RJ100 From Switzerland, joined Nov 2000, 4107 posts, RR: 32 Posted (5 years 9 months 1 week 23 hours ago) and read 18960 times:
Dear reader
It was only last month when I travelled to Saint-Petersburg-Russia on Lufthansa. Unfortunately major flight problems happened (I was on none of my 4 flights booked and reached my destinations with 19 hours and 6 hours delay, received no compensation etc.). While I am on a little "war" with Lufthansa now (they told me to write a letter which I did just one month ago --> the letter is still unanswered!) I decided to book another trip on them as they have usually the best connections/prices from Basel to Russia and back in the hope everything works well this time. However this time I had the option to take Austrian Airlines on my flight to Saint-Petersburg, also I noticed that on the return flight from Munich to Basel, the flight will be operated by Italian carrier Air Dolomiti.
I started my journey on Thursday, August 16 early in the morning. The Austrian Airlines flights to Basel are usually operated by Tyrolean Airways which flies under the "Austrian Arrows" brand. Tyrolean flies on the Vienna-Basel route 3x daily and today's early morning flight will be operated by a CRJ-200.
Boarding was on time, crew was friendly and gave a lot of informations about the flight. It just started to rain a little while we started up the engines and rolled to the runway, 34 in use this morning which means a departure not over the city of Basel but over Alsace region.
Soon we were over the clouds.
Soon a meal was served. Today cheese and sausage, a slice of tomato and yoghurt. A variety of bread was served too and was really nice presented in a large basket. Of course the usual kind of drinks were offered.
The flight is only 1:30 hours so soon approach was started over nice Austrian landscape.
And straight over the city of Vienna...
A large chemical plant just before touch down.
Nice smooth touch down...
My aircraft, named after the city of Brussels.
Vienna airport is convenient to connect...the airprot offers a good choice of destinations but at the same time is not a mega airport but with short and comfortable walks to the next gate...
Also my next flight is operated by Tyrolean Airways, this time a Fokker-100, the "City of Temesvar/Timisoara".
I love these Fokker-100s ... they have a nice engine sound, a little similar to the Tupolev-154.
Crossing the border between Austria and Slovakia:
And overflying the nice city of Bratislava, I visited this place last time in February!
Service on board was outstanding, with a really nice meal served (pasta) and a very friendly crew. The crew at least asked 4 or 5 times during the flights if we need further drinks...note that the meal is seved on a real plate and not in an aluminium box.
We made our way over Poland and the Baltic states to Saint-Petersburg...
...and soon started our approach into Pulkovo airport.
Directly over the city center with the Newa river visible...
High-speed taxiing near Pulkovo-1, the domestic terminal...
Rossiya Ilyushin-86 taking off...welcome to Russia!
Followed by a Yak...
Immigration again only took a few moments, really big improvements made by the Russian governement here!
After a few wonderful days it was time to fly back to Basel on August 20...I this time do not post many pictures of Saint-Petersburg as I have posted them already in my last report a few weeks ago. I this time only show a few pics of Moskovsky area...this is the area around the airport metro station. From there you need to take a bus or mashrutka to go to Pulkovo-1 or Pulkovo-2.
Arrived by bus at Pulkovo-2 two hours before take-off. Make sure to take this time as security controls on Russian controls can take time (even more now with increased terrorist activity in the country).
Another packed flight, economy and tourism in Saint-Petersburg is booming but with still regulated markets between Russia and the EU, numbers of flights are (too) low...real cash cows for the airlines...
Pulkovo-1 again...
Lined-up for take-off:
Taking off into the skies:
Moskovsky prospekt can be seen as well as some other parts of Saint-Petersburg.
Our routing was over the Baltic states, Kaliningrad and Poland to Munich.
A nice meal was served...pasta with vegetables, bread and a chocolate bar...together with several drinks...
Already starting our approach into Munich after 2 hours and 40 minutes:
Not nice weather at all...
A hard landing this time...
Munich airport is a really nice airport to connect. There are nice shops and the gates are easy to find...also the airport is not as packed as for instance Frankfurt. Also Lufthansa offers free coffee and tea to the passengers which is a nice gesture.
The biggest surprise however was Air Dolomiti. Air Dolomiti is an Italian regional airline which mainly flies for Lufthansa. But not like Augsburg Airways and Contact Air they have their own livery crew and inflight service. To make it short...the service was outstanding. The flight from Munich to Basel is really short but they managed to serve a nice meal with Italian specialties such as cheese and mortadella suasage. All came along with a nice glass (and I mean a real glass, not a plastic cup) of Italian red wine and free refillings! The whole crew was Italian but fluently in Italian, German, English and French. Also the ATR-42 was outfitted with nice leather seats, they played nice music while boarding and distributed refreshing towels prior to take off. A fantastic flight on this airline!
This time no problems on Lufthansa, service on board was good. I however rate the regional carriers Tyrolean and Air Dolomiti above Lufthansa. Next time I will for sure watch for flights operated by Air Dolomiti!
I hope you enjoyed this trip report as much as I enjoyed my trip to Russia and back. Comments are as usual highly appreciated!
OA260 From Ireland, joined Nov 2006, 24929 posts, RR: 60 Reply 1, posted (5 years 9 months 1 week 22 hours ago) and read 18890 times:
Hi Thomas,
Nice TR and pics. I like the catering photos . OS are a favourite of mine, good food. Nice photos of LED. I would have loved to have seen more cabin/seat photos but enjoyed it anyway.
Thanks for sharing
OA260
OLYMPIC AIR - ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΗ "Η ΕΛΛΑΔΑ ΨΗΛΑ" "GREECE FLYING HIGH"
Semsem From Israel, joined Jul 2005, 1779 posts, RR: 3 Reply 2, posted (5 years 9 months 1 week 22 hours ago) and read 18849 times:
It seems that OS are now making an effort to improve meals. About 10 years ago they were mediocre. Maybe it's since LH bought them. St Petersbourg seems to be a favourite destination. Great pictures. Hope to go there one day.
I agree with your opinions about MUC and especially AirDolomiti. I had the pleasure to fly this nice,
small airline earlier this year from MUC to NAP.
Btw. I´ve had my first experience from BSL the weekend before your flight.
And BSL impressed me for sure, spacious, modern, great views, not bad at all.
BA319-131 From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 8267 posts, RR: 56 Reply 4, posted (5 years 9 months 1 week 16 hours ago) and read 18479 times:
Hi Thomas,
Another super report - thanks!
I already wasnt to vist Russia, the pic's just add to that desire, one day!
Quoting RJ100 (Thread starter): Soon a meal was served. Today cheese and sausage, a slice of tomato and yoghurt. A variety of bread was served too and was really nice presented in a large basket. Of course the usual kind of drinks were offered.
- Nice offering, quite impressed!
Quoting RJ100 (Thread starter): Service on board was outstanding, with a really nice meal served (pasta) and a very friendly crew. The crew at least asked 4 or 5 times during the flights if we need further drinks...note that the meal is seved on a real plate and not in an aluminium box.
- Again, impressive, especially since OS dumped meals not that long ago before re-instating them.
Quoting RJ100 (Thread starter): The biggest surprise however was Air Dolomiti. Air Dolomiti is an Italian regional airline which mainly flies for Lufthansa. But not like Augsburg Airways and Contact Air they have their own livery crew and inflight service. To make it short...the service was outstanding. The flight from Munich to Basel is really short but they managed to serve a nice meal with Italian specialties such as cheese and mortadella suasage. All came along with a nice glass (and I mean a real glass, not a plastic cup) of Italian red wine and free refillings! The whole crew was Italian but fluently in Italian, German, English and French. Also the ATR-42 was outfitted with nice leather seats, they played nice music while boarding and distributed refreshing towels prior to take off. A fantastic flight on this airline!
- Sounds, great, reminds me of Air Nostrum who operate for Iberia, whilst they have IB livery and FA's wear IB Uniform, the on board service is just excellent.
Aleksandar From Serbia, joined Jul 2000, 3229 posts, RR: 34 Reply 5, posted (5 years 9 months 1 week 8 hours ago) and read 18302 times:
Hello Thomas!
Thanks for another great TR. You really made me to want to visit Russia soon and the fact that Aeroflot still flies to SVO with Tupolevs makes it even more tempting.
I do hope you will solve the problems with Lufthansa soon and that you'll get some kind of compensation for all the troubles you had on your previous trip.
Beaucaire From Syria, joined Sep 2003, 5252 posts, RR: 26 Reply 6, posted (5 years 9 months 1 week 6 hours ago) and read 18244 times:
Vielen Dank für den schönen Bericht !
I have to agree on Sankt Petersbug being one of the most interesting places I've visited so far ..
Very nice shots - about Austrian and Air Dolomiti-fully confirm that both offer better service on short flights as compared to LH or Air France. Specialy the crews of Air Dolomiti are extremely friendly and make you truly feel weel onboard.
Spasiba ..
Infodesk From Switzerland, joined May 2006, 1245 posts, RR: 34 Reply 7, posted (5 years 9 months 1 week 4 hours ago) and read 18147 times:
Hi Thomas,
Interesting read as always. Glad to see that you didn't have any problems this time round and hope you win your battle with LH.
Nice to see a different routing. Air Dolomiti do indeed sound excellent - serving food and drink like that on such a short flight is not bad at all. BTW, your meal box on the OS flight BSL-VIE looks interesting. Is that a detachable postcard being used for the lid?
Greetings
Infodesk
"Do nothing in haste, look well to each step and from the beginning think what may be the end" - Edward Whymper
RJ100 From Switzerland, joined Nov 2000, 4107 posts, RR: 32 Reply 8, posted (5 years 9 months 6 days 1 hour ago) and read 17863 times:
Hello all and thanks for the nice replies!
@OA260: I will try to add more details about seats, cabin etc. in my next reports!
@Semsem: It was my first trip on Austrian so I cannot compare...but yes...the meals were really good!
@Markus: Thank you! I am glad you liked the report and also BSL airport. I hope you had a pleasant trip! Where did you fly to?
@Mark: Thank you. I hope that soon you will be able to visit Russia...it's an awesome place if you go to the right places! Interesting to hear about Air Nostrum too!
@Aleksandar: Flying the Tupolev-154 on Belgrade-Moscow will be excellent stuff! You should go for it as long as the TU5 still are with Aeroflot! As for the LH compensation...I am still waiting for the first answer (it's over a month now!) ...in my opinion they just want to fool the passengers when it comes down to passenger rights and the EU regulation. I try whenever possible to take Austrian, Rossiya, SAS, Aeroflot etc. for my coming trips to LED as Lufthansa obviously is not interested in keeping me as one of their customers.
@Beaucaire: Ne za schto! Glad you liked my report! I might check out Nuremberg soon since Air Berlin now offers BSL-NUE and back for as low as 60 Euros!
@Infodesk: Thank you a lot! Yes it is indeed a postcard...and you can write it during the flight and give it to the flight attendand. They will send it worldwide for free! Air Dolomiti too has postcards on board so they now have the pleasure to hang on my wall in my room!
Musapapaya From United Kingdom, joined Apr 2004, 1004 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (5 years 9 months 6 days ago) and read 17835 times:
Quoting RJ100 (Thread starter): It was only last month when I travelled to Saint-Petersburg-Russia on Lufthansa. Unfortunately major flight problems happened (I was on none of my 4 flights booked and reached my destinations with 19 hours and 6 hours delay, received no compensation etc.).
What happened on your last flight with them? Was it weather related or something else?
Its a great report, thanks for sharing!
RJ100 From Switzerland, joined Nov 2000, 4107 posts, RR: 32 Reply 10, posted (5 years 9 months 6 days ago) and read 17822 times:
Hi there! Thanks for your comment.
No, the flight was not cancelled due to weather. We still don't know the reason as LH did not give any information. That happens if you don't have staff at the airport (outsourced to Swissport...and they did care even less). Lufthansa had 2 persons in BSL at this time overbusy with rebooking a fully loaded flight.
Our flight first was delayed and then got cancelled. My guess is that the Avro had a technical problem earlier in the morning and Lufthansa then decided not to operate the short FRA-BSL-FRA hop to bring operations out of FRA back on time. This is a cancellation due to "operational reasons" and purely economically orientated but I am sure they will write in the letter (if I receive an answer) that the cancellation was beyond their control...
I then had to take an early flight (6 o'clock) next day (you don't reach the airport from my hometown by public transportation at this time) and arrived in LED with a 19 hour delay. I had to spend additional money on several things and messed up two full days of my own family as well as of the people who waited for me in LED.
-Lufthansa did not inform the passengers about their rights (EU regulation) even though the regulation states exactly this.
-Lufthansa did not pay any compensation for additional costs
-Lufthansa did not pay the fixed compensation (you receive a certain amount of money according to the EU regulation)
I know that the overbusy two ladies don't have the time to do all that so that's why I went back to the counter after I returned from my trip. But they simply refused and told me to write a letter that I needed to send through half of Europe to Dublin. And of course after more than a month still no answer...
Oh and before I forget it...my return flight was cancelled too (flying home from Moscow). They cancelled this flight 10 days before flying date (without any reason but probably due to low load factor). Again no compensation...
I don't know if I should find it funny or ridiculous!
UN_B732 From United States of America, joined Jul 2001, 4286 posts, RR: 5 Reply 12, posted (5 years 9 months 5 days 19 hours ago) and read 17719 times:
This is another excellent trip report. Any chance of trying Aeroflot on your next trip?
About your Lufthansa troubles, why would you mail a letter to Dublin?
I hope you file a complaint with the EU Commission should you not receive satisfactory response.
RJ100 From Switzerland, joined Nov 2000, 4107 posts, RR: 32 Reply 13, posted (5 years 9 months 5 days 18 hours ago) and read 17708 times:
Thanks again for the nice comments!
@B747forever: Thank you! And a nice trip if you use OS!
@UN_732: Thanks a lot! Aeroflot is certainly a good option. Connecting in SVO (changing of terminals) is not so nice but they still have the Tupolevs on SVO-LED and I want to fly them for a few times for sure...or do they now have the new terminal open in SVO which makes connections easier?
As for Lufthansa, their customer service center is in Dublin and Lufthansa told me to write the letter to Dublin. They have two more days (until end of week) to reply to me, otherwise I will file a complaint. Switzerland has fully taken over the EU regulation and you can make complaints with the BAZL (federal aviation authority).
Musapapaya From United Kingdom, joined Apr 2004, 1004 posts, RR: 0 Reply 16, posted (5 years 9 months 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 17545 times:
Quoting RJ100 (Reply 13): As for Lufthansa, their customer service center is in Dublin and Lufthansa told me to write the letter to Dublin. They have two more days (until end of week) to reply to me, otherwise I will file a complaint. Switzerland has fully taken over the EU regulation and you can make complaints with the BAZL (federal aviation authority).
RJ100 From Switzerland, joined Nov 2000, 4107 posts, RR: 32 Reply 17, posted (5 years 9 months 4 days 3 hours ago) and read 17478 times:
I don't know yet to be honest...I wanted to write to the Swiss headquarter but then I cannot find the addresses on LH website. And to write to Dublin again means that they will ignore the letter again or it takes another 2 months or more until I receive an answer. And the ticket desk in BSL refuses everything anyway...
It's really a shame because so far I always liked to fly on LH...but now I see only one way to receive my rights...and that's writing a complaint to the civil air authorities.
Musapapaya From United Kingdom, joined Apr 2004, 1004 posts, RR: 0 Reply 18, posted (5 years 9 months 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 17324 times:
Quoting RJ100 (Reply 17): It's really a shame because so far I always liked to fly on LH...but now I see only one way to receive my rights...and that's writing a complaint to the civil air authorities.
I always thought that if you write to their address is Germany, things will get better:
Deutsche Lufthansa AG
Kundendialog Deutschland
Gütersloh
33322
But according to their website, indeed it seems their CS centre in Europe is in Dublin.
My friend also has a complaint pending at BA and they are not replying at all. She lives in Hong Kong but wrote to UK and their UK Centre said its gonna be the Hong Kong Office to deal with claims etc, I dont know.
Do you have the address of the relevant civil air authorities by the way so that I can give it to my friend for a letter if she doesnt have the reply from BA?
LH648 From Kazakhstan, joined Sep 2006, 549 posts, RR: 0 Reply 19, posted (5 years 9 months 2 days ago) and read 17295 times:
Nice TR!
btw, I like to fly on LH, but hate their ground service here at Almaty as well... And now they are flying here with A300, so I switched to KLM with their brand new A332
RJ100 From Switzerland, joined Nov 2000, 4107 posts, RR: 32 Reply 20, posted (5 years 9 months 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 17242 times:
Thanks guys for the answers and help!
Quoting Musapapaya (Reply 18): Do you have the address of the relevant civil air authorities by the way so that I can give it to my friend for a letter if she doesnt have the reply from BA?
It seems that ignoring passengers is normal when they show up with the EU regulation...
btw, I like to fly on LH, but hate their ground service here at Almaty as well... And now they are flying here with A300, so I switched to KLM with their brand new A332
Thank you! I would really like to visit Kazakhstan one day!
Airbuseric From Netherlands, joined Jan 2005, 4015 posts, RR: 52 Reply 21, posted (5 years 9 months 22 hours ago) and read 17119 times:
Really enjoyable report! Liked to see the comparison between these carriers. But all they look good to me. Want to try out Air Dolomiti myself some day. We'll see...
Eric
"The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going"
LH648 From Kazakhstan, joined Sep 2006, 549 posts, RR: 0 Reply 22, posted (5 years 9 months 19 hours ago) and read 17096 times:
Quoting RJ100 (Reply 20): Thank you! I would really like to visit Kazakhstan one day!
You are welcome! Here you can find a bunch of interesting airlines, like SCAT (BAC1-11 is their newest plane in the fleet!) or Tajik Airlines (B737-200 - most recent aqusition)
RJ100 From Switzerland, joined Nov 2000, 4107 posts, RR: 32 Reply 23, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 2 days 21 hours ago) and read 16681 times:
Hello all
This is just a quick note for all the users who were interested in my problem with Lufthansa (not on this trip but on the one in July). After 3 unanswered letters since July I decided to file a complaint with the Swiss aviation authorities about Lufthansa. The staff was very friendly and helpful and I received a first phone call and a letter just a few days after they received my complaint confirming me that I have a valid point. And guys you won't believe it: After Lufthansa ignored me for weeks I today "all of a sudden" received a long e-mail (probably the aviation authority told them to do so!). To make it short: Lufthansa apologises for all that happened.
-As for the flight BSL-LED they say the aircraft went tech and that it was not in the control of Lufthansa, therefore I cannot receive money. However they offer me to take over all expenses of food, transportation and phone calls.
-As for the cancelled return flight the reason of cancellation was in the control of Lufthansa, therefore LH has decided to pay me 400 Euros in cash.
So I can only recommend to everyone to file complaints with the authorities if the airlines ignore you! Obviously the authorities have enough power to fight for the passenger's rights!
Aleksandar From Serbia, joined Jul 2000, 3229 posts, RR: 34 Reply 24, posted (5 years 8 months 1 week 2 days 20 hours ago) and read 16662 times:
Quoting RJ100 (Reply 23): After 3 unanswered letters since July I decided to file a complaint with the Swiss aviation authorities about Lufthansa. The staff was very friendly and helpful and I received a first phone call and a letter just a few days after they received my complaint confirming me that I have a valid point. And guys you won't believe it: After Lufthansa ignored me for weeks I today "all of a sudden" received a long e-mail (probably the aviation authority told them to do so!).
Quoting RJ100 (Reply 23): -As for the cancelled return flight the reason of cancellation was in the control of Lufthansa, therefore LH has decided to pay me 400 Euros in cash.
Woow, these are great news
Quoting RJ100 (Reply 23): So I can only recommend to everyone to file complaints with the authorities if the airlines ignore you! Obviously the authorities have enough power to fight for the passenger's rights!
Well, only in a country with strong aviation authority
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...in my opinion they just want to fool the passengers when it comes down to passenger rights and the EU regulation. I try whenever possible to take Austrian, Rossiya, SAS, Aeroflot etc. for my coming trips to LED as Lufthansa obviously is not interested in keeping me as one of their customers.
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). I wish you nice trips!
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