Part 1 : IAD-AMS and stay in Amsterdam
Part 2: AMS-ZRH-BOM-VIE-IAD


After 4 days stop over in Amsterdam, it was time to head back to the airport to catch a flight for a short 12-day vacation visiting family in India. Our flight on 7-OCT was at 7 am. The hotel shuttle was available on request throughout the night. Not wanting to take any chances, we decided we would be at the airport by 5 am for the 7 am flight. So we requested the shuttle very early at 4:30 am. It was barely a 10-min ride to AMS and we were at the terminal no later than 4:40 am. AMS was quite a desolate place at that early hour. I guess regular travelers knew better and did not want to get there that early if they
didn't have to....

We were the only ones at the LX check-in counter at 4:40 am. I was actually surprised to find it open. It took the agent no more than a couple of minutes to process us and hand us our boarding passes all the way to BOM.

Security was quick too - just a couple of minutes. We would undergo a second round of security at the gate. This is something I have not understood about airports in Europe - where you undergo two rounds of security screenings - one past the check-in area and one just before the gate - may be someone can shed a light on this.

We had plenty of time to kill so proceeded to a coffee shop that was thankfully open that early in the day. Had a cup of coffee. We could see planes on the tarmac from the sitting area. It was quite dark outside - so not many pictures.

A Miami Air 738 (N738MA) and a Thomsonfly plane hidden behind:



At about 6:00 am we decided to proceed to our departure gate D24. There were about 8-10 people ahead of us for the second round of security check. Finally at 6:15 am we were done with all the formalities waiting for the boarding to begin.

Our ride to ZRH today would be Airbus A319-112 (HB-IPT):



Flight Info:

LX 737 AMS-ZRH
Equipment: A319-112 (HB-IPT)
STD: 7:00 am STA: 8:25 am
ATD: 6:55 am ATA: 8:03 am

Boarding began at 6:35 am. It was a very lightly loaded flight - load was just about 30% in Y. While there was announcement about boarding for business class passengers - inside the aircraft - I could see the sections for J and Y but could not see any difference in the seating. Any ideas why would someone be paying J price for exact same seat as Y?

Our neighbor at gate D-22 was a BD A319 (G-DBCG).




We pushed back a little ahead of time - 6:55 am and taxied to RWY 24. After a brief roll, it was wheels up at 7:05 am for a short hop across Netherlands and Germany onto ZRH.

One curious thing I noted about the aircraft was that after row 16 - row number jumed to 29 - any particular reason for that?

After take-off - seat belt sign was promptly turned off at 10,000 ft. and the cabin crew started the breakfast / snack service. It was a small muffin. I opted for coffee and some water to drink.



By the time the crew was clearing out the cabin, we had already begun our descent into ZRH. Our arrival gate was to be A66 in terminal 1. On board, the lavatory (at least the one I used) had no tap water for the wash basin - wonder what was up with that.

We touched down in ZRH at 8:03 am.

Our flight to BOM was to depart from from E57 - so took the inter-terminal rail to change terminal E. There was a little bit of time so decided to shop for some chocolates - we were in Switzerland after all   Then it was time for some spotting before the boarding began.

AC 763 (C-GDUZ):




LX 343 (HB-JMI):




Our ride today to BOM - LX 332 (HB-IQK) and a Macedonian Airline 735 (Z3-AAH) in the background:



A LTU 332 (D-ALPC) passing by:



Flight Info:
LX 154 ZRH-BOM
Equipment: A330-223 (HB-IQK)
STD: 9:55 am STA: 9:40 pm
ATD: 9:57 am ATA: 9:35 pm

Boarding began at 9:20 am and was completed by 9:35. Y was about 80% full. Doors closed and we pushed back at 9:57. We headed to RWY 16 for take-off.It was wheels up at 10:16 am.

We passed by a training area for fire safety - first time I have seen such a set-up at a close range:



LX A321 (HB-IOC) was ahead of us for take-off.




Few shots during taxi and right after take-off:












leaving ZRH behind:



Like with the previous flight, captain turned off the seat belt sign at 10,000 ft. Our route today was going to be over Istanbul (Turkey), Iran, Karachi (Pakistan) onto BOM and our cruising altitude was to be 39,000 ft.

As we were reaching the cruising altitude, the crew began the beverage service.

It was the snack mix and a cocktail of orange juice and 7-Up for me.



The choice of meals was Asian Veg / Western Veg / Asian Chicken / Western Chicken. We opted for Asian Veg. It consisted of salad with olive oil dressing, a dinner roll, a mixed vegetable dish, a curry of peas and cashews with basmati rice, a wedge of President Camembert cheese and dessert caramel.



The food was quite decent though I was disappointed with the cold bread roll instead of a warm one. IFE selection was so-so. Therefore after lunch and coffee, it was time to go to sleep. One of the channels which was showing a bollywood movie had trouble with it and people could hear only the audio track but no video. A reset did not work so the crew put the Hindi film on Channel 1 instead.

We had a window/aisle combination. Two elderly couples who occupied the adjoining block of 4 seats were quite a handful for the FAs. They kept calling the FA constantly for frivolous reasons. I really felt for the FA who had to deal with such people. Indians are known to be demanding travelers - but it is people like these that bring a bad name to all Indian travelers.

I had a good nap for about 4+ hours. A couple of hours before landing, the crew began preparing for the snack service. It was dubbed a pizza but was more like a calzone with tomato and mozarella cheese. To top it off was a vanilla ice cream. Both were really good.



Overall, service on board LX was good but nothing to brag about.

Because we were in BOM air space before the real midnight rush began, we got a quick clearance to land and we were on the ground at 9:35 pm.

Privatization has really done wonders for BOM. Within 7 minutes of exiting the plane, we were done with our immigration formalities. I didn't quite grasp the new layout - but last time I was there - I remember having to take a long walk before reaching the immigration counters. It wasn't so this time. Baggage took about 30 minutes to come out. One more change I noticed was that in clearing customs, even if you had nothing to declare - you had to pass your luggage through x-rays. This time we did not have to do that. I don't know if the procedure has changed or simply that the x-ray machine was not working.

Either way - we were out of there in under an hour (though my previous record at BOM still is 25 mins from gate to car on an international arrival).

After a few short days at home in Pune (PNQ), it was time to head back. On 19-OCT-08, we started for BOM at about 5:00 pm. With a halt for dinner and after battling the horrendous Mumbai traffic, we reached BOM at 10:00 pm. As usual, outside the departure area, it was a complete zoo. Hundreds of travelers and thousands of people to see them off.....

As is the procedure in India - we did baggage security screening before heading to airline counters. Security personnel apply security ties to the baggage after it is x-rayed. We then proceeded to the OS check-in counters. There were only a couple of people ahead of us to check-in. Although we had assigned seats, I asked the agent if he could assign us exit row seats. He must have been a new fellow still learning his way around. Another agent who was looking over his work helped him do the needful. He informed us that while there was none available for BOM-VIE sector, he had assigned us exit row seats (26 JK) for VIE-IAD sector. He also performed a document check, gave us our baggage tags and boarding passes.

Commonwealth Youth Games had concluded the previous day in my hometown Pune and there were large crowds of sportspersons departing that night out of BOM. One snap of the South African team:




Departing out of India, every airline makes you tag your carry-on baggage with name tags - since security personnel later use those to stamp to indicate that you have undergone a security check.

Line for immigration check was a long one but all counters were operational and we cleared that in about 25 minutes. While immigration counters are still manned by government employees as always, I have over the last several years noticed a dramatic shift in their attitude and behaviour. I don't know if it is the direct result of privatization of the airport - but they are much nicer and courteous to all passengers - a welcome change indeed.


For the first time in BOM, I also noticed that after immigration and security, there were additional verification checks of immigration stamps in passports and security stamps on carry-on baggage name tags. We then headed down the escalators to the departure area. This area has really been redone nicely. While the work still is on in quite a few places, it is much more a pleasant place than it has been before. Here are a few snaps of the new establishments that have set up shop there:











The prices at these new places are ridiculous though. In spite of privatization and massive increase in the number of passengers, Indian air travel system still considers (to some extent may be rightly so compared to other areas) airline travel to be domain of the rich. At the place called "Indian Pride" a lowly Idly-Sambar costs INR 100 - an absurd price in my opinion. Coffee-Tea Leaf has Iced Tea at INR 120....

Since we had some time to pass and considering that we had an early dinner, we decided to try some pav-bhaji at the Indian Pride. Compared to INR 100 Idly, it seemed like a bargain at INR 120  


A general shot of the departure area:






We were scheduled to depart out of gate 11:







Air conditioning was very much uneven - it was nearly non-existent in the passport control area but quite good and almost chilly in the gate area. We were at

our gate at about 11:40 pm for a 1:00 am departure.

Flight Info:

20-OCT-08
OS 36: BOM-VIE
Equipment: Boeing 767-300ER (Probably OE-LAW)
STD: 1:00 am STA: 5:35 am
ATD: 1:00 am ATA: 5:06 am

Boarding began at about 12:10 am. Austrian has begun distributing 0.5 litre bottles of mineral water to passengers at the time of boarding. I liked this new touch and is quite handy when you need something to drink but you know that beverage service is a while away. There was also a good choice of reading material at the door. I picked up copy of The Times of India and India Today magazine.

Our seats were 19 HK - one row behind the exit row. There was a single occupant of 18K (the exit row). Since Y was only about 60% full - he decided to move to the center block of seats in the same row which was all empty. So we promptly moved to 18 HK and were happy to have the extra legroom - we knew it was going to be a comfortable flight even in Y  

Our neighbor at gate 10 was a AI 744 in the new livery (VT-ESP). Pardon the photo quality - it was dark and hazy outside:





Another neighbor was a LH 744 (D-ABTK) - sorry no picture of that one.

After boarding was complete, menus were distributed before push back. Push-back was on the cue at 1:00 am. After taxing, it was take-off time and we did that on RWY 27. Our routing today would take us over Karachi (Pakistan), Iran, Romania and Hungary on into VIE. Cabin lights were dimmed for take-off and it was wheels up at 1:05 am.

I am not sure what the registration of this particular plane was. In addition to OS branded safety information card in seat pockets, there was a Lauda Air card as well - -which had the OE-LAX registration printed on it. However, the carts had printed information papers stuck on them and they seemed to suggested it was the OE-LAW.

It was meal time and our Indian Vegetarian meal consisted of a salad, paneer kofta curry, cauliflower and green peas and dried fruit pulao. Dessert was a chocolate cake topped off with whipped cream. Bread was a choice of nan (an Indian flat bread) or one of the several types of bread rolls. I initially opted for the nan.



Food was exceptionally tasty. In fact this was one of the best Indian meals I have had on an airplane. FAs made several additional rounds asking if we wanted

more bread. The bread was very tasty, warm and delicious. The only negative in OS meal service was the coffee - every round of coffee seemed to have a burnt smell (like coffee has when left on a warmer for a long time). May be OS needs to change the brand of coffee it uses.

It was lights out after dinner and except for a mild chop once in a while - flight was fairly mundane. The crew did frequent rounds of water and juice - much more than I have seen recently on other carriers.

An hour and 45 mins. out, breakfast was served. It consisted of a cheese sandwich, fruit bowl, yogurt, almond muffin and orange juice - indeed a very substantial quantity.

We began descent about 25 mins out and the captain informed that we should expect to be on the ground around 5:10 am. Actual touchdown was at 5:06 am on RWY 29. We docked at gate A8 and our connection to IAD was to depart from A4. So we decided to stick around the same terminal for an excruciating 5.5 hr layover.

After freshning up a bit, at about 7 am, we headed to have some breakfast - I think it was Johann Strauss restaurant (not sure). Had a scrambled egg and toast and coffee.

After some time, when the Sun was out and it was bright outside, took some pictures. Not much variety of airlines since it was pretty much OS country:



OS A320 (OE-LBO):









After clearing security check, we entered the A4 gate area. The flight was pretty full - so they opened up an adjoining gate area as an extra waiting room for the passengers. Passengers with status or those in business class and those sitting in rows 27-40 were directed to that area.

Gate area before it was full:


Flight Information monitor at the gate:


Our ride to IAD - OS 772 (OE-LPD):




Flight Info:

20-OCT-08
OS 93: VIE-IAD
Equipment: Boeing 777-200ER (OE-LPD)
STD: 11:10 am STA: 2:40 pm
ATD: 11:10 am ATA: 2:48 pm

Boarding began at 10:40 am. As promised, we had the exit row seats (26JK) - but the drawback here was that there was no window. So no outside pictures in this flight. Pushback was on time at 11:10 am but then in what seemed like eternity, we taxied for about 20+ minutes. While we could not use IFE monitors since they had to be stowed for take-off, the overhead monitor displayed feed from the nose and under-carriage cameras. We used RWY 29 for departure. It was cool to see taxing onto the runway, the a short but powerful roll and takeoff from external cameras. My first time seeing it. It was wheels up at 11:35 am and with that the camera feed switched to the under the belly camera. Seat belt signs went off rightaway and the crew sprung up in action.

Beverage service began and the munchies were the ubiquitous boring pretzels. I again opted for OJ + Sprite. The gentleman sitting next to us in the aisle seat spilled his tomato juice on himself and some of it on the seat. But the FA was quick to bring him a towel and while he sprinted to the restroom to clean himself up, she cleaned up the seat meticulously and left no evidence something was wrong a minute ago....She offered him another drink and he chose to have water instead.

Our special Asian Veg. Meal consisted of chick peas (chana), veg. korma, rice, salad, fruit bowl. As with the meal on the previous flight - the meal was very very tasty.

Last December too, I flew on OS to and from India and the meals were good. But this time it was just amazing. Kudos to OS. It's a shame they are planning to reduce/eliminate service to BOM in 2009.



The remainder of the flight seemed like eternity - almost 9 hour flight it was. I tried to sleep as much as I could. Again an hour and 45 mins. out, a light snack was to be served. Our vegetarian choice consisted of roasted vegetables - zuccini, red bell peppers and an eggplant-tomato-olive oil ragu. Everything was well seasoned - a far cry from many Western carriers who seem to think vegetarian food has to be all bland and tasteless. The ragu was actually quite tasty. Mixed berry compote was dessert. As with previous meals, the FAs did several rounds of bread roll runs - bread was very nice, warm, flavorful and tasted even better with dollops of butter  

I am really impressed with the service on board OS. With such a bunch of attentive folks in Y - I can imagine that business class must be even better in terms of service. Absolutely loved OS.... The only "negative" I noticed (and only because I was close to one of the galleys) was that the crew prep work in galley at times seemed haphazard and disorganized (which thankfully did not impact passengers at all).

Soon the captain informed us that our estimated time of touchdown was 2:44 pm. Without having to wait a lot for landing clearance, we were on the ground at 2:48 pm. Immigration was quick and so was baggage claim and customs. Immigration officer was actually quite pleasant (which is generally my experience at IAD) and welcomed me back after my vacation....A stop at the Super Shuttle counter, a 15-min. wait for the shuttle and we were home after a nice (though a little short) vacation and a trip home to India and sadly - the next day - it was going to be back to work....