Arik Air, Maldivian, Spanair, Virgin Blue, Jetstar, and many more. Some of these are still flying, and some are long gone, but none of them fly anywhere close to the US, so they seem at least somewhat exotic. While talking travel with fellow blogger, Sriram, we were discussing a few unique carriers we have flown in the past. Many of us here are aviation fans, so we thought this might be a fun thing to write about. Here are some of my more unique carriers, at least they seem that way to me, given that most of my travel is on US carriers.
Arik Air A340-500. I didn’t fly on this plane, but did fly Arik
US Carriers gone but not forgotten
Of course listing all of the now defunct or merged US carriers I’ve flown might take a while, but here’s my best recollection. Frontier (1980s version), Western, Republic, Northwest (my first and second airline elite status was for the red tail airline, and I still hold sentimental attachment in some ways). I flew on Ozark, and Aloha. More recently I remember some flights on Air Tran, bmi and Midwest. I suppose my most notable flight even if i don’t remember was my first one as it was on an airline that still exists, but nowhere close to how it was, not that any are, United.
My first flight!
Outside the US
Not surprisingly trip to west Africa yielded a few unique travel experiences for me. My first trip to Africa was fun, and I shared details of it here. I flew United to Lagos, then 2 new airlines, to/from Accra, Africa World Airways and Arik Air.
Africa World Airways Embraer 145
A trip to Queensland, Australia had a flight on a Cessna Caravan operated by Hinterland Aviation:
Gotta love the front view upon approach!
On a trip to India I flew on various domestic carriers, including IndiGo, Air India and Jet Airways. None were exactly exciting for domestic flights, but they served their purpose.
Boarding IndiGO
I remember a domestic China flight on Shanghai Airlines, back when they were in Star Alliance. I flew on China Airlines for one leg of a whirlwind business trip around the world, from Delhi to Taipei. My only flight on a A318 was on Tarom, the national carrier of Romania.
I suppose many of these are not exotic at all, but they still seem somewhat unique. Please let me know in the comments your own interesting airlines or flights you’ve taken.
