And this year a trip to Istanbul was planned. These trips are always one of the highlights of the year as it is a wonderful group of people to travel with and it is a lot of fun. The trip was organized by an agency, which has its pros and cons. It means I cannot check-in online, have no influence on flights. But it includes organized bus transport, tickets to all sights, no need to plan anything,… And because we have similar interests in our group we were able to make some adjustments to the program to suit all our needs. Plus we had an excellent guide. I was traveling together with my father on this trip, who is also a part of the company.
Our routing was: LJU-IST-VIE-LJU with JP and OS.
The IST flight has always intrigued me – the flight departs at a very late hour from LJU and even later from IST. There are normally two flights – one with an A319 or A320 and one with a CRJ2, but that one is cancelled a lot of times. They have a contract with Turkish truck drivers and transport them between the port of Trieste and Istanbul. But according to our daily newspaper Delo this route is the worst one in terms of yields. It was also reported that JP only has four profitable routes – BRU, MUC, FRA and ZRH. On top of that not even one of the charter routes is profitable. Things do not look god at all for JP, I hope they will be able to make it as they are quite a nice little airline in my opinion and I had numerous great flights with them.
The check-in hall was deserted at this hour.
I asked the agent about the load but she was too busy talking to her colleague to hear my question. She only asked 'How many bags' and told us 'Gate 3'. On top of that she gave us seats 7C and 7D – two aisle seats! That was not ok with me so I went to another agent that looked a lot nicer and explained that I would be very happy if she could reseat us to a window and middle seat. I also asked about the load and she said it was not full.
'I can give you row 4 if you would like.'
'How about something more in the back?'
'In the back?!'
'Yes, I guess we will have the best chance of getting a free seat next to us in the last rows.'
'I can block the seat next to you if you like, that is not a problem. I can give you 4AB and block C. Or I can give you 4A and 4C and block the middle seat.'
'That would be great!'
Two new boarding passes flew out of the printer shortly after and she handed them over to me with a smile. I thanked her for her effort and she wished us a pleasant flight. What a great start.
I wish all of the ladies working at LJU check-in would be like her. I've had a lot of mixed experience here, some agents are nice and friendly, while others are too serious and think that they are quite important.
Only two flights left for today.
Deserted duty-free shop.
Deserted waiting area.
Deserted business class lounge.
Some food was still there though. And an Airest employee came into the lounge shortly after to clean up.
Relaxation area.
Two computers, but only one was working.
S5-AAT (CN191) at gate 3! That made my day. I wanted to fly on this airplane as it was supposed to be delivered to JP as the fifth A320 in June 1991, but the delivery was not possible due to the 10 day war for independence in Slovenia. You can check out some pictures of how LJU airport looked like during the war on this link.,. But now, 20 years later, the plane ended up with JP after all. It is also the first JP aircraft wearing a retro c/s and the first JP A320 with CFM engines. The A320 from the lower level:
And from the first floor:
From the other part of the terminal a large group of Turkish truck drivers arrived and occupied the transfer desk.
The line for passport control was also quite long and it took some time for every driver to be processed.
No information about our flight yet.
Around the expected boarding time a delay was published. Our guide later explained that Turkish citizens can stay in the European Union for 115 days over a 6 month period (I'm not sure about the numbers). But the truck driver’s employees try to maximize their drivers and sometimes they exceed that number. That was the case with one of the passengers, who was in EU for more than 115 days and the police officer noticed that. So he gave him two options – pay a fine of 200 EUR or spend the night in prison and deal with the problem in the morning. But the man only had 50 EUR with him, so they unloaded his luggage and started to arrange for his transfer. But his buddies decided to help him out and raise the missing amount of cash for the fine. Being from Turkey they wanted to bargain and lower the fine, but the police officer was having none of that and they had to pay the whole amount.
In the mean time a walked a bit around the terminal. It's not that often I depart from the non-schengen end.
Once the problem with the truck driver was resolved and his bags back on board, the flight started boarding.
It was already 15 minutes past our STD.
JP650 LJU-IST 23:45-02:50 A320 S5-AAT
Down the jetway to S5-AAT.
The blue line and a not so friendly looking flight attendant greeting PAX at the door.
The cabin did not look as old as it is.
The seat was very comfortable, legroom was sufficient.
I also had a nice view of the engine.
There was no business class on this flight but the curtain was still there, just in front of my row.
The empty middle seat sure made this flight a lot more comfortable, even if it was not that long. The captain announced a flying time of 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Pillows were available in one of the overhead bins.
S5-AAA waiting for better times at the end of the apron.
I usually post a picture like this at the end of my reports. This was the latest flight I have taken from LJU and it was also the first time I was flying south from LJU.
Taxi to runway 13 and a powerful takeoff to cooler climates – it sound funny but there were 35 degrees in Ljubljana on that day whereas in Istanbul there were 'only' 28 degrees.
Burek (or börek in Turkish) and yogurt were served soon after takeoff. There was a box of orange juice on the tray and there was one drink round with the trolley.
It was hot!
Meal service in full swing. The male FA was ok, but the other female FA that also served the front of the plane was in a bad mood and did not smile at all.
Leftovers of our meals. The cheese burek was ok, but not as good as the one I had in Istanbul later that day.
Contents of the seat pocket.
It was a clear night all the way to Istanbul.
A quick view into the cockpit.
Despite this was a night flight I did not sleep at all, I just listened to some music and looked out the window at numerous lights 38,000 feet below.
During our approach Istanbul was covered in a low cloud that had a red color, it looked quite mystical.
TK home airport.
Star Alliance c/s.
Our gate.
Quite appropriately we parked next to an Iberia jet in retro c/s.
Immigration was quick and simple, but we did have to wait some time for our bags.
After that a quick bus ride to our hotel, Golden Park near Taksim square. The streets were deserted at this time of the night/morning. Only about three hours of sleep and we were set to explore Istanbul!
Istanbul is an amazing city. Noting like I have expected. I did not bring my camera with me all the time so some photos are courtesy of my fellow travelers, who were kind enough to let me use them for my report.
Our first stop was the Blue Mosque, followed by a visit to Hagia Sophia and Topkapi palace.
In the evening we went to a typical Turkish restaurant and had dinner, followed by a nice walk.
Day two started with a visit to Dolmabache palace and a tour, then we moved to the Egyptian bazaar and later the Grand Bazaar, where we were able to try out our negotiating and trading skills, it was a lot of fun.
I was surprised with how fluent everyone English was, no problem in communicating at all.
In the evening we attended a ‘Turkish dinner’ with some beautiful Turkish belly dancers, including Asena, that is quite a star in Turkey. And she is really good.
There were people from all over the world on this dinner and each table had a Turkish flag and the flag of the country from where the guests were. Slovenia, Australia, Iran, Japan, Spain, Mexico, Bulgaria were the countries if I remember correctly.
And after we finished eating an older Turkish man started singing – first traditional Turkish songs and then he sang a typical song for every country that was present – even Japan! He was great. For Slovenia he choose Trzinka, a well known song among older people, I must admit I did not know the lines, but most of the other people were singing along.
Last day we visited the Asian part of the city with beautiful views.
After lunch and before our trip to the airport we took a private boat tour and enjoyed some more nice views.
After that we made our way to the airport.
The airport is named after Mustafa Kemal Attatürk.
Most of the cars were waived through without any security checks.
Terminal building.
You have to go through a security check before entering the terminal.
I was not sure how the situation with taking pictures is at IST, so I was a bit careful at the beginning but I had none problems whatsoever and I was able to take all the pictures I wanted.
When we arrived a bit over 2 hours before our flight the check-in counter for OS was not published yet on the FIDS, but the information was available soon after and we made our way to the dedicated check-in counter, where some people were already waiting.
Very quickly a long line formed behind us.
The agent at the business class counter had no customers and waived us to her. She was nice and gave us a window and middle seat, again in row 4.
The line for passport control was long-ish, but it was moving fairly quickly. Airside is modern with some shops, but it does not provide a lot of apron views.
It is however bright and clean.
Some live music.
Food court sounded good as we were getting hungry.
After a quick snack we found out that a small delay has been announced. The TK flight to JFK was cancelled due to Irene.
Meanwhile the musicians gained some audience.
A quick peek into the TK lounge.
Our gate was close.
Two members of the Montenegro basketball team, the left one was probably the tallest man I have ever seen.
BA flight was closing.
Weather in Vienna was a lot cooler than in Istanbul.
Gate area. You have to go through the security check point before entering the holding area. The positive side of this procedure is that there are not a lot of lines, I did not have to wait one second.
TK B738 pushing back from the next gate.
As one would expected, there were a lot of TK aircraft around.
TK 77W landing.
Here is our aircraft, arriving a little late form Vienna.
Windrose. First time I saw one of their aircraft.
The 77W passing by.
Austrian turning into the gate.
Impossible to get a good shot due to the jetway. The aircraft was OE-LNJ, the first B738 that was delivered to Lauda Air in 1998.
Boarding started with no announcement.
The boarding process was smooth and very quick.
Down the jetway…
…towards our 737NG.
A long way.
Almost on board.
Nice view.
OS822 IST-VIE 17:35-19:00 B738 OE-LNJ
The FA in the picture above gave me a confused look when I took the picture below as – why on earth would you take a picture like that?
But she was really nice and friendly. Here is my seat:
The cabin was recently refurbished and looks very fresh and not old at all. There were some comments from different PAX that we were flying with a new plane.
I like OS white-red-light blue colors and the seats look a lot nicer than on LH in my opinion.
Legroom was ok, the flight was completely full in economy, there were a few seats open in business.
Classical music was playing during boarding and there were nice clips about Austria on the overhead screens.
And of course some OS aircraft.
The captain announced a flying time of 1 hour and 55 minutes and an on time arrival in VIE despite our delay.
And we're in the air!
Attaturk stadium.
The sun was shining right into my window so it was hard to get any decent shots.
We were in the next row after business class so the curtain was closed during cruise.
My hand might have had something to do with the gap widening so I could have an unobstructed view of the overhead screen.
Engine shot.
Turkey down below.
The 'why did you take that picture' FA handed out the meal plate to me with a smile and explanation that it was 'Mediterranean pasta'
It tasted good, as did the apple desert.
Seat pocket contained the following items:
With some more information about the new seat:
The airshow was turned on about 30 minutes before landing.
I'm not sure why they did not turned it on earlier.
The view outside.
During our descent some commercials about various OS flights to PEK, JFK and BKK were shown.
The flight passed by very quickly.
Some interesting clouds.
As you can see Ljubljana is just a short hop away from Vienna.
Despite there were 30 pax connecting to the LJU flight it did not make it onto the list. Probably because we had more than enough time.
Due to the sun the only picture from our approach I was able to make was through the window on the other side of the cabin.
Shortly before landing.
Korean Air B747 going to ZRH. I would love to get on that flight!
Our neighbors.
As usually – the rush to get out asap.
I stayed on board until almost all passengers left and then talked to the FA that I have mentioned before. We had a nice chat and I asked her if I could take a picture of the cockpit. She asked the captain that has just come out of the cockpit and he agreed, went back to his seat and I was able to take some pictures.
What a nice way to end this great flight.
A member of the ground staff was waiting in the jetway and asked if I have a connecting flight. Ljubljana, I said, and she directed me towards gate B41.
But first I would have to pass passport control. The line was moving quickly and the check was just a matter of seconds.
First impression of VIE airport – not that great.
A lot of smokers.
Ramp view.
Low ceiling.
EVA Air departing. TPE I guess?
On my way to the lounge.
Here it is, just up the stairs.
OS business class lounge.
The lounge was nice, not nearly as crowded as the rest of the terminal.
Some food and drinks.
Nice area.
Nice green light.
One floor up is another area with nice apron views.
These passengers were packed on these two buses.
EasyJet.
No delay yet, let's hope for the best.
I made my way downstairs towards the B gates. I passed the security checkpoint again and it was very slow.
SloAir From Slovenia, joined Jul 2010, 336 posts, RR: 6 Reply 1, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 22 hours ago) and read 8863 times:
I made my way all the way to the end of the terminal.
Luckily two flights from B40 and B42 just finished boarding so there was some more room.
LO and OS code share.
Some VIE airport news on the screens.
Boarding was listed as 20:15 for the 21:00 flight. It started around 20:30.
This was the first airport bus that I have seen with doors at the back. While we were waiting for some other passengers the sun was slowly setting.
JP137 VIE-LJU 21:00-21:50 CRJ2 S5-AAD
As soon as I saw the SIOL logo I was a bit disappointed. That means that S5-AAD would be operating the flight, my … (I do not know the exact number) flight on that aircraft.
When I walked up the stairs there was an older male FA, not fitting into the JP FAs profile at all, standing in front of the cockpit. The doors were opened and since we were waiting for other pax to stow their luggage I asked if I could take a quick picture from here through the door. He shook his head and declined my request with a long 'noo'.
However when I got to my seat 8A I realized that I have an exit row seat, at least something. The FA explained the situation about the exit row and gave us handouts with information written in a lot of languages.
The flight was short, just over 30 minutes.
One thing I like when traveling abroad is to take a newspaper on my final flight back home and read what was happening while I was away. Quite a lot of news to catch up, even though I was only away for three days – train crash in Jesenice, one of our football clubs making it into the Europa league, Irene,…
I cannot complain about legroom in this row. Even the CRJ2 can be comfortable this way.
Due to the short flying time we were given a crunchy bites with rosemary snack bag and a bottle of water, there were no drinks served.
Soon after that an uneventful landing at LJU and we were on our way back home.
Three flights done and a very pleasant weekend in Istanbul – all in all a great trip with perfect company. The first two flights with JP and OS were perfect, the last one had a bit of a bad feeling because of the not so nice FA. I would definitely fly Austrian again, although I did not like VIE airport that much. Compared to MUC and ZRH it lacks the modern and comfortable feeling. FRA has some similar areas, but you cannot beat its diverse traffic.
Next up is a trip to Scandinavia, where hopefully I'll get three new types, frequent to many but still missing for me.
globalflyer From United States of America, joined Dec 2005, 812 posts, RR: 2 Reply 2, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 8785 times:
Hi Blaz... excellent report! IST is one of my top cities to visit! Looks like you had fantastic weather and good flights, although I do think it is strange that JP has such a late departure to IST. I do hope the best for JP but it is not looking great. It looks like FR and LJU may be entering an agreement for service to various continental cities. Have you heard anything about the AI/JP partnership? I wonder if this will still happen? I was in your city in 1985 last, so I am sure it has really changed but back then it was a unique place as a part of Jugoslavija. I really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing the TR. Cheers, William
Landing on every Continent almost on an annual basis!
FLIEGER67 From Bulgaria, joined Sep 2003, 4423 posts, RR: 56 Reply 3, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 20 hours ago) and read 8676 times:
Hi, Blaz,
great pictures. Never been to the city of Istanbul myself, so really good to follow.
Also a nice combination of aircraft, especially that retro A320 you told me earlier, congrats to catch this example.
SloAir From Slovenia, joined Jul 2010, 336 posts, RR: 6 Reply 4, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 19 hours ago) and read 8586 times:
Quoting globalflyer (Reply 2): Hi Blaz... excellent report! IST is one of my top cities to visit!
Hi globalflyer, thanks for your comment. Istanbul is a unique place, well worth a visit.
Quoting globalflyer (Reply 2): Have you heard anything about the AI/JP partnership?
No, nothing yet and I do not have high hopes for that.
Quoting globalflyer (Reply 2): I was in your city in 1985 last, so I am sure it has really changed but back then it was a unique place as a part of Jugoslavija. I really enjoyed it.
I do not/can not remember how it looked like in 85, but it has changed a lot for sure. Let me know if you'll ever get around, every A.net member is welcomed
Quoting FLIEGER67 (Reply 3): great pictures. Never been to the city of Istanbul myself, so really good to follow.
Thank you Markus, it well worth considering Istanbul as one of your potential future destinations, interesting place for sure.
Quoting FLIEGER67 (Reply 3): Also a nice combination of aircraft, especially that retro A320 you told me earlier, congrats to catch this example.
I had a 50% chance of getting it and I'm glad luck was on my side, an interesting frame this A320 for us.
MSS658 From Belgium, joined Oct 2010, 2256 posts, RR: 14 Reply 6, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 19 hours ago) and read 8568 times:
Hi Blaz
Nice to see another trip report from you. Did learn quite a lot, did not realised that JP has 320's as well, tought it was solely CR2's. It was nice to see you got the retro-livery on the LJU-IST leg.
Seems like OS does more advertising on their new seats than LH, SN, etc... And ad you said, the OS colors indeed look better.
SloAir From Slovenia, joined Jul 2010, 336 posts, RR: 6 Reply 7, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 19 hours ago) and read 8493 times:
Quoting Lap747 (Reply 5): Great trip report, enjoyed reading it
Hi Lap747, thanks for your feedback. Istanbul is great
Quoting MSS658 (Reply 6): Did learn quite a lot, did not realised that JP has 320's as well, tought it was solely CR2's.
Hi Marc, appreciate your comment. They used to have 3 A320 for a number of years, but they removed them from service last year when the got two brand new A319. But this summer they acquired two 'new' A320. So the whole JP fleet looks like this right now: 2 A320, 2 A319, 4 CRJ9, 6 CRJ2.
767747 From United States of America, joined Jan 2005, 1759 posts, RR: 25 Reply 8, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 13 hours ago) and read 8230 times:
Great report, Blaz!
Looks like you had some good flights with Austrian and Adria. I really liked flying Austrian a few years ago; very good airline in my mind.
Istanbul is a place my girlfriend has been too, and I'd like to visit it as well.
Sultanils From Belgium, joined Mar 2010, 1211 posts, RR: 29 Reply 10, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 11 hours ago) and read 8149 times:
Hi Blaž,
A wonderful report with a lot of 'firsts' for you, congrats! Despite the ungodly departure hour on your outbound flight, you still managed to get quite some decent shots 'in the dark'. You see I told you about Istanbul being this wonderful city. You gave me lots of good memories on seeing your city pics, thanks!
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): But it includes organized bus transport, tickets to all sights, no need to plan anything,…
That can be nice for a change, relying on someone else organising your travel.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): There are normally two flights – one with an A319 or A320 and one with a CRJ2,
That's quite a difference in aircrafts.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): JP only has four profitable routes – BRU, MUC, FRA and ZRH
BRU's profitable? I don't doubt that
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): 'I can block the seat next to you if you like, that is not a problem. I can give you 4AB and block C. Or I can give you 4A and 4C and block the middle seat.'
That's not even a rey-eye flight, you just arrive in the middle of the night, for God's sake...
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): Quite appropriately we parked next to an Iberia jet in retro c/s.
Nice catch and the bird you travelled in looks definitely as good!
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): Istanbul is an amazing city. Noting like I have expected.
It is, no doubt!
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): the left one was probably the tallest man I have ever seen.
Wow, he's big. I bet he cannot fit into any Y seat at least.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): I like OS white-red-light blue colors and the seats look a lot nicer than on LH in my opinion.
This is the first time I see them on a pic, I agree with you.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): She asked the captain that has just come out of the cockpit and he agreed, went back to his seat and I was able to take some pictures.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): Next up is a trip to Scandinavia, where hopefully I'll get three new types, frequent to many but still missing for me.
PlaneHunter From Germany, joined Mar 2006, 6211 posts, RR: 79 Reply 11, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 11 hours ago) and read 8147 times:
Hi Blaž,
great report with many nice pictures! I didn't see much of the city itself during my spotting trip, so it was good you posted a few destination pictures, too.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): . It was also reported that JP only has four profitable routes – BRU, MUC, FRA and ZRH. On top of that not even one of the charter routes is profitable. Things do not look god at all for JP, I hope they will be able to make it as they are quite a nice little airline in my opinion and I had numerous great flights with them.
That sounds very bad, I really hope it will survive. It's hard to believe what the newspaper says about these feeder flights.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): S5-AAT (CN191) at gate 3! That made my day. I wanted to fly on this airplane as it was supposed to be delivered to JP as the fifth A320 in June 1991, but the delivery was not possible due to the 10 day war for independence in Slovenia. You can check out some pictures of how LJU airport looked like during the war on this link.,. But now, 20 years later, the plane ended up with JP after all.
It finally came home after 20 years, amazing.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): It is also the first JP aircraft wearing a retro c/s and the first JP A320 with CFM engines.
Did they plan to have different engines from the very beginning?
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): Taxi to runway 13 and a powerful takeoff to cooler climates – it sound funny but there were 35 degrees in Ljubljana on that day whereas in Istanbul there were 'only' 28 degrees.
Ah, sounds familiar. We had some 25 in MUC and 15 in IST in April...
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): Istanbul is an amazing city. Noting like I have expected. I did not bring my camera with me all the time so some photos are courtesy of my fellow travelers, who were kind enough to let me use them for my report.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): S5-AAA waiting for better times at the end of the apron.
It seems it has been stored there since fall 2010.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): Burek (or börek in Turkish) and yogurt were served soon after takeoff. There was a box of orange juice on the tray and there was one drink round with the trolley.
That looks fine considering that it was a late evening flight.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter):
I was not sure how the situation with taking pictures is at IST, so I was a bit careful at the beginning but I had none problems whatsoever and I was able to take all the pictures I wanted.
Yes, it's good to be discrete. But we didn't face any trouble.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter):
The FA in the picture above gave me a confused look when I took the picture below as – why on earth would you take a picture like that?
Yes, I know these kinds of reactions...
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): There were some comments from different PAX that we were flying with a new plane.
Well, almost - it was built in 1998...
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): My hand might have had something to do with the gap widening so I could have an unobstructed view of the overhead screen.
akhmad From Netherlands, joined Sep 2005, 2336 posts, RR: 53 Reply 12, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 9 hours ago) and read 8073 times:
Zdravo Blaž,
It looks like Istanbul has become popular among us A.netters. But wow, what an amazing report you have got here! It feels like I was there with you. All the places, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and Topkapı, bring me back the nice memories of our visit there last year.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): The trip was organized by an agency, which has its pros and cons
It depends on your destination, I assume. We enlisted services of an agency on purpose for our visit to India and on the other hand set up our itinerary ourselves while traveling to Indonesia last year.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): It was also reported that JP only has four profitable routes – BRU, MUC, FRA and ZRH
I am surprised that AMS is not among the profitable routes.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): 'I can block the seat next to you if you like, that is not a problem. I can give you 4AB and block C. Or I can give you 4A and 4C and block the middle seat.'
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): S5-AAT (CN191) at gate 3! That made my day. I wanted to fly on this airplane as it was supposed to be delivered to JP as the fifth A320 in June 1991, but the delivery was not possible due to the 10 day war for independence in Slovenia
Have you not got yourself a compact one? It is convenient to have it along with a DSLR.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): an older Turkish man started singing – first traditional Turkish songs and then he sang a typical song for every country that was present – even Japan
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): The 'why did you take that picture' FA handed out the meal plate to me with a smile and explanation that it was 'Mediterranean pasta'
Quoting Sultanils (Reply 10): That's not even a rey-eye flight, you just arrive in the middle of the night, for God's sake...
Its all for the truck drivers I guess, that way they can arrive at LJU at 6:00 and work the whole day and the same with the 23:45 departure, so they can maximize their time...
One of the A320 family, a Mad Dog, and one of three missing 737 series for me.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 11): great report with many nice pictures! I didn't see much of the city itself during my spotting trip, so it was good you posted a few destination pictures, too.
Thanks for your feedback PH, always appreciated. Next time you'll be in Istanbul try to arrange a day without flying, its quite an interesting place to explore.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 11): Did they plan to have different engines from the very beginning?
JP was the first airline that had had IAE engines on the A320, I'm not sure if this frame had them on originally though.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 11): It seems it has been stored there since fall 2010.
There were some talks about entering service with JP again for the summer, but according to some information they would have to replace some expensive parts and it was not worth it.
I know, I had luck with my planes on this trip, firstly the long lost A320 and this B738 was the first B738 to be delivered to Lauda Air I believe.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 12): It looks like Istanbul has become popular among us A.netters. But wow, what an amazing report you have got here!
Hey Suryo, thank you for you comment. There were some four or even more reports about IST this week, quite an interesting coincides.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 12): It depends on your destination, I assume. We enlisted services of an agency on purpose for our visit to India and on the other hand set up our itinerary ourselves while traveling to Indonesia last year.
Sometimes it is actually quite relaxing not having to search for hotels, flights, sights and do all the bookings. But most of the time its more fun that way.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 12): Does the lounge have any tarmac view?
It does, but only on the plane parked at gate 2 and if there are some planes passing buy and it is obstructed.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 12): Have you not got yourself a compact one? It is convenient to have it along with a DSLR.
I've actually had my compact one with me, but I left it at the hotel But with more than half of the 30 people in my group I was sure I will be able to get some decent pictures.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 12): My favorite design! What do you think of it?
I liked it, it looks fresh and modern.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 12): Thank you for sharing this excellent report. I cannot wait to fly again within a couple days.
Thanks again for your feedback, I hope you have some nice flights.
PlaneHunter From Germany, joined Mar 2006, 6211 posts, RR: 79 Reply 14, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 7 hours ago) and read 7969 times:
Quoting SloAir (Reply 13): Next time you'll be in Istanbul try to arrange a day without flying, its quite an interesting place to explore.
Yes, I definitely want to make a city tour one day.
Quoting SloAir (Reply 13): There were some talks about entering service with JP again for the summer, but according to some information they would have to replace some expensive parts and it was not worth it.
That doesn't sound good at all. I fear it will be scrapped.
Quoting SloAir (Reply 13): I know, I had luck with my planes on this trip, firstly the long lost A320 and this B738 was the first B738 to be delivered to Lauda Air I believe.
airbuseric From Netherlands, joined Jan 2005, 4068 posts, RR: 51 Reply 15, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 7964 times:
Blaž, great report! I really enjoyed it.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): A company where I work organizes a trip for its employees once a year to a destination in Europe. Last year the destination was Barcelona and this year a trip to Istanbul was planned.
That's very nice gesture to the staff
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): 'I can block the seat next to you if you like, that is not a problem. I can give you 4AB and block C. Or I can give you 4A and 4C and block the middle seat.'
'That would be great!'
Good to see some entertainment in the secure area of the terminal.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): The aircraft was OE-LNJ, the first B738 that was delivered to Lauda Air in 1998.
Result! I was booked on a OS 738 as well last year, but my flight got changed to A321 on short notice
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): The 'why did you take that picture' FA handed out the meal plate to me with a smile and explanation that it was 'Mediterranean pasta'
Well, this meal service looks very good and improved compared to last year!
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): First impression of VIE airport – not that great.
Indeed. Rubbish airport! Really bad and Austria could do much better.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): I cannot complain about legroom in this row. Even the CRJ2 can be comfortable this way.
Best seats in the house for sure, on the the CRJ2.
Regards
Eric
"The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going"
eco From Bulgaria, joined Nov 2010, 66 posts, RR: 4 Reply 16, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 7768 times:
Hi Blaž,
Once again very interesting trip report. Istanbul is amazing city. Austrian new seats are really good. I hope that they will replace excising on their F100.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter):
A company where I work organizes a trip for its employees once a year to a destination in Europe.
717Flyer From Finland, joined Jun 2011, 303 posts, RR: 10 Reply 17, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 7747 times:
Hello Blaž,
thanks for this really enjoyable read. Istanbul remains one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited and it was nice to see some pictures from there too. Your trip report also made me promise myself to get back to Istanbul soon.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): Our routing was: LJU-IST-VIE-LJU with JP and OS.
Well, thinking that it was booked by a travel agency, it could have been much worse!
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): It was also reported that JP only has four profitable routes – BRU, MUC, FRA and ZRH.
I'm sorry to hear that. It seems that the future of JP is quite unclear. I hope they will make it - after all they seem to be a nice little airline most of the time.
Also nice to see your flights with them being quite full!
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): There were people from all over the world on this dinner and each table had a Turkish flag and the flag of the country from where the guests were. Slovenia, Australia, Iran, Japan, Spain, Mexico, Bulgaria were the countries if I remember correctly.
No one from Finland?
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): The cabin was recently refurbished and looks very fresh and not old at all. There were some comments from different PAX that we were flying with a new plane.
Sure, the cabin looks nice and the seats also seem fresh and modern!
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): My hand might have had something to do with the gap widening so I could have an unobstructed view of the overhead screen.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): This was the first airport bus that I have seen with doors at the back.
I've experienced that in FLR and was quite amused when I saw the design back then.
Quoting SloAir (Thread starter): He shook his head and declined my request with a long 'noo'.
JL418 From Italy, joined Jun 2009, 493 posts, RR: 7 Reply 18, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 21 hours ago) and read 7533 times:
Hi there Blaž (how an interesting name, how do you pronounce it?)
Thanks for your TR, it has been a joyful read. I loved the pictures, especially those over Austria as you were arriving there. The clouds, haze and natural light made for some extremely interesting effects, well done!
Sad to know that Adria is struggling, perhaps these small-ish airlines lack the economics of scale to keep them afloat, or maybe it's just a case of bad management. I hope it'll turn profitable as soon as possible, it looks like a smart airline to me. I must say, however, that the retro livery is probably the less satisfactory I've seen around so far, it doesn't make the nerd inside me say "Gosh! that'd be a retro livery!" which is, probably, the reason behind any retro around.
However, I really liked your report about Istanbul. It's a city from which I got only extreme feedbacks: either extremely good or utterly bad. Guess I'll need to check out for myself, sometimes sooner or later I'll catch that A343 from LHR and have a look for myself! From your photos, though, it looked very interesting.
Finally, about Vienna Airport: I think we've been there more or less on the same day, as I've spotted that EVA Air A330 on the same spot you did. I confirm your opinion about the airport, it didn't look very special to me at all. Not a dump, obviously, but neither a place I loved to spend hours in.
Quoting airbuseric (Reply 15): Indeed. Rubbish airport! Really bad and Austria could do much better.
It's not the worst in the world, but my expectations were a lot higher, it cannot compare to MUC or ZRH. From all the *A hubs that have numerous links with LJU ZRH is the best and VIE the worst in my opinion. Too bad as OS left a great impression with me.
Quoting airbuseric (Reply 15): Result! I was booked on a OS 738 as well last year, but my flight got changed to A321 on short notice
I was actually hoping for the A321 as I have never flown with it and I had a flight with the 738 once down under from SYD to CNS. I hope to get the A321 on my ARN-FRA flight in a few weeks.
Quoting eco (Reply 16): Once again very interesting trip report. Istanbul is amazing city.
Hi eco,
thanks for the comment, agree about Istanbul. Unique city.
Quoting 717Flyer (Reply 17): Your trip report also made me promise myself to get back to Istanbul soon
That's nice to hear, I'm sure you'll have a great time.
Quoting 717Flyer (Reply 17): Well, thinking that it was booked by a travel agency, it could have been much worse!
For sure. Luckily most of JP direct links from LJU that offer nice departure and arrival times for a weekend Trip have already been exhausted over the years, so they have to come up with more interesting itineraries.
Quoting JL418 (Reply 18):
Hi there Blaž (how an interesting name, how do you pronounce it?)
Thanks for your TR,
Hi Fabrizio,
thank you for your feedback! The ž in my name is pronounced as J in j'appelle in French, that is the best example I could think of Bla is just bla as in bla bla bla.
Quoting JL418 (Reply 18): It's a city from which I got only extreme feedbacks: either extremely good or utterly bad.
I guess it depends on every persons interest and taste. The best way is to experience it first hand.
Quoting JL418 (Reply 18): I think we've been there more or less on the same day, as I've spotted that EVA Air A330 on the same spot you did.
It's no secret, I've been there last Sunday from 19:00 till 21:00. From where/to where did you fly?
Quoting JL418 (Reply 18): Not a dump, obviously, but neither a place I loved to spend hours in.
Agree, it is not a dump but it could be a lot better.
Widebodyroga From United States of America, joined Sep 2008, 492 posts, RR: 4 Reply 20, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 19 hours ago) and read 7384 times:
Really sweet TR, Blaž. Loved the retro livery. I had no idea Adria had one. Looks pretty nifty. LJU is one of those airports I really wanna visit one day. I'm glad you post TRs about this elusive airport from time to time. I also loved the burek and yogurt combo for breakfast. Reminded me of my childhood breakfasts. A great idea and thumbs up for JP.
Thanks again!
WBodyroga
Visit my aviation page: http://widebodyroga.weebly.com/
Parton87 From Sweden, joined Sep 2008, 525 posts, RR: 2 Reply 21, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 2 hours ago) and read 7211 times:
Hello Blaž
Thanks for the nice story! It seems that you have some good flights with Adria and Austrian. I have flew with OS several times and had some really nice flights with them. Adria is unfourtnately not in my log but I would love to try them soon. I love the retro colors and also the special livery on the cute little CRJ.
Also some good pictures from Istanbul. It looks like a nice city!
The777Man From United States of America, joined Jul 1999, 6115 posts, RR: 56 Reply 22, posted (1 year 9 months 2 weeks 5 days 19 hours ago) and read 6917 times:
Hi Blaz!
Nice report with very nice pictures of Istanbul!
Nice you get a meal on such a short flight as LJU-IST but the arrival time into IST is awful!!!
Great that you got to fly on a retro plane!
Istanbul looks very nice and it looks like you saw most if not all of the major sites.
OS looks nice too and nice that they have the airshow map on. VIE looks very old but I guess they are building a new terminal that's been delayed a few years.
Looking forward to your report to my old home country.
The777Man
Need a Boeing 777 Firing Order....Further to fly....GA, T5, CI and LX 777s
stipica From Croatia, joined Feb 2011, 408 posts, RR: 8 Reply 24, posted (1 year 8 months 1 week 5 days 8 hours ago) and read 5807 times:
Hi bla bla bla j'a ! .... hhehehehehe ... everything but everything in this report brings me back to pleasant memories ... so thanks for that ..." Our neighbors" stipica
Open your eyes and think
25 infodesk: Hi Blaz, Sorry, must have missed this first time round. Nice gesture of your company to take everyone on a trip like this! Good to see OS have updated
26 OA260: Hey great report and nice to see the Adria retro jet I like it . Nice to have the seat blocked. It just shows you one person can make an impression an
27 SloAir: Hehe, thanks for the comment stipica Hi Hannah, I agree, the cabin looks a lot fresher and modern with the new seats. Yes, I was lucky this time. Hi
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