DISCLAIMER: tickets for these flight were offered to Aviacionline by Blue Air. However, our editorial independence is a non-negotiable value and all views expressed here are mine and mine alone, regardless of who paid for the ticket.

Right after our flight with the 737-500, there was still time to go back to the hotel to watch the start of the Formula 1 season opener. But eventually it was time for doing what we were there for: flying.

Again at short notice, we saw there was a MAX same-day roundtrip to Brussels, which would make us fly the three generations of Blue Air’s fleet. We naturally went for it, and there we went.

There’s this curious Winston stand by the check-in counters which, to be fair, I don’t know if it’s an advertisement or a store because it was never staffed.

Flights were plenty that afternoon — Bucharest has quite a diverse network, with plenty of airlines serving it.

Again we went to the same check-in counters as the previous day. Blue Air’s counters were just by the side of the assistance counter to Ukranian refugees, and apparently, many of the passengers on the line were indeed fleeing the war.

On our way to the safety screening area, we found this. It was just seven days ago that an Aeroflot flight had departed Otopeni Airport for the last time, and if we didn’t know about the ongoing crisis, it would just seem that its workers had left for lunch, by the looks of their office.

The safety screening was cleared quite fast and in less than 15 minutes we were in front of our gate.

0B1123 OTP-BRU

The flight would be operated by Boeing 737 MAX 8 YR-MXC, the third MAX delivered to Blue Air, back in September 2021, according to Planespotters.net. The airline currently operates five of the type, having, according to BoardingPass.ro, an order for another five.

MXC had made a rountrip from Bucharest to Dubai that same day, having returned some hours prior. Although one would argue there would have been time for even more flying that day, it was still Winter season; Blue Air has been definitely putting its best assets to good use. The four-hour mission to Brussels and back would be its last of the day.

Our first impression of the cabin was definitely a good one. Again according to BoardingPass.ro, Blue Air has picked for its MAX fleet Collins Aerospace seats, which really resemble the ones used by Delta Air Lines in the US (albeit different, obviously).

It’s overall a stark contrast between this cabin and the one we’d flown hours before. Really a top of the class low-cost product.

And what is more important for the passenger, adjustable headrests. It’s not many low-cost carriers that offer it; in fact, as far as Europe goes, I don’t recall any other that does so.

I made my way to the cabin to meet Captain Andrei Barbu and First Officer Robert Tache; I would watch the first flight from the jumpseat.

But from the off, you could see the differences from the previous generations to the MAX. Now the screens are way larger — in fact, practically all displays and indications that have remained are digital now.

Pushback was made on time despite the high load factor; tonight, 171 passengers were onboard, out of 189 seats (a 90.5% LF). Quite good.

As the pilots started to wake up the pair of CFM LEAP-1B engines, the differences from the old generations became once again visible — or rather audible.

A quite fast taxi to the active runway, 08L, followed; and with little traffic ahead, we lined up quite fast. I’ll never get used to being on the jumpseat, let alone on these critical phases of the flight; I’m taken away by my adrenaline. I needed to keep my hands steady, though, as I was filming everything for our YouTube channel (you should be able to watch the videos of this trip very soon).

Captain Andrei started to take the thrust levers forward, and as he did so, the pair of CFMs responded accordingly; despite the high load, that was an easy mission for YR-MXC — it was weighing 66.6 tons while its maximum take-off weight would be 77.1 tons; the aircraft was carrying 7.3 tons of fuel.

With that, the plane flew beautifully as the «rotate!» call was spoken.

After 10,000 feet, I waved goodbye to the pilots and joined Thiago, who was on the cabin for this flight, to have dinner.

Meanwhile, the flight attendants were serving the onboard menu to the passengers (which you can see more in depth in our first Blue Air trip report).

The airline’s MAX really offer a superior low-cost experience; the seats even have their own USB ports, which is another thing few LCCs offer in Europe.

Luckily for this leg they had boarded a warm meal for us along with the crew’s, so that came in handy after a long day.

…a complimentary pasta; that you don’t see everyday in a two-hour flight in Europe (obviously that was specially brought for us as we had been invited by the airline).

We spent some time chatting in our seats before the pilots called us to return to the cockpit. We were welcomed with some of the most beautiful scenes we’d ever seen during a flight.

It’s quite unbelievable to think that this is some people’s offices… it almost makes you rethink your whole career decisions.

Jokes apart, we chatted for some time with the pilots about what the 737 MAX means for them. Besides the noise/fatigue question, which is an obvious thing, the overall flying «feeling» is much smoother than the previous generations, but at the same time, it remains quite similar to the Classic and the NGs — so much so that the pilots can operate any of the three series.

At that point, we were over Hungary; it was just a spectacular night for flying.

And MXC’s «license plate», if you will. The aircraft, as Blue Air’s other MAXes, is owned by Air Lease Corporation (hence the «ALC» acronym), one of the world’s largest aircraft leasing companies.

Soon descent into Brussels was started.

As in the other flights, the approach proceedings were prepared with tablets.

The night was still not full in the horizon as we approached the city…

…but soon the calm of the early evening was replaced by the city’s lights.

We were cleared to land without any traffic ahead.

At 20h33, twenty-seven minutes before schedule, we landed in Brussels’ Zaventem airport.

Deboarding went quite quickly as we stopped in Brussels’ single terminal.

Because we landed so early, there was time for a lot of photos. Another one of the cabin, before boarding of the return flight started…

…and a photo of the crew, who was outstanding in all Blue Air flights we did.

Again, the seats really impressed me; it’s really an outstanding hard product for a low-cost carrier, ahead of practically every other LCC in Europe.

For the return leg, about 160 seats would be occupied.

0B1124 BRU-OTP

In this flight back to Bucharest, I’d stay in the passenger cabin for the take-off as Thiago would be in the jumpseat, but I’d return to the jumpseat for landing in Bucharest.

By our side, a TUI 737 MAX… I don’t know about you but I just love this livery — definitely one of my favorites in Europe.

For now, I’d stay in the first row — so plenty of space for my legs…

I was really tired so I slept practically through all departure and climb stages of the flight (the adjustable headrest does make a difference!), only to be woken up by Thiago, who had just photographed/filmed the take-off from the best seat in the house.

For some reason we departed late — pushback started at around 22h15 instead of the scheduled 21h50.

We had a chat while we drank some Coca-Cola, so the flight went like a breeze. Soon the pilots invited us to the cockpit again, a little bit before descent was started, and as we got near landing, I waved goodbye to Thiago, since there’s a single jumpseat oxygen mask in the cockpit.

The pilots managed to offset some of the delay, performing a smooth landing in Bucharest Otopeni International Airport at 01h46 (schedule was 01h35).

Before we deboarded, a pic with the pilots.

We were one of the last arrivals in Bucharest that night, so the apron was quite empty.

It was cold as hell in Bucharest, so we waved goodbye to the crew and rushed to the bus as quickly as we could.

Customs were lightning fast and in about 20 minutes we were already in our hotel room.

Final remarks

After experiencing Blue Air’s three different products (the 737 Classic, the 737 NG and the 737 MAX), the MAX was definitely the most impressive, as one would expect.

The hard product is truly a gem as far as LCCs in Europe go; it really is, I think, the best one around in Europe (of an airline of this segment, obviously). Adjustable headrests, along with the Sky Interior and USB ports makes for a great overall experience.

That, combined with Blue Air’s decent rest of the experience (a good buy-on-board product, lovely staff and their low fares) make for a quite appealing product.

So would I reccommend Blue Air? If they’re offering the best price, definitely. If you’re visiting Romania anytime soon, they’re really a good alternative against the likes of Ryanair and Wizz Air.