Sunclass Airlines - a Nordic Charter Carrier
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Sunclass Airlines
Sunclass Airlines is Danish charter airline with its headquarter in Copenhagen. Originally founded already in 1994, Sunclass Airlines has had changed its name three times. The airline has been formerly known as Premiair A/S, MyTravel Airways and Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia before it was officially renamed as Sunclass Airlines in 2019.
Sunclass Airlines is a holiday carrier taking travellers from Nordic cities to holiday destinations mainly in Southern Europe and North Africa, as well as some long-haul destinations. The airline is affiliated with nordic tour operators Swedish Ving and Finnish Tjäreborg which take tourists to leisure destinations.
Fleet
Currently, the airline has only 8 narrow-body aircraft and 5 wide-bodies but more modern aircraft have been ordered. The short-haul destinations are operated with Airbus A321-200. The capacity is 212 passengers. Long-haul destinations are flown with the Airbus A330 series which can carry more than 300 passengers onboard.
Route Network
Sunclass Airlines has destinations in Southern Europe, Northern Africa and Far-East Asia. The airline has hubs in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. In Helsinki, the airline has not a hub even though it operates different routes from the Finnish capital.
Sunclass Airlines does not sell tickets on their website but all flight tickets are being sold by tour operators, for example by Ving. Usually, flights are a part of a holiday package but it is also possible to buy flights only. The price level is moderate but the last-minute deals can be surprisingly low.
Travelling on Sunclass Airways
Travel Classes
Sunclass Airlines has two travel classes: Economy and Plus.
The Economy class ticket includes a normal seat in the middle or rear of the plane. The entertainment system can be used free of charge with the traveller's mobile device. On A330 aircraft, there is also a personal screen attached to the seat. No extras are included free of charge.
The Plus class ticket includes a seat in the front of the plane, free luggage allowance and a free meal. On Airbus A330 aircraft, the seat is also more spacious and there is a personal entertainment system with headphones.
On long-haul flights, meals are always included.
Luggage Rules
In the Economy class, it is only allowed to take 6 kg of luggage into the cabin. Luggage in the hold is an affordable extra service. The weight allowance is only 14 kg and for heavier luggage, the traveller needs to pay a higher price.
In the Plus class, it is allowed to take 6 kg into the cabin and 20 kg to the hold free of extra charges. It is possible to combine weight allowance among travellers whose tickets are in the same booking.
Meals
Sunclass Airlines does not offer meals free of charge in the Economy class on short-haul flights. A meal can be preordered or snacks can be bought on board. In the Plus class, a meal without drinks is included in the ticket price.
Sunclass Airlines has many kinds of menus that can be preordered. Sunclass menu is an affordable option including a warm meal, dessert and coffee. No salad or drinks are included. Premium menus include also a drink.
Entertainment
Short-haul aircraft have an entrainment system that is being used with the traveller's mobile phone. You need to connect to the onboard WiFi and access the entertainment system with a web browser. The system includes movies, TV series, music and games. Using the entertainment system is free of charge. There is no internet connection available, not even paid one.
Long-haul aircraft have a similar system but there are also personal screens attached to the seats.
Our Sunclass Experience
We flew from Helsinki to Madeira with Sunclass Airlines in February 2022. The flight was a part of a tour package bought from Tjäreborg. The basic price included only the flight and we had to pay extra for all extra services onboard like meals.
During our 6 hours flights, there was a cart sale two times and a lottery ticket sale. The meals were distributed after the first cart sale.
The flights were on-time. On the outbound flight, Sunclass Airlines had lost all passengers preordered tax-free shopping. On the inbound flight, the safety card was missing from the seat pocket.
It was possible to do the online check-in 24 hours before the flight. The process was simple and the seats were allocated automatically. Only the luggage drop was done at the airport. Staff printed also copies of the boarding passes automatically during the luggage drop.
Aircraft
We were flying with Airbus A321-200. The aircraft was moderately new. It was clean inside, in good condition and decorated with neutral colours. The temperature inside was perfect for the whole duration of the flight.
Seat
The seat was not as tight as we had expected. There was enough space even for a tall person. The pitch between the rows is 30 inches which are more spacious than many low-cost airlines. Even though the seat is still not spacious, it is good enough for a short flight in Economy class. People who prefer having more legroom can purchase a seat with extra space.
Seats were allocated automatically during the online check-in-in. They cannot be changed. Pre-purchasing a seat is the only way to secure your preferred seat.
Lavatories
The aircraft had 3 lavatories in the rear of the plane for economy passengers and a lavatory in the front of the plane only for Plus passengers' usage. No issues to complain about as there was a constant supply of hygiene products like soap and toilet paper.
Staff
Flight attendants behaved in a friendly way and handled all their tasks well. Some of them spoke Finnish and the rest spoke at least English. Most likely, the staff were from Nordic countries.
Distributing the preordered meals was inefficient. The meals were not distributed row by row but in quite a random order. That took a lot of time and was confusing.
The pilots spoke Finnish and English and gave nice information about the progress of the flights.
Food and Drinks
Before the meal, drinks were sold from a cart. The basic Sunclass Menu does not include drinks but in premium meals, they are included. The drink selection was the usual: soft drinks, juice and alcoholic drinks. The prices were moderate.
Our preordered Sunclass Meals were surprisingly tasty. On the outbound flight, we were served beef patties with chocolate mousse. On the flight back, we had chicken risotto with strawberry mousse. The meals could have been bigger portions or included a salad.
Entertainment
On our aircraft, there were flight information screens every 4th row. They showed only real-time flight information with a map and technical data. The entertainment system can be availed using one's mobile phone.
To use the entertainment system, we needed to connect to the aircraft's WiFi. Logging into the service worked smoothly so it was easy to connect to the system. The entertainment system provided music, movies, series and flight information free of charge. Also, a few games and Sunclass information pages were available, for example, travel-related information about the city destinations of Sunclass Airlines.
Overall Experience
We rate Sunclass airlines as a 4-star charter airline. Almost everything went smoothly except the pre-ordered sales service on the outbound flight was a disappointment for most passengers when tax-free items failed to be delivered due to logistical problems as they claim. Otherwise, every step of the flight check-in to landing worked well. There is still room to improve the existing service but the airline is already now a good choice for holiday-makers.
Bottom Line
This was our first time onboard Sunclass Airlines. The experience was better than we had expected. The flights departed on time, the service was good and we got tasty meals. The inflight entertainment system worked well. The airline follows a low-cost model so you need to pay separately for every extra.
The meals could have been a little bigger. In-flight processes were not as effective as with some other airlines. Despite these minor issues, the overall experience was very good.
Have you flown with Sunclass Airlines? Tell us your experience by commenting below!
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