From Bucharest, Romania to Sofia, Bulgaria I flew on a TAROM in business class…which showcased the challenges of offering business class on an ATR-72.
Business Class On A TAROM ATR-72 Is Not Ideal
The ATR-72 turboprop is boarded from the rear and there is a wall in front of row one that separates the passenger cabin from a cargo area and the cockpit. Passengers cannot pass through it.
TAROM offered two rows of business class on this flight; the first two rows of the aircraft. The entire aircraft has 2-2 seating and in business class adjacent seats are not blocked, so eight passengers are squeezed together just as in regular economy class.
A small meal was served after takeoff, which was a novelty for a 187-mile flight that was in the air for little more than a half hour. There was also a curtain closed behind row two.
But if you want to use the lavatory, you have to walk to the rear of the aircraft. And when the aircraft lands, you are last to step off the plane.
All minor annoyances and only worth discussing on a travel blog focusing on premium cabins, but it seems to me that business class could have been in the rear. That’s such a dreary aircraft that business class passengers could be the last on, but then the first off, with easy access to the sole lavatory (in the rear) of the aircraft.
Blocked adjacent seats would be nice, but at least this would solve the post-landing wait to get off the plane. In fact, it is my understanding that some carriers that operate the ATR-72 do place business class in the back rather than the front, though I am not sure which ones.
CONCLUSION
My TAROM journey came to an end with a short hop to Sofia on an ATR-72. While I appreciated the effort of a meal on such a short flight, it seems to me that business class should be in the back, not the front, of the ATR-72.
More evidence that Eurobusiness class is a scam. You get the same seats, same legroom but a cheap meal. Perhaps, you might get fast track security and access to an overcrowded lounge – but is that worth double (or more) the ticket price? For all the criticisms that Europeans have of the way we do things in the USA, their treatment of business class negates quite a few of their claims of superiority.
It depends on what the ticket price is. If you have two suitcases and no status, LH business class will often be cheaper than Y. If you do have status and want to retain it, you may value the additional miles more than the cash difference. You just need to decide on a case by case basis.
@AngryFlier: It’s true, there is lounge access as well and at OTP there is no Priority Pass lounge. I was thankful for the lounge access…I don’t like that airport one bit.
Well, OTP is even better if you’re connecting to a domestic flight: you have to go airside, clear security again, then sit in a giant room with a coffee place in there middle, and wait for your bus. No lounge.
Short hop flight, ATR prop, Eastern European airline – not a situation that I would look to fly business class. I’m curious as to what cost difference there was from economy to business for you to justify the need for business?
Delta SkyMiles award redemption LHR-OTP-SOF for 25K miles in J. Would have been the same price if I just flew LHR-OTP.
Tim Dunn just texted Ed. This award now costs 680,000.
Sounds about right!
I have written this before, but CSA certainly used to offer C class in the back of their ATRs back in the day.
Nevertheless, the last on/first off thing didn’t make much of a difference as, unless it was a very small airport (certainly never in PRG), you would be sharing the same bus from/to the terminal with all the Y pax.
First class being in the back was common in the era before jets. It was quieter and also closer to the main exit.
Probably make more sense not to have Business on such short trips! Just like metro trains are just one class of travel.Probably the only reason these short hops have Business is due to connecting long haul flights?
I don’t think TAROM have any long haul flights, certainly nothing further than DXB. But they probably think they need to be seen to make an effort for pax spending €600 or whatever for an intra-Europe ticket.
“In fact, it is my understanding that some carriers that operate the ATR-72 do place business class in the front rather than the back, though I am not sure which ones.”
You meant to reverse this sentence, right? “… in the BACK rather than the FRONT…”
Iberia Regional (Air Nostrum) has business class at the back of their ATR 72’s.
Royal Air Maroc has s9me quite lengthy flights on its ATRs (eg LPA-CMN). Their business class is at tthe front as well with the ssme seat pitch as Y class.
Shame the trains in Romania and Bulgaria have gone to crap… not that they were ever that great. It’s never a good day to fly TAROM or Bulgaria Air.
Are they keeping these planes in their fleet for the foreseeable future or are they planning on phasing them out? If the former, what is the economic incentive of keeping planes like this?
CityFlyer, who operated as a British Airways franchisee in the 90s and early 2000s operated ATRs with a Business Class at the back.
Business in the back? Well, that goes against tradition. Oh my!
Iberia’s regional carrier(s) who still operate the ATR-72 put business class in the back.
Why wouldn’t they put business-class at the back of the plane since that’s where boarding is?