Flying on TAROM is like stepping back in time 20 years. My TAROM A318 flight from London to Bucharest reminded me of what it was like to fly when I was a child–both the good and the bad.
TAROM A318 Business Class Review
I booked my ticket from London to Sofia, Bulgaria via Bucharest for 25K Delta SkyMiles in business class. Thankfully, I was able to check in and choose a seat on TAROM’s mobile app, as I was connecting in London on a separate ticket and did not want to go through passport control.
Since the SkyTeam lounge in Heathrow Terminal 4 is now closed, I used the Plaza Premium Lounge, which is both a Priority Pass Lounge and the designated business class lounge for TAROM passengers.
Boarding began 30 minutes before departure.
TAROM 392
London (LHR) – Bucharest (OTP)
Tuesday, February 20
Depart: 02:50 PM
Arrive: 08:10 PM
Duration: 3hr, 20min
Distance: 1,311 miles
Aircraft: Airbus A318
Seat: 3C (Business Class)
Onboard, the lead flight attendant welcomed me, but I promptly discovered a problem.
Seat
There’s actually very little information online about TAROM and its business class product and nothing from the airline itself on its website or social media channels as to what kind of seat you can expect onboard.
Onboard, I found a very “vintage” cabin. Business class seats are not 2-2 (TAROM does have larger business class recliners on some of its Boeing jets), but 3-3 as in economy class with the middle seat blocked. My aircraft was over 16 years old and I loved the “old school” style seats that were far better padded than the more modern slimline seats.
I was seated in 3A, which I found was behind the business class curtain, not in front of it! When I pointed this out, another flight attendant shrugged and adjusted the curtain separating the two cabins by moving it back one row…problem solved!
Reminded me of this (I queued the video to the 1:55 mark):
And if you’re in the mood for a few laughs:
Anyway, back to my TAROM A318 business class review…
Row one is only on the port (left) side because there is a large closet on the other side.
The seat was well-padded and the three-hour journey was comfortable enough. The seat next to me also stayed open. Legroom was tight at around 30 inches, but bearable. While the aircraft was once wired for audio, that functionality no longer works. No power ports or USB ports either. There were overhead air nozzles.
But the seat is still just an economy class seat…it was a bit too small for my husky seatmate across the aisle.
And sadly it was not clean, either. There were crumbs all over my seat where the two cushions came together…
IFE + Wi-Fi
Despite “Airfi” stickers around the cabin, there was no wi-fi or internet network.
Indeed, there was no IFE at all, unless you count the in-light magazine or duty-free catalog or perhaps the moving flight map:
The views out the window were not bad, but the window was very scratched and dirty:
Food + Drink
Water (and only water) was offered prior to takeoff in glass cup.
After we took off, lunch service quickly began. First, a paper tray liner was placed down.
Moments later, lunch was served on a single tray. There were no menus and no choice: dark-meat chicken with mashed potatoes and a green salad, bread roll, and tiramisu on the side. The salad and dessert were wrapped in plastic…the napkin was paper, but there was metal cutlery inside.
I like chicken thighs and the lunch was just fine. I ate the chicken, salad, and dessert:
I concluded the meal with coffee, with the flight attendant kindly warning me that “the coffee is powder.”
Beverage refills were offered until just before landing, which was appreciated.
Passengers in economy class received complimentary food (it appeared to be a sandwich) as well.
Lavatory
The business class lavatory was in the front of the aircraft and had seen better days…
Service
The service was adequate and I have no complaints. The little business class snafu was quickly addressed and I appreciated that the lead flight attendant did monitor the cabin for drink refills.
CONCLUSION
We landed at a remote gate in Bucharest and had to be bussed to the terminal. I expected that on Ryanair, but not on TAROM at its hub airport…
My flight was like stepping back in time. It made me thankful for things I take for granted today like plugs and internet onboard.
While nothing would stop me from flying TAROM again, I will certainly not go out of my way to fly it.
Could you possibly delete the very unflattering photo of a random passenger?
He was a very nice American man and we had a nice chat about the seat – the point is to show that the seat is actually very small.
Interesting.
The catering offering was far better than you would see on Lufthansa or Air France on a similar journey and probably in Europe only bettered by Aegean or Turkish.
I don’t think Tarom have ever loved their A318s which they got on a very good deal from Airbus when the original order for them was cancelled. They do the job but now either need a complete refresh or they need to go.
As for the bus gate, arrive at any hub late in the day as the majority of the fleet comes home and you stand a much higher than average chance of getting a bus simply because at most airports there are insufficient jet bridges for all night stopping aircraft.
I have flew with both Tarom (OTP-LHR) and Lufthansa (FRA-IST), which are the similar length flights. Lufthansa provided much better food service in Business Class, it was a hot medium haul meal (starter, hot main course and dessert). Food portions were also larger than on Tarom which served me the same meal as in this trip report. But Tarom offered me the welcome drink (orange juice) on the ground at OTP.
That meal was served only because of TK serving the same route. Take a LH flight of similar length to AGP/SCQ/FAO and be prepared to go hungry after sending back the random cold Taste of Heimat snack that tastes as bad as it looks.
As PM says, it depends on the competition. Lufthansa is fickle and will mirror the competition but if there is none, then the offering will be as little as they can get away with and cold.
I’m a Romanian reader. Tarom is still state owned, it’s been losing money for years (but I repeat myself), and its management is heavily affected by nepotism. Fortunately they have a solid safety record. Given a choice, I’d rather fly other (safe) airlines. As you probably know, these second or third tier airlines always have subpar aircraft and service. Your experience reminded me very much of flying Copa from Boston to Panama to San Jose, Costa Rica.
I actually like disembarking on the tarmac. Sure there’s usually no Porsche waiting but you get to see the planes up close and hear the sounds of the airport.
“I expected that on Ryanair, but not on TAROM at its hub airport…”
Boy will you be surprised the next time you fly on Turkish into Istanbul or Qatar Airways into Doha…
I confirm that. I flew Turkish a few weeks ago and boarding a 777 involved busing the passengers!