned that these rules would probably not apply at MAD for the return and she was right. The check-in agent at MAD didn't even ask to weigh our suitcase and we saw some rather big sports bags and other equipment come on board.

Boarding at LGW started at the scheduled departure time with no word of information from the gate agents. Once on board no word of apology came from the cabin crew or the flight crew, we landed 30 minutes behind schedule.

The outbound flight the cabin crew were uninterested and abrupt, some would probably say rude. Passenger calls were ignored, noticeably a mother with her infant who required food to be warmed up to feed her baby. After the drink service, the crew hid in the last few rows of the MD-88 feet up on the galley walls even as we passed them to go the WC at the very rear of the aircraft.

On the return, with the surely attitude of a supervisor checking passengers' travel documents at the check-in counters we were bracing ourselves for a similar flight experience. The check-in agent automatically gave us two seats together, however was most helpful when we asked her to check if emergency exit seats were available, in less than a minute she checked and re-issued new boarding cards. On board we were greeted by a friendly crew, courteous at all times, though they still disappeared after the basic bar service. This flight left and arrived 10-15 minutes early.

We had a minor safety concern on the flight from MAD to LGW as we took off though the seat belt signs were not illuminated. We asked the crew member who served us about it, she answered that they had noticed, but didn't know why. The landing at LGW was also very rough. On both flights the crew only summarily checked the cabin before take-off and landing.

No hot drinks are available, no options to buy food on board, no landing cards are provided to non-European Union passengers which meant that we had to spend extra time in the costums hall filling out the UK landing card. Overall Air Plus Comet/Aerolineas Argentinas offered an inconsistent service (staff attitude) on this route, cheap and very basic. We would not recommend them.