Welcome to my fourth trip report here on airliners.net. This report will cover the outbound journey from Stockholm to Zurich. I hope you will find it interesting and enjoyable.

As I hadn’t flown in six months I was eager to fly again. It felt as if it was ages ago I flew, therefore I looked around for some cheap and interesting one day return itineraries from ARN to anywhere within Europe. Besides the point of flying again I wanted to add a new aircraft, a new airport and a new carrier to my log. As I began to look for tickets in December my parents became anxious. When I told them about my idea and what I wanted to do, they just couldn’t understand me. They seriously thought I was crazy. They couldn’t get the idea of flying just for the sake of it. Well, anyway as time passed by we discussed if the whole family could go somewhere within Europe for the one week break at the end of February. We thought that Zurich would be great to experience, so we started to look around for things one could do there. As it looked appealing to us we decided that Zurich would be good. Naturally the responsibility of booking the tickets fell on me, which I didn’t mind. I looked around for tickets for a day or two and found two good itineraries. The first one was on OS via VIE and the second one on LH via DUS (outbound) and HAM (inbound). When I told my parents about this they went like, WHAT, no nonstop? But I told them how important it was for me to fly on one of these itineraries. This time, thanks God, they were understanding. But now I had a difficult dilemma, OS or LH? I finally chose OS because I would be flying on the Fokker 100 and Fokker 70. I thought it would probably be my only chance to experience these two rare birds and I couldn’t let the chance to experience them slip away. As everything was set we booked the tickets the day before Christmas Day. What a Christmas gift for me!

As time went by the day of flying came closer and closer, and finally it was the 26th and it was time to fly again! I was so happy especially over the fact that I would be flying on the F100 and 70. Couldn’t believe that I would be flying on those rare and old birds. I woke up at about 5:30 am for the 10:20am flight. We left home at 6:20am. We intentionally left very early from home because the night before the all the news stations spoke about the terrible driving conditions it would be the following morning. So we took it easy on the road and arrived at 7:50am outside of terminal five. Usually it only takes 50minutes to ARN, but this morning it took an hour and a half.

Outside of Terminal 5


ARN tower


This Friday morning it was really busy in T5. There were people all over the place and long queues for check in. We waited half an hour before we reached the counter.
Check in was no problem. I gave the booking reference number and my CO Onepass number to the lady and all of us got your boarding passes printed, and of we were.

View from a café at T5 before security:





Surprisingly enough there were no lines for security. We went through it without any problems. It had been about 5 years ago I had flown out of T5 so I found it interesting that one, after passing security ends up in a tax free store. Anyhow I passed by it without even looking to buy something, and began my “tour” of T5.

HS-TGF of TG, returning to BKK later that evening as TG961


OY-RJB pushed back for its flight


PH-BXO being prepared for its flight back to AMS


Nice reflection


SE-DTH pushed back for its flight


Nice line up of tails



HB-IOD awaiting its next load of pax heading for ZRH. Had I taken the nonstop service I would have flown on this aircraft


Some aircraft parked at the F pier. The A330 OY-VKF would head to Aruba later that morning


Some more tails


LN-RPJ parked at gate F29


OY-KBN being prepared for its flight to EWR


OY-VKF to Aruba



The F-pier was really empty


OH-LKH just arriving from HEL


As I saw my aircraft arrive from VIE on time I headed to gate 9

My aircraft to VIE, OE-LVE at gate 9



They called boarding by rows at 9:53 and as I sat on row 18 I was one of the first on board the aircraft

Just before boarding the aircraft




February 26 2010
OS 312 (operated by Austrian Arrows)
ARN-VIE
Departure Scheduled/Actual: 10:20/10:50
Airborne: 10:58
Runway: 19R
Arrival Scheduled/Actual: 12:45/13:03
Touchdown: 12:57
Runway: 16
Flight duration Scheduled/Actual: 2hrs 25min/2hrs 13min
Taxi time: 14minutes
Flight time in air: 1hr 59min
Aircraft: Fokker 100
Reg: OE-LVE
My first flight on the Fokker 100.

Boarding was finished by 10:09, and it looked like a 100% load factor. Even though we finished boarding by 10:09 we didn’t push back till 10:50 because we were waiting for someone to load the luggage. While we waited the crew, 2 females distributed newspapers. I chose Dagens Nyheter.
One of the first things I noted was how low the windows were positioned.

Sufficient of legroom for this short 2 hour flight:


While we waited for someone to load our luggage our aircraft got de iced:


This guy was checking the de icing fluids on the wing


Finally our bags were loaded and we could be pushed back, 30minutes late. We made a short taxi to runway 19R and off we were. The noise of the engines was fantastic. It was so loud!
As it was really cloudy that day in Stockholm we flew into the clouds rather quick so there was not much to see. There was a huge layer of clouds almost the whole way to VIE which was pity. Would love to see the snow covered landscape under us.

Only clouds to see that day…


Another aircraft at a higher cruising altitude


About an hour into the flight the crew began with the food service. They started at the front and worked their way back. The only negative thing was that it took way too long till they came around with the drinks. One was able to finish the snack before the drink service even came around.

It was a choice between a regular ham and cheese sandwich and a salmon sandwich


My meal


The sandwich tasted good, but it isn’t anything you become full on.
After the food service I didn’t see any member of the cabin crew until landing. Anyway, the flight to VIE was smooth with only a few minor bumps. The flight went by rather quick and it was soon time to descend.

View from my seat, 18F



Picture of the cabin (sorry for the bad quality)


We descended through clouds for a long time until we broke through them and I got a good view of Vienna




We made a firm touchdown on runway 16 after a flying time of 1hr and 59min. We made a short taxi over to our gate. On our way to the gate it was made clear where we were. There were so many OS aircraft.

A320 OE-LBP and Fokker 100 OE-LVG


Parked next to us Fokker 70 OE-LFH


Nice line up of Austrian Dash turboprops


Last view of my aircraft



As the layover was about 2.5 hours I wandered around in Terminal C. Too my disappointment there wasn’t much to do, besides shopping of course. I found a good place from where I could see the apron and part of the active runway (for take offs).

EK 77W, A6-ECW would head back to DXB later that evening.


Fokker 100 OE-LVA pushed back for its flight. I would fly on this aircraft from ZRH to VIE a few days later


YL-BBY, 733 with winglets awaiting its load of pax heading for RIX


737-400 EI-DDK


OE-LVA climbing away as OE-LBB taxies in from its flight


YL-BBY pushed back for its flight back to RIX


Some pics of Terminal C




Anyone who knows what aircraft this is?


The flight info screens showed that my flight would be departing from gate C51, so I went there about 50minutes before scheduled departure time. I passed through security without any problems and took a seat.

The aircraft that would take me to ZRH, OE-LFL (Fokker 70) at gate C51


Boarding was called by rows a little bit late at 15:23. I was the first to board the aircraft this time.



February 26 2010
OS 563 (operated by Austrian Arrows)
VIE-ZRH
Departure Scheduled/Actual: 15:20/15:40
Airborne: 15:48
Runway: 29
Arrival Scheduled/Actual: 16:40/16:54
Touchdown: 16:50
Runway: 28
Flight duration Scheduled/Actual: 1h 20min/1h 14min
Taxi time: 12minutes
Flight time in air: 1h 2min
Aircraft: Fokker 70
Reg: OE-LFL
My first flight on the Fokker 70.

Boarding was completed by 15:35 and we pushed back five minutes later. We made a quick taxi to the active runway, 29 and had a rolling take off. Once again I was impressed by the sound of the engines.

The view from seat 15A


The engine


Once again it was an all female cabin crew, but three this time instead of two as on the ARN-VIE flight. Shortly after the pilot switched off the seat belt sign the f/as began their service. They were in a hurry because of the short flight and the 100% load factor.

The small snack we got on this short flight (drinks came later)


Cruising at FL320


Enough legroom on this F70


Nice cloud formation


The flight was smooth all the way until we began descending. All the way from descent till final approach it was very bumpy. Nevertheless the guys upfront managed to land the plane rather smooth, keeping in mind the adverse conditions.
We made a short taxi to our gate from runway 28. I waited till everyone had disembarked before I collected my belongings.

The cabin of OE-LFL


My aircraft one last time


We didn’t have to wait too long for the bags before they came. We collected our luggage and went down to the trains. We took the train to Zug where we stayed for our short vacation in Switzerland.

Overall I was satisfied with the level of service on these short flights. The transit in VIE was okay. Maybe there could have been a few less shops, but overall it was a clean and organized airport. The part I was the happiest for on this journey was that I got to add the rare Fokker 100 and Fokker 70 to my log.

Hope you found the trip report enjoyable. Please feel free to leave a comment. I have yet to decide if I will write a trip report on the journey back home.