While travelling to Ajaccio on the Mediterranean island of Corsica, Robert Veitch got to enjoy an unexpected upgrade that took his flight experience to another level

Air Corsica ATR 72-600, F-HXKA (c/n 1648) coming to a halt on stand three at Ajaccio after flight XK101 from Nice

AIR CORSICA

It began like so many flights before, with a breakfast time check-in, albeit beneath the centre of the glorious roundel at Nice Terminal 2. The airline, Air Corsica, operates 72-seat ATR 72-600s on the Nice-Ajaccio route, and as a result, with fewer passengers the check-in queues were navigated swiftly – a pleasant experience aided by the welcoming, friendly, and polite staff. Airside, there was time to grab a coffee and enjoy the views of the apron and azure seas beyond, before boarding began at 8.25am. The bus ride out to stand 51C was through the type of crisp morning air that often signifies the start of a warm day. Boarding, like check-in, was brisk, at the rear door while the baggage was loaded into the front hold.

After climbing the six steps, I made my way along the aisle to my allocated seat 1D and began to stow my jacket when something extraordinary happened. “You are Robert from Airliner World?” asked the attendant. “Yes,” was the nervous reply, worried that 1D was about to be downgraded to the back row. “Would you like to go in the cockpit?” she asked. “At the end of the flight to talk to the pilots, thank you, that would be wonderful,” I replied. “No. Would you like to go in the cockpit for the flight?” she said, then smiled and paused. That briefest of pauses, maybe lasted a nanosecond, during which a lorry load of psychological spaghetti passed through my brain. “That would be amazing. Thank you.” As the words ‘boarding complete’ came over the Tannoy, the cockpit door closed behind me and I strapped myself into the jumpseat.

Nice to Ajaccio

Flight XK101 was being operated by Air Corsica ATR 72-600, F-HXKA (c/n 1648), due to depart at 0855hrs and arrive on the island at 0945hrs. The straight-line distance is 145nm, but Kilo Alpha’s routing will take 153nm. Captain Jérôme Savignoni is the pilot flying (PF) with First Officer Marco Cacitti acting as the pilot monitoring (PM). As the flight crew efficiently deals with paperwork and pre-flight checks, there were dull thuds behind as the last of the baggage was loaded and the front hold door is closed. Away on the port side, sistership F-HXKY (c/n 9392) taxies from stand 53C, turning left, to make its way to the runway and then Bastia. Savignoni and Cacitti chatter away to each other, the dispatcher and air traffic control (ATC), while they work through the last of the checklist, flicking switches, toggles and buttons on the glass cockpit. Peering upwards, the cockpit escape hatch occupies the space in the ceiling above the jumpseat, offering a sober reminder why these seemingly endless checks are necessary. Briefly there is quiet, before the pair of Pratt & Whitney PW127 turboprops are woken from their slumber. “Wear these, it’s quieter and we can talk,” says Savignoni, as he passes a headset.