"I am from Barcelona and I do know nothing": I realy like Fawlty Towers. But I never mind that one day, I would fly with an aircompany which is very good imitating this serie.

I needed to fly from Palma to Bilbao, and Air Europe offered very interesting fares (+/- 70 Euro one way, all taxes included) on for me interesting time. It wasn't a direct flight: I needed to change in Barcelona and had exactly 45 minutes for it, what is normally enough.

When I arrived in Palma, 3 desks where open, on 2 desks around 5 people, the third desk nobody, but only for people with business seats. After 15 minutes, on every row just 1 person was served... and the deadline for check-in was very close: I go to the clerk at the 3th check-in, but he refused us because we where no business passengers. In all the time, he just looked very pathetic before him. However: an half hour before departure, still 2 people before us (never, but never saw such slow check in) and then the man ask us to come and checked us in: our handluggage was not accepted "because it was the good size, but more than 6 kilo and you have also photo bag sir, everything together sir, is more than 6 kilo, yes sir, this is the rule sir". Nothing to do: we gived our luggage (10 kilo) and hoped it will arrived in Bilbao. After the security checks we where just on time for boarding in a Boeing 717: Spanair is the only company in Europe which is using this type of plane: shame, because it's nice (2 + 3 configuration) and very quiet. Departure was delayed: it was the only time we heard the Captain, but the reason was acceptable: late loading of the luggage. We departed a half hour to late and I became worry about my connection in Barcelona to Bilbao. We arrived around 25 minute to late in Barcelona and the transfer was in the same terminal. I needed to walk 2 times around before I found out that the gate was downstairs. When I arrived there, a bus was waiting to us and closed immidiately the doors: we where the last passengers. A long journey to the other side of the airport bringed us to the airplane, again a Boeing 717. All by all very quickly, but the luggage? We where sitting and waiting: in the next 15 minutes, I saw 3 pieces of luggage falling on the tarmac of the airport from 2 differant transport: nobody was worried about it and many other transport turned around the fallen lugage, without taken it or whatever. And our luggage? We did the transfer quickly, but an half houre after the departure time, we saw a transport with luggage, stopping near the aircraft. And: I saw my own luggage. 5 minutes later: departure! Just because it was not only my luggage, we sayed to the F.A. that our luggage was still outside: the first crossed to the captain (which immediately stopped the airplane), the second F.A. told us "that's normal sir, we've got this problem many times in a week, Spanair sell connecting flights, but can't managed to transport the luggage from one airplane to another". After another 5 minutes, the first F.A. came back with the message that there where no loaders available and it was not possible to wait longer. We departed (more than 30 minutes late) to Bilbao without luggage. Service in this sector was more than excellent: from Palma to Barcelona we saw nobody (except the security demonstration), in this sector the flight attendants did there best for us and offered complete free everything what they had of the bar: chocolate, roll and beer. Very nice. They also explained to us what we needed to do in Bilbao. The arrival in Bilbao: the approach and landing looked normal, but at the last moment the pilot had another idea and started again and before we knew it, we where back high in the sky. Just because we where going so far and high, I was thinking he goes back to Barcelona... But he give explanation, first in Spanish, then in very poor and difficult to understand English: he didn't understand the instructions of the tower and that's why he didn't want to take the risk to land. All by all we landed more than 1 hour after scheduled time: very, very poor result for a short flight. After arrival, we gone immediately to the luggage department to make a claim: first the woman told us to look at the belt (to what?), then she accepted that she heared the same story every day. She told us we got 2 options: or we took our luggage at the airport by the next flight (evening), or the sended it "where we want" in Spain. Of course, we took the first option. Her answer was "OK, next". She only forget to explain to us how we could get in the airport, by the baggage belt... Her answer "explain your problem to the police and then you can enter, they know it, it happened every day". Very interesting, but we are not Spanish: we asked a paper, but first she refused, but after a long a discussion, she make one. A couple of hours later, we arrived back at the airport, showed the paper to the police officer, could going in in the exit and 10 minutes later the belt starts... and our luggage arrived. End of a long and stressed story.

Do I want to flight with this company? Never again with a connection flight. Maybe point to point, even the experience of a captain which explained in bad English that he didn't understand the instructions, doesn't give me a good feeling. I will avoid this company if alternatives exists.