Flight Report : AC 065 Toronto - Seoul

Airplanes @ Pearson Airport

Empty Flight

The 14-hour Toronto - Seoul direct flight is a new route for Air Canada. However, there were surprisingly few passengers, which was great because there were plenty of rows of empty seats to sleep on. Even the flight attendants were a bit surprised of the light loading as we pulled out of Pearson. I was moving around the plane throughout the flight to get the views from both the left and right sides of the plane.

On the left, an A345 was preparing for takeoff to Hong Kong at the same departure time slot.

North to Hudson Bay

The flight path was directly north towards Hudson Bay. The skies started to clear during the northbound journey.

Canadian Arctic

The Canadian Arctic had more rugged terrain - mountains and lakes. The flight headed directly westward, skirting the northern coast of Alaska on the way across the Bering Strait.

No Personal TVs

Unlike most other airlines I've been on, AC doens't have personal televisions (PTVs) for every seat of the plane. Only the Toronto - Hong Kong route has such a feature, so it was quite exhausting keeping my head up to look at that small TV screen for the inflight entertainment. It didn't help that there were only TVs along the center section and not along the sides plus my nearest one wasn't working properly.

Bumpy Descent

Rainy Day

Once again, it was raining in Seoul, just like in Toronto. Passing immigration took forever. Foreign nationals were subjected to long lineups that didn't seem to move at all. The immigration agents took several minutes per person. Then a supervisor came out directing the foreigners to the domestic immigration counters since those lines quickly cleared and were empty by then.

Service Summary

Air Canada's service levels are average to below. The flight attendants were not the source of the problem. They're very friendly. Especially on this low loading flight, which made it a lot easier to take care of everyone. However, there isn't enough entertainment on board. After all, it's a 14-hour long-haul flight.