Trip Report VLC-OVD: Volotea Boeing 717

Aug 23

Aug 23 Trip Report VLC-OVD: Volotea Boeing 717

This trip report is full of firsts! My first time flying the Spanish airline Volotea. First time flying the Boeing 717. First time flying to Asturias, in the north of Spain.

I chose Volotea because it was the only airline flying nonstop from Valencia to Asturias airport on the day I wanted to fly. Asturias is actually the name of the autonomous community, and the city code OVD refers to the capitol Oviedo, but the airport is actually closest to another Asturias city, Avilés.

Volotea is interesting, because they specialize in point-to-point routes between small and mid-sized cities, with bases in cities like Toulouse, Bordeaux, Venice, Palermo, and Verona. They are one of the few airlines that flies the A319, and one of the even fewer airlines that flies the Boeing 717. And they are based in Asturias.

I was super excited to fly the Boeing 717, the successor of the Douglas DC-9 and McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series. We boarded our aircraft by walking down the jetbridge and onto the tarmac.

I like the flight attendants’ uniforms: very classy, and the women get to wear these smart hats!

The 717 has 2-3 seating, and the seats felt quite wide to me. I think the rounded top actually accentuates the wide feeling.

Like Ryanair, they print the safety information on the seat back. But they also place safety cards in between the seats - see above. — Like Ryanair, they print the safety information on the seat back. But they *also* place safety cards in between the seats - see above.

I paid a bit extra to select my seat, because I wanted a window seat on the right side (away from the sun, on this afternoon northbound flight). I selected row 7, and it was very quiet taking off, with the engines mounted in the rear!

One of the benefits of paying for the seat is that you can download boarding passes immediately. Otherwise, you can download boarding passes from 4 days before the flight. It really makes me question why US airlines only let you check in online 24 hours in advance.

There is not much to write about the onboard service, because it was all buy-on-board, and I did not partake. But I saw that the flight attendants all seemed smiling and eager to serve, saying “let me know if you need anything during the flight” to the parents of a young child behind me, for example.