So, this was it. The whole reason for this trip β my second attempt at making it to Tuvalu. I had arranged a cab with the Sheraton the night before, and of course when I got to the front desk to check out at 6am it was nowhere to be found. They did manage to scare one up around , however, and I was still at the airport nearly an hour before the flight. The Fiji Airways domestic terminal in Nadi is extremely small, so arriving 45 minutes before the flight is absolutely no problem at all β as long as nothing goes wrong!
I had to ask really nicely and point out that I had booked business class on the onwards flight, and they reluctantly ended up giving me 1A. Small bottle of water handed out to all passengers right before takeoff, and not much else to say for the 25 minute flight.
I was the only one in the eight seats up front, and got to chat with the flight attendant a bit. That was good news, since if you get on the plane out of Nadi apparently you know your plane has arrived to leave for Tuvalu too! Met the same agent that had worked there last time I tried this, and sure assured me the flight was just fine, and would be on time today. I was less optimistic given past performance, but hey, at least the plane and crew were thereβ¦.
Small bit of drama, however. Priority was given to business class and Tuvaluans returning home, so I have no idea how they chose which 18 would not be able to go. Despite that, boarding was on time, the door closed 10 minutes before departure time, and soon we were taxiing for takeoff! About 20 seats empty in coach and we were only four of eight in business, meaning I had an empty seat next to me.
Breakfast was offered β french toast or omelette. Flight time was nearly 2. Of course deplaning was via the plane stairs seriously, jetways in a country that only gets two flights a week? One room airport building, where agents were stamping passports on a card table:.
