RJ100 From Switzerland, joined Nov 2000, 4107 posts, RR: 32 Posted (5 years 6 months 3 weeks 5 days 5 hours ago) and read 7526 times:
Dear reader
Once again it was time for some trips, this time a daytrip on easyJet to Berlin and a 5 day trip to Saint-Petersburg in Russia on Lufthansa.
I had no reason to do the trip to Berlin but easyJet offered good flight times and fares out of Basel on Saturday October 20 so I decided to do a same day return, allowing me to spend a few hours in Berlin and go for shopping a bit at Kurfürstendamm.
I went to the airport by public transportation, checked-in online already and proceeded to the gate. Our flight was operated by Berlin-based A-319 G-EZBP and had a load of 151 passengers. Takeoff was on time on rwy 34 towards Alsace with a right turn, heading towards Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Erfurt and Berlin-Schönefeld with. The flight was really uneventful, cabin crew was friendly and sold food and drinks as usual.
As i had not a window seat, I could not make any pictures, so I have only this one after arriving in SXF :
After a nice day in Berlin it was time to fly back to Basel. This time the flight was operated by G-EZAL and had a load of 142 passengers. Our departure was a bit late due to late arrival of the aircraft but we made up some time on the way to Basel so no big deal. I never understand the people who pay 20 Euros for a flight and then are the ones who scream loudest when they need to wait 20 or 30 minutes. The same people stand also first in line during boarding although they have boarding group D (and block others with A to enter the aircraft) but I guess they just had a window seat in school too and are not able to understand what A, B, C and D means...
The flight again uneventful, unfortunately dark outside so no pictures. This was my 48th flight on easyJet and I bought a coffee for Euro 2.50. In my opinion a fair price. You wont get a coffee in the city of Basel for this price...landing was really nice with an approach over Lörrach, Riehen, Basel, turning right to Mulhouse, overflying the city wit ha landing on rwy 16.
RJ100 From Switzerland, joined Nov 2000, 4107 posts, RR: 32 Reply 1, posted (5 years 6 months 3 weeks 5 days 5 hours ago) and read 7524 times:
Only 5 days later it was time again to head to the airport, this time I was on the way to Saint-Petersburg on Lufthansa. I booked the routing Basel-Munich-Saint-Petersburg-Frankfurt-Basel.
The flight Basel to Munich was operated by a CRJ-200 of Lufthansa Cityline and arrived on time and therefore departed too on time. The load on this flight was 100% in eco and some pax in business. We taxied to rwy 16 and waited a Tuifly 737-800 to land. Very low clouds today but it means also that we would have some nice views such as this:
The cabin crew soon started to serve a small snack...for me a coffee and an Italian cake.
Still nice views outside:
Again very low clouds while landing in Munich but all went well.
D-ACJA after landing:
We landed at 10:35 local time and my boarding card said that boarding time to LED would start at 10:25...so I ran into the terminal, took the elevator to the fifth floor and ran all the way to the gate. I was one of the last persons to board but then just waited on board because the crew needed to plan a new route (Polish airspace was understaffed and we received a new routing to northeast Germany, Berlin, Gdansk, Kaliningrad, Riga, Tallinn to Saint-Petersburg. Our aircraft this time was D-AILX, an A-319. As a side note this is my 48th flight on the A-319.
RJ100 From Switzerland, joined Nov 2000, 4107 posts, RR: 32 Reply 2, posted (5 years 6 months 3 weeks 5 days 5 hours ago) and read 7507 times:
Unfortunately I did not receive a window seat and as the flight had a good load (approx. 90%) I could not change the seat once aboard. On the good side, the seat next to me was empty so the flight was really comfortable for me. With more than 30 minutes delay we departed and I was reading a book during most time of the flight. We also received a warm meal, pasta with tomato sauce, bread with butter, a chocolate bar and a mineral water. Additional drinks (tomato juice for me) were served and after the meal a second drink was offered (i had coffee). During the flight immigration forms were distributed. Landing in Saint-Petersburg was rather rough but I like it this way. Immigration with no problems as usual...my girlfriend waited for me at Pulkovo airport and we went by public transportation to her apartment. The apartment is located in the city of Saint-Petersburg but with bad traffic it can take good 2 hours to reach it!
This time we mainly stayed in the city but also decided to visit Tsarskoe Selo in a town called Pushkin. Tsarskoe Selo is a palace of a Tsar and looks as following:
My girlfriend and I
Some more images from this place:
After visiting this very nice place we headed back to Saint-Petersburg Vitebski station by train:
After some perfect days it was time to fly back to Basel on October 29. Traffic in the morning was horrible again but after taking several minibusses, the metro and the public bus from Moskovskaya, I arrived on time at Pulkovo terminal 2. In Russia security is strict, you usually need to go through a security if you enter the airport building, then show passport and fligh ticjet and go throuigh another security check. Then you reach check-in (only for passengers with a ticket) and after you go throgh passport control. After the check I went for a beer at the bar which was tasty...the local brand there is called Baltika and is available in a lot of variants. Also now think that in Russia (or at least in Saint-Petersburg) beer is more popular than to drink vodka. If you want to do something good for your health, just change from vodka to beer . Pulkovo 2 is not really big but it is really ok with restaurants, shops and all services you need. My flight was called and we went through another security check, this time with taking off pullover, shoes, belts, watch etc. However our flight had a smaller technical problem so we waited another 30 minutes until we entered the plane. Our plane will be D-AIQH, an A-320. My 20th flight on the A-320 and the 28th flight on Lufthansa.
Nice stuff standing around in Pulkovo:
Again a packed flight, it was completely full as usual to Frankfurt.
Push-back:
Passing Pulkovo 1 terminal:
Overflying Pulkovo 2 terminal, bye bye Saint-Petersburg, see you soon!
Still over Russia, turning towards the Baltic sea:
Cruising in 11000 meters towards Riga, Latvia.
A nice meal was served, again pasta with carrots and broccoli, served with Russian bread, a Russian chocolate bar and drinks. I had a tomato juice and a coffee. Later more drinks were served.
After 2 hours and 25 minutes we are on approach to Frankfurt Main airport:
Crossing the Autobahn:
Lufthansa must have a larger operation in Frankfurt
This time I needed not to hurry as I had a good hour until my flight to Basel. I needed to make a phone call and wrote a few sms and then it was already time to board the next flight. When I booked my flight I saw that this flight will be operated by a Cirrus Airlines Embraer-170. I was quite happy to see something new on this route! A bus brought us to D-ALIE.
The Erj-170 is a nice aircraft, it smelled really new and of course was in good condition. The Cirrus flight attendands were very nice but were in a hurry to serve the drink to all passengers of this almost full flight as flying time was only 30 minutes.
I had another coffee and saw the city of Strasbourg passing by under us, approach this time over Mulhouse and landing on runway 16. My bag arrived very fast and I was on the way home.
All in all another good trip on Lufthansa. In comparison to an earlier trip this year they completely were meeting my expectations and they are again on my list for a later trip to Saint-Petersburg later this year.
Dear reader, I hope you enjoyed to see and hear about my trips and I am looking forward to hear your comments!
B747forever From United States of America, joined May 2007, 16574 posts, RR: 11 Reply 3, posted (5 years 6 months 3 weeks 5 days 2 hours ago) and read 7291 times:
Airbuseric From Netherlands, joined Jan 2005, 4015 posts, RR: 52 Reply 4, posted (5 years 6 months 3 weeks 5 days 1 hour ago) and read 7224 times:
Hi
great report to read. Another update of my St.Petersburg knowledge, some nice city-pics. LH is doing good indeed, and serving a great meal btw, good to see that you got the ERJ170!! I really need to plan new trips shortly to score some new a/c types for my log Do you have any cabin-pics ??
Bye
Eric
"The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going"
Infodesk From Switzerland, joined May 2006, 1241 posts, RR: 34 Reply 5, posted (5 years 6 months 3 weeks 5 days 1 hour ago) and read 7218 times:
Hi Thomas,
As always a good read. St. petersburg really does look stunning and I particularly like your shots taken on the BSL-MUC route - what fantastic conditions!
Quoting RJ100 (Thread starter): I guess they just had a window seat in school too and are not able to understand what A, B, C and D means...
Well said!
Considering how many flights you've done on easyJet, have you ever had major problems?
Quoting RJ100 (Thread starter): it was time to fly back to Basel on October 29
Talk about keen, you only landed yesterday and the trip report's already posted? Hut ab!
And btw, what does Russian chocolate taste like then?
Happy flying
Infodesk
"Do nothing in haste, look well to each step and from the beginning think what may be the end" - Edward Whymper
Quoting RJ100 (Thread starter): D-AILX, an A-319. As a side note this is my 48th flight on the A-319.
A well known aircraft, from former Germanwings times, based at STR. Much more impressive!.
Quoting RJ100 (Thread starter): After some perfect days it was time to fly back to Basel on October 29.
It seems, there are some hours more per day in Switzerland than here in Germany.
When I think about the time between trip and posting around my work, impressive again.
BTW, I know, where to ask, if I will go to Russia sometimes, or not?.
DALCE From Netherlands, joined Feb 2007, 1581 posts, RR: 7 Reply 7, posted (5 years 6 months 3 weeks 4 days 23 hours ago) and read 7046 times:
Hi Thomas!
What a great report! Those pictures of Tsarskoe Selo are really great! You are lucky that you can go there so often!
I would love to go there once ( or twice ).
A nice surprise aswell to get the E70, always nice to get a new bird in the log
Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work
Cheers,
Joost ( DALCE )
flown on : F50,F70,CR1,CR2,CR9,E75,143,AR8,AR1,733,735,736,73G,738,753,744,319,320,321,AB6. Next flights AMS-ZRH-AMS on
Buck3y3nut From United States of America, joined Jul 2006, 864 posts, RR: 0 Reply 8, posted (5 years 6 months 3 weeks 4 days 23 hours ago) and read 7023 times:
great trip report. The pictures from St. Petersburg are just beautiful.
thank you very much for writing the trip report and sharing it with us...
Thank you Infodesk. With my 48 easyJet flights I never had a major delay, not a single cancellation, never an announced schedule change- and my bags always arrived! However I am by now seriously annoyed by the boarding process as the people are not able to understand (?) how it works with A, B, C and D... and they run from the bus to the plane like there would be no tomorrow! But still, easyJet stays my number 1 choice out of BSL as they usually simply have the best value for money.
Quoting Infodesk (Reply 5): And btw, what does Russian chocolate taste like then?
It was quite good, produced by Cadbury's Russia, so only half Russian and half British
NoUFO From Germany, joined Apr 2001, 7796 posts, RR: 13 Reply 10, posted (5 years 6 months 3 weeks 4 days 1 hour ago) and read 6573 times:
Quoting RJ100 (Reply 1): The Cirrus flight attendands were very nice but were in a hurry to serve the drink to all passengers of this almost full flight as flying time was only 30 minutes.
Cirrus is still my favourite commuter airline in Germany. Haven't been on their new Embraers yet, though.
Semsem From Israel, joined Jul 2005, 1779 posts, RR: 3 Reply 11, posted (5 years 6 months 3 weeks 3 days 22 hours ago) and read 6529 times:
You sold me on wanting to visit St. Petersbourg. Thanks for posting the nice pictures including you and your girlfriend. It's nice to see the person who is writing the report.
RJ100 From Switzerland, joined Nov 2000, 4107 posts, RR: 32 Reply 13, posted (5 years 6 months 3 weeks 5 hours ago) and read 6270 times:
Hello Semsem and Aleksandar thank you for your replies!
Yes the problems with Lufthansa are now solved, after I filed a complaint with the authorities they paid me 400 Euros plus added 5000 miles on my m&m account- so no problems to fly on LH again.
SandroZRH From Switzerland, joined Feb 2007, 3382 posts, RR: 51 Reply 14, posted (5 years 6 months 3 weeks 4 hours ago) and read 6246 times:
Hey Thomas, cool stuff!
What day did you fly out to LED? When we flew to RIX on thursday a week ago, the weather was exactly the same and the views on the alps were breathtaking!
SandroZRH From Switzerland, joined Feb 2007, 3382 posts, RR: 51 Reply 16, posted (5 years 6 months 3 weeks 1 hour ago) and read 6131 times:
Quoting RJ100 (Reply 15):
I flew to LED on the 25th,
Interesting, we flew to RIX on the 25th
Quoting RJ100 (Reply 15): How was RIX? Sounds interesting.
RIX is great. If you wanna take your girlfriend on another city-trip, RIX is definatly recommendable, although I liked TLL a bit more. But both of them are easily combinable in one trip, as the flying time between them is only 30-40mins, and BT offers various daily flights at good fares.
The cities are very clean and they both have wonderful old towns, friendly people, good food and are still relatively cheap when it comes to food and hotels.
If you're planning a trip to RIX, drop me a pm, i can recommend a wonderful hotel.
Luv2fly From United States of America, joined May 2003, 11957 posts, RR: 51 Reply 19, posted (5 years 6 months 2 weeks 6 days 16 hours ago) and read 5976 times:
Nice trip report with great photos also, thanks for sharing.
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From Switzerland, joined Nov 2000, 4107 posts, 
Immigration with no problems as usual...my girlfriend waited for me at Pulkovo airport and we went by public transportation to her apartment. The apartment is located in the city of Saint-Petersburg but with bad traffic it can take good 2 hours to reach it!
. Pulkovo 2 is not really big but it is really ok with restaurants, shops and all services you need. My flight was called and we went through another security check, this time with taking off pullover, shoes, belts, watch etc. However our flight had a smaller technical problem so we waited another 30 minutes until we entered the plane. Our plane will be D-AIQH, an A-320. My 20th flight on the A-320 and the 28th flight on Lufthansa.
From United States of America, joined May 2007, 16574 posts, 
From Netherlands, joined Jan 2005, 4015 posts, 
btw, good to see that you got the ERJ170!! I really need to plan new trips shortly to score some new a/c types for my log 
Do you have any cabin-pics ??
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From Germany, joined Apr 2001, 7796 posts, 
From Israel, joined Jul 2005, 1779 posts, 
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