I recently spent a weekend in Madrid and was unfortunate enough to encounter problems on my return flight to Germany with Spanair.

First there was no-one at the gate a boarding time, and when they did arrive they were unable to operate the boarding-card reader.  Eventually we boarded by showing our cards without the stubs being torn off.  The delay caused the flight to miss its slot and subsequently took off almost an hour late.

This hour turned out to be crucial, as there were heavy thunder storms over Frankfurt airport as we approached, which meant that the flight was diverted to Stuttgart.  Eventually the storm cleared and the plane was re-fuelled.  It flew back to Frankfurt, so that instead of arriving at 21:05 I reached the terminal at 00:15!

JK127 from Madrid - via Stuttgart

Some passengers on the flight had already asked about compensation, but were told that the usual rules were not applicable as the delay was due to the weather conditions.  BUT had the flight taken off on time, it would have reached Frankfurt before the airport was closed.

I filled out the relevant complaint form (EU Regulation 261/2004) and sent it off to Spanair.  Their German office told me that I had to send it to the head office in Spain!

I soon received an e-mail from Spanair:

“With relation to the above mentioned flight we have verified that it could not be operated as scheduled. The delay was caused due to bad weather conditions. Spanair, as contracted carrier, complied with the undertaking of transporting the Passengers to their destination, using its best efforts to minimise the delay until the flight could depart.

According to the Communitarian Regulation 261/2004 our priority was to provide to our passengers the assistance and the information available about the delay, as well as to make the necessary arrangements to transport the passengers to their destinations. Therefore and regarding a possible compensation we shall inform you that it is not applicable on this case, as those were force major causes.”

There were passengers who wanted to leave the plane in Stuttgart to get to their destination, but although they were eventually allowed to leave the plane (without their luggage), any other questions about how we were all going to get home were met with “Keine Ahnung” (“no idea”) until the pilot eventually made the announcement about the re-fuelling.

But what I find really cheeky is putting the delay entirely down to the weather in Frankfurt!

I have replied saying that I do not accept this answer, and have asked them to explain the delay in Madrid, but as yet – 2 weeks later – I have not had a reply.

What I have found is a very interesting site called flightstats.com, where you can view flight information even weeks afterwards.  It is clear that my flight not only departed the gate 50 minutes later than scheduled, but that according to the arrivals board if we had not been delayed in Madrid, then we would not have to have been diverted.

Is this Spanair’s idea of customer service?

The June 2009 edition of the Spanair in-flight magazine “Spanorama” announces an “improvement” in the airline’s in-flight service.

“To improve the service and satisfaction of all its passengers, Spanair offers a new menu to purchase on board […]”

Or to put it another way, you now have to pay for your own food and drink in economy class, just as Iberia started doing a few years ago.

However, unlike the last menu that I saw for Iberia, the prices are slightly lower.  A cup of coffee or a 0.33l  can of soft drink costs 2€ and a muffin costs 1.50€.  The bacon rolls and sandwiches are a bit pricey at 5€.  The best offer appears to be the 9€ “menu” – a warm meal with a drink, roll and dessert – available on flights longer than 2 hours.

This can cause angry scenes, as I recently discovered on a flight to Madrid, as many passengers who have booked their flights several months in advance only become aware of the new menu once they are in their seats on the aircraft.  However, complaints on my flight fell on deaf ears with the cabin crew, and the passengers were all the more confused when sandwiches and drinks were then served – free of charge – once airborne.

It appeared that the catering service in Frankfurt had loaded the wrong trolleys, but a closer inspection of the Spanair website has since revealed that flights between Germany and Spain are exempt from the new menu, meaning that for the moment I can still expect a sandwich and a drink on the way to Madrid, but will have to reach into my pocket for the connecting flight to Lanzarote.

And don’t think that you can take your own food on board that easily.  Not only are, of course, liquids banned in hand luggage, but in Madrid I witnessed passengers being forced to try every sandwich that had been detected by the x-ray scanners.

So I guess in future, the over-priced food and drink is going to be a part of flying on any economy ticket, not just with budget airlines.  Is it a way of making money out of the current security regulations?  Or is it helping keep the ticket prices low?

Either way, I wish the airlines would be honest with their passengers, and not try to sell it as an “improvement”.

Do you know how much luggage you can take on a flight to Lanzarote?  In particular, how much hand luggage?

Different airlines allow different amounts of luggage in the hold, but the rules on hand luggage can vary depending on which direction you are flying!

Iberia, for example, allows 10kg of hand luggage according to their website, although German regulations only allow 8kg.  Theoretically you can therefore bring back 2kg more of luggage from Lanzarote than you can take with you.

Another complication can be that not every airline follows the IATA recommendations on the dimensions of hand luggage, Lufthansa being one example – and in Frankfurt, Lufthansa provide the check-in facilities for SpanAir.

When I first flew to Lanzarote in September 2001, there were understandably very strict restrictions on what you could take onto the aircraft (although you could buy a manicure set from the on-board duty free trolley!) and I took just the bare minimum with me, putting everything else into my suitcase.  This caused it to have more than the allowed 20kg, but I pointed out at the check-in desk in Frankfurt that in return I had less than 1kg of hand luggage and so I did not have to pay any extra.

Returning with a couple of new books and souvenirs, I had even more kilos in that suitcase.  But again, with very little hand luggage this was not a problem.

Travelling as a family group can also be an interested experience at the check-in desk, but generally in Frankfurt the family will be considered as a single entity.  Thus a family of 3 can check-in a total of 60kg of luggage, as long as none of them on their own are over 30kg.

Of course, things do not always have to go so well, as the passengers on a flight to Frankfurt found out last week.  Due to the wind conditions in Arrecife, the pilot of a 757-300 had 80 suitcases off-loaded to reduce the weight of the aircraft before taking off.

I guess that it is one of the hazards of bringing home souvenirs from Lanzarote – lava is heavy!