Sultanils From Belgium, joined Mar 2010, 1173 posts, RR: 29 Posted (2 years 10 months 2 weeks 6 days 9 hours ago) and read 6185 times:
Dear readers,
A few weeks after my previous trip: BRU-MXP-BRU: The EasyWay (by sultanils May 26 2010 in Trip Reports) it was again time to be up in the air!
What follows is my second trip report from a recent daytrip which brought me from Brussels/Belgium to Warsaw/Poland on LOT, continuing to Riga/Latvia, again on LOT and back to Brussels/Belgium on airBaltic.
There's not really a story here, I just wanted to start summer with a relaxing day of flying and spotting.
Flights were booked well in advance which ensured I had the cheapest fares available, well done Sultanils!
The day before I checked in online for WAW-RIX and RIX-BRU. For some reason OLCI for BRU-WAW was not possible, the system did not recognize my booking reference and a call to the LOT office was not helpful either.
So the next morning I drove to the airport on time to check in manually, this was done in seconds by a friendly agent. My flight left from the A gates, so a long walk ahead.
After queuing for 10 minutes at security, I arrived at the A gates
Some spotting...
Iberia A321 to MAD
My ride to WAW at gate A53
2 BrusselsAirlines A333's at the B gates, just arrived from Africa
2 Thomas-the-Cook's getting ready for a charter flight
BrusselsAirlines A333 on tow to the T gates, later to Africa
The aircraft looked quite used & worn with fabric cloth seats. However legroom was excellent and the seats were comfy. A nice breakfast with complimentary hot & cold drinks was offered. Two thumbs up for LOT here! No comment from the flightdeck however so no route info either.
Some pic's on the way:
On pushback
Taxiing to the active runway
On to runway 25R... or not? (Actually, we did not turn left to 25R but right to 20, a nice surprise!)
Rotate!
Overflying 25L
In the middle on the left an overview of BRU (sorry, hazy picture)
Some pic's on the way from BRU to WAW:
Rocky Mountains or something else (presumably over Germany)?
One wing or another
WAW airport on my side (sorry, hazy picture)
After passing WAW we took a sharp left turn and came into finals:
Polish landscape
And again
And again
On short finals
Touchdown and braking
Wow, we're in WAW!
Reaching our parking position, hi neighbour!
And parked next to this lovely lady
Bagage claim in WAW, oops, I do not need to be here lol (I urgently was in need of the toilet )
WAW is excellent for spotting from the terminal building when airside; apron view
After arrival I had to go through security again. This was a real mess, people pushing and cutting the line, only 1 lane was open and it seemed everybody's flight was leaving at the same time. On top of that the staff was rude and unorganized. At the A gates in BRU I had bought a bottle of water, sort of 'grab & fly', meaning you can take the bottle on the plane. Since I stayed in WAW in the Schengen zone, I thought I could keep this bottle for my next flights. I thought wrong and had to dispose of it. I wanted to argue but in stead I just shut up and decided to keep the honour to myself
Boarding for the flight to Riga was a little late. It involved a strange procedure: upon showing your boarding pass and ID to the gate agent, you got a card which said 'GATE 44 BUS ADMISSION'. I went down 2 stairs and arrived at, you guessed it, a bus! I returned my admission card to the driver and was thus allowed on the bus. Funny, really funny!
Anyway, it was boarding by bus then and we arrived at our aircraft:
Hmm, another change of aircraft... Its seems LOT plays around with it's aircraft a LOT The aircraft was in good condition, leather seats, low legroom however and a general claustrophobic feel to the cabin (hey, Sultanils, you're in a prop you know )
I was seated next to the right engine exhaust, hence the haze
Waiting for takeoff, ladies first!
And off to Riga...
The crew came round with hot & cold drinks and a tasty sandwich. No info from up front...
Overflying downtown Warsaw
Little fluffy clouds, how cute...
For the non-believers, it indeed is a prop!
Turbulent approach to RIX airport
Coming closer
And here we are, welcome to Riga!
Some F100's sitting on the apron (a Carpatair and something else)
Nice tail of EuroLOT
After deboarding and a short busride to the terminal I arrived at RIX International; a tiny cosy little airport. No strange security procedures here, the atmosphere was very relaxed. I posted myself at a window in a nice bar, got myself an icecold Coke and enjoyed the view.
Lufthansa to FRA and Ryanair to ?
The ATR that brought me in from WAW, getting serviced
Belavia lounging
CSA on arrival from PRG
After a few more arrivals & departures the airport got quiet for quite some time, until suddenly the evening rush began and one after another airBaltic came in to land.
Turkish Airlines to IST almost ready to go
Departure time for my flight to BRU came closer until suddenly I got an unexpected SMS from airBaltic informing me that the flight to BRU was delayed by half an hour. Nice touch to inform passengers this way, very modern.
After some more waiting, boarding was announced and we walked in the nice Latvian sun to the aircraft.
Some airBaltic F50's getting ready for their next flight
Walking to our aircraft
Nice shiny engine
I like their livery
Route: RIX→BRU
Aircraft (scheduled): Boeing 737-500
Aircraft (actual): Boeing 737-500
Reg: YL-BBQ
STD-ATD: 17:15-18:40
The delay was already up to 30 mins; the plane was still being refueled while we were waiting in our seats, it was very hot inside. Legroom was excellent and the new Recaro slimline seats were very comfy.
The captain waiting to sign the fueling documents
On our way to the active runway meeting brother or sister
Turning...
And off we go!
Climbout towards the sea
Riga beach
A 737-500 wing (nothing special really lol)
Some nice clouds on the way over Poland
Another beach
In-seat entertainment
Another one of my hobbies
We passed this airport along the way, anyone know which one it is?
Almost back in BRU, I think this is the city of Hasselt
After 2h of flying, we started descending for BRU
On very very very short finals
And braking on 25L
Then we stopped on the taxiway for 10 mins, according to the captain, someone was occupying our parking space and we had to wait for it to be clear.
Waiting in the sun
CSA also arrived at the A gates, presumably from PRG
Lufthansa taxiing out
Alitalia
Our neighbour on stand
And so I was back where I started from: BRU (but an hour late). A lovely day it was for sure.
In conclusion I can tell you the following according to my personal experience:
LOT:
+ good seating comfort on the B735
+ meal service & meal quality
+ ontime performance
- switching of aircraft (I wanted both the EMB75 and ATR72 and got the B735 and ATR42)
- claustrophobic cabin on the ATR42
- B735 a bit worn out
airBaltic:
+ excellent seating comfort in the refurbished cabin
- (nothing really)
Thanks for reading,
(Sulta)Nils
Next story coming up: From the city of light to the city of night: CDG-LHR-CDG on the AF A380
Contact Air From Germany, joined Apr 2001, 1154 posts, RR: 14 Reply 4, posted (2 years 10 months 2 weeks 6 days 2 hours ago) and read 5622 times:
Hi Sultanils,
Very nice trip report and pictures - I enjoyed reading and watching.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Boarding for the flight to Riga was a little late. It involved a strange procedure: upon showing your boarding pass and ID to the gate agent, you got a card which said 'GATE 44 BUS ADMISSION'. I went down 2 stairs and arrived at, you guessed it, a bus! I returned my admission card to the driver and was thus allowed on the bus. Funny, really funny!
Interesting - I have never heard of such a boarding procedure.
FlyingFinn76 From Finland, joined Jun 2009, 1705 posts, RR: 42 Reply 6, posted (2 years 10 months 2 weeks 5 days 15 hours ago) and read 5308 times:
Hi Nils,
A nice read (and watch) about something I'm very familiar with .
Looks like you got lucky with the weather as well.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): . It involved a strange procedure: upon showing your boarding pass and ID to the gate agent, you got a card which said 'GATE 44 BUS ADMISSION'. I went down 2 stairs and arrived at, you guessed it, a bus! I returned my admission card to the driver and was thus allowed on the bus.
Yep, I've never had this happen anywhere but Warsaw. The first time they did it for me I had no idea what it was and just tucked the card to my bag, only to have to rummage through it once entering the bus a few seconds later...!
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Some F100's sitting on the apron (a Carpatair and something else)
Interesting, despite having my fair share of flights (and delays) with BT, they've never ever sent me an SMS notification of any kind. On the contrary, SK/KF always do, even about trivial matters which is nice customer service.
Jurmala actually, which means "The beaches" in Latvian. It is a fab destination to spend some sunny days in, too bad the water in the Baltic Sea never really gets that warm!
Quoting gardermoen (Reply 1):
Interesting that at RIX, the Turkish 737 used a staircase and not the air bridge at the parking position.
That jetway belongs to the Schengen part of the terminal, thus it cannot be used for a flight to Turkey. Riga only has one jetway that can be used for non-Schengen departures (and is convertible to Schengen as well), thus most flights outside Schengen board by bus or walking across the apron.
Quoting sia744 (Reply 3):
Nice TR. Is that a aviation museum at RIX with all the migs and old Antonovs??
Yes it is, although "museum" is a bit of an overstatement really, as it is just a bunch of old Soviet-era military hardware sitting there rotting under the skies. Still, not a bad place to visit although a bit expensive for foreigners (Latvians pay much less for admittance). See here: http://aviamuseum.org/EN/
767747 From United States of America, joined Jan 2005, 1748 posts, RR: 26 Reply 9, posted (2 years 10 months 2 weeks 4 days 22 hours ago) and read 5053 times:
Great report! Looks like you had some good flights with Air Baltic and LOT. I always like boarding via stairs; I wish you got to do this more at big airports in the US. Haven't done this since when I flew through FRA a few years ago, and had to deplane off of an Lufthansa A340!
Quoting FLIEGER67 (Reply 5): You´re really lucky with the weather
Yes, the weather really added bonus to this great day.
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 6): A nice read (and watch) about something I'm very familiar with
From your reports here I can indeed tell you have some xperience with RIX airport
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 6): Jurmala actually, which means "The beaches" in Latvian
Oh, didn't know that... I do wonder how many days a year it's possible to get a tan on that beach?
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 6): That jetway belongs to the Schengen part of the terminal, thus it cannot be used for a flight to Turkey. Riga only has one jetway that can be used for non-Schengen departures (and is convertible to Schengen as well), thus most flights outside Schengen board by bus or walking across the apron.
Thanks for clarifying, I was also wondering why the jetway wasn't used!
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