sultanils From Belgium, joined Mar 2010, 1188 posts, RR: 29 Posted (2 years 6 months 1 week 3 days 17 hours ago) and read 4935 times:
Hello everyone & welcome to my 5th trip report!
Like my previous report, this one doesn't feature any special airports nor aircraft. Since a few years now Easyjet flies to/from BRU on routes to MXP, SXF, GVA, LYS, NCE and very soon also LPL.
I've already tried them on the BRU-MXP sector and now it was time to sample their route to GVA. Next I wanted to fly to the north and SAS gave me there the best option with a rather cheap GVA-CPH-BRU routing. So in all: 3 flights in a day, 2nd Easyjet destination tried out, first time GVA, first time CPH and SAS with the MD-82, also a new one for me. Reasons enough to be excited about this trip!
Routing
Since it was a holiday (Nov 11th) I was in no hurry cause traffic to the airport by highway would be light. I was at BRU 7h00, for a 8h30 departure to GVA. A quick look on the arrival screens told me that the inbound flight was expected perfectly on time. After a quick security screen I was at gate A60 in less than 20 mins, quite fast I must say. It was bit by bit getting light outside...
Brussels Airlines A333 to... (sorry for the window glare)
-
Banjul!
Jet Airways A332 at the B terminal
KLM to AMS coming in
Swiss RJ100 to BSL leaving and Air Baltic from RIX coming in
Boarding was announced as soon as the incoming passengers left the plane. The gate staff explained the boarding procedure in 3 languages, to me it was clear and understandable. They also strictly enforced this boarding procedure: first card holders and passengers who purchased Speedy Boarding, then passengers needing assistance and families with children under age 5 and then all others. People who tried to cut lines or board before their time were sent back. Some just don't understand... And then the next thing on board: everyone flocking together and wanting to sit in the first row makes the whole boarding process slow down. I just slipped by and sat down at the ABC side at the last row with window (which was actually not the VERY last row on this high density A319).
As often with these low cost carriers, people tend to bring all their have and hold on board and try to stow it in the overhead bins. All this to avoid paying for checked bags... No need to tell that passengers entering the plane last had quite some trouble putting their bags away since all bins were full.
And off to runway 25R!
A rolling take off was performed, I love that
Former DHL apron
The Brussels Ring, normally the traffic is stuck here this time of the day
Take off was followed by a left hand turn which gave me a great overview of BRU airport
A great part of the flight, we were flying in thick clouds with some mild turbulence
After a while, we climbed some and got better weather and no more turbulence
Nearing GVA, the weather cleared up which gave some great views (alas I was facing the sun)
This is lake 'Lac de Neuchatel'
Already snow at this time of the year
Le Mont Blanc
We touched down 5 mins behind schedule on runway 23. After a short taxi we reached our stand at a satellite building. Deboarding was via stairs and a short walk to the building.
We were treated with a gorgeous mountain views
Beautiful weather and planes in GVA!
A 10 min underground walk and I was in the terminal building. After a security check which took no time since I was all alone there, I was in the terminal building. GVA is a quite nice little airport, modern and well laid out. Alas the views outside are obstructed by some kind af shading on the windows.
See what I mean? (btw this is my SAS MD-82 arriving from CPH)
The next flight was to depart from gate A4 Flight: SK1610
Aircraft: MD-82
Reg: LN-RLE
STD-STA: 11h35-13h35
So this was my first MD-82 flight. An old bird she was for sure but the cabin appeared in good condition. I was seated in 26A, the last row on the left hand side. My neighbour was a Danish businessman who read his newspaper and took the armrest for the whole duration of the flight; I hate that...
An AZ A319 to FCO at the adjacent gate
Iberia A319 arriving from MAD
Parked in between the AZ and us; technician coupling the APU
A collection of tails whilst pushing back (shot through the dirty window)
Look at this, a Darwin Saab 2000 to/from Lugano
On the way to runway 23, we had to wait for these to depart:
BMI
ElAl
And then it was our turn!
And these would depart after us:
And off we are, on the way to CPH
GVA's satellites
Geneva city
And Le Mont Blanc again
I was lucky again to be seated on the left hand side since we made a sharp left turn and passed the airport of GVA again which gave some nice views
And again
-
Lake of... and airport of...
Service was BOB, I got myself a cup of tea for a rip off 20 DKK Good it was à volonté.
Cruising to CPH, the weather was about to change
On finals for CPH, I think this is Saltholm but I'm not sure
Touchdown on time at runway 22L, a short taxi later we docked into gate B6.
Hi Niki!
No doubt we are in SAS land, 3 nice CRJ-900's waiting for their next mission
Good looking bird
I was the last pax to deboard, almost forgot the leg room shot
Old school panels
CPH airport looks old fashioned with those blue jetbridges
Bye LN-RLE
Since I had about an hour time until my last flight, I went for a stroll inside the airport. I must say I CPH gave me a good impression: old fashioned look on the outside but clean & modern inside. Too bad prices for a food & drinks were on the high side. At CPH you are very close to the action: planes almost dock straight into the terminal building so good views garanteed. Also no extra security nor passport checks at CPH, glad they are not so paranoid
Old fashioned FIDS
View from the so called 'quiet area' located in the shopping arcade
Green & blue make a nice team
A messy photo, Cimber & Spanair in the distance
Adjacent to our gate to BRU, a MD-82 to 'Helsingfors', maybe fellow a-netter FlyingFinn was on this one?
So it was about time to head to gate B19 from where my flight would be leaving. The gate area was crowded but there was still ample room to sit. I was impressed by the seats, they were highly comfortabel for a change.
My ride to BRU, too bad it was an A319 in stead of the scheduled A321 Flight: SK1593
Aircraft: A319
Reg: OY-KBR
STD-STA: 15h15-16h45
Boarding was called on time and I took my seat in the back on the right side. I had the whole row to myself.
Seated in 26F
A relatively new aircraft judging by the overhead panels
The MD-82 to Helsinki from next door pushing back
On the way to runway 22R
Norwegian is represented very well in CPH, here waiting to take off behind us
Airborne!
CPH is very close to the sea
Cruising above thick clouds
Somewhere over The Netherlands, the weather became even worse
A hole in the sky, we were like 'sandwiched' between clouds
On approach into BRU, the weather got really bad. The captain came on and told us about the bad conditions in BRU: wind gusts up to 100 km/h, rain and low clouds and that it would become very turbulent on finals. And indeed it was, I never experienced such bad turbulence and was glad that we hit the ground safely.
Very bad weather in BRU
On time arrival after an exciting flight, docking into the A-gates
Well, this concludes my report. I hope you liked it and feel free to comment!
(Sulta)Nils
FLIEGER67 From Turkey, joined Sep 2003, 4391 posts, RR: 57 Reply 1, posted (2 years 6 months 1 week 3 days 17 hours ago) and read 4913 times:
Hey, Nils,
great stuff again.
I like your European roundtrips.
And you´re definitely lucky with the weather at GVA, twice for me this year,
one time really worse and the next time dry but overcast, no sun at all.
I like these oldfashioned MD´s, congrats to you´re first flight.
CamiloA380 From Sweden, joined Feb 2008, 484 posts, RR: 22 Reply 3, posted (2 years 6 months 1 week 2 days 20 hours ago) and read 4335 times:
Hi sultanils, very enjoyable and interesting TR!
Quoting sultanils (Thread starter): As often with these low cost carriers, people tend to bring all their have and hold on board and try to stow it in the overhead bins. All this to avoid paying for checked bags... No need to tell that passengers entering the plane last had quite some trouble putting their bags away since all bins were full.
Haha, this is very common on LCCs
Quoting sultanils (Thread starter): earing GVA, the weather cleared up which gave some great views (alas I was facing the sun)
Excellent picture overall!
Quoting sultanils (Thread starter): An old bird she was for sure but the cabin appeared in good condition.
Yeah, SK's MDs look very good and new from the inside!
Quoting sultanils (Thread starter): No doubt we are in SAS land, 3 nice CRJ-900's waiting for their next mission
Love the picture!
Quoting sultanils (Thread starter): I was impressed by the seats, they were highly comfortabel for a change
FlyingFinn76 From Finland, joined Jun 2009, 1705 posts, RR: 41 Reply 4, posted (2 years 6 months 1 week 2 days 20 hours ago) and read 4299 times:
Hi Nils,
That's my kind of day trip - scoring a Mad Dog and just flying around. Nice sunrise pictures of BRU airport - looks very beautiful.
Quoting sultanils (Thread starter): Like my previous report, this one doesn't feature any special airports nor aircraft. Since a few years now Easyjet flies to/from BRU on routes to MXP, SXF, GVA, LYS, NCE and very soon also LPL.
Oh yes, the Orange steamroller is coming everywhere around Europe and a little bit of North Africa and the Middle East as well..
Hmm, what was it doing parked on the A pier, that's all Schengen?
Quoting sultanils (Thread starter): Swiss RJ100 to BSL leaving and Air Baltic from RIX coming in
Hey, always happy to see a BT plane anywhere!
Quoting sultanils (Thread starter): Alas the views outside are obstructed by some kind af shading on the windows.
Oh yes, tell me about it. Luckily the satellites are better, so if you have some time go to one of them and you get in the middle of the action.
Quoting sultanils (Thread starter): So this was my first MD-82 flight. An old bird she was for sure but the cabin appeared in good condition. I was seated in 26A, the last row on the left hand side.
Yep, those SK Mad Dogs sure are getting old but they are in terrific condition. I like the seats a lot and the legroom is very generous. Although I'm tired of sitting in the back, I'm too soft for that nowadays and prefer up front, it's much quieter. Actually I'm flying another SK MadDog tomorrow!
Quoting sultanils (Thread starter): Adjacent to our gate to BRU, a MD-82 to 'Helsingfors', maybe fellow a-netter FlyingFinn was on this one?
Hey hey hey, it's "Helsinki", thank you, no Swedish names allowed here! Nope, wasn't on it, was safe and sound working in Espoo.
Quoting sultanils (Thread starter): My ride to BRU, too bad it was an A319 in stead of the scheduled A321
I would be very delighted about that - I've flown plenty of SK A321s but never on the smaller bus. BTW how was the legroom - I heard that it is quite bad on the A319?
airbuseric From Netherlands, joined Jan 2005, 4015 posts, RR: 52 Reply 5, posted (2 years 6 months 1 week 2 days 20 hours ago) and read 4291 times:
Nice trip, I do these very regularly myself and it's always fun! Nice to include SK, indeed they usually can offer good fares via CPH, and flying the MD80 is a great extra nowadays. Sorry for not having the A321, but since you had a whole row to yourself, you can guess what the reason was Nice pics around GVA, I love that region!
Eric
"The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going"
CaptainRed From Germany, joined Oct 2010, 578 posts, RR: 19 Reply 7, posted (2 years 6 months 1 week 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 4150 times:
Hi Nils,
great report with some very nice pictures. I really like the pics you got from the airports, it is always great when you can see the airport after take-off.
Congratulations for logging the Mad Dog. I have just been on my first flight on this type with AZ and I really enjoyed it. Sure an interesting plane, a shame they are getting more and more rare.
Thank you & although I'm not a photographer I think it came out quite good.
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 4): Hmm, what was it doing parked on the A pier, that's all Schengen?
Well in fact, since a while now, SN's Africa bound flights now depart from the T gates. The T gates are actually the last couple of gates at the very end of the A terminal. At about 9 in the morning, this part is closed off and passport control booths are installed to check the Africa bound passengers. I think this is done to ease connections in the A terminal as well as to free gates at the B terminal (which now has quite some i-continental flights).
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 4): I'm too soft for that nowadays and prefer up front, it's much quieter
Well I always have my custom made earplugs with me which I pop in from the moment the engines start up.
That's French for 'you can have refill after refill after refill...' or 'have as much as you want'
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 4): I would be very delighted about that - I've flown plenty of SK A321s but never on the smaller bus. BTW how was the legroom - I heard that it is quite bad on the A319?
Well for me it's the other way around, flown on many 319's & would've liked the 321 better. The legroom was perfectly acceptable with the slimline seats (the seats are a bit hard though).
Quoting airbuseric (Reply 5): Nice trip, I do these very regularly myself and it's always fun! Nice to include SK, indeed they usually can offer good fares via CPH, and flying the MD80 is a great extra nowadays. Sorry for not having the A321, but since you had a whole row to yourself, you can guess what the reason was Nice pics around GVA, I love that region!
Thanks Eric, the MD80 was also the main reason for this trip.
No and it was actually also the 1st time on SK for me. They gave me a good impression!
Quoting CaptainRed (Reply 7): great report with some very nice pictures. I really like the pics you got from the airports, it is always great when you can see the airport after take-off
Ay ay Cpt! Thank you & I was lucky to be seated at the left hand side, otherwise the views wouldn't have been so good!
Quoting CaptainRed (Reply 7): Wow, that sure makes for an interesting landing
Well the landing seemed quite 'normal' but the approach and finals certainly weren't
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From Belgium, joined Mar 2010, 1188 posts, 
Flight: SK1610
Good it was à volonté.
Flight: SK1593
From Turkey, joined Sep 2003, 4391 posts, 
From Sweden, joined Feb 2008, 484 posts, 
From Finland, joined Jun 2009, 1705 posts, 
From Netherlands, joined Jan 2005, 4015 posts, 
From Germany, joined Mar 2006, 6191 posts, 
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