Marseille

I was rostered to fly out of Marseille last week, so it was a welcome change of scenery from the dull weather and I enjoyed it.  Though it was sunny everyday there, it was rather cold, and on some days quite windy with the mistral!  The mistral is a northerly wind, which can reach really high speeds (we experienced over 50mph and it can go higher) as it accelerates through the Rhone valley.

I made my way to Marseille the night before, so I was ready and well rested before my early start the next day.  Unfortunately, there were no direct flights from my base, so I had to travel to Stansted and take one from there.  I met a couple of colleagues there – another first officer and a captain whom were also being rostered in Marseille for a week.  We found it interesting to view the operation in the cabin and as passengers, we don’t really take notice of the procedures cabin crew must follow, so it was interesting to see it from a different perspective and appreciate what they do in the cabin – and it can be very busy during boarding!  I think just observing this will help us better co-ordinate our tasks between us  (flight crew), and cabin crew.  It’s difficult to appreciate and co-ordinate tasks with cabin crew when you’re new to the job and getting the hang of the basics and it’s easy to fall into the trap of interrupting cabin crew unintentionally, for example by making a PA whilst they are in the middle of one already.  We also realised how noisy it really is in the cabin, so it’s important to speak up when making passenger announcements!

We arrived in Marseille and it was a short walk to the hotel and I went to bed right away to get enough rest.  The first day was a flight to Lille, followed by Nantes for the other 4 days and Fès (Morocco) on two other days.  The views coming into Marseille were amazing and two of the Marseille based captains demonstrated a visual approach which was amazing to see.  Marseille has 2 parallel runways, facing North-West and South-East – ideal when the mistral is blowing, leading to a strong wind down the runway.  The Alps are nearby and were often seen on approach.

Whilst I was there, 31R was in use, so if we approached from the North, it took us over the airfield via a continuous descent approach (CDA), out to the Mediterranean Sea, and then with a left turn, back towards the airport to intercept the ILS.  The glidepath for 31R is 4 degrees and is much steeper that what we’re used to, which is 3 degrees, so it can be tricky if there’s a tailwind on approach or a gusty wind.  We opted for flaps 40 most of the time, especially if heavy and got away with flaps 30 if we were light and the weather was gusty.  Flying the 4 degree glidepath felt odd at first since the runway perspective, power settings and descent rate on approach were not what I was used to, however it didn’t take long to get accustomed to it.

Flights to Nante and Lille took just over an hour and Fes took around 2 hours and 30 minutes.

The flights to Fes were always interesting – not only because of the stunning views along the way, but also because of the passengers!  On the flight to Fès, I saw 4 mountain ranges along the way, starting with the Alps, then the Pyrenees as we flew along the coast of Spain, then the Sierra Nevada near Granada and on flying over Morocco, the Atlas mountains.  On my first trip to Fés, it was cloudy most of the way, so unfortunately didn’t get to see as much as I wanted, however on my second trip, the clouds gave way and I enjoyed the view!  Fés was very quiet – we were the only aircraft there at the time of arrival and departure and the weather was pleasant – sunny, and relatively warm – a nice break from the cold and dull weather back in UK!

Whilst I was in Marseille, I took the opportunity to visit Marseille city and Aix en Provence with the new friends I had made at Marseille!  We used the airport bus to travel to Marseille – costing €8.50 single!  Marseille is a very busy city with parts of it looking a little run-down. The bus and train station looked new and the city’s high street and shopping district was only a walk away.  The port was not far either, also a walk away, lined with restaurants that were selling sea food.  Aix en Provence was a little further away than Marseille, and it was much more pleasant and well-kept.  The centre had plenty of narrow streets with shops and restaurants and friendly locals.