Flight: A3 350 ATH-JTR Actual Departure: 05:45 Actual Arrival: 06:21 Flight Duration: 0h, 36m Aircraft: A321 Registration: SX-DVP
Did the online check-in the night before, had my boarding pass printed and seat selected. Had a misunderstanding with my transfer to ATH and made it with only 15 minutes before boarding. Breezed through security and made it to my gate, WITHOUT my carry-on. Thankfully it was the first gate after the checkpoint. Got my bag and ran back up to the desk out of breath, the agent smiled and said "relax, you made it!"
When I boarded I was pleasantly surprised by the spotless cabin and the warmth of the crew. I've never seen a flight crew so happy to be at work at 5am. The Recaro leather seats were very comfortable and legroom was above average. The aircraft looked and smelled brand new. After the last customer boarded, one of the flight attendants came through offering each passenger a lemon candy from a wicker basket. Nice touch. I must say that the entire cabin crew was very attractive, very polished and professional.
FA's chatting mid-cabin. Loved the uniform, sleeveless fitted dresses for the ladies.
FA's passing out pre-departure treat.
Had a choice of beverage and a delicious Caramel-Pecan soft cookie. The flight attendants quickly completed service and passed by a second time offering everyone coffee and tea.
Deplaned via airstairs. I complimented the flight attendants on their outstanding service and great airline. Got big smiles and a sincere thank you. That was my best short-haul flight ever.
Hailed a taxi and enjoyed a scenic 25-minute drive from Thira to the village of Oia. Speeding up and down a narrow, winding road on the edge of a cliff was an adventure in itself. The drivers in Greece are nuts, to say the least.
Sunrise
The winding main road on Santorini Island.
Hotel was nice
view from the balcony
Vintage!
The pool
View from the breakfast room
Gorgeous view even during a rain shower!
After a couple days in Oia, it was time to get back to Athens. Unfortunately, Check-out time was noon and my flight didn't depart until 11pm. I ended up getting a nice hotel for 50EU near the airport. After a short nap, I spent the rest of the evening soaking up the sun on the beach across the street.
Monolithos Beach
spotting
The last supper, Souvlaki.
Flight: OA 561 JTR-ATH Actual Departure: 22:40 Actual Arrival: 23:35 Flight Duration: 0h, 45m Aircraft: ATR-72 Registration: SX-BIG, "Homer"
JTR is a small airport with inadequate seating for the amount of travelers. Whats great about it is the outdoor patio/observation deck.
Love the ATR-72!
Loved the smell of the fumes during boarding.
Take off was loud and fast, just as I remembered. As soon as the seatbelt sign was turned off the FA's jumped up to start service. Had a choice of beverage and a tasty chocolate waffer snack. By the time the cart got up front, we had already started our initial descent. The captain came on and gave a very long but touching speech about the legacy of Olympic Airlines. He thanked us for supporting them for the last 50 years and said it would be their very last flight with Olympic.
Smooth touchdown. I complimented the crew and wished them well, they were visibly sad. All the hotels were booked so I ended up laying over at AIA for 10 hours. A cool thing about AIA is the music being pumped through the speakers. A mixture of hits from the last few decades.
Olympic Air signage being set up overnight for the new launch
Museum
Overlooking the ticketing hall
View from my 'bed' for the night...the cold floor
Hope you enjoyed. Comments welcome. Next will be the trip home, ATH-DUS-JFK.
Shamrock321 From Ireland, joined May 2008, 1547 posts, RR: 1 Reply 3, posted (3 years 7 months 3 weeks 6 days 11 hours ago) and read 7333 times:
Perfect timing, I just finished our JFK-ATH report and this was posted as soon as I was finished. Both reports are excellent and the pictures are great! With a few beers, it makes for the perfect evening in.
Airbuseric From Netherlands, joined Jan 2005, 4015 posts, RR: 52 Reply 4, posted (3 years 7 months 3 weeks 6 days 10 hours ago) and read 7298 times:
Ahh, very nice! Santorini is a beautiful island. Was there this summer for about 45 minutes, while on the ground for a fuelstop on my way home. (my report on this flight will come online hopefully soon).
I really like some of your quality pictures. Good eye for details
That Aegean A321 is indeed one of the newer ones, you can see the overhead ceiling panels, they are of the newer type. And flying a good old ATR72, I've seen a few of these doing low passes over my hotel this summer. So it's not only the Greek taxidriver driving crazy, I think the captains are just the same
Regards,
Eric
"The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going"
Modesto2 From United States of America, joined Jul 2000, 2634 posts, RR: 6 Reply 6, posted (3 years 7 months 3 weeks 6 days 10 hours ago) and read 7228 times:
Awesome pictures! I love Santorini and similar to you, used both A3 and OA between ATH and JTR. Check out my a.net trip report from May 2009. Glad you had a great time!
OA260 From Ireland, joined Nov 2006, 24929 posts, RR: 60 Reply 7, posted (3 years 7 months 3 weeks 6 days 10 hours ago) and read 7200 times:
Fantastic report. Makes me home sick for Greece. I have never been to Santorini/Thira before believe it or not. I so want to go and those photos are amazing.
Aegean cabin interior looks lovely. Cant wait to fly them when they come into Star Alliance.
Nice you got the OA flight and that the pilot gave a nice farewell. Olympics pilots were always good IMHO. Always ready to talk to an aviation enthusiast also. I was once invited to sit in the jump seat on landing on a B737-400 into LHR. Was an amazing experience. This was all pre 9/11 of course.
Love the Souvlaki !! Im hungry now....
10/10 You have done us proud ....
OA260
OLYMPIC AIR - ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΗ "Η ΕΛΛΑΔΑ ΨΗΛΑ" "GREECE FLYING HIGH"
Infodesk From Switzerland, joined May 2006, 1245 posts, RR: 34 Reply 8, posted (3 years 7 months 3 weeks 5 days 22 hours ago) and read 6684 times:
Thank you for posting a report about beautiful Santorini! I went there last year and was left speechless by the beauty of the place. I hope it won't be my only visit there.
I too would be interested to know what your hotel was called, it looked nice.
Happy flying
Infodesk
"Do nothing in haste, look well to each step and from the beginning think what may be the end" - Edward Whymper
SKYYBLUE From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 9, posted (3 years 7 months 3 weeks 5 days 17 hours ago) and read 6449 times:
Quoting Shamrock321 (Reply 3): Perfect timing, I just finished our JFK-ATH report and this was posted as soon as I was finished. Both reports are excellent and the pictures are great! With a few beers, it makes for the perfect evening in.
Thanks so much! I'm new to doing TR's and I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Quoting Airbuseric (Reply 4): I really like some of your quality pictures. Good eye for details
Thank you! It is with a point-and-shoot camera too. I don't even know where to begin with a "real" camera.
Quoting Akhmad (Reply 5): Nice report! I was flying over Santorini several times but have never been there. Thank you for this insight review of the island.
Cheers,
Suryo
While I was on the beach I noticed at least 10 planes flying overhead. Thanks for the comment.
Quoting Modesto2 (Reply 6): Awesome pictures! I love Santorini and similar to you, used both A3 and OA between ATH and JTR. Check out my a.net trip report from May 2009. Glad you had a great time!
Ha! Actually, when I was in the planning stage I read over your trip report several times. It was awesome.
Quoting OA260 (Reply 7): Love the Souvlaki !! Im hungry now....
10/10 You have done us proud ....
Again thanks for the positive feedback!
Quoting Infodesk (Reply 8): Thank you for posting a report about beautiful Santorini! I went there last year and was left speechless by the beauty of the place. I hope it won't be my only visit there.
I too would be interested to know what your hotel was called, it looked nice.
The first hotel in Oia was Nostos Apartments. The one on Monolithos Beach was the Scorpios Beach Apartments & Studios. Thanks for commenting!
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From , joined Dec 1969, posts, 
FA's chatting mid-cabin. Loved the uniform, sleeveless fitted dresses for the ladies.
FA's passing out pre-departure treat.
Had a choice of beverage and a delicious Caramel-Pecan soft cookie. The flight attendants quickly completed service and passed by a second time offering everyone coffee and tea.
Sunrise 
The winding main road on Santorini Island.
Hotel was nice
view from the balcony 
Vintage!
The pool
View from the breakfast room
Gorgeous view even during a rain shower!
Monolithos Beach
spotting 
The last supper, Souvlaki.
Love the ATR-72!
Loved the smell of the fumes during boarding. 
Olympic Air signage being set up overnight for the new launch
Museum
Overlooking the ticketing hall
View from my 'bed' for the night...the cold floor 
From Israel, joined Jul 2005, 1779 posts, 
From Ireland, joined May 2008, 1547 posts, 
From Netherlands, joined Jan 2005, 4015 posts, 
From Switzerland, joined May 2006, 1245 posts, 
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