In keeping with tradition following my recent trip to Europe to visit relatives, here is the trip report…


July 4
SYD-KUL-VIE
NG2
OE-LPB 777-200IGW
Seat 5K


I arrived at the airport at just before 14:00 for a 17:00 flight, so check in hadn’t opened so I took the opportunity to change some money. By the time this was done there were a few people at the C class check in so it was about 10 mins before I got checked in, but that wasn’t too bad. I was given my pre booked seat and an invitation to the Air NZ business lounge and off I went. I went right through customs and managed to choose the wrong line, so ended up waiting 10 mins or so, damn!

I managed to do some duty free shopping before going to the lounge (looked like a true alcoholic in the process), and then enjoyed the beers and food in the lounge before boarding just as the status changed to final call.

Pre takeoff drink was offered, which was a choice of apple juice, orange juice or sparkling white wine, I went for the apple juice. After I had finished my drink they closed the doors and I was delighted to notice that there was no one coming to sit next to me nor anyone for the seat in front.

We pushed back at 17:10 from gate 51, 10 mins behind schedule and then followed a TG 773 down Alpha for a 16R departure. We made an intersection departure whilst Thai made a full length run. At any rate we had to wait for a few landing domestic aircraft (AN320 and a QF 762) and one departing AN737. Then Thai lined up and after he was gone we were right behind him. The engines were quite noisy on take off, and after a what seemed to me to be a short roll we were away. An immediate right turn was executed and then a further right turn was completed and good old Sydney was out of sight.

Shortly thereafter, the Lauda girls swung into action. Newspapers were offered and I got myself a Frankfurt Algemeine, and then as soon as I had finished reading the front page menus were distributed and I was asked if another drink. So I asked for an Austrian Beer, which was very nice, and drank that whilst I pondered over the menu. Let me assure you the choice was very difficult, and I settled for a few of the starters, (it was a selection of little bits and pieces) which were the chicken the prawns and the spring roll. For the main I had the Chicken, which was char grilled, very spicy and on a bed of rice. They came round and took your main order personally and at that time I asked for another beer. This time it was the brand Goesser which was just as good as the Wien Pils.

The dessert was a chocolate and fruit thing with lots of cream and ice-cream, and absolutely delicious.

At this time I turned to the entertainment system to find that my unit wasn’t working, but thankfully the one next to me was so I made do and used that. I watched a couple of movies at this time, they weren’t particularly good, but it killed the time.

We were at this stage about 2 hrs out of KUL, so I tried to get some sleep. I reached for the pillow which was large and soft, rather the contrast to the small bricks you usually get. The blanket was more like a quilt you expect at a hotel rather than on a plane. The recline on the seat was amazing. (The seat behind me was empty so I didn’t have any qualms about reclining the seat).

At this time the second service was served. I was so utterly stuffed from the first one that I just had the Apple Strudel and an apple juice. This too was absolutely delicious.

I was amazed at the service; the attendants were constantly walking around the cabin refilling your glass with water (which they seemed to have permanently attached to their hand) or whatever other drink you wanted.

By the time this was finished we were only an hour out of KUL, so I got all my things together and just as I put my bag back in the overhead locker the Captain came on and said we would be landing in 38 mins. Sure enough after he finished his address the decent began.

The landing was very smooth, and as we taxied I couldn’t believe how empty KUL was. We pulled into bay C2 and were told to be back in 15 mins. Knowing full well there was no way they were going to have the plane refuelled and cleaned ready to board in 15 mins, I took my time walking about the place having a look at what few planes there were and what few shops were open.

I arrived back at the gate 40 mins later to see that they still hadn’t opened the security check so there was a plane load of people waiting outside the gate. I managed to make my way down to the end of the concourse, which was empty and provided a lot of room to stretch my legs. Sure enough it was another 20 mins before the security check opened and they were ushering people directly onto the plane. I walked back to the gate when the crowd in front of the security check had gone, and thanks to my C class seat I was able to board right away through the forward door.

Sure enough there was someone in the seat next to mine. A nice Singaporean camera salesman, who made some interesting conversation.

Shortly after takeoff menus were again distributed, and they even had your name written at the top of them – the attention to detail was superb.

This time I chose the Malaysian peanut satay chicken skewers on a bed of rice …. Utterly delicious and very spicy, but went down nicely with another Austrian beer. Afters consisted of a chocolate cake and ice-cream, again superb.

By this time I was getting quite tired and fell asleep. I woke up about 7 hours later, feeling refreshed and quite surprised that I had slept that long. Then it hit me we weren’t that far out of Vienna. After about an hour of conversation with the guy next to me Breakfast orders were taken. I opted for the eggs out of the choice of that, a burger or bacon. The eggs weren’t brilliant, but the accompanying yoghurt and fruit platter and the multiple glasses of orange juice were quite good. (One of the attendants was constantly walking about the cabin with a jug of orange juice when breakfast was being eaten.
Shortly after breakfast the cabin perked up in preparation for arrival. I chose to sit out the wait for the loo to freshen up and just sat and watched Eastern Europe pass by as for the first time since an hour out of Sydney it was light.

Sure enough it wasn’t long before it was announced we would be landing in 43 mins. Sure enough 43 mins later we touched down. As we taxied to the gate I was shocked at how small VIE was. I couldn’t get over the fact that all the buildings were on one side of the airport and the lack of maintence hangers and the like. At any rate once I had deplaned it was very nice inside, abeit for the masses of people smoking in non-smoking zones. As we were more than an hour early getting into VIE I had some time to kill so I went and found the gate for my connecting flight to LHR OS451, and was delighted to see it was an A321 and then realised it was the gate next to the 777 I had just got off.

July 5
OS451
VIE-LHR
OE-LBC
A321
Seat 5A


I found the AUA lounge and decided that was a lot more pleasant than the terminal area to kill a few hours. When the status on the board changed to boarding I left the lounge and made for the plane… which was to be my very first Airbus flight. I made my way to seat 5A when my row bank was called. The seats looked to be converted economy seats as most of the middle seat was taken up by armrests and sides of headrests. At any rate I was glad of the room (both seat width and legroom) for a narrow body.

After takeoff breakfast was offered. There was no choice, but the egg and bacon omelette was very good, and the pastries that came with it and were offered were good. The flight was very smooth and I spent all the time gazing out of the window watching Western Europe pass by. We overflew no fewer than 17 airfields on the way to LHR. I was amazed at the numbers of airplanes we passed. The collision system must have been in caution most of the time. We overtook a Sabena 146 whilst I was eating breakfast, and I saw a LH Airbus (A320 family) along side us shortly there after. About 30 mins later we were very close to an AY757 who was coming the other way and boy was it close (or so it appeared).

We were looking very good for an early arrival until the Capt. came on with the words “leider ist die Vekehr bei London sehr stark” (unfortunately the traffic is very heavy at London) and as a result we had to hold for 20 mins. We were following a LH A300 and were being trailed by a LH 737 and a Virgin Express 737 and an A319 of AF. We were all at different altitudes so the left circuits that we made (over the Eastend (LCY airport area) were great for spotting)

Landing was on 29L, with a nice view of Windsor castle on final. We quickly vacated the active and made for T2, which was at that hour packed. We had to wait for a TAP A320 to clear our gate before we could get in there. This only took about a minute.

Terminal 2 at LHR is more like a demountable school building than an international terminal. The passport queues weren’t too bad, and the guy at passport control was very nice, which makes a change.

My baggage was on the belt when I got there, and I popped it on my trolley and went through the green channel which had nobody there searching bags. I looked for my family (who left a week before me (I had uni exams to finish)) and true to form they weren’t there. So I sat and sat and sat and then was approached by a policeman who was radioed to go and make sure I wasn’t a terrorist (or so I presumed) I was sitting on a set of stairs near the arrivals area so I could see my folks when they arrived, and they must have realised that I been sitting there for quite sometime on the CCTV. Anyway he told me that there was a big smash on the M1 Southbound and the M25 was a parking lot. Brilliant – that is the way my folks would have to come! They turned up at about 11:45 and I was away. I snapped a Syrainair 747SP and a Royal Brunei 763 from the parking garage, so it was not all that bad.


July 15
OS454
OE-LBQ
A320
Seat 6A

Check in was completed promptly and the agent had managed to scatter the 4 of us (I was coming home with my family) about the cabin. 2A and C (which were next to each other) and 5A and E which didn’t turn out so bad as it turned out, for the other seats in the row were empty and moving was not a problem.

The Serviceair lounge was quite basic and very small, so much so that the smoke from the smoking area drifted over to where we were sitting as far away as possible. Consequently I went out into the terminal and took to getting some happy snaps of all the aircraft about. There were sooo many Lufthansa planes it just wasn’t funny, as well as an OA A300 various Iberia examples and quite a few British Midland and BA planes (which were at T2 but as it was just a long walk there I managed to snap a few)
We pushed back 20 mins late due to the late inbound arrival of the aircraft from VIE. There was about a 15 min wait for 11R, which was great as I could see all the comings and goings. Before us in the queue were a VS A340 a BA 742 a BA A319 then came a LH A321 then a BMI 733 then the BWI L-1011 and we followed an Iberia MD80 onto the runway and were soon rolling.

Shortly after takeoff lunch was served and may I say this was the best aircraft meal I have ever had. It was a thick and juicy salmon fillet (i.e. no bones) on a bed of jasmine rice with a thick and chunky tomato sauce. Absolutely mouth watering. To top it off there was a fresh fruit platter (with fresh fruit rather than that dried stuff one usually is served) and a cheesecake which probably had enough calories in to make you put on a pound or two – but at any rate was utterly irrestible. To wash this all down I had a lemonade which in this instance was a 7up.

Sure enough we touched down in Vienna smack on time and the pilot taxied very very quickly to the gate. The baggage was waiting for us at the carousel (we had a long ish wait in the non EU passport queue at the gate as there was one person for EU and another for Non EU… anyway … the long walk from the furthest most pier allowed me to take some nice shots – I even managed to snare an AUA MD-87 which is what was after. Now it was time for my 4 days in Vienna.

July 19
VIE-KUL-SYD
NG1
OE-LPA
777-200IGW
Seat 5A

After a very pleasant 4 days in Vienna it was time to head home. After a very pleasant transfer to the airport by a gentlemen who used to work for the UN in Cyprus in the Human rights division (telling us all about how the Greeks would supply fake papers to the UN to allow visitation visas to be issued by the Turkish) we were at the Airport in no time.

Check in was really efficient and we were allocated 5A+C and 6A+C which were our pre assigned seats. The AUA lounge before passport control (but still airside) was not very good… large noisy and full of smoke so in the end we moved through passport control (for non EU flights) to the lounge I had used on my way over (the others couldn’t find it when they flew over). Which was a total contrast to the gate area, which was wall to wall people and filled with smoke.

We waited here till the status was final call on the plane (knowing full well there would be plenty of people still at the gate area (and sure enough there were)) and with the minor accident in the lift (I managed to bump the “notruf” button with my elbow (which thankfully didn’t stop the lift) we were on our way home. Or so we thought!

Boarding was finished about 15 mins after we boarded and we were just about to push back when the front aerobridge came back and someone’s passport and ticket handed to the purser. When we finally pushed back we started taxing and then suddenly both engines were cut and the breaks applied very heavily. Bad news…. some computer had to be changed (must have been very important for them to cut both engines whilst taxing and apply the breaks sharply). We were towed to the standoff bays to achieve this, meanwhile there was a long line of aircraft behind us stuck as we were blocking the only taxiway to the active departure runway (LH A310, KLM F100, AUA A330, AUA A340 and a LOT ATR42).

In the end we were tugged to a remote stand right along side an AUA A340-300 OE-LAL which was taking a break by the looks of things. Sure enough the curtains were closed, as there was serious activity in the cockpit. Then came time for refuelling. This was we were told to take on extra fuel so we could fly faster to make up the time lost (by this time we were 60 mins late and counting). In order for them to refuel we were told we had to take off our seatbelts – and sure enough they came round and made sure every seat belt was undone!

Anyway almost 100 mins late we taxied out behind an AUA A330, and made a very very long takeoff roll. The bend in the wing upon rotation was amazing (or so my camera thought!) Shortly there after a 4 course lunch was served. It was very very good. I had the salmon appetiser the beef starter and the chicken main meal (Other choices were Prawns, Duck or Pork) and for dessert the chocolate cake – which came with vast amounts of ice cream and berries in sugar syrup. This was washed down with quite a few beers in flight. (few too many infact…. They just kept and coming and asking “Moechten Sie noch ein?” (would you like another? – like I was going to say no!) I spent most of the flight trying to compete with the bloke in 2D on getting the prize of the flights Hangman master…. The bugger was too good for me! (It tells you who has the top score in the bottom corner of the screen). I also tried my hand at connect 4 but the computer was too good for me! Then came the real fun… I worked out that you could do seat to seat calls so when my brother went to the loo (he’s 12) who was sitting behind me, I got my mother to pass me his phone and I set it so it would accept incoming calls. Then when he sat down again I rang him… It took a couple of goes before he answered and then we were connected and he was greeted with a voice saying “hello Mr Mortimer this is your captain speaking” To which the little devil replied “Hello Brad, nice try!”….. oh well it was a good 20 mins worth of entertainment!

The reception on the movies was dreadful when the seats infront were fully reclined (could be electrical interference perhaps) so I gave up on that …. And at any rate the monitor couldn’t be extended to any reasonable angle so 0/10 goes to the designers. At any rate the padding on the seats wasn’t brilliant (worse than Bravo – age perhaps) and they creaked loudly when you leant back. Not very good in my opinion. And the armrests were like concrete – even worse the middle armrest had a big hole in it right where you would put your elbow – this was to allow access to the TV control panel without opening the seat arm – this was very uncomfortable. Perhaps I didn’t notice it on the way over because being right handed I leant more on my right arm which was on the arm rest without the hole as I had a window seat on the right hand side of the plane.


Anyway after a shortish (for the route) airborne leg (we were doing over 1000km/h most of the way) we touched down in KUL on 32R. Again the airport was deserted… less than a dozen aircraft to be seen anywhere! Again they told us 15 mins, which was more like an hour and as it was the same gate again C2, I walked up and down at the end of the concourse to stretch my legs. This time a few more shops were open so browsing was on the cards… didn’t look too bad price wise actually – so mental time for next time … stopover in KUL!

Anyway back on board for the 7:15 stretch to Sydney… and we were only about 10 mins behind schedule. This time everyone remembered their passport + ticket and there were no computer problems. As we were taxing out to the runway a China Airlines 742F landed right next to my window – certainly shocked me this thing just appearing out of nowhere in the night sky! Then the Captain came on and said (in his broad Australian accent) “We are about to line up on 32R so would the cabin crew please take their seats”… sure enough many whispers were heard by the Australian contingent in the C class cabin saying “he’s Australian”. The first officer handed the rest of the cabin announcements possibly as the Australian couldn’t speak German – as his only message was in English only – the rest were German first then English.

Anyway after takeoff breakfast was offered. I took the eggs (which turned out to be exactly the same meal as the one just before landing at VIE on the way over) and the eggs didn’t taste any better either. Mind the yoghurt was still good. This was all washed down with several orange juices and consequently calls of nature were frequent (especially with the vast amounts of liquids I drank on the way to KUL).

I tried to get some sleep after Breakfast was cleared away, and I managed about 90 mins of solid sleep and 3 hrs of dozing. From then on I just read my numerous magazines I had bought in England and Austria.

We were finally getting near Sydney, when the First officer came on and said due to traffic at Sydney we would have to hold, it was then I became annoyed, not at Lauda, but at our politicians, as I know that the traffic at Sydney at 2:30 in the afternoon does not warrant stacking… but the political situation the way it is, what more could we expect. In the end we overflew the airport at the southern end from West to East, then turned around and made an approach to Runway 25. Very smooth touchdown, and as a 25 landing means you are practically at the international terminal when you turn off we were at gate 51 in no time. Sure enough the terminals were pretty empty and most of the planes to be seen were early morning arrivals that had been sitting there all day).

Anyway we were home and then faced the prospect of Friday afternoon rush hour traffic on the way home… So there we go hope you made it this far…. If you have congratulations, and I hope you enjoyed it!

Best Regards

Bradley Mortimer
Sydney, Australia