My New Favourite Airline
Working in the travel business means I do a fair amount of flying, an activity I neither love nor loathe. The palaver and process that goes with it sometime vexes (like almost stripping for searches and unpacking laptops and undoing belts and being interrogated by surly, power-crazed immigration officers), sometimes fatigues.
You do get to learn about the different airlines though—for instance, how skilled Iberia are at losing luggage, or how posh British Airways staff seem, or how cool and crazy Virgin try to be. However, on a recent trip to Belize I discovered my new favourite airline: Tropic Air. These guys are awesome. They have the most chilled out pilots on the planet, no hosts to speak of, and a very relaxed attitude . . .”Oh the plane’s full? How about coming to sit in the co-pilot’s seat?” Awesome, yes please. Another example, “Everyone’s here but we’re not due to depart for another hour, but shall we just go?” Ok, vamos!
They have a fleet of smaller aircraft that seat just 3-13 passengers apiece, so you always have a great view. Tropic Air also operate scenic flights, like the one that takes you out over the cayes (tiny islands) off the coast, to Lighthouse Atoll where the Great Blue Hole (a scuba diver’s delight) is found. Seeing it from the sunny skies gives you the perfect perspective of this natural wonder. You can’t truly appreciate this stunning spherical shape when you are in it, only when you are over it. The many hues of the myriad blues is a poetic sight.
