Flew on Astraeus's new 757 to Chambery for our New Year ski holiday.

The plane itself is brilliant. They have removed a lot of seats to provide the most legroom I've ever had and certainly much more than on other charters. I don't know if this is normal on all Astraeus planes, but it is nice to see an airline thinking about its passengers for once.

The outward flight was delayed by air traffic control problems in France and we had around an hour's wait in the terminal followed by another hour on board. The staff did their best to keep us up to date with what was going on.

A choice of light meal was provided in flight which was fine for a short flight like this.

Bags arrived at Chambery as soon as we were inside the terminal building. It's not a big airport and the Astraeus plane is apparently the biggest one that flies there.

The homeward flight a week later landed at Gatwick 45 minutes early!!! Check-in at Chambery was quick with lots of desks open for us and we had a long walk across the tarmac to board. Same plane with more legroom again and we took off around half an hour ahead of time.

Good staff and another good choice of meal on-board. The only downside was that the flight was so quick that the staff didn't get time to offer drinks apart from the tea and coffee with meals! It was very windy on the way into Gatwick, but we landed smoothly.

I'd recommend Astraeus to anyone - the plane with the extra legroom is a big plus and their service is up to the standards of many larger airlines.