An Airbus A320 parked at the tarmac of Mactan-Cebu International AirportMany of my friends are asking me about Zest Air, whether it is a new airline or it is reliable or if the fares are cheap and it is safe to ride in their airplanes. Zest Air is much more commonly known before as Asian Spirit. I happen to ride in one of Asian Spirit's plane last summer to Baguio City and I'm just glad that we landed safely in one of their decades old Dash-7 aircraft which even triggered my allergic rhinitis due to the aircraft's very dusty interior.
It's a good thing that Zest Air now operates only brand new turboprop planes and for the first time they acquired an Airbus plane as they are now expanding their routes. I happen to experience riding in their first Airbus A320 aircraft last December 2008 and the following are some of my rants and little praises for Zest Air.
* What a relief to finally see the Old Domestic Terminal with just several passengers. As far as I can remember even when I'm just about 4 years old on our way to Iloilo that the terminal is always full of passengers as it is the sole terminal of Philippine Airlines for all its domestic destinations. During the 1980's even at 2AM the Old Domestic Terminal is a bustling building because of people taking the "Bulilit Flights" of Philippine Airlines. Cebu Pacific Air outgrew the terminal and is now enjoying the vast space at Terminal 3.
* Check-in was fast. The flight was delayed by about 30 mins. but it is tolerable as it is the busy holiday season. No aerobridge when you board the aircraft as the terminal does not have them.
* I was assigned to seat 5A (I always request for a window seat) but inside the aircraft the flight attendants transferred all the passengers to occupy the middle part of the plane to distribute the weight & balance thing as the flight is just 1/3 full. In the end I was transferred to an aisle seat and I completely blame it on the check-in counter girl as it is her duty to distribute the passengers accordingly because she knows beforehand that we are only 50+ who will take that flight.
* I initially thought that their first Airbus A320 aircraft is brand new but I was wrong the very second I entered the aircraft just because of the smell... Yes, I know how a brand new airplane smells like. It didn't smell like a brand new airplane at all. Aside from that, the seats are not new as there is a cover on the back of the seat where a personal entertainment system of its previous owner might be placed. Then I saw the passenger safety information card, if you look closely on the picture below there is just a sticker of Zest Air covering the words JetBlue. I therefore conclude at that time that U.S.-based JetBlue Airways is the original owner of the aircraft. A funny thing is that it contains a Spanish translation targeted for the Hispanic passengers of JetBlue. I hope by now Zest Air replaced those safety cards as I think it is not that costly for an airline to print those cards so it can display their official company colors rather than the design which is only intended for JetBlue. If they want they can put a Filipino translation to replace the Spanish translation as it is more practical for a Philippines-based airline.
It's a good thing that Zest Air now operates only brand new turboprop planes and for the first time they acquired an Airbus plane as they are now expanding their routes. I happen to experience riding in their first Airbus A320 aircraft last December 2008 and the following are some of my rants and little praises for Zest Air.
* What a relief to finally see the Old Domestic Terminal with just several passengers. As far as I can remember even when I'm just about 4 years old on our way to Iloilo that the terminal is always full of passengers as it is the sole terminal of Philippine Airlines for all its domestic destinations. During the 1980's even at 2AM the Old Domestic Terminal is a bustling building because of people taking the "Bulilit Flights" of Philippine Airlines. Cebu Pacific Air outgrew the terminal and is now enjoying the vast space at Terminal 3.
* Check-in was fast. The flight was delayed by about 30 mins. but it is tolerable as it is the busy holiday season. No aerobridge when you board the aircraft as the terminal does not have them.
* I was assigned to seat 5A (I always request for a window seat) but inside the aircraft the flight attendants transferred all the passengers to occupy the middle part of the plane to distribute the weight & balance thing as the flight is just 1/3 full. In the end I was transferred to an aisle seat and I completely blame it on the check-in counter girl as it is her duty to distribute the passengers accordingly because she knows beforehand that we are only 50+ who will take that flight.
* I initially thought that their first Airbus A320 aircraft is brand new but I was wrong the very second I entered the aircraft just because of the smell... Yes, I know how a brand new airplane smells like. It didn't smell like a brand new airplane at all. Aside from that, the seats are not new as there is a cover on the back of the seat where a personal entertainment system of its previous owner might be placed. Then I saw the passenger safety information card, if you look closely on the picture below there is just a sticker of Zest Air covering the words JetBlue. I therefore conclude at that time that U.S.-based JetBlue Airways is the original owner of the aircraft. A funny thing is that it contains a Spanish translation targeted for the Hispanic passengers of JetBlue. I hope by now Zest Air replaced those safety cards as I think it is not that costly for an airline to print those cards so it can display their official company colors rather than the design which is only intended for JetBlue. If they want they can put a Filipino translation to replace the Spanish translation as it is more practical for a Philippines-based airline.
* Inflight service is quite good. I don't know if Zest Air is calling itself a budget airline as the flight attendants pass newspapers just like what legacy carriers offer. And then I was even more surprised when they offer refreshments of either mineral water or Zest-O juice drinks (Zest Air's majority owner is also the chairman and president of Zest-O Corp.).
* The flight ended in a smooth landing at Mactan-Cebu International Airport. When it is time to deplane I was dumbfounded to know that we need to walk all the way to the terminal as Zest Air does not use the aerobridges which Mactan Airport obviously have unlike its terminal in Manila. I don't know why, maybe because the other gates with an aerobridge are reserved for other airlines or Zest Air just does not want to pay extra to access an aerobridge. Oh well, the weather is good at that time and I need a little exercise anyway.
* On the flight back to Manila it is such an inconvenience to passengers when only 1 check-in counter is open to accommodate all of us passengers. I'm still on queue 30 mins. before the official departure time and I found out that the flight is only half-full. It didn't stop there as the flight was delayed for 2 hours and they only announced it way past our scheduled departure time.
* For the inflight service back to Manila almost everything is the same as my previous flight.
Would I fly with Zest Air again? Why not? I had also bad experiences with Cebu Pacific, SEAIR and Philippine Airlines. I BELIEVE THAT THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BAD EXPERIENCE AND A BAD AIRLINE. If Zest Air would not improve their Airbus service then that would be a different story and I would tell you again about it here in my blog. It's a good start that they are now operating with newer planes to all of their flights.
* The flight ended in a smooth landing at Mactan-Cebu International Airport. When it is time to deplane I was dumbfounded to know that we need to walk all the way to the terminal as Zest Air does not use the aerobridges which Mactan Airport obviously have unlike its terminal in Manila. I don't know why, maybe because the other gates with an aerobridge are reserved for other airlines or Zest Air just does not want to pay extra to access an aerobridge. Oh well, the weather is good at that time and I need a little exercise anyway.
* On the flight back to Manila it is such an inconvenience to passengers when only 1 check-in counter is open to accommodate all of us passengers. I'm still on queue 30 mins. before the official departure time and I found out that the flight is only half-full. It didn't stop there as the flight was delayed for 2 hours and they only announced it way past our scheduled departure time.
* For the inflight service back to Manila almost everything is the same as my previous flight.
Would I fly with Zest Air again? Why not? I had also bad experiences with Cebu Pacific, SEAIR and Philippine Airlines. I BELIEVE THAT THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BAD EXPERIENCE AND A BAD AIRLINE. If Zest Air would not improve their Airbus service then that would be a different story and I would tell you again about it here in my blog. It's a good start that they are now operating with newer planes to all of their flights.
