I flew up to Sydney early in the afternoon on board a Jetstar A320, and spent most of the time spotting and logging aircraft.
At around 6:00PM I made my way up to the "Virgin Australia Lounge", and apart from me, there were only about five other people in the lounge, so it was very quiet, which suited me perfectly.
Date: 2nd July 2011
Route: Sydney to Melbourne
Aircraft: Airbus A330-200 (VH-XFB)
Flight Number: DJ890
Seat: 16A
Distance: 705km
Departure Gate: 40
SCH/ACT Departure: 08:15pm / 08:17pm
SCH/ACT Arrival: 09:45pm / 09:50pm
Arrival Gate: 12
At around 7:30PM, I made my way to Gate 40, which currently is the only gate in T2, which can accommodate the A330. As soon as I reached the gate, I realized that it would be a full flight. It seemed that a lot of the passengers were originally meant to flying on Tiger.
Boarding was very quick, and I made my way to Seat 16A without any problems. Just about every seat was taken on the flight, except for the seat next to me, which again suited me perfectly.
We were soon taxing out to Runway 16L. Virgin's A330s are equipped with a camera mounted on the nose gear, so my screen was obviously tuned to this.
I found both the seats and inflight entertainment very poor. The seats are very hard, and uncomfortable, and the IFE was playing up the whole time, jumping and pausing nonstop. Hopefully when the two new factory built A330s arrive, they will be equipped with something a little better.
Virgin Australia - Airbus A330-243 - VH-XFB (Sydney Airport)
The flight went by very quickly, with me spending most of the time, watching old episodes of
Curb your Enthusiasm on my iPad.
We landed on Runway 34 in Melbourne, and taxied to Gate 12. With me disembarking around five minutes later.
Overall the A330 is nice addition to the Virgin fleet, but the IFE needs a big upgrade.