Sultanils From Belgium, joined Mar 2010, 1215 posts, RR: 29 Posted (1 year 6 months 2 weeks 4 hours ago) and read 6362 times:
It was quite some years ago since I flew out of CRL or ’Brussels South Airport’. In 2007 I departed from here on a New Year’s trip to DUB and in spring 2008 I went on a holiday to the Algarve, flying out to FAO from CRL.
CRL sure has come a long way and has boomed ever since Mr O’Leary decided to make it a base for his no frills airline Ryanair. Also Wizzair, Jetairfly and Jet4you have a substantial amount of flight running in and out of this airport. Last year CRL has seen some 5,1 million passengers passing through it’s terminal, which has been enlarged recently as well to cope with increasing passenger numbers.
So a trip departing from and arriving into CRL was the thing I was after. At first I was looking into some flights to Morocco. FR has quite some destinations there on schedule, as well as Jet4you and Jetairfly. I found a good timing into Fez but not a good price so I’ll keep this one for a later date. A further browse on the awfully colored FR site revealed some excellent fares to MAD and coming back some excellent fares from BCN as well. Now that was a giveaway! MAD and BCN are easily connected so I booked CRL-MAD in the morning and BCN-CRL in the evening for € 23 (both flights, priority boarding and all blah blah included).
To connect the 2 dots I wanted to try something new and cheap as well. MAD and BCN are connected through a wide range of (Spanish, what else) carriers: Iberia, Vueling, Spanair and Air Europa. Having been on Iberia metal in the past, this one was ruled out (it was the most expensive flight as well). Timing wise I settled with a flight on Air Europa for about € 58. Little did I know then that this particular midday flight was prone to sometimes long delays but more on that later…
So I was set, being about € 80 lighter in the wallet my day would look like this:
I left my house at about 6h30 for the approximate 1h15 drive from where I live to CRL. One major disadvantage for me when going to CRL is that I have to pass the Brussels Ring Road which on working days can be a serious bottleneck. Some minor delays there but my arrival there was pretty well timed at about 8h00.
Today was not the best day of the year: rain, wind and cold. Your typical Dec day…
CRL’s bag drop off zone, you all know that online check in with FR is mandatory!
Heck, even FR have self service machines here (courtesy of the airport):
Through security in no time, I ended up with my yoghurt being confiscated – never happened to me before at any airport. A short discussion with the security agent lead to nothing of course but my point is: why don’t all airports apply the VERY SAME rules concerning the security screening?
Arrival into the Schengen zone, a right turn for me it is:
Boarding area with the ‘lines’:
Optimal fleet usage on Ryanair? 5 company B738’s sitting idle:
At the moment, no stress for me, I have priority boarding so I joined the designated line with a handful of others.
Now you can say about FR what you want but the whole boarding process was very efficient, something I would later in the day see confirmed at another airport. At T minus 25, the gate agent already started checking everyone’s bp and ID, the online bp’s A4 sheets were already halfway cut by another agent before security screening. All these little things added up in speeding up the whole procedure.
After deboarding of the inbound, we were let loose out onto the tarmac:
For Markus :
Rear door boarding:
Window last row part 1:
The in- and outside of the rather ordinary winglet:
The Spanish based crew was in good moods today, welcoming us with a smile and being helpful in assisting passengers storing their belongings. The flight was nearly full with a few empty seats dotted around the cabin and most important of all: 3 for me!
The ‘El commandante’ announced a minor ATC delay due to heavy traffic in the MAD area having us sitting idle for 20 more minutes at the gate but promising us an ontime arrival into MAD.
Taxiing out:
The sole non-Ryanair plane on the apron this morning:
Titles on the building part 1, I’m at the right airport!
Entering the one and only rwy, direction 7 – note it sloping slightly uphill:
After a full throttle, we blasted away, giving these views over the industrial Charleroi area:
Leaving CRL in the distance:
Nothing but a carpet of clouds for a long long time:
Fancy a swim?
A classic winglet shot – I love this one
I did not have my morning tea yet, so I opted for one from the cart, accompanied by a rather bland pastry:
A familiar sight, but very important information nonetheless:
Inflight mag, not interesting…
How come they advertise for Peruvian holidays in a European based aircraft? Not for me, though, been there, done that.
While browsing through the mag, I came upon this rather bald statement:
The weather cleared up upon flying over the Bay of Biscay, entering the Spanish mainland:
Some 20 mins later, the captain announced our descent into MAD, we kept overflying the seemingly endless barren landscapes of central Spain:
Windmills all around:
Very low cloud base on finals for rwy 15L:
Someone has eaten a piece of the pie:
IB maintenance/graveyard:
Titles on the building part 2, I’m at the right airport once again!
The ontime fanfare started playing through the cabin, although we were some 5 minutes behind schedule. Some taxi later sees us docking at a finger gate into one of the C gates at terminal 1. I bid my goodbyes to the crew and was granted a cockpit visit. While stepping out of the cockpit again, the British captain asked if my photo turned out well. Upon showing him the pic he laughed: ‘Straight to a.net that one!’. I replied: ‘You bet it will’. If only he knew… Well this one would not make it anyway due to the low quality…
One last view…
So I was at MAD after so many years having flown from this very terminal a few times into the ‘Americas’. Not much has changed since then. This terminal building consists of 3 connected terminals, appropriately named 1, 2 and 3 which are again divided in sections A through E, with the section A in terminal 1 handling extra-Schengen flights.
A quick glance on this old-fashioned TV learned that my next flight on Air Europa already had a delay of about 20 mins:
It’s definitely NOT terminal 4:
But at least they do have some more modern FIDS’ installed:
It being noon and me being hungry I went hunting for some food. I got me a chicken salad accompanied by some agua con gas. After that it was time to walk to the other side of the terminal in search of gate E75, from where the next flight would depart from.
Avianca coming in, dedicated to gabrielchew and FlyingFinn76:
Terminal 1 is the LCC part, dominated by easyJet and Ryanair:
Some metal from home, heavily delayed as well:
And some metal from far away, I love this scheme:
What do we have here? A new scheme?
My arrival at the gate was accompanied by the arrival from the inbound Air Europa flight from BCN.. on time!
A rather ‘blah…’ color scheme:
From the moment this flight docked in, everyone got up and lined up. Au contraire, I took a seat and watched the scene in amusement. You can see the line effectively blocking the complete width of the terminal. Is this a Spanish thing?
Boarding was called at 13h40 for a 14h05 departure. Even more people queued up. I went to the direction of the desk and right at that moment a second agent started scanning bp’s and waved me in. It’s all being in the right place at the right time
A rather disinterested ‘Hola’ was said to me as I walked all that way to the back of the Boeing. At first glance the seats looked nice but once I settled in, they showed their true nature: uncomfortable as hell. Heck, even Ryanair has better seats!
Window last row part 2:
Commercial messages, right in your face:
Definitely NOT good, I tell you…
With the hot cabin filling up slowly, people taking their utmost time to block the aisle, I was starting to get a little edgy…
Contents of the seat pocket:
Now this is the point where all the trouble began. Firstly there was this mother and a child of – I guess – about 3 years old. The child was going totally berserk for one reason or another, the mother kept very calm but could not calm him down. He was literally yelling, screaming, jumping on seats, tearing headcovers off seats, throwing things around. Now I know what it is to have kids (from experience ) but as a parent you should be in control at all times. This mother clearly wasn’t. Now I can’t judge for anyone else and I don’t know what caused the situation but the whole was very annoying, even to a point that the F/A’s tried to calm him down but to avail…
So I sat in my seat, looking out, getting nervous because we hadn’t left yet and it was nearly 20 mins past STD. If this would continue I would surely miss my next flight in BCN.
Then on the mic: ‘El commandante’… ‘We are still waiting for some transfer passengers…’ was all I understood from his appalling English. That sounded NOT promising. Outside I witnessed the bag loading and that didn’t look too promising either. 3 cart were waiting to be loaded and bags had to be sorted, most likely from passengers who were not about to make it for this flight. Now I see why this flight had a delay everyday when I was monitoring it beforehand: transfers!
At least we were in good company next door, but that flight was delayed as well:
Finally the last passengers dripped in and doors were closed. We pushed back at 14h55, 50 mins after STD. The flight time was announced as 50 mins once airborn. My calculator was running: 10 mins taxi + 50 mins flying + 14h55 = 16h05 arrival at BCN. And my Ryanair flight was leaving at 16h50, but from the other terminal with only a landside connection .
Pushing back revealed this piece of machinery – sorry FlyingFinn76:
Safety demo playing on the overhead screens, they were left on for the flight but I was too busy with other things in my head.
Passing by some other beauty:
And of course you can’t have been in MAD without an Iberia bird framed:
Seemingly the person in charge up front overheard my prayers because the plane literally raced to the active, passing T4S…
…and straight into 33R for a rolling thunder takeoff:
Despite it all, I was still able to enjoy the views, see for yourself:
The great weather surely added it’s contribution!
And indeed after some 30 mins, the nose was pitched down and descent into BCN’s 25R was initiated.
We were coming from inland an turning around the city which you find in the distance, the airport of course to the right:
After some right hand turns we found ourselves in finals over the sea, accompanied with nice city views:
Titles on the building part 3, I’m at the right airport once again! Time check 15h59, 51 mins to go until the next departure… Btw that’s my plane at the far left!
BCN is definitely Vueling territory!
And a Qatar plane is always a nice treat, pushing for a departure to most likely Doha:
And now the fun part began. During the flight I had asked a F/A if it was possible to take a seat more upfront to speed up my deboarding, but alas every seat was taken (I did not ask for a C class seat… wouldn’t have worked anyway I guess ). So I was stuck in the back which of course did not facilitate deboarding fast. And just like boarding, deboarding went as fast with people taking their time to get their bags, having some chit chat, blocking the aisle. Normally I have no problem with that whatsoever but not this time: this man’s on a mission folks and it’s an important one!
The following takes place between 16h01 and 16h27…
16h01: sortie from EC-JBJ into the terminal, of course at the almost very last gate
16h02: (blurry)photo!
16h02: powerwalking slowly going over in running mode
16h07: followed the signs for the T2-T1 connecting bus but got lost and ended up in the parking lot
16h08: found a stairs going down and the bus as well
16h10: bus leaves
16h19: bus arrives at T2’s curbside
16h22: arrival at security totally prepared, lucky for me there’s no line
16h24: through security but where’s a FIDS when you need one??
16h26: found the FIDS: boarding from C32, right around the corner, easy to see because the line snakes out into the main hallway.
16h28: I cut the line – hey I have priority boarding! – and give the agent my bp and ID card
I made it…
Time now to switch to ‘relaxing mode’ again. That works best in the window seat of the last row (basically this is just the same view as this morning ):
And Niki going home – you gotta love that color scheme!
While cooling down I once again contemplate on how efficient the Ryanair boarding process in fact is, it’s a far cry from the Air Europa flight 1 hour ago. But it’s a totally different setup as well so I guess not a good comparison in that aspect?
Once again a speech from a man upfront, clearly with a French accent but his English and Spanish was very fluent and understandable as well. 5 mins ahead of schedule we get our push and make a beeline for the active rwy 25L for takeoff.
Passing by T1 again, my Air Europa flight was already gone by now:
Holding short for some seconds…
And off we go today with me onboard!
Bye BCN, see you again someday hopefully!
Meanwhile I popped in my ear plugs, put my ‘do not disturb’ sign up and enjoyed some last sunshine views over the Pyrenees:
The last moody pic of the day with the moon setting in and the sky turning pink…
The remainder of the flight was in pure darkness, literally and figurically, I woke up by the hard landing and consequent braking on CRL’s rwy 7. After arrival at the terminal and a swift disembarkation I was on my way within the next 15 mins.
If you have made it this far, comments/suggestions/… as always are greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!
Luxair747SP From Germany, joined May 2010, 449 posts, RR: 18 Reply 1, posted (1 year 6 months 2 weeks 3 hours ago) and read 6309 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW FORUM MODERATOR
Hi Nils,
first wow you were very fast in writing this TR.
Very nice day trip which was for sure a bit more exciting as you may wished.
The captain seems to be exacty right with his statement.
Anyway glad you made the connection and thanks a lot for sharing
Made a great evening read.
I wouldn't be too happy too, especially if that was my breakfast!
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): After deboarding of the inbound, we were let loose out onto the tarmac
I like how you used the words, 'let loose'. That's very true for FR! :p
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): How come they advertise for Peruvian holidays in a European based aircraft? Not for me, though, been there, done that.
Cool! That's one of the places I intend to visit before I turn 30!
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Then on the mic: ‘El commandante’… ‘We are still waiting for some transfer passengers…’ was all I understood from his appalling English
I had a similar experience too when I was on a vueling flight 3 years ago! I was trying hard to decipher what the stewardess was saying as her accent was really thick!
Well, I'm glad you managed to get onto the flight back to CRL, even though it meant having to make a mad dash across the terminal.
eicvd From Ireland, joined Mar 2008, 2076 posts, RR: 5 Reply 4, posted (1 year 6 months 2 weeks 3 hours ago) and read 6234 times:
Hi Nils
Nice trip report, good too hear you had two good flights with FR. My first Ryanair flight was actually onboard EI-DLK back in June 2006, was only a few months old at the time flying too CCF from DUB, nice to see it feature in a report
Dublin, where Sam Maguire will be coming home to in mid September
MIAspotter From Spain, joined Nov 2001, 2289 posts, RR: 25 Reply 5, posted (1 year 6 months 2 weeks 3 hours ago) and read 6210 times:
Hi Mr! nice and interesting quick read, always nice to read TRs of BCN and Spain in general, thank you for giving me an insigh into UX, which turns out to be just as any other Spanish Airline (read, Crap)
Think the only Spanish airline that is slightly better is Vueling (although the experience of a few a.netters have not been positive) I have had quite a few flights on them and never ever had a problem.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): While browsing through the mag, I came upon this rather bald statement:
Sure, as I always say, if they operated into busier airports (FRA, AMS, LHR, CDG) we will see about on-time... and as of few bags lost... well that´s because hardly anyone checks-in any these days
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Heck, even FR have self service machines here (courtesy of the airport):
They have those in GRO as well, being FR they are used mainly to pay.
I can imagine, I have been on JK as well and the seat pitch is atrocius! I had to endure a 3:30 hour BCN-SAW flight on their A320s and I had to literally ¨tetris¨ myself on the seat.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): And a Qatar plane is always a nice treat, pushing for a departure to most likely Doha:
Sweet! which date was this? if it was the 20th of Nov then I had just got off that aircraft (trying to post TR but no avail with the pictures)
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): 16h02: powerwalking slowly going over in running mode
16h07: followed the signs for the T2-T1 connecting bus but got lost and ended up in the parking lot
16h08: found a stairs going down and the bus as well
16h10: bus leaves
16h19: bus arrives at T2’s curbside
16h22: arrival at security totally prepared, lucky for me there’s no line
16h24: through security but where’s a FIDS when you need one??
16h26: found the FIDS: boarding from C32, right around the corner, easy to see because the line snakes out into the main hallway.
16h28: I cut the line – hey I have priority boarding! – and give the agent my bp and ID card
I made it…
Jesus!! Record time! although if they had built this airport properly like they do in intelligent advanced countries and put an underground train linking both terminals, maybe you could have done the connection in less time.
deltamartin From Sweden, joined Dec 2010, 1059 posts, RR: 9 Reply 6, posted (1 year 6 months 2 weeks 2 hours ago) and read 6188 times:
Hi Nils!
Great trireport! Nice to read about your trip to Spain. Glad you made that connection!
You had a really nice deal on those Ryanair flights, and with the exception of CRL, they even flew to the city itself, and not a rural area nearby a city!
The new terminal in BCN is really great. Probably the best one, or one of the best, in Europe.
The seating on the UX bird doesn't look nice at all. Luckily it was just that short flight.
FLIEGER67 From Bulgaria, joined Sep 2003, 4423 posts, RR: 56 Reply 7, posted (1 year 6 months 2 weeks 2 hours ago) and read 6160 times:
Hi, Nils,
now that was indeed a tough job, definitely, but also a great day of flying around with these December weather conditions down in Spain, looks like really nice.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): ings. The flight was nearly full with a few empty seats dotted around the cabin and most important of all: 3 for me!
Congrats, good work.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): g was called at 13h40 for a 14h05 departure. Even more people queued up. I went to the direction of the desk and right at that moment a second agent started scanning bp’s and waved me in. It’s all being in the right place at the right time
Well done again, sure thats the way to go.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): 6h02: powerwalking slowly going over in running mode
16h07: followed the signs for the T2-T1 connecting bus but got lost and ended up in the parking lot
16h08: found a stairs going down and the bus as well
16h10: bus leaves
16h19: bus arrives at T2’s curbside
16h22: arrival at security totally prepared, lucky for me there’s no line
16h24: through security but where’s a FIDS when you need one??
16h26: found the FIDS: boarding from C32, right around the corner, easy to see because the line snakes out into the main hallway.
16h28: I cut the line – hey I have priority boarding! – and give the agent my bp and ID card
I made it…
Oh, well, what a story, glad to see that you made it finally.
Widebodyroga From United States of America, joined Sep 2008, 494 posts, RR: 4 Reply 8, posted (1 year 6 months 2 weeks 2 hours ago) and read 6096 times:
Nice TR as always Nils! Pretty gutsy on your behalf to allow such a short layover on flights that were booked separately, given that you were flying on a Spanish carrier on a domestic segment. Personally, I would have not dared it. Only if the layover was over 5h would I have considered it. Glad to hear that it all worked out fine, even if you had to suffer a little bit.
You may say that again. Their livery is so ugly I would refuse to fly them on a free ticket.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Now this is the point where all the trouble began. Firstly there was this mother and a child of – I guess – about 3 years old. The child was going totally berserk for one reason or another, the mother kept very calm but could not calm him down. He was literally yelling, screaming, jumping on seats, tearing headcovers off seats, throwing things around. Now I know what it is to have kids (from experience   but as a parent you should be in control at all times. This mother clearly wasn’t. Now I can’t judge for anyone else and I don’t know what caused the situation but the whole was very annoying, even to a point that the F/A’s tried to calm him down but to avail…
Oh boy. Kids that scream as if they are being murdered make me wanna go over and slap them without caring for the consequences. I'm sorry you had to go through that, I've had plenty of such experiences. Good thing that your flight was short. Can you imagine having to go through this on a TATL?
Thanks for putting this together!
WBodyroga
Visit my aviation page: http://widebodyroga.weebly.com/
volvair From Germany, joined Oct 2011, 167 posts, RR: 9 Reply 9, posted (1 year 6 months 2 weeks 1 hour ago) and read 6070 times:
Wow Nils, you were really fast with posting this trip report. Slow day at work?
Entertaining story and very nice pictures, thanks a lot for sharing!
Glad you made your connection in BCN at the end. But I think that such an experience is an important cornerstone on such a self-tourture like daytrip on Ryanair and Air Europa
And somehow, Ryanair seems to be the winner here in comparison. You don't see that very often!
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Through security in no time, I ended up with my yoghurt being confiscated
Well, maybe he wanted you to switch to a more unhealthy diet!
You are kidding, right But this pic made me realize it has been over a year now since my last Ryanair flight as I remember their Dec 2010 edition with the 2011 calendar girls.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): After some right hand turns we found ourselves in finals over the sea, accompanied with nice city views:
One of the nicest approachs there are in Europe. Glad you could enjoy it with such a nice weather.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): followed the signs for the T2-T1 connecting bus but got lost and ended up in the parking lot
Haha, I know that moment. You are in a hurry and your body is in some kind of race overdrive which has you missing all the important information.
AlwaysOnAPlane From United Kingdom, joined Sep 2010, 299 posts, RR: 2 Reply 10, posted (1 year 6 months 2 weeks ago) and read 5999 times:
Hi Nils,
Nothing like a race around an airport to get the heart pumping. Glad to learn you made it ok. I sometimes find it hard to relax too when I have a tight connection. Funny how everything seems to work against you when it's like this. Slow de-boarding, buses going the wrong way...
Hey, really great pictures of the snow caps at the end. Loved them.
Thanks for this super speedy wrote report.
Cheers, Lee.
The777Man From United States of America, joined Jul 1999, 6115 posts, RR: 56 Reply 11, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 6 days 22 hours ago) and read 5915 times:
Hi Nils!
Nice report from a day out flying with nice pictures !
It seems that it's a good idea to bet priority boarding on FR.. I have yet to fly on them......Not very convenient for me arriving from the USA.
UX looks as bad as I imagine they would be.
I'm happy you made the connection especially when you had to change terminals. Reminds me of my 10 mins connection at ADD in January almost a year ago now.......
Looking forward to your next report!
The777Man
Need a Boeing 777 Firing Order....Further to fly....GA, T5, CI and LX 777s
Quoting moosecamel88 (Reply 3): Thank you for sharing your TR! It was a good read! Beautiful pictures, especially the ones of the Pyrenees!
Hello Mustafa, thanks for commenting. The Pyrenees are not the Alps but beautiful nonetheless in late evening light.
Quoting moosecamel88 (Reply 3): Cool! That's one of the places I intend to visit before I turn 30!
Great, do so definitely, you will not be dissappointed!
Quoting moosecamel88 (Reply 3): Well, I'm glad you managed to get onto the flight back to CRL, even though it meant having to make a mad dash across the terminal.
I was mentally prepared for it and that’s the best way to succeed
Quoting MIAspotter (Reply 5): Hi Mr! nice and interesting quick read, always nice to read TRs of BCN and Spain in general, thank you for giving me an insigh into UX, which turns out to be just as any other Spanish Airline (read, Crap)
Hi Mr as well You are welcome and the same opinion here on UX. Did it but never again.
Quoting MIAspotter (Reply 5): Think the only Spanish airline that is slightly better is Vueling
I can’t tell for now, but I will definitely have a look into them next year or so maybe
Quoting MIAspotter (Reply 5): Sure, as I always say, if they operated into busier airports (FRA, AMS, LHR, CDG) we will see about on-time... and as of few bags lost... well that´s because hardly anyone checks-in any these days
Exactly my point. But now I sure can even more appreciate flights leaving on time.
Quoting MIAspotter (Reply 5): they have more pressing issues at the moment (making a profit)
Are they in a bad financial position? I didn’t know (nor do I care )
Quoting MIAspotter (Reply 5): I had to endure a 3:30 hour BCN-SAW flight on their A320s and I had to literally ¨tetris¨ myself on the seat.
Oh my, poor you…
Quoting MIAspotter (Reply 5): Jesus!! Record time! although if they had built this airport properly like they do in intelligent advanced countries and put an underground train linking both terminals, maybe you could have done the connection in less time.
Yes, record time indeed I guess, I called the ‘book’ but got no reply yet lol! I guess they ran out of money when the terminal was finished so they couldn’t afford a decent airside connection anymore…
Quoting MIAspotter (Reply 5): If you are ever in BCN again let me know!
Quoting Widebodyroga (Reply 8): They are a "cheap" airline and they are not ashamed to show it in every way possible.
They are cheap, but they positively surprised me that day!
Quoting Widebodyroga (Reply 8): Kids that scream as if they are being murdered make me wanna go over and slap them without caring for the consequences.
You know, that’s no educational solution. Mostly it’s the parents’ fault for that in my opinion. You have to understand how a child’s logics work…
Quoting Widebodyroga (Reply 8): Can you imagine having to go through this on a TATL?
I can imagine and in this case I’d rather not be there…
Nope, home alone for the day and I type lightning fast
Quoting volvair (Reply 9): Entertaining story and very nice pictures, thanks a lot for sharing!
Thanks volvair, I’m glad you liked my ‘tale of the brave’.
Quoting volvair (Reply 9): And somehow, Ryanair seems to be the winner here in comparison.
Yes, indeed. FR was the better one today.
Quoting volvair (Reply 9): But this pic made me realize it has been over a year now since my last Ryanair flight as I remember their Dec 2010 edition with the 2011 calendar girls.
Hey don’t worry about it. Plenty more of exciting planes to try in the area you find yourself in now. Enjoy it while you can!
Quoting volvair (Reply 9): Glad you could enjoy it with such a nice weather.
Yes, it was crisp clear, but my new camera failed a bit on me…
Quoting volvair (Reply 9): You are in a hurry and your body is in some kind of race overdrive which has you missing all the important information.
How can you guess, that’s just what I felt that moment!
Quoting AlwaysOnAPlane (Reply 10): Nothing like a race around an airport to get the heart pumping.
Hey Lee, thanks for stopping by. And in fact I’d rather be in a ‘relaxed mode’ at an airport. Now I missed out on that lovely BCN terminal…
airbuseric From Netherlands, joined Jan 2005, 4068 posts, RR: 51 Reply 13, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 6 days 15 hours ago) and read 5719 times:
Hi, Nils!
well, that is a very nice report. Not the most exciting carriers and 3 same aircrafts on a day, although still made up for an interesting read for sure
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): It was quite some years ago since I flew out of CRL or ’Brussels South Airport’.
Also for me,.. a long time ago now.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Through security in no time, I ended up with my yoghurt being confiscated – never happened to me before at any airport. A short discussion with the security agent lead to nothing of course but my point is: why don’t all airports apply the VERY SAME rules concerning the security screening?
Are there ml. or grams on the package? If there are no liquid quantities shown (ml), then the security agent shouldn't confiscate.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Optimal fleet usage on Ryanair? 5 company B738’s sitting idle:
Nightstopping at CRL I suppose and will be re-starting service somewhere during the morning
Agree. Same experiences on UX, same route I had back then.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Now I see why this flight had a delay everyday when I was monitoring it beforehand: transfers!
Bad! UX have a next flight later in the afternoon too. They are part of Skyteam and should definitely try to fly on time. Apparently the schedules don't fit together well on these transfer flights. Something they need to look at!
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): The last moody pic of the day with the moon setting in and the sky turning pink…
Like!
Regards
Eric
"The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going"
FlyingFinn76 From Finland, joined Jun 2009, 1705 posts, RR: 41 Reply 14, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 6 days 13 hours ago) and read 5666 times:
Hi Nils,
Wow, some adventure you had. Although I could've almost told you that this was going to happen in advance - I spent some same kind of white knuckles moments at MAD trying to get from T3 to T4 in time for my LAN A340 flight to FRA after arriving on a (delayed) UX flight from BCN... That was an frustrating experience as the MAD airport website suggested I could do an airside transfer with a special bus but none of the staff knew of its existence and I wasted valuable minutes there arguing with them. And then I just made it onboard the A340 as the last (sweaty) passenger and guess what - they announce a 45 minute ATC delay. So typical!
Glad you made your connection, it would've been one helluva train ride up to Belgium!
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): boomed ever since Mr O’Leary decided to make it a base for his no frills
Boomed ever since the Wallonia regional government decided to be overly generous in their "marketing aid".
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Last year CRL has seen some 5,1 million passengers passing through it’s terminal,
That is indeed quite amazing. No wonder it feels packed from time to time. The old terminal across the apron would've exploded at this passenger amount!
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): in the evening for € 23 (both flights, priority boarding and all blah blah included).
Hey that's a very nice price! It is good to see that FR can still be cheap as chips even on these quite lengthy sectors - recently it has become quite hard to find any decent bargains with them. T
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Heck, even FR have self service machines here (courtesy of the airport):
...and the fact that they have a credit card terminal there tells you quite a lot!
Ahh, reminds me of my mystery JetairFly flight to MJV which unannounced landed at ALC a year ago... that remains one of the weirdest flights of my life.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Optimal fleet usage on Ryanair? 5 company B738’s sitting idle:
They are grounding quite a few planes this winter season.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): After a full throttle, we blasted away, giving these views over the industrial Charleroi area:
You were on the wrong side - on the left hand side you'd seen the real apocalyptic view of the grim steelworks and other old world industry.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): I did not have my morning tea yet, so I opted for one from the cart, accompanied by a rather bland pastry:
What's that I see there? Proper napkins instead of the nasty hard, cheap ones they used to have? Is MOL getting soft?
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): How come they advertise for Peruvian holidays in a European based aircraft? Not for me, though, been there, done that.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): ‘Straight to a.net that one!’. I replied: ‘You bet it will’. If only he knew… Well this one would not make it anyway due to the low quality…
Heh, you should've told him you are doing a report!
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): So I was at MAD after so many years having flown from this very terminal a few times into the ‘Americas’.
I read that "I was MAD after so many years..." first
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Avianca coming in, dedicated to gabrielchew and FlyingFinn76:
Thanks, would love to fly one of these A330s.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): You can see the line effectively blocking the complete width of the terminal. Is this a Spanish thing?
Yes, they have now learned this thanks to FR.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Pushing back revealed this piece of machinery – sorry FlyingFinn76:
No prob. It is a beautiful plane for an ugly carrier.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Despite it all, I was still able to enjoy the views, see for yourself:
Yes, I love the rugged landscape of the Spanish interior - I could literally spend hours watching it from plane windows. Such an amazing country!
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): After some right hand turns we found ourselves in finals over the sea, accompanied with nice city views:
And there's the classic BCN rwy 25 approach view. A bit different than my landing there a month ago when you couldn't see anything thanks to the crap weather.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Time check 15h59, 51 mins to go until the next departure… Btw that’s my plane at the far left!
Knowing FR's fast turnarounds that indeed is VERY worrying.
... I was about to comment that this was a very bad idea...
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): So I was stuck in the back which of course did not facilitate deboarding fast.
... but you realized it yourself, too late though. On time critical connections I try to be as far forward as possible just for this reason. You never know when they are going to use the back stairs and when they won't so better not to risk it.
Hilarious! You did make it in record time though, congratulations! No need for exercise that evening anymore.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): The last moody pic of the day with the moon setting in and the sky turning pink…
Very nice!
Quoting MIAspotter (Reply 5):
Jesus!! Record time! although if they had built this airport properly like they do in intelligent advanced countries and put an underground train linking both terminals, maybe you could have done the connection in less time.
This remins me - what's up with the Rodalies connection? I thought they were extending the tracks from T2 to T1 already two years ago when the terminal opened but I don't think anything is really happening there, is it? Or is this another symptom of the Spanish hangover from the cheap credit fuelled boom years?
palmjet From United Kingdom, joined Nov 2001, 1053 posts, RR: 16 Reply 15, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 6 days 13 hours ago) and read 5647 times:
Hi Nils
Thanks for posting this one up. I really enjoyed it and the views from your window seats were great!
I've heard nothing good about Air Europa from anyone. Accepting that delays do happen which are outside of the airline's control, it's how they handle the delays and manage passenger expectations that sets a bad airline apart from a good airline. I was destined to fly Air Europa back in Feb from Tenerife South to Gran Canaria. It was a positioning flight which was not available online for sale but they accepted booking via telephone (WTF?). However a month before the flight, it was cancelled which put our day trip flights on Islas and Binter in jeopardy. It was a right SNAFU but it all worked out in the end, no thanks to Air Europa though. I am not in a rush to fly them anytime soon.
Glad you made it home - I loved the late afternoon shots on your last leg. Fantastic. Reminds me why I love to fly so much!
MSS658 From Belgium, joined Oct 2010, 2256 posts, RR: 14 Reply 16, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 6 days 12 hours ago) and read 5614 times:
Hi Nils
Nice trip report you have got there! It seems like the spanish carriers are really thumbs down! Air Europa does not look that good at all, not as bad as Petteri's recent flight with JK.
Glad you made your flight back to CRL on time, despite not being a fond of FR It looks like they took good care of you!
sultanils From Belgium, joined Mar 2010, 1215 posts, RR: 29 Reply 17, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 6 days 11 hours ago) and read 5557 times:
Hi all, nice to see some more commentary!
Quoting airbuseric (Reply 13): well, that is a very nice report. Not the most exciting carriers and 3 same aircrafts on a day, although still made up for an interesting read for sure
Thanks Eric, I’m glad you liked it. Indeed it was not the most exotic of routes/carriers but I promise something ore exciting next time
I guess not, they were still there in the evening.
Quoting airbuseric (Reply 13): I still wonder when the rest of their fleet will be repainted!
Maybe not too soon, financial troubles as well apparently.
Quoting airbuseric (Reply 13): Apparently the schedules don't fit together well on these transfer flights.
Very true my guess. I did see a woman coming in on last notice holding a Dominican Republic passport so most likely connecting from longhaul Puerto Plata or Punta Cana or something like that.
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 14): Although I could've almost told you that this was going to happen in advance
Yes – I knew in advance this was most likely not going to work but hey, I took the risk and made the best of it, I feel proud
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 14): Glad you made your connection, it would've been one helluva train ride up to Belgium!
I had to make it, I really had to. No other option available that day from BCN at least.
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 14): Knowing FR's fast turnarounds that indeed is VERY worrying
At that time I was not aware that THAT was my plane otherwise I would’ve started
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 14): ... but you realized it yourself, too late though. On time critical connections I try to be as far forward as possible just for this reason. You never know when they are going to use the back stairs and when they won't so better not to risk it.
Yes, much too late, but the view is so much better in the back… And back stairs deboarding would only involve a bus ride after that and that wouldn’t have helped either.
Quoting palmjet (Reply 15): Thanks for posting this one up. I really enjoyed it and the views from your window seats were great!
Thanks very much P/J!
Quoting palmjet (Reply 15): I've heard nothing good about Air Europa from anyone.
Count me in that club as of now…
Quoting palmjet (Reply 15): I am not in a rush to fly them anytime soon.
Me neither, a once in a lifetime experience like this is enough.
Quoting MSS658 (Reply 16): Nice trip report you have got there!
Hi Marc, I’m glad you liked it.
Quoting MSS658 (Reply 16): Glad you made your flight back to CRL on time, despite not being a fond of FR It looks like they took good care of
FR got the golden medal that day, sadly no price for UX…
infodesk From Switzerland, joined May 2006, 1256 posts, RR: 33 Reply 18, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 6 days 10 hours ago) and read 5500 times:
Hi Nils,
Blimey, I think you'll be taking P's crown for the who-can-get-their-reports-posted-the-fastest! Very amusing and well written as always, you certainly had an eventful day. Nice to hear that the boarding procedure was so smooth with FR on both your flights.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Through security in no time, I ended up with my yoghurt being confiscated – never happened to me before at any airport. A short discussion with the security agent lead to nothing of course but my point is: why don’t all airports apply the VERY SAME rules concerning the security screening?
I checked our lists here and at ZRH yoghurt is classed is a liquid (which I can understand), as are peanut butter/nutella, cream cheese and even Camembert (which I can't). Surely the rules are supposed to be the same? It makes a complete mockery of the thing if different airports enforce what they want.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): did not have my morning tea yet, so I opted for one from the cart
Are you another one who has to have their morning tea? Me too!
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): 16h07: followed the signs for the T2-T1 connecting bus but got lost and ended up in the parking lot
I really like the way you described your minute by minute transit at BCN. And I'm sorry to admit it, but the above sentence made me laugh out loud. Airport signage can be a wonderful thing
Happy flying
Infodesk
"Do nothing in haste, look well to each step and from the beginning think what may be the end" - Edward Whymper
CaptainRed From Germany, joined Oct 2010, 588 posts, RR: 19 Reply 20, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 6 days 7 hours ago) and read 5368 times:
Hi Nils,
nice little report, interesting day of flying. To go to Spain on a winter day with that depressing weather we have here these days is certainly a good idea. A great price you got for your flights, well done. So the bargain fares are still there when you look around a little. And that was a tight connection there, I can imagine how you felt when you are in a hurry, and then these people before you take their time during deboarding... But glad you made it in the end.
But at least a nice cover ... I mean just look a that lovely painted plane and these palm trees ...
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): I went to the direction of the desk and right at that moment a second agent started scanning bp’s and waved me in. It’s all being in the right place at the right time
Well done, I can just imagine the look on the face of the other people in the queue.
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): After some right hand turns we found ourselves in finals over the sea, accompanied with nice city views:
Nice pictures, the approach to BCN from that direction is definitely cool.
eastafspot From France, joined Jan 2008, 479 posts, RR: 4 Reply 21, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 6 days 7 hours ago) and read 5320 times:
Ryanair is still an airline to try, but the opportunity is missing, and it always involves "nasty" airport transfers or inconvenient departure time for the destinations concerned.
akhmad From Netherlands, joined Sep 2005, 2336 posts, RR: 53 Reply 22, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 6 days 6 hours ago) and read 5292 times:
Hi Nils,
Excellent! This is what I call Bootcamp A.net style. Apart of this, do you know that you have successfully promoted FR this way?
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Now that was a giveaway! MAD and BCN are easily connected so I booked CRL-MAD in the morning and BCN-CRL in the evening for € 23 (both flights, priority boarding and all blah blah included).
What a steal!
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): So I was set, being about € 80 lighter in the wallet my day would look like this:
The Bermuda…no, EU triangle!
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Heck, even FR have self service machines here (courtesy of the airport):
I assume every FR passenger can use it free of charge.
gabrielchew From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2005, 2512 posts, RR: 13 Reply 23, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 6 days ago) and read 5115 times:
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Through security in no time, I ended up with my yoghurt being confiscated – never happened to me before at any airport. A short discussion with the security agent lead to nothing of course but my point is: why don’t all airports apply the VERY SAME rules concerning the security screening?
Because then it would be too easy. Every airport sets with scanners to different levels, asks you to do different things etc. It's so the passenger is never in charge of the situation
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Optimal fleet usage on Ryanair? 5 company B738’s sitting idle:
Lots of them sitting around in DUB and BHX, clearly not much work over the winter
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): Avianca coming in, dedicated to gabrielchew and FlyingFinn76:
Thanks!
Quoting Sultanils (Thread starter): 16h28: I cut the line – hey I have priority boarding! – and give the agent my bp and ID card
I made it…
Well done. Sounds like a tough connection. I always like to leave a +3 hour connction time when on different tickets.
MIAspotter From Spain, joined Nov 2001, 2289 posts, RR: 25 Reply 24, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 6 days ago) and read 5113 times:
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 14): This remins me - what's up with the Rodalies connection? I thought they were extending the tracks from T2 to T1 already two years ago when the terminal opened but I don't think anything is really happening there, is it? Or is this another symptom of the Spanish hangover from the cheap credit fuelled boom years?
Sadly I think it is, I remember months before the official opening of T1, they organized some tours for the public and I went to one, they said that the station was built already and that soon even the high speed AVE would stop at the airport... LIES LIES LIES!
There´s no station, no Rodalies, and the planned Metro L9 to the airport has been shelved due to budget cuts, so we are stuck with the idiotic shuttle from T2-T1, and the Aerobus from Plaza Cataluña (wich is the more stress free means to get there)
MIAspotter.
I think, therefore I don´t fly Ryanair.
25 PlaneHunter: Hi Nils, nice report with good pictures! That was tight, good to hear you made it. Isn't it amazing how unimpressive all these Spanish carriers are? H
26 signol: Hi Nils, nice to read of your short day out flying to Spain FR continue to be cheap if you know where and when to look, and it looks like you still go
27 LXM83: Hello Sultanils Thanks for your report. Nice approach there in BCN. Glad you made it on your return flight! Show's once again how a delay could potent
28 sultanils: Good to see some more feedback! Hello Hannah! Petteri still has lots of other crowns to wear and rightfully so. However I'm glad I have one now, thank
29 Ps76: Hi! Just wanted to say many thanks for the report. Some very nice in flight pics of Belgium and Spain. Nice cockpit shot too. Cool that the captain ha
30 Sultanils: Hello Pierre, thanks for your reply! Yes very cool indeed, but I guess lots of them know about the site Sultanils
31 OA260: Hey Nils great report and a nice trip you did there . Always love that approach into BCN and the cruise ships when they are in port. Thanks for the ni
32 Sultanils: Hi Philip, many thanks! Yep, BCN's approach is very scenic in good weather conditions. Sultanils
33 JL418: Hello Nils! finally some moments free to browse your TR and to leave a few comment. First of all, thanks for sharing your trip! Your TR confirmed what
34 The777Man: I'm was referring to why I don't fly FR; I know I can fly WN but since I work for another larger carrier; I have no need to fly WN. Yes, see my trip
35 Sultanils: Ciao Fabrizio, thanks for leaving a comment on my TR! Yeah and sometimes even Petteri is right. I should've listened to him but I'm more the stubborn
36 chepos: Gracias por compartir! Great trip report, very interesting and enjoyable read. Regards, Chepos
37 Sultanils: Hola Chepos, de nada mi amigo Thanks, glad you liked it. Sultanils
38 stipica: Hi Sultanils ! hehehhe a great read ... did you lost your ruby Your Majesty running around ... ... stipica
39 LH4116: Hoi Nils, nice report! Seems like you had a nice day of flying... And running. Suppose all those hours on the treadmill finally payed off Morocco sure
40 717Flyer: Hi Nils! Good to see you got some exercice and added excitement to your nice day of flying! And my compliments for coming up with such a clever headli
41 RvXKaz: Hi Nils! Oh what a day! Lol... I was kept at the edge of my seat reading your TR on your adventure through Spain and back! Thankfully it went well in
42 sultanils: Hi folks, nice to see some more comments. Thanks stipica, I'm glad you liked it. Thank you Jonas! CRL is not very far from Brussels itself but from wh
43 Parton87: Hello Nils! Thanks for the nice story! Great read and pictures like always I really like your sense of humor and looking forward to experince that IRL
44 sultanils: Hi Robert! Thnx and nice to hear from you! Nope (not yet)… Then it’s about time you start doing so. It’s not confusing at all with the lines, j
45 Parton87: Hello again Nils! You will experience some next weekend OK, Thanks for the answer. Never heard of that airline!:D Greetings Robert
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From Belgium, joined Mar 2010, 1215 posts, 
I’m at the right airport!
. 
Sultanils
From Germany, joined May 2010, 449 posts, 
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From United States of America, joined Sep 2008, 494 posts, 
but as a parent you should be in control at all times. This mother clearly wasn’t. Now I can’t judge for anyone else and I don’t know what caused the situation but the whole was very annoying, even to a point that the F/A’s tried to calm him down but to avail… 
From United Kingdom, joined Sep 2010, 299 posts, 
Very true. But you also have this LCC carrier called Southwest?
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(just kidding…)
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