Eurowings / Brussels Airlines to Newark
- KGO
- Apr 8, 2019
- 5 min read
EW1112
Airbus A330-300 OO-SFB - 03A BizzClass
Dusseldorf - Newark Liberty Intl.
30/03/2019 12:36 - 15:58 / 8h21
On March 30 I decided to tryout Eurowings' long haul flight from Dusseldorf to Newark. Out of Dusseldorf Eurowings operates various long haul destinations, for their USA flights EW teamed up with Brussels Airlines which explains the 'OO' registration iso a D-XXXX one. Basically this means the crew and plane are Brussels Airlines but operating for Eurowings as a sort of dry lease as they wear the famous bright blue and grey uniform.
Once at the airport EW has 2 check in areas, a regular one for European flights and a separate one for all the USA flights as you'll need to go through security checks where they check your VISA/ESTA. Once through that checkpoint you're allowed to cue up for the check-in. this is a bit chaotic as the check-in desk for BizzClass is also for crew luggage as they need to check-in their bags as well. Once through this hurdle I proceeded to the departure gate, again a special checkpoint as you'll need to go through the international departure area of the airport. As once you're inside the terminal there's border control and a separate departure level for the US flights. Today's gate was one level up as again there was a security point where they asked questions about your motive to visit the USA and your hand luggage. Once through that you were allowed to enter the waiting area. Once seated it was waiting for the crew to arrive to perform their checks and give an ok boarding to get on the plane. Boarding started a little later for some reason but when the ground staff made the announcement they mentioned the flight was operated by their partner Brussels Airlines (this was also mentioned on the boarding pass). As soon as boarding started I made my way to the plane, not very handy as almost everyone nowadays is travelling with a carry-on trolley you had to walk down through steps or one elevator. but this is the only way for now how DUS handles US flights from that gate position.
When I entered the plane I was greeted by the friendly purser and her colleague guiding me to my cabin, on this particular A330 they installed 16 BizzClass, 21 Best and 244 smart/basic seats all ex Cathay Pacific interior. On today's flight I had 3A which was a window seat on the left hand side. The window seats are all solo seats which is handy when traveling alone. The seat itself has a storage space where the headphones are and one next to the footrest to place personal items. Furthermore a blanket and pillow were present, both Eurowings branded. Once installed another colleague came around asking the passengers what they wanted to drink, I opted for the sparkling wine and still water. On board passengers flying Best/Smart/Basic can purchase an upgrade to BizzClass or Best via the flight attendants which on my flight one passenger did. Slowly the departing time passed by and an announcement was made saying that because of an aircraft swap the crew was still busy solving seating problems which lead to a delay of 50 minutes which would be caught up in cruise but not that much. Meanwhile one of the crew members came around handing out the amenity kit and menu card of today's flight. The amenity kit is Rituals branded and is filled with some basic products, the pouch itself can be used as a sleeve for a tablet afterwards which is always handy. Today's menu had a rather Asian touch which was a bit weird for a flight to the USA but looked exciting and appealing. Since the plane wasn't moving at all the purser made her round and took the orders for the meals to serve after take off. I opted for the poke bowl as my starter and the chicken as main course accompanied by a white wine. A little later the plane pushed (delay was 50 minutes when I took off).
As soon as the cruising altitude was reached the in flight service started first an aperitif service with a bag of squeezed pretzels. While waiting for the starter I tried out the in flight entertainment system which I wasn't able to as they did a general reset of the whole system. The dinner service started with a big white linen napkin and the tray with the starter, a salad, a glass of white wine, a cutlery roll and an empty plate for the bread which followed shortly after. The choices were white, dark or typical German pretzel bread. All china, glasses and cutlery were Lufthansa while the linen napkins were Eurowings branded. The dish was pretty tasteful and fresh, the wine on the other hand wasn't my thing and asked the crew if I could try the other option which turned out not to be great either so I just kept my gin and tonic which was really good. Meanwhile the entertainment system was rebooted but still didn't work and I heard the purser explaining to the passenger behind me that they would try one more time to make it work. As the load on this flight in BizzClass was low the waiting time for the main course took a bit longer but I didn't mind as the flight time was 8hrs after all.
When I received my main course I really liked the presentation, the shape of the plate and how it was composed. Temperature was on point and flavors were good. I only questioned the sort of mash potatoes which turned out to be a sort of Polenta but it was a good decent meal. As a desert option there was cheese or desert, I took the cheese over the desert. This came just as it was, on a small plate with cutlery but not accompanied by crackers or port which was a shame so I asked for another gin and tonic instead.
Once I finished the diner service I wanted to tryout their in flight entertainment but sadly without any luck as the crew didn't succeed to switch it on. Also on their A330-300's they don't offer WiFi, that's only available on the A340-300 and A330-200 (operated by SunExpress DE). So for the remainder of the flight I watched some netflix shows on my tablet which I luckily downloaded before boarding the plane. In the middle of the flight a crew member came around with a snack basket containing a bag of salty nibbles or a sweet item.
Shortly before arrival a cold snack with hot prawns was offered, the alternative was the exact same dish but vegetarian (without the prawns).
A little while later the approach to Newark Liberty INTL started with a beautiful view of Manhattan on the left side.
Overall the crew on my flight were very professional and attentive, they were present and made sure I had everything I needed. When I didn't finish my white wine they proposed me the other one straight away and when that one wasn't my taste either they got me another gin and tonic. That being said they didn't have the easiest flight either, swap of aircraft without their usual cabin and service offer so good job well done to them explaining the passengers in economy that there wasn't any entertainment available for 8hrs. I would definetly fly them again to Newark as it's a good alternative for the United flight out of Brussels. Being a low fare airline they really have a good BizzClass product with premium amenities such as blankets and pillows which were very good.
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