Flight experience: Flying down under

Inas Mazhar finds the long hauls are fine if you're business class

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My trip to New Zealand was the longest I've ever flown since I started travelling 15 years ago. With the time difference, it took me almost two days and 21 flying hours to reach Auckland.

On my way to New Zealand, I stopped at Thailand Airport in Bangkok to change flights and airlines as well. I had flown EgyptAir. It was the second time that I stopped in Bangkok. The last time was 11 years ago when I was flying to Japan. Memories came back to me as I was taking the same flight from Cairo to Bangkok. Both times, I flew EgyptAir business class. I have to admit that I enjoyed the flight both times, and when I landed in Bangkok, I didn't feel that I'd flown for almost 10 hours. The flight was smooth and the cabin crew were so friendly, welcoming and helpful. The only difference maybe was the kind of aircraft itself. I have to admit that the older, jumbo (two level) was better and more elegant than the Boeing 777 200/300 I flew this time. However, I still enjoyed the flight and slept like a baby until the air hostess woke me up for breakfast.

I had six hours of transit to spend at the airport in Bangkok before taking the Thai Airways flight. My plan was to take a tour of the huge airport and go shopping at the duty-free shops, which I had enjoyed so much 11 years ago. But I was too tired this time to do so. I felt almost lost in this huge, neat and tidy airport. It was midday, but the airport seemed very quiet to me. You can see people around, but only whispering.

I looked for the First and business class lounge -- the Thai Silk salon, and I spent my time in that luxurious salon which had a fantastic view to the runways.

It was now time for my connectinG flight on Thai Airways. It was my first experience and since Thai is a member of the Star Alliance, I don't think it will be the last. Surprisingly, it was the same Boeing 777 200/300 model as EgyptAir. But the difference in the facilities was huge. This one might be newly manufactured because it looked gorgeous and had lots of extras. The air hostesses were professional and showed wonderful hospitality to their passengers. Flying Thai, you have the feeling of being indulged. This time, I only slept for a couple of hours and spent most of the rest discovering how comfortable and entertaining the flight was, whether sleeping or awake. An announcement was made to make sure we fill in the form for customs. I went through it and was stunned. We had to declare everything we had: food, drinks, medicines, animals, sweets -- even football boots!!! Everything you can imagine is on the list. And if you signed falsely that you have none, you'll face a NZ$200 fine. I had nothing, but I panicked and as the plane was descending for landing, I was thinking of everything packed in my luggage, do I have this, do I have that and kept talking to myself, yes, no. But I had only some normal medication -- pain killers for headaches or flu. When I was getting out of the plane in the tunnel, I remembered I had a packet of nuts in my handbag and nuts were one of the forbidden items in the list. Actually, I felt everything was forbidden. I got rid of it in the nearest bin and walked out with confidence.

I passed customs, and while walking to the belt to claim my luggage I could hear a warning from the announcer to clarify your goods or else, the fine and maybe jail. Then an officer appeared with a dog which came close to every person standing around the belt and would smell the person and the luggage. It was my turn. I was afraid of the dog, though not because I had something to hide, but I remained calm. I was clean, a good girl for New Zealand.

Airlines: EgyptAir & Thai Airways

Date: 22 October 2008

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