DALCE From Netherlands, joined Feb 2007, 1582 posts, RR: 7 Posted (5 years 2 weeks 6 days 9 hours ago) and read 7825 times:
Hello dear readers! There is my next report with only a week between my last flights and these!
A couple of weeks ago my girlfriend and myself decided to go on a nice city trip in Europe and selected some interesting cities to visit. We doubted between Lisbon, Vienna and Milan. For this time we choose for Milan and will leave the other cities for any time soon to visit as they are well worth a visit as well.
To make the trip interesting for the flying I selected some nice flights with different airports. The planned route was AMS-FRA-LIN and MXP-MUC-AMS which gives a nice selection of airports and aircraft types. It includes 2 new airports for the log and 4 different aircraft a type of which 1 is new for the log.
So here we go, enjoy reading and enjoy the pictures.
Flight : LH 4689
Stretch : AMS-FRA
Date : 28april 2008
Aircraft : Airbus A320-211 (msn 401)
Registration : D-AIQS
Delivered : 22-march-1993
Seat : Jump
Load : 110%
Gate : B9
8th flight on the 320 and the first on this machine
Our alarm clock woke us up at 04.00hrs in the early morning and we stood up some minutes later.
We had some time left to eat some breakfast and drink some coffee and tea.
At 05.30 my father picked us up and brought us to the airport. Traffic to the airport was not too light with a 5km traffic jam around the Purmerend area 20 km north of Amsterdam.
Nevertheless we arrived at AMS around 06.45 and we were a bit shocked as there were huge queues at the LH check in desks. We had E-tix but had to drop off our checked luggage. One of the agents was quite rude to the passengers and worked very slowly. We managed to check in just in time and proceeded to security. This was done in a couple of minutes as the big morning rush was already gone. We quickly walked to the gate, which was B9 this morning and asked the gate agent if there was space for us, as we both fly on stand-by tickets. The flight was really full this morning with all seats taken. Therefore I asked whether we could fly on the jump seat. The captain came to us and asked us some questions. In the end we were invited on the jump in the aft galley.
Our view on our flight to FRA
As we were amongst the last pax to board, boarding was completed soon and the doors were closed.
The cabin crew existed of 2 female and 1 male attendants, with the male attendant serving the doors 3L and 3R. He instructed us how to open the doors in case of emergency and then went on with the normal safety instructions for the other passengers.
Engines were started and we taxied to rwy 24 for take off. A quick turn left into an easterly direction and we were on our way. The seatbelt sign stayed on for quite a while as the weather caused some moderate turbulence during flight.
We were served coffee and tea, and then the attendant quickly started service. With all the seats taken, and a short flight time, they did not serve any sandwiches to the passengers this flight.
Although we both had one
Landing in FRA was smooth as silk and actually one of the softest landings I have had so far. Real good job from the F/O who was the pilot flying on this leg. The active runway was 25L and we parked shortly afterwards on finger gate A17.
Friendly captain preparing his flight across the atlantic
LH 747-400 being pushed for a departure across the atlantic
Flight : LH 3956
Stretch : FRA-LIN
Date : 28april 2008
Aircraft : Boeing 737-330 ( msn 23871 )
Registration : D-ABXM
Delivered : 27-aug-1987
Seat : 19E / 19F
Load : 65%
Gate : A16
7th flight on the 737-300 and the first on this machine
We had some time to kill but were not feeling to go outside as we also had no seats yet for the FRA-LIN stretch. I knew on forehand that this flight was very full with only a few seats left. So we walked up and down the A concourse a bit and when I saw a gate agent at A16, I walked up and asked for the situation. She smiled and gave us seats instantly, as the flight suffered an equipment change from 735 into a slightly larger 733.
AirBridge Cargo 747-200F
Our bird en route FRA-LIN
This saved us, as we could now enjoy the flying and the views over the Alps. The cabin crew existed of a male purser and 2 female attendants. Service was a cold and warm drink supplemented with a turkey sandwich and a sweet, Standard LH service.
Old boss meets new boss ( LH meets LX )
Thundering down rwy 18
And take off....
First signs of snowy mountains
Amazing views over the alps
No words, just great!
Some more Alps
Approach into LIN
Speed brakes
We had a very good view over the Alps and soon we were already starting our descent into Milan Linate airport ( LIN ) on our approach path we came by some toll highways, with huge traffic jams, and some nice suburban areas. Touchdown was average, but still comfortable.
We parked and got of the 737 via the backdoor. A very ugly bus awaited us, it was a Van Hool bus with doors at all 4 sides, and 2 steering wheels. Never saw this type of airport bus before, but a nice experience. I think the bus already has quite some experience as it was not exactly new.
Nevertheless the bus brought us to the Shengen arrivals gate, where 4 baggage belts served the incoming flights. Our baggage was on belt 3 after some 15 minutes, but that's fine for me.
At the apron there were only a couple of AZ MD 80's a SK MD 80 and the Eurofly 319, so not too much action here today.
Outside we walked to the Star-Flyer bus stop, which offers a service to central station for Euro 4,00 which is very convient. From there we took the tram to the hotel were we dropped of our baggage.
From here we started to explore the city and started walking
I will let the pictures do the talking here.
I thought it was a nostalgic tram, but it turned out to be the standard tram in Milan
Castle wall and dried up ditch
Corner tower of the Castle
head entrance
Flowers 'n Church
Inside the Duomo church
Ferrari Formula One Car
Overview of a Milanese Square
One of 1000+ religious buildings in this beautiful city
There were also some modern trams, which one do you prefer?
Duomo, The 3th largest church in the world.
Castle in the dark
Flight : LH 3905
Stretch : MXP-MUC
Date : 30april 2008
Aircraft : British Aerospace 146-300 ( msn E3155)
Registration : I-ADJJ
Delivered : 15-aug-1990 to Dan-Air London
03-feb-1996 to Aer Lingus
21-jan-2003 to Trident Jet ( Jersey )
01-feb-2006 to Air Dolomiti
Seat : 7B / 8B
Load : 90%
Gate : A33
1st flight on the BAe146-300 and the first on this machine
After a couple of very nice days in the beautiful city of Milan, it was time to get back to the airport.
Check-in Area at MXP
For the way back home I thought MXP-MUC-AMS would be an interesting route as it is another new airport for the log, and the MXP-MUC leg is operated by Air Dolomiti, which is a nice addition to my log also. We arrived at MXP a couple of hours early to make sure that if our pre selected flights were full, we could try to go home via FRA or HAM. But the agent had good news for us, and gave us the info that we would probably get seats at the gate, as the flight looked quite good.
We went through security and found the gate fairly easy. I was short of caffeine so I bought a cup of coffee at the bar. The price was really a bargain, it cost 1 Euro total
LH 321 and Air Baltic 733 ( WL )
After a while the gate agents arrived and started their work. Our tickets were already printed and we had seats. Unfortunately it were middle seats in the BAe146. Narrow seats, but enough legroom.
Actually besides the clean green leather seats I found the aircraft a rockbox ( loud, worn and not comfortable )
We also did not sit together, but that was not a problem as we were directly behind each other.
My view out of the window
Good legspace on this machine
Nice snackbox, also very tasty
2 hairdryers under this wing
The cabin crew existed of two female attendants, both quite young. They did a good job in serving the passengers on this short flight to MUC. The snackbox also was very good, with some typical Italian style cookies, some cheese and salami with crackers. To drink there was a small pack of water.
View from my seat into the C-class
And in the bus at MUC
Soon our descent started and we approached MUC airport.
Touchdown was smooth and braking average, also because the 146 is not equipped with Thrust-reversers. We taxied at average speed to our remote stand and were bussed to the terminal.
We had some time to kill before our last flight would depart, so we walked through some shops ( keeping the lady happy ) and then proceeded to our departure gate, which was all the way at the end to T2. I believe it was gate A16.
I asked the gate agent if she could already give us seats on the flight, and she instantly printed out our boarding passes for the MUC-AMS segment.
Flight : LH 4703
Stretch : MUC-AMS
Date : 30april 2008
Aircraft : Canadair CRJ-900 ( msn 15081 )
Registration : D-ACKE
Delivered : 28-jul-2006 to LH Cityline
Seat : 14 D/F
Load : 70%
Gate : A16
4th flight on the CRJ-900 and the first on this machine
Boarding started on time and we went through the doors and downstairs to the waiting bus.
One insane idiot lighted a cigarette on the apron before entering the bus. The security guy got ballistic and almost started to hit the smoking guy......not so strange as there was an A340-600 being refuelled some 50 mtrs away.... How stupid some people can be.... unbelievable.
But nevertheless all went ok and the bus drove us to a remote stand were a shiny CRJ-900 was awaiting her passengers for the AMS service.
D-ACKE
Cimber Air CRJ
We took our comfortable seats, and I immediately felt the difference with the CRJ-200.
This aircraft is just a very comfortable piece of machinery, just great.
In the 2 rows in front of us there were some kids. They were presented a nice mini-computer with a tetris like game from the flightattendant, which was very nice!
The cabin crew existed of 2 female attendants and they did a good job.
When the doors were closed the engines spooled up and we started our taxipath to the active runway.
The sky got darker and darker and we stopped at the runway with on our left 3 aircraft waiting t/o clearance and on the right 2 heavies waiting and a very dark sky with wind, water and some lightning.
Big Girl you are beautiful, the almighty Antonov 124 Ruslan freighter
Little prop in bad weather approach
I said this could take a while, and so it did. After 10 minutes the pilots shut down the engines and we awaited the bad weather to leave the direct surroundings of MUC. Finally after 45 minutes it was our turn to take off, and we made a silent rocketing start.
Just above the clouds
Nice cloud formations
Soon we were above the cloud layers, and enjoyed a very comfortable flight back to our home airport.
The remainder of the flight was uneventful, although we enjoyed some very nice cloud formations.
Landing was on my favourite runway the 'Polderbaan' or 18R.
The parents of my GF picked us up and we drove back home. Tired, but very pleased with some very nice days in beautiful Milan / Milano / Milaan / Mailand.
Thanks for reading another report and please feel free to comment.
Cheers,
Joost ( D-ALCE )
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
Semsem From Israel, joined Jul 2005, 1779 posts, RR: 3 Reply 3, posted (5 years 2 weeks 6 days 3 hours ago) and read 7436 times:
When I lived in Milan in the 1960s they had those old trams. But they were green I believe. Unbelievable they still use them. In the summer when it get's hot there it must be a lot of fun.
It was the main purpose why we went MXP-MUC on the way back
Quoting FLIEGER67 (Reply 1): You know, I was not to far away from Milan last Tuesday, hope to bring some more Dolomiti´s online tomorrow.
Sir fly-a-lot strikes again, I still find it amazing how often you fly, can't wait to read your report.
Quoting Buck3y3nut (Reply 2): beautiful pictures from Milan. Totally loved the city pictures...
thanks a lot for writing & sharing this report with us...
I did it with pleasure, glad you liked the pics. I needed to make a selection out of 400+ pics in three days
Quoting Semsem (Reply 3): When I lived in Milan in the 1960s they had those old trams. But they were green I believe. Unbelievable they still use them. In the summer when it get's hot there it must be a lot of fun.
I loved them, although they must be terrible in hot summer! So they are really that old already, quite some tough machinery then!
Cheers,
Joost ( D-ALCE )
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
Contact Air From Germany, joined Apr 2001, 1154 posts, RR: 14 Reply 5, posted (5 years 2 weeks 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 6609 times:
Hi Joost,
again a great report from you with lots of fantastic pictures!
Quoting DALCE (Thread starter): In the end we were invited on the jump in the aft galley. ... Our view on our flight to FRA
Well, not the best view indeed. But at least you got on board of this flight and didn't have to look for alternative ways of travelling.
I also liked your pictures of Milan - seems to be a great city.
Quoting DALCE (Thread starter): There were also some modern trams, which one do you prefer?
The old trams are great and definately fit well into the historic city scenery. But the new ones might be more comfortable for the inhabitants of Milan who have to use the tram every day.
DALCE From Netherlands, joined Feb 2007, 1582 posts, RR: 7 Reply 6, posted (5 years 2 weeks 1 day ago) and read 6554 times:
Hi Christoph,
Thank you for reading my report!
Quoting Contact Air (Reply 5): Well, not the best view indeed. But at least you got on board of this flight and didn't have to look for alternative ways of travelling.
That is the most important issue, and besides... AMS-FRA is not the most interesting flight in the world.
I was glad we had some nice views over the Alps on the FRA-LIN stretch.
Quoting Contact Air (Reply 5): I also liked your pictures of Milan - seems to be a great city.
It is, above expectations, a beautiful city with lots of nice architecture, parks, monuments etc. etc.
A nice city to spend a couple of days, but 4 days would already be too long I think.
Quoting Contact Air (Reply 5): The old trams are great and definately fit well into the historic city scenery. But the new ones might be more comfortable for the inhabitants of Milan who have to use the tram every day.
Therefore I thought it was a historic tramline at first. I was surprised to see that it still is the most used type of tram in Milan. For the daily users it must be a pain in the ***. They were not too comfortable...
Brgds,
Joost ( D-ALCE )
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
Airbuseric From Netherlands, joined Jan 2005, 4015 posts, RR: 52 Reply 7, posted (5 years 2 weeks 20 hours ago) and read 6509 times:
Hoi Joost!
@ work now, and checked the forum. Saw this report, but didn't expect it
So, most is already mentioned; interesting routing, and city. Nice pics!
A bit sad that LH didn't serve a sandwich to the revenue passengers on AMS-FRA. Good for you that you got one
Quoting DALCE (Thread starter): tickets were already printed and we had seats. Unfortunately it were middle seats in the BAe146.
We had the same last year, on a Brit Air F100. 2 middle seats behind eachother. Standby tix too That's the risk we've to take
OK, you had the BAe146 as new entry,... I covered it already numerous times. But you're on the winning side when it comes to the CRJ-900; a type I hope to fly in June.
Cheers,
Eric
nb.- can we expect more and more LX reports in the future instead of the LH stuff?
"The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going"
DALCE From Netherlands, joined Feb 2007, 1582 posts, RR: 7 Reply 10, posted (5 years 2 weeks 8 hours ago) and read 6363 times:
Hey Eric,
Quoting Airbuseric (Reply 7): A bit sad that LH didn't serve a sandwich to the revenue passengers on AMS-FRA. Good for you that you got one
They really had their hands full in serving everybody a drink, and collecting the trash.
Quoting Airbuseric (Reply 7): We had the same last year, on a Brit Air F100. 2 middle seats behind eachother. Standby tix too That's the risk we've to take
Which is not really a problem, certainly not when it is a very short flight as MXP-MUC.
And we could still communicate a bit.
Quoting Airbuseric (Reply 7): OK, you had the BAe146 as new entry,... I covered it already numerous times
I already had the RJ-85 in my log, but this older series were still missing. Now the RJ100, but that one will be covered aswell someday!
Quoting Airbuseric (Reply 7): But you're on the winning side when it comes to the CRJ-900; a type I hope to fly in June.
And still lucky with them, flew 4 times with the -900, and 4 different regs, all of them of LH I must admit.
I'll cross my fingers for you then! Would be funny if you catch the D-ACKE aswell, as Markus has it also covered in his log. But on the other side a pity, as it then would be his 2nd time on this very bird.
Quoting Airbuseric (Reply 7): nb.- can we expect more and more LX reports in the future instead of the LH stuff?
Well, for next month there will probably one, as I will go to ZRH again with LX, a duty trip, but since this trip is during the European Championships I might drop a report with some nice pics, together with some soccer and city pics.
@ OA260
Quoting OA260 (Reply 8): Nice to see what happened to the EI 146!!!..
Yeah, it's always nice to see a bird of your old home fleet in her new career.
I was also surprised to see her extensive career so far.
@ PU752
Quoting PU752 (Reply 9): Awesome TR, I love that LH CR9 !
It's actually one of my favorite aircraft types considering comfort and noise
Thank you all for your comments.
Brgds,
Joost ( D-ALCE )
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
StefanPAD From Germany, joined Dec 2005, 282 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (5 years 1 week 6 days 11 hours ago) and read 6188 times:
Hi Joost!
Thanx for the TR and the great photos. It was a pleasure to read it. Milan looks very beautiful. The snackbox of Air Dolomiti looks tasty. Did LH serve a snack or a meal on the MUC-AMS leg?
The CRJ 900 is still missing to my log, too
Quoting DALCE (Thread starter): There were also some modern trams, which one do you prefer?
BA319-131 From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 8267 posts, RR: 56 Reply 14, posted (5 years 1 week 5 days 9 hours ago) and read 6039 times:
Nice report and pictures, many thanks for sharing.
I liked the selection of different planes and the history of the 146.
Quoting DALCE (Thread starter): One insane idiot lighted a cigarette on the apron before entering the bus. The security guy got ballistic and almost started to hit the smoking guy......not so strange as there was an A340-600 being refuelled some 50 mtrs away.... How stupid some people can be.... unbelievable.
DALCE From Netherlands, joined Feb 2007, 1582 posts, RR: 7 Reply 15, posted (5 years 1 week 4 days 21 hours ago) and read 6001 times:
Hi Mark,
I did it with the greatest pleasure!
Quoting BA319-131 (Reply 14): I liked the selection of different planes and the history of the 146.
It was indeed a nice combination, especially adding the 146 to the log, and also glad to have 4 new registrations in the log for this single trip.
Quoting BA319-131 (Reply 14): Quoting DALCE (Thread starter):
One insane idiot lighted a cigarette on the apron before entering the bus. The security guy got ballistic and almost started to hit the smoking guy......not so strange as there was an A340-600 being refuelled some 50 mtrs away.... How stupid some people can be.... unbelievable.
- Amazing how stupid some people are!
As a smoker I can understand that it can be hard to wait before you can smoke, but I do have brains to know where to smoke and where it is absolutely not possible....
Thanks for your comment
Joost ( D-ALCE )
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
F.pier From Italy, joined Aug 2000, 1517 posts, RR: 11 Reply 16, posted (5 years 1 week 4 days 14 hours ago) and read 5950 times:
Great report!!!
I live 100 km far from Milan but I've been there only a few times and never to visit it. Maybe one of these days I can go.
Thak you for the TR,
DALCE From Netherlands, joined Feb 2007, 1582 posts, RR: 7 Reply 17, posted (5 years 1 week 4 days 13 hours ago) and read 5945 times:
Dear F.Pier
Quoting F.pier (Reply 16): I live 100 km far from Milan but I've been there only a few times and never to visit it. Maybe one of these days I can go.
Thak you for the TR,
we all know the drill. People from all over the world come to Amsterdam and I just drive by it every day.
It's just to close to home to spend a couple of days.
We all tend to go far from home when we are to visit a city.
But Milan is well worth spending some time, I think 2 or 3 days is just about the right length for a trip.
Thank you for reading and giving your comment.
Cheers,
Joost ( D-ALCE )
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
B747forever From United States of America, joined May 2007, 16575 posts, RR: 11 Reply 18, posted (5 years 1 week 4 days 12 hours ago) and read 5937 times:
Quoting DALCE (Reply 17): We all tend to go far from home when we are to visit a city.
Think that is the exotic with travel. Fly far a way, even if you have a wonderful and undiscovered city near you.
However, a great TR.
Glad to see how your flight log grows. It will for sure be impressing in a couple of years if you fly like this.
DALCE From Netherlands, joined Feb 2007, 1582 posts, RR: 7 Reply 19, posted (5 years 1 week 4 days 11 hours ago) and read 5928 times:
Quoting B747forever (Reply 18): Glad to see how your flight log grows. It will for sure be impressing in a couple of years if you fly like this.
I'm planning to fly as much as possible / affordable so the log will keep on growing.
For dutytravel there are 2 trips to ZRH planned the upcoming month, and I'm thinking of a US trip in fall.
But inbetween there will certainly be more travelling
Thanks for your comment,
Cheers, Joost ( D-ALCE )
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
PlaneHunter From Germany, joined Mar 2006, 6191 posts, RR: 79 Reply 20, posted (5 years 1 week 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 5839 times:
Great report, Joost. You took some fantastic shots in Milan.
Quoting DALCE (Thread starter): There were also some modern trams, which one do you prefer?
Nice pic!
Quoting DALCE (Thread starter): We went through security and found the gate fairly easy. I was short of caffeine so I bought a cup of coffee at the bar. The price was really a bargain, it cost 1 Euro total
Unbelievable, original Italian coffee for 1 Euro. In Germany you often have to pay twice as much or even more - and then it probably tastes terrible...
Some shots were also made by my GF, she just started to make pictures, but sure has the talent for it.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 20): Unbelievable, original Italian coffee for 1 Euro. In Germany you often have to pay twice as much or even more - and then it probably tastes terrible...
Same goes for The Netherlands, last time a bought a normal size coffee at starbucks I had to pay Euro 2,70 and tasted just average.
Cheers,
Joost ( D-ALCE )
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
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