CrimsonNL From Netherlands, joined Dec 2007, 1618 posts, RR: 42 Posted (1 year 2 weeks 1 day 17 hours ago) and read 7189 times:
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Hi all and welcome to another trip report of mine! This report will cover the following flights:
RTM-MAD on the Transavia 737-700
MAD-FRA on the LAN A340-300
FRA-DUS on the Lufthansa 737-300
In early December of last year, the feeling of wanting to fly out somewhere started to act up again. I always like to squeeze in a trip before the end of the year and started to look for opportunities. Initially I looked into flying the NorthFlying Metro but unfortunately they did not operate the route on the dates I was looking at. The SQ 77W from MUC-MAN had inconvenient times and it would be a hassle to fly back from MAN, and I had already logged the AB6 with Monarch a few months earlier so there was no real need to get on the KU routes either.
For the past few years however, I had wanted to try out the LAN Airlines 343 flying SCL-MAD-FRA-MAD-SCL on a regular basis. It is perhaps the most well-known 5th freedom route in Europe, and I decided to look into it. The 343 would be a new type for me, and I hadn’t flown LAN before either. The fares from MAD to FRA and vice versa were all around 120 dollars and that seemed reasonable to me. The question was, how to get to MAD, and more importantly, how to get home out of FRA? There is plenty of traffic into MAD from the Netherlands, so that wouldn’t be too much of an issue. FRA-AMS however, is either LH or KL and one way fares are insanely expensive. Of course a third, unattractive option would be the Deutsche Bahn and NS, going home by train.
I would only have to pay until the Dutch border as at the time, I could still travel for free on Dutch trains. The train fares were all around 90 euro’s which I think is quite expensive, but doable. I noticed DUS in one of the train itineraries and figured I might as well fly to DUS, and hop on the train there to Venlo. This short international train trip would only set me back 15 euros. The LH flights to DUS are usually quite affordable and I decided this would be the way to go. Hoping to log the 737-500, I booked a FRA DUS flight with the 735 as scheduled equipment. The airfare and train ticket set me back around 100 euros. Still a better deal than taking the train all the way from FRA I thought!
To get to MAD I also looked at several options. I finally decided to try out Dutch LCC Transavia again. It had been a while since I had flown them and it would be interesting to see how the service was these days. The HV flight to MAD left RTM however, an added bonus, as I had never flown from Rotterdam airport, at least not as an airline passenger. The fare was as I recall 75 euros. The flight would leave RTM at 0720, and getting to RTM by public transport is nearly impossible at this hour, so I had to rely on someone driving me there instead. Luckily my dad was willing to drop me off in the early morning!
We left home at around 5AM and got to RTM an hour later. My friend and former travel companion was on duty at RTM that morning, and secured me a seat at the exit row. I happily accepted that as I’m a tall guy and the HV legroom isn’t very good!
Foggy and cold morning at RTM
HV recently introduced a fee for checked luggage, and the checks for carry-on bags were very thorough. It actually happened ahead of the security check rather than at the gate, so anyone with luggage that didn’t fit in the size-wise was immediately send back to the check in desk. Good stuff! After picking up my boarding card and saying hi to my friend, and goodbye to dad, I cleared the security check. RTM was already very busy and the lounge seemed very crowded and cluttered with all kinds of furniture everywhere. While stylish, it seemed very small and I don’t want to be here in high summer season! There was a variety of HV flights leaving around this hour. The departure terminal features a small observation deck where I was the only one at that moment.
The terminal
PH-XRY would be my ride for today, parked closest to the terminal. I do think the 737-700 winglets is the nicest looking 737 (except for the originals)
Other traffic
VLM F-50s
Boarding at RTM is via the stairs as there are no jetbridges available. When boarding time was called I walked onto the ramp where my friend was once again greeting me, and informed me that the plane had some technical issues with the air-conditioning packs. I said goodbye and boarded the plane. I was greeted by two friendly flight attendants and walked into the very “green” cabin towards my seat. Sitting down I was instantly happy with the exit row as the legroom was excellent! It was nice to fly a -700 series again, as the last time I flew one was well over 3 years ago with SkyEurope. For a minute it seemed the middle seat word remain empty, however the cabin crew reseated an incredibly tall guy here, which I thought was a nice touch to give him some decent legroom!
29-DEC-2011
HV 6317 operated by Transavia
RTM-MAD
Boeing 737-7K2
PH-XRY
Seat 20A 3rd time on type 4th time on airline
The fixing of the A/C packs took around 20 minutes. I wasn’t worried as I had planned for at least 5 hours between my HV and my LA flight. After the problem was solved we taxied out and departed runway 24. The take-off was nothing spectacular and we climbed out over Belgium. The captain announced that the routing would take us over Paris, and outside the sun started to rise, seemed like a great day for flying! The drop-down monitors showed some promotional HV video’s, I don’t think I saw a moving map however.
The cabin
Sunrise
I started to get a little hungry, and I bought a cup of coffee and bacon-egg sandwiches for 6.50 eu. I hardly ever buy-on-board so I can’t say if this was a fair price or not. The coffee was alright and the sandwiches were pretty good. The flight attendants were a friendly bunch. It appeared that the signature on my credit card had faded off from being inside my wallet so long, and the flight attendant asked me to put it on again before accepting it.
The flight was pretty much eventless and I spend most of the time listening to music. I got some limited views of Paris as we flew over, but saw loads and loads of other traffic on the same airway over France. The cockpit crew came on the pa system again and informed us about the descent into MAD and the weather conditions.
We landed with views of the old Iberia “graveyard” as I had hoped. The taxi to the terminal seemed endless and took a long while. At one point we passed an old Fairchild Metro which was parked right in the middle of the airfield, without any cars or buildings or anything nearby! MAD seems to have more of these odd parking spots.
TAM traffic
Another example, 3 Gulfsteam I props parked in the middle of the taxiways, these have been here for a while..
More LCC traffic parked next to us
After docking and most of the pax had disembarked, I walked forward and asked the purser whether HV still had inflight magazines or not, as I always collect these and I hadn’t seen one in the cabin. He told me that due to cost cutting the only thing they are getting these days are “Two wings and that’s it”. When you look at the fact that even ultra-LCC Ryanair and other LCC’s still have in-flight mag’s for free it makes you wonder what HV’s financial situation is!
XRY at the gate
Some nostalgia on my way to the terminal
It was my second time in MAD after a week-long visit to Spain in May of 2011. I’d flown Ryanair out of EIN back then and my memories of the airport weren’t too good. Mainly because of the fact that terminal 1 is so old. It hadn’t changed a bit and I was happy that my LA flight would leave from T4 which is as I was about to find out, a whole different story. I had chosen in favor of MAD spotting instead of a lightning visit to the city center, as I had already been there in May. I quickly found the free coach to T4, the drive was about 20 minutes IIRC offering some nice views of the airfield, and of an unmarked abandoned DC9 standing next to the highway. The drop-off area of T4 looked very nice, but it wasn’t very busy as Iberia was on another strike.
LAN, that’s me!
The whole of T4 looked great from the first moment. I wanted to pick up an actual LAN boarding card in favor of the home printed one, but the lines at the check-in desk were very long. I asked one of the LAN staff and he directed me to a service desk where there were no lines. The guy sitting there didn’t understand why I wanted a new boarding card but he printed me one anyway. I decided to go straight to the non-schengen part of T4 and headed to the security check. The security check itself was very fast and efficient and the staff was quite friendly. I descended down 4 escalators to an underground train station for the unmanned shuttle to T4. The train ride was quite long, and after leaving the train and climbing a few stairs, I had to clear the passport control. The lady checking my passport didn’t say anything and waved me through instantly. The architecture in the gate area’s was equally impressive and I have to say this is one of the prettiest terminals I’ve ever seen.
One of the few IB flights leaving today
BA 767
Avianca
Conviasa
The Schengen part of T4 and the MAD financial district in the background
There were some drawbacks however, I found the toilets in the terminal to be quite filthy, and there were hardly any “functional” restaurants. I found a place which attempted to look like an American burger restaurant. I bought an overpriced burger which wasn’t very good as they had put some kind of sour butter on the bread… I believe the Schengen part of T4 has a McDonalds and some more restaurants. I spent the hours plane spotting, and one of the highlights was a stunning looking SBA 763 which unfortunately I couldn’t get a good picture of.
When wandering around the terminal I suddenly noticed that my plane was already there! Kinda disappointing as I was hoping to see it land. It wasn’t very busy at the gate area, and the majority of the people there seemed to be Germans. I don’t think more than 100 people boarded the flight in MAD. Due to the terminal architecture getting a good picture of the airplanes is quite a challenge.
CC-CQF, 10 years old at the time
Registration, check!
I do believe LAN has one of the nicest liveries out there
One of the 4 CFM-56-5C4 engines
Destination FRA
Nose and center gear
Boarding was called per row number, I always love glass jet-bridges
We were greeted at the door by the flight attendants and I made my way to the back. I was very impressed with what I could see of the cabin. Very stylish, nice choice of colors, and everything looked spotless. Much nicer than what airlines like BA, UA and DL and the likes offer on their long haul equipment. I made my way to my seat and the aisle seat was occupied by an old lady. I didn’t see her at the gate area so I assume she flew in from SCL. She later asked me something in Spanish, but when I told her that I don’t speak any Spanish she remained quiet.
Legroom, not half bad, but with an annoying entertainment box under the seat
Nice and large IFE screen, I also like the cup holder
My view for the next few hours
Seatpocket contents. I was very impressed with the eyeshades and earplugs that were provided for all economy pax. Hadn’t had this on any other flight before. The Eyeshades had a nice LAN Star on it so they I took those home.
IFE remote
After everyone got seated it did look that most of the aft economy section was full, so after all not a bad flight load. I think we left more or less on time, a long taxi to the active runway followed. On the ground I found the 343 to be extremely quiet, you could hardly tell if the engines were running or not. During the taxi I heard a lot of squeaky sounds as the long airframe rolled over the concrete plates. It seemed louder than I had heard on other flights, possibly because it wasn’t drowned out by the engine noise.
29-DEC-2011
LA704 operated by LAN Airlines
MAD-FRA
A340-313X
CC-CQF
Seat 29L 1st time on type 1st time on airline
Due to the short flight the plane wasn’t very heavily loaded and so I didn’t experience the infamous slow climb of the 343.
Winglet
Climb out over Spain
The fuel jettison tube
The inflight service consisted of a nicely decorated box with a ham/cheese sandwich and a small chocolate bar. I opted for a beer, hoping to get a Chilean one, but it turned out to be a very decent Spanish beer instead. The crew seemed quite friendly although I didn’t see them in the cabin much apart from the food service and waste collection. In all pretty good considering the ticket fare and seeing what other airlines offer on intra-Europe flights these days.
During the flight I switched between the ever popular moving map, and the very disappointing movie “Contagion”. The outside views were stunning, as we flew over the Alps as the sun set and so I was glued to the window for most of the time.
Nice cloud covering the mountain top
After about 1.5 hours in cruise, we started to descent into FRA as the sun shone it’s last rays of the day.
It was rapidly getting dark outside, and once we flew below the cloud layers covering FRA it was completely dark. The weather in FRA was quite miserable and we encountered some rain accompanied by turbulence on the descent. A smooth landing on the center runway and after taxiing we parked next to one of CC-CQF’s sisters flying for SriLankan Airlines, at the very end of Terminal 2.
After bidding the crew goodbye I left the plane and walked into the terminal. Because of the bad weather I couldn’t make any good pictures of the airplane. For the night, I had booked the nearby Ibis Kelsterbach, which, as I had experienced at the Anet 2011 Trip reporter meeting, offers good quality for a fair price. I got onto the unmanned train to T1 where I had to clear passport control before entering the landside terminal. The immigration officer waved me through and I entered the very crowded landside part of T1. I checked in for my flight the next day at one of the LH Kiosks. The seatmap showed a 735 which was half empty. Before going to the hotel I decided to grab a quick bite, and after following the McDonalds signs I entered a large underground mall which I had never seen before. FRA is always full of surprises!
After that I took the complimentary hotel shuttle to the Ibis, where I checked into the exact same room as last time. After updating my flight log in the hotel bar while enjoying an excellent German Weissbier (Franziskaner iirc) I called it a night. I had an excellent breakfast the next morning before heading back to FRA airport. I will definitely stay at the Kelsterbach Ibis again next time!
Let’s see what is on the planning for today, first off, a meeting with Daniel (Anet’s LH4532), my flight to DUS on LH, another meeting with Anet’s Wilco737, and then 5 train rides back home! I got to FRA ahead of Daniel and had to buy some lanyards and other LH merchandise for my coworkers, in one of the LH World Shops. The lady in the store was very nice and helpful. I checked the OPS screens and it showed DABIN, a 735 as hoped and planned for, as the equipment for my flight.
The famous LH FIS screen, I always stop to have a look
I met Daniel near the spotters terrace in T2 which was unfortunately closed for winter, even though it was decent weather outside. After having coffee and catching up it was time for us to go our separate ways. After saying goodbye to Daniel I headed to Terminal 1 for my flight. The security people were once again very pleasant and I think FRA’s airport security has among the most friendly and polite employees in the business. AMS and the TSA could learn from them.
FRA spotting never gets old!
The famous DAIRX
I checked the OPS screen again, and to my horror, it showed an aircraft change for my flight. DABEW was now scheduled. Bummer! DABEW is a 733, so still better than the usual change to a 32S, but still a major disappointment! I noticed that DABIN arrived late from MXP so I’m sure it had to do with crew rotation or something. I checked the later flights to DUS as my ticket was rebookable, but the next one wasn’t for another 5 hours and also a 733. Oh well! I spent the remainder of the time plane spotting until boarding was called for my flight.
The gate used the self-scan boarding card readers which open a gate to let you on board. After descending down some stairs and walking through a long corridor we got on the bus to a remote stand. As I plane spotter I don’t mind these long bus rides (this one took well over 10 minutes) but I can imagine it is very annoying for normal passengers.
TF-FIJ “Svandis”, my favorite 757, I always spot her everywhere I go
As if to rub it in my face, DABIN was parked close to my plane. Maybe I should make a run for it and see if I can get on board?
DABEW, at least it’s not an A320!
Registration, check
I was greeted by a flight attendant at the rear door and made my way to my seat. The plane seemed largely empty, and because of the change to a bigger plane, there was hardly anyone seated in the back. This would be my second 733 flight, the first one being on an (ex-LH) 733 now in service with Jet2.
View from my seat
Seat pocket contents
Decent legroom
The cabin
30-DEC-2011
LH78 operated by Lufthansa
FRA-DUS
B737-330
D-ABEW “Detmold”
Seat 22F 2nd time on type 6th time on airline
The runway quality seemed to be quite poor, as we hit a lot of bumps and dents shaking us around. The departure was very nice, circling over FRA and offering some nice views.
FRA
We reached cruise altitude quite fast, and the 3 flight attendants handed out meals to the business class pax. After this they all disappeared in the forward galley for the remainder of the flight, leaving the aft galley empty and not offering any service. Even though it’s a short flight, the cruise was around 30 minutes so they could have offered us some service. I was quite disappointed by the fact that we did not get anything at all, not even a chocolate bar or sandwich. This was my 10th flight with the LH group but the first time the service was inconsistent. I understand it’s hard to serve a fully loaded plane with only 30 minutes, but there were hardly more than 50 pax on board!
Turning and descending into DUS
On approach
Anet’s Wilco737 was at DUS, spotting at the moment, and he was kind enough to send me the following pics of the landing as seen from the ground. Thanks for that!
I’m not the only Dutchman here, too bad the DUS AMS fare on KL was well over 300 euros otherwise it would have made for a nice flight!
After disembarking
It was my first time at DUS and the terminal seemed mostly deserted. I followed the arrival without baggage signs and I ended up entering the terminal in a different arrival zone then for the pax with baggage. I found Wilco soon enough though. I hadn’t eaten since leaving the hotel so the first thing to do was get some sandwiches. The guy in the sandwich shop was so impressed by my German speaking skills that he forgot to charge the bottle of water
The impressive DUS terminal
Wilco and I headed up to the observation deck for some spotting, before taking the futuristic train to the parking lot / train station / second spotting place.
DABEW getting ready for the flight back to FRA
Air France Baby Bus to Paris
View from the second spotting area near the end of the runway
This one is high on my to-do list, in order to log the entire Dash-8 family
After spotting and catching up with Wilco it was time for us both to go home. We said goodbye and I headed towards the station. My itinerary for the train trip was as follows:
DUS Airport - DUS Central - Venlo - Utrecht central - Amersfoort.
5 different trains and 4 transfers. The shortest was by far at Dusseldorf Haubtbahnhof, and with only 1 train per hour to Venlo it was preferable that I made it. The transfer turned out to be no problem at all, and I got onto a very slow all station service to Venlo. The entire trip took about 4 hours but went very well, no delays and near empty trains all the way.
CrimsonNL From Netherlands, joined Dec 2007, 1618 posts, RR: 42 Reply 1, posted (1 year 2 weeks 1 day 17 hours ago) and read 7201 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW CHAT OPERATOR
Conclusions:
Rotterdam is a nice little airport, but I can imagine things get very crowded very quickly in high season. Transavia was, as I had experienced before, very decent. The crews are always very friendly and enthusiastic. The cabins are in good state! The only downside was the lack of an In-flight magazine.
Madrid T1 is a dump, but T4, wow! Very impressive. LAN seemed like a great airline, and I can definitely recommend them. The 343 was a joy to fly on and I could picture myself flying long haul with LAN.
Not much to say about FRA, I guess you either love it or hate it. Apart from the diverse traffic and all the LH heavies I think it could do with a lot of improvement service-wise. The LH flight I took was the first time I was disappointed with their service. If there’s no in-flight service, then you might as well take the train next time. They actually do advertise the service “even on short domestic flights” according to their website. DUS seemed like a nice airport, very clean and modern!
This concludes my end-of-the-year trip. I hope you enjoyed reading this report, and as always, questions, comments and remarks are always appreciated.
CaptainRed From Germany, joined Oct 2010, 578 posts, RR: 19 Reply 3, posted (1 year 2 weeks 1 day 12 hours ago) and read 6270 times:
Hi Martijn,
great report and of course congratulations for logging the A343. Great pictures as well, seems you had a nice and clear day for flying. That LAN flight is indeed a very popular 5th freedom flight and a really nice one. Have done it last year and enjoyed it very much, your report brought back some nice memories.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): Still a better deal than taking the train all the way from FRA I thought!
Definitely, everything is better than such a long train ride.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I hardly ever buy-on-board so I can’t say if this was a fair price or not.
I think that's reasonable price for a sandwich with a drink.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): He told me that due to cost cutting the only thing they are getting these days are “Two wings and that’s it”.
Oh, that's really bad. Even though I don't collect them I always like to browse through them during the flight. Always thought that these magazines sustain themselves through the advertising. Obviously not with Transavia.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): The architecture in the gate area’s was equally impressive and I have to say this is one of the prettiest terminals I’ve ever seen.
Definitely, T4 at MAD really has a great architecture.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I do believe LAN has one of the nicest liveries out there
Agree with you here.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I was very impressed with the eyeshades and earplugs that were provided for all economy pax.
Must be new, I didn't got them on my flight, otherwise the eyeshades would have also find their way into my bag ...
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I was quite disappointed by the fact that we did not get anything at all, not even a chocolate bar or sandwich. This was my 10th flight with the LH group but the first time the service was inconsistent.
Hmm, there should have time enough for at least a chocolate bar or something like that. Indeed disappointing.
It was great meeting you again. We did not talk that much during the A.net meeting back in July.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I was quite disappointed by the fact that we did not get anything at all, not even a chocolate bar or sandwich.
When I flew FRA-TXL last year in October we were given chocolate bars while boarding the place. They should also have done it like that.
[quote=CrimsonNL,reply=0]The guy in the sandwich shop was so impressed by my German speaking skills that he forgot to charge the bottle of water/quote]
Good to know. How good is your German ?
Lovely winglets, a real pleasure on the Airbus long haul aircraft (ex-A380).
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): The security people were once again very pleasant and I think FRA’s airport security has among the most friendly and polite employees in the business.
Yes FRA had some really nice friendly staff, especially the ones from LH. Too bad however no one could direct me to the LH World shop, but it was my mistake I asked for the store that sells Herpa planes.
photoshooter From Belgium, joined Feb 2010, 353 posts, RR: 20 Reply 6, posted (1 year 2 weeks 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 5979 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW CHAT OPERATOR
Martijn,
what a wonderful trip report!
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I finally decided to try out Dutch LCC Transavia again. It had been a while since I had flown them and it would be interesting to see how the service was these days
I have to say, HV really impressed me. At this moment, if I compare it with U2 and FR, I'd say HV is the best of all three
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): RTM was already very busy and the lounge seemed very crowded and cluttered with all kinds of furniture everywhere.
No they don't have that. Weird that they didn't showed ''Friends'' on that flight.
Normally they do that on such a flight followed by information about HV (commercial)
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I hardly ever buy-on-board so I can’t say if this was a fair price or not.
You may find that pricey but compared with other BOB airlines, I find it cheap!
ozzietukker From Netherlands, joined May 2007, 59 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (1 year 2 weeks 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 5940 times:
Interesting report!
Was it not cheaper to just book a return flight on either KL or LH from Frankfurt to Amsterdam and not use the return leg, or use the return leg for another trip? Those are normally available for 99 euro's.
Rotterdam Airport is small, even smaller then Eindhoven, and I will never use this airport again since you won't find me ever again on a Transvertragia flight, the 2 flights I have taken were both delayed more then 2 hours... In my opinion Easyjet is more value for money.
The Lan flights seems interesting enough, a widebody for short flights is always good!
gabrielchew From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2005, 2512 posts, RR: 13 Reply 8, posted (1 year 2 weeks 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 5902 times:
Nice report Martijn, and great that you can add your name to the long list of a.netter to have taken that LAN flight!
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): We reached cruise altitude quite fast, and the 3 flight attendants handed out meals to the business class pax. After this they all disappeared in the forward galley for the remainder of the flight, leaving the aft galley empty and not offering any service. Even though it’s a short flight, the cruise was around 30 minutes so they could have offered us some service. I was quite disappointed by the fact that we did not get anything at all, not even a chocolate bar or sandwich. This was my 10th flight with the LH group but the first time the service was inconsistent. I understand it’s hard to serve a fully loaded plane with only 30 minutes, but there were hardly more than 50 pax on board!
I flew FRA-DUS a few weeks ago in C and was wondering if there would be any service for Y pax. I was suprised that they didn't hand out a chocolate bar at the door like they did on MUC-FRA flights.
CrimsonNL From Netherlands, joined Dec 2007, 1618 posts, RR: 42 Reply 9, posted (1 year 2 weeks 16 hours ago) and read 5172 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW CHAT OPERATOR
Hi all, thank you for your replies.
Quoting MSS658 (Reply 2):
Great trip report, thanks for sharing!
I'm planning on doing the route itself once the 787's fly the route
Thanks Marc, that certainly sounds like an attractive option
Quoting CaptainRed (Reply 3):
great report and of course congratulations for logging the A343.
Thanks CaptainRed!
Quoting CaptainRed (Reply 3):
Must be new, I didn't got them on my flight, otherwise the eyeshades would have also find their way into my bag
Too bad you didn't get them!
Quoting CaptainRed (Reply 3): Hmm, there should have time enough for at least a chocolate bar or something like that. Indeed disappointing.
Yes, my thoughts exactly.
Quoting LH4532 (Reply 4): Deutsche Bahn is the best choice for me to travel within Germany.
Hi Daniel, I have so many bad experiences in the train that it has put me off train traveling, however I would like to try the ICE on some high speed runs sometime!
Quoting LH4532 (Reply 4): I am sure that LAN is the only carrier offering something like that on 5th freedom flights. Or I am wrong ?
I can't think of any other, I have never seen it in any economy class anywhere.
Quoting LH4532 (Reply 4): It was great meeting you again.
Likewise!
Quoting LH4532 (Reply 4): When I flew FRA-TXL last year in October we were given chocolate bars while boarding the place. They should also have done it like that.
Agreed.
Quoting LH4532 (Reply 4):
Good to know. How good is your German ?
Well I was sort of being sarcastic, I speak basic German, at least enough to order food and to find my way around!
Quoting flightsimboy (Reply 5): Nice report. It's amazing how you folk in Europe just hope on planes between different European cities in a blink of an eye!!
Hi FSBoy, I guess it's somewhat easier here seeing that our continent is about the size of your country
Quoting flightsimboy (Reply 5): See these in Toronto flying for one of the Canadian carriers.
Very nice!
Quoting photoshooter (Reply 6): I have to say, HV really impressed me. At this moment, if I compare it with U2 and FR, I'd say HV is the best of all three
Hey Niek! Yes I agree, though they are usually somewhat more expensive then the others..
As far as I know yes, I don't recall ever seeing an -800 there.
Quoting photoshooter (Reply 6): Aloha! What an exotic airline! is that an A342?
Nope, it's another 343
Quoting photoshooter (Reply 6): Thanks for the enjoyable TR! I wonder what's next...
Next up will be LHR on BA which I did with another Anetter, some blonde guy, forgot his name though!
Quoting ozzietukker (Reply 7): Was it not cheaper to just book a return flight on either KL or LH from Frankfurt to Amsterdam and not use the return leg, or use the return leg for another trip? Those are normally available for 99 euro's.
Hi Ozzie, I looked at that but fares were well over 250 euro's unfortunately!
Quoting ozzietukker (Reply 7): Rotterdam Airport is small, even smaller then Eindhoven, and I will never use this airport again since you won't find me ever again on a Transvertragia flight, the 2 flights I have taken were both delayed more then 2 hours... In my opinion Easyjet is more value for money.
Hmm I don't have any bad experiences on either of the airlines, I do believe HV is somewhat friendlier though I like EZY as well.
Quoting gabrielchew (Reply 8): Nice report Martijn, and great that you can add your name to the long list of a.netter to have taken that LAN flight!
Thanks Gabriel, it took a while but I'm happy I finally flew on this route!
Quoting gabrielchew (Reply 8): I flew FRA-DUS a few weeks ago in C and was wondering if there would be any service for Y pax. I was suprised that they didn't hand out a chocolate bar at the door like they did on MUC-FRA flights.
I wonder what the deal is with this as well, guess I should get myself a Biz seat next time
vandenheuvel From Netherlands, joined Dec 2008, 469 posts, RR: 2 Reply 10, posted (1 year 2 weeks 12 hours ago) and read 5023 times:
Hi Martijn,
Haven't heard from you in a while. Nice to see another TR.
I flew PH-XRY just 3 weeks ago on SZG-AMS. I couldn't help but notice how cramped it was compared to the -800. (HSE). Did they play the RTM promotional video with its loud disco music on this flight too? Absolutely horrible at 0700.
FlyingFinn76 From Finland, joined Jun 2009, 1705 posts, RR: 41 Reply 11, posted (1 year 2 weeks 11 hours ago) and read 4922 times:
Hi Martijn,
Good to have another report on the famous LAN intraeuropean flight. Looks like a nice way to end the year with some flying.
I did the LAN MAD-FRA flight two years ago and the short lived MAD-CDG hop one and half years ago - both were fine flights and a very nice way to catch an A340 in Europe.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): Luckily my dad was willing to drop me off in the early morning!
Props to him! Hope you brought a Spanish souvenir to him.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): HV recently introduced a fee for checked luggage, and the checks for carry-on bags were very thorough.
Oh, I didn't know they had only introduced them recently - I've always assumed them to be the usual LCC fare and thus done so already a long time ago.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): It actually happened ahead of the security check rather than at the gate, so anyone with luggage that didn’t fit in the size-wise was immediately send back to the check in desk. Good stuff!
Yes, that is a very sensible thing to do. Very good and customer oriented, I bet Ryanair would just done it at gate and made things much harder for pax.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I do think the 737-700 winglets is the nicest looking 737 (except for the originals)
Those winglets look so huge on the short -700! Wonder how a stubby -600 model would look with a pair...
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): For a minute it seemed the middle seat word remain empty, however the cabin crew reseated an incredibly tall guy here, which I thought was a nice touch to give him some decent legroom!
Tight legroom and Dutch people is not a good mix .
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I started to get a little hungry, and I bought a cup of coffee and bacon-egg sandwiches for 6.50 eu. I hardly ever buy-on-board so I can’t say if this was a fair price or not.
Well that looks good and offers quite good value for money, the sandwich is substantial and all. If they throw in a free refill of the coffee it would be an excellent price.
I think they simply have so much apron space and unused taxiways that they can just dump planes here and there without affecting the traffic flow. I don't know whether it was deliberately designed so or just another example of the "Spanish building craze" that has brought the country to the deep s**t it right now is, but the whole site of MAD is huge, I bet you could fit four Frankfurt Airports in there...
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): He told me that due to cost cutting the only thing they are getting these days are “Two wings and that’s it”.
Actually that is quite weird. I bet Ryan, Ezy and most of the carriers actually *make* money out of their magazines - they are full of adverts anyway and they can quote some really high readership figures so charges for those glossy full screen ads must be very high. So it seems to be a really weird thing to cut.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): Mainly because of the fact that terminal 1 is so old. It hadn’t changed a bit and I was happy that my LA flight would leave from T4 which is as I was about to find out, a whole different story.
Yes, T1 and 2 are horrible dumps. T3 is a bit better and as you said, T4 is world class.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I found a place which attempted to look like an American burger restaurant. I bought an overpriced burger which wasn’t very good as they had put some kind of sour butter on the bread… I believe the Schengen part of T4 has a McDonalds and some more restaurants.
Yes, T4 Schengen has a McD. No views from there though. Thanks for trying that burger joint, I've seen it a couple of times and always wondered how it would be and whether I should give it a try but never had the chance, looks like I didn't miss much!
Nice one. I flew CC-CQA on MAD-FRA and -CQE on MAD-CDG. Seemed identical to yours, including the interior.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): Seatpocket contents. I was very impressed with the eyeshades and earplugs that were provided for all economy pax. Hadn’t had this on any other flight before. The Eyeshades had a nice LAN Star on it so they I took those home.
Wow, my flights didn't have these! Maybe they were leftover from the transatlantic sector? Which would indicate that your seat was unoccupied during it?
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I opted for a beer, hoping to get a Chilean one, but it turned out to be a very decent Spanish beer instead.
Weird. I was first offered Heineken and managed to sweet talk myself into another one by saying that I really wanted to try a Chilean one
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): . Before going to the hotel I decided to grab a quick bite, and after following the McDonalds signs I entered a large underground mall which I had never seen before. FRA is always full of surprises!
Yes. But surely you have been there before, the same maze houses the FRA Hooters!
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): DABEW was now scheduled. Bummer! DABEW is a 733, so still better than the usual change to a 32S, but still a major disappointment!
Bugger, hate it when that happens! But at least it was still a 737. Now you just have to fly BT ex-AMS to Finland to log the 735!
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): This was my 10th flight with the LH group but the first time the service was inconsistent. I understand it’s hard to serve a fully loaded plane with only 30 minutes, but there were hardly more than 50 pax on board!
I flew DUS-FRA once on a fully loaded A319, the service was the same - a quick run in business class, nothing in economy. I don't think it is inconsistent at all, rather extremely consistent - since there is not usually time to serve everybody (in economy) they don't do it at all, no matter what the pax load. See, that is consistent.
Still they could do like on other short hops like FRA-MUC and hand out a chocolate bar or something similar while boarding (but then again FRA-MUC does also have a drinks run).
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): Anet’s Wilco737 was at DUS, spotting at the moment, and he was kind enough to send me the following pics of the landing as seen from the ground. Thanks for that!
Great! Very nice to have someone shooting photos of the plane which you are flying on!
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I’m not the only Dutchman here, too bad the DUS AMS fare on KL was well over 300 euros otherwise it would have made for a nice flight!
I bet you could've gotten a roundtrip for around 100 EUR!
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): This one is high on my to-do list, in order to log the entire Dash-8 family
Yes, Intersky is a very nice carrier and FDH a cute little airport with some Zeppelins around (and an observation deck, not that there's much to observe... ).
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): DUS Airport - DUS Central - Venlo - Utrecht central - Amersfoort.
5 different trains and 4 transfers.
I was a bit confused until I figured out you also counted the DUS Scheweban as a "train" .
But that's crazy, too many train changes for such a short journey anyway. I guess the DB and NS networks aren't that well integrated.
CrimsonNL From Netherlands, joined Dec 2007, 1618 posts, RR: 42 Reply 12, posted (1 year 1 week 6 days 12 hours ago) and read 4554 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW CHAT OPERATOR
Heya FF, thanks for the lengthy reply!
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 11): Props to him! Hope you brought a Spanish souvenir to him.
Yup, brought back some very tasty turron
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 11):
Yes, that is a very sensible thing to do. Very good and customer oriented, I bet Ryanair would just done it at gate and made things much harder for pax.
Hmm come to think of it, FR at EIN does have you check the bags in a size wize before clearing security. Certainly saves time not having a discussion at the gate!
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 11): Those winglets look so huge on the short -700! Wonder how a stubby -600 model would look with a pair...
That would be awesome
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 11): Tight legroom and Dutch people is not a good mix
I hear that..
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 11): but the whole site of MAD is huge, I bet you could fit four Frankfurt Airports in there...
Indeed! They say taxi times at AMS can be bad but this was a loooong trip as well.
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 11): I should give it a try but never had the chance, looks like I didn't miss much!
Nope, better stick to a panini or something
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 11): Wow, my flights didn't have these! Maybe they were leftover from the transatlantic sector?
Hmm that would make sense I suppose, after all who would need eyeshades on a 2 hour flight? Still a nice find!
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 11): Yes. But surely you have been there before, the same maze houses the FRA Hooters!
I've actually never been to the Hooters at FRA :P
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 11): Still they could do like on other short hops like FRA-MUC and hand out a chocolate bar or something similar while boarding (but then again FRA-MUC does also have a drinks run).
That would have been nice!
Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 11): I was a bit confused until I figured out you also counted the DUS Scheweban as a "train"
Ah yes I couldn't find the word for it, very futuristic!
airbuseric From Netherlands, joined Jan 2005, 4015 posts, RR: 52 Reply 13, posted (1 year 1 week 6 days 10 hours ago) and read 4453 times:
Nice report Martijn. Next time HV again? They do install new slimline seats, plus the 738 get 1 row of 3 seats additional (from 186 to 189 capacity). Would be interesting to see how that would be. No smilies on the seats I heard, but just plain green... fake leather seats.
Good to see CQF still active. I flew the same registration on the same leg, some years ago. Better catering back in the days, but now they still do a good service.
Regards
Eric
"The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going"
Knightsofmalta From Malta, joined Nov 2005, 1415 posts, RR: 17 Reply 14, posted (1 year 1 week 6 days 10 hours ago) and read 4447 times:
Hi Martijn
Thanks for the interesting report. I'm starting to develop a taste for these European fifth freedom flights. I visited Rotterdam earlier this year by train. It's a nice city and very different from Amsterdam. I think Lufthansa flies there now as well, or will very soon.
Transavia looks quite nice. I still haven't quite decided if I like the seats though. That looks very green and bright. Still I guess it makes a change from the usual same old same old.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Reply 1): Madrid T1 is a dump, but T4, wow! Very impressive.
I couldn't agree more. You look at T1 at think that somebody must have really put a lot of effort into designing something so utterly ugly!
Hey Eric! Wouldn't hesitate to book them again, depending on the route of course!
Quoting airbuseric (Reply 13): Would be interesting to see how that would be.
Indeed, I think the current seats are quite comfy actually.
Quoting Knightsofmalta (Reply 14): I think Lufthansa flies there now as well, or will very soon.
Hi William! I know they have been planning on sending a CR7 from MUC which I think should be a very interesting route! However I heard they have trouble getting the ATC slots or something..
Quoting Knightsofmalta (Reply 14): Transavia looks quite nice. I still haven't quite decided if I like the seats though. That looks very green and bright. Still I guess it makes a change from the usual same old same old.
I agree, it does get a little obnoxious after a while though, all that green
Too bad it didn't work out with the 735, but thankfully they are still relatively common and you'll hopefully have another chance.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Reply 1): The LH flight I took was the first time I was disappointed with their service.
Indeed disappointing. Last time I flew domestically within Germany with LH, they distributed chocolates before take-off and then water during the flight. It was FRA-FDH, a bit longer than FRA-DUS though.
Have a good time in NK - looking forward to read about that! (I'll be going in July...)
Cheers,
LXM83
signol From United Kingdom, joined Oct 2007, 2948 posts, RR: 7 Reply 17, posted (1 year 1 week 5 days 4 hours ago) and read 3932 times:
Hi Martijn,
nice report! Thanks.
Rotterdam looks like a typical, smaller Dutch airport - admittedly I've only experienced Eindhoven! Still very busy though - any possibility of airport expansion?
Transavia look like one of the better LCCs, despite the normal tight legroom.
MAD is nice, or rather, as you say, T4 is nice. Like LHR and T5 I especially like the colours of the ceiling beams, slowly changing shade as you walk along. (I had a 7h layover in the satellite a few years ago, 18:00 to 01:00, and didn't leave the building).
Lan continue to show excellent service, and quality, especially for an intra-EU flight. I must try to get on it one day!
LH really not serving anything onboard? Strange, they could have handed out a chocolate or cereal bar on boarding even, with a bottle of juice or similar...
akhmad From Netherlands, joined Sep 2005, 2332 posts, RR: 53 Reply 18, posted (1 year 1 week 4 days 11 hours ago) and read 3677 times:
Hello Martijn,
It has been a while. How nice to read something from you again. With dark Kasteel beer in the hand, I am ready to go.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I noticed DUS in one of the train itineraries and figured I might as well fly to DUS, and hop on the train there to Venlo. This short international train trip would only set me back 15 euros.
Nice to know that you enjoy the benefit of free travel with NS as well.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): The airfare and train ticket set me back around 100 euros. Still a better deal than taking the train all the way from FRA I thought!
Are you serious?
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): an added bonus, as I had never flown from Rotterdam airport, at least not as an airline passenger.
Not as an airline passenger? Please tell more about it!
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): Luckily my dad was willing to drop me off in the early morning!
What a hero your dad was!
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): My friend and former travel companion was on duty at RTM that morning, and secured me a seat at the exit row. I happily accepted that as I’m a tall guy and the HV legroom isn’t very good!
Why did you not travel with your companion anymore? Because of the relocation to RTM?
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): HV recently introduced a fee for checked luggage, and the checks for carry-on bags were very thorough. It actually happened ahead of the security check rather than at the gate, so anyone with luggage that didn’t fit in the size-wise was immediately send back to the check in desk. Good stuff!
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): The departure terminal features a small observation deck where I was the only one at that moment.
Specially reserved for you!
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): however the cabin crew reseated an incredibly tall guy here, which I thought was a nice touch to give him some decent legroom!
But what if you paid for the emergency exit row and found out that your seat companion just got away with that?
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): It appeared that the signature on my credit card had faded off from being inside my wallet so long, and the flight attendant asked me to put it on again before accepting it.
Nice! But did you not need to insert your PIN code?
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): The guy sitting there didn’t understand why I wanted a new boarding card but he printed me one anyway.
How accommodating of him.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I have to say this is one of the prettiest terminals I’ve ever seen.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): Due to the terminal architecture getting a good picture of the airplanes is quite a challenge.
A possible disadvantage of modern architecture.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I do believe LAN has one of the nicest liveries out there
Along with Nordwind Airlines.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): but when I told her that I don’t speak any Spanish she remained quiet.
Poor lady. She must have got lonely all the way from SCL.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): The Eyeshades had a nice LAN Star on it so they I took those home.
Cheeky, but I would have done the same.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): Due to the short flight the plane wasn’t very heavily loaded and so I didn’t experience the infamous slow climb of the 343.
So, you experienced something more like the rocket launch of an MD-80?
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I opted for a beer, hoping to get a Chilean one, but it turned out to be a very decent Spanish beer instead.
Cruzcampo is fine. As long as it is not Heineken, like when I flew KE in 2009.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): had to buy some lanyards and other LH merchandise for my coworkers, in one of the LH World Shops.
Too bad I missed the shop last year. Did you spot any baseball cap on sale?
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): As I plane spotter I don’t mind these long bus rides (this one took well over 10 minutes)
Neither did I last year. What a joy!
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): We reached cruise altitude quite fast, and the 3 flight attendants handed out meals to the business class pax. After this they all disappeared in the forward galley for the remainder of the flight, leaving the aft galley empty and not offering any service
How disappointing.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): The guy in the sandwich shop was so impressed by my German speaking skills that he forgot to charge the bottle of water
Could he not be charmed by your good looking appearance as well?
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I started to get a little hungry, and I bought a cup of coffee and bacon-egg sandwiches for 6.50 eu. I hardly ever buy-on-board so I can’t say if this was a fair price or not. The coffee was alright and the sandwiches were pretty good.
The price is alright considering that it tasted good.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter):
Due to the short flight the plane wasn’t very heavily loaded and so I didn’t experience the infamous slow climb of the 343.
Yes, that's what I also experienced on my FRA-MAD flight last year.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I met Daniel near the spotters terrace in T2 which was unfortunately closed for winter, even though it was decent weather outside.
It's a shame what happened to the observation decks at FRA...the old ones at T1 were perfectly located and also open in winter.
SCL767 From Chile, joined Feb 2006, 8266 posts, RR: 5 Reply 20, posted (1 year 1 week 3 days 22 hours ago) and read 3503 times:
Hola Martijn,
Very nice trip report on LA's MAD-FRA A343 operated flight. Also, great photos of CC-CQF! I've taken this flight many times and it is always a joy!
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I made my way to my seat and the aisle seat was occupied by an old lady. I didn’t see her at the gate area so I assume she flew in from SCL. She later asked me something in Spanish, but when I told her that I don’t speak any Spanish she remained quiet.
When the flight arrives at MAD, all pax must disembark and proceed to the transit area. Meanwhile, the a/c is re-catered and cleaned. Also, some pax traveling between LIM and FRA connect onto this service from LAN's daily flight from LIM.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): Seatpocket contents. I was very impressed with the eyeshades and earplugs that were provided for all economy pax. Hadn’t had this on any other flight before. The Eyeshades had a nice LAN Star on it so they I took those home.
This is a relatively new product that LAN introduced for Y passengers.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Reply 1): LAN seemed like a great airline, and I can definitely recommend them. The 343 was a joy to fly on and I could picture myself flying long haul with LAN.
The A-340-313X will soon be history on this route. LAN will deploy the B-787-8 on the SCL-MAD-FRA route daily after LAN receives its first few B-787-8s.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with us and I'm glad you had a good experience flying LAN!
roberts87 From Netherlands, joined Dec 2011, 660 posts, RR: 0 Reply 21, posted (1 year 1 week 3 days 17 hours ago) and read 3418 times:
Hi Martijn,
Nice to read about your LA 343 trip, I took that flight last month as you know. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it just as much as you did.
HV is indeed pretty decent, although I wouldn't want to fly them on a 5 hour sector to Turkey or something considdering the legroom. And a great idea to fly from FRA to DUS.
Good to hear about your positive experience at the IBIS in FRA. Better then my experience. When I stayed there last year, I got a smoking-room even though I requested non-smoking, and the airport shuttle was running well behind schedule.
Hi Tim, I forgot to reply to you earlier on. Nice to see that you've also got the XRY. Was SZG any good?
Quoting vandenheuvel (Reply 10): Did they play the RTM promotional video with its loud disco music on this flight too? Absolutely horrible at 0700.
No thankfully not! I can imagine that is pretty bad!
Quoting LXM83 (Reply 16):
Nice report, this LA flight from MAD to FRA has been on my to-do list for a while...
Hi LX, I'm glad you liked it. Join the big crowd of anetters who have flown this route I'd say
Quoting LXM83 (Reply 16):
You make it sound like you were on a long-haul flight
I wouldn't have minded that!
Quoting LXM83 (Reply 16): Have a good time in NK - looking forward to read about that! (I'll be going in July...)
Actually, I'm also going in July! Good to know you are going as well, it will be nice to meet you again!
Quoting signol (Reply 17): Still very busy though - any possibility of airport expansion?
Hi Signol, I don't believe that there will be any expansion soon. Airports in the Netherlands aren't very popular in the first place and I doubt they will get permission to expand.
Quoting signol (Reply 17):
Transavia look like one of the better LCCs, despite the normal tight legroom.
I agree, it's just something about their image. They weren't always like this, in the past they would actually feed you on board!
Quoting akhmad (Reply 18): It has been a while. How nice to read something from you again. With dark Kasteel beer in the hand, I am ready to go.
Hi Suryo, it has been a while indeed. Thanks for your reply!
Quoting akhmad (Reply 18): Nice to know that you enjoy the benefit of free travel with NS as well.
Not any longer! The money I spent on train tickets could have easily gotten me a plane ticket to the USA by now.
Yes as I recall, the train-only itinerary out of FRA was roughly 90 euros, and the train/plane combination to DUS was around 100.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 18):
Not as an airline passenger? Please tell more about it!
I once flew to a crappy French airport out of RTM, on a private King Air C90. Our mutual friend Tim wrote a report about it back in the day. I didn't use the terminal back then.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 18):
Why did you not travel with your companion anymore? Because of the relocation to RTM?
We used to travel a lot together, but that just sorta stopped.. I don't know why as we still get along very well.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 18): But what if you paid for the emergency exit row and found out that your seat companion just got away with that?
Well, seeing how insanely tall this guy was, I guess you couldn't stay angry
Quoting akhmad (Reply 18): Nice! But did you not need to insert your PIN code?
Nope, just the old fashioned signature!
Quoting akhmad (Reply 18): Iberworld? Please tell me more!
The brand name Iberworld no longer exists, so I found it funny to still see it on these AKE's.
That's it! Would have loved a ride on that when it was seeing better days.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 18): What if it happened to be Syrianair?
It it was a 747SP, I would happily give up my 340 seat
Quoting akhmad (Reply 18): Along with Nordwind Airlines.
Indeed. It was nice seeing that in your previous report, one of the KLM 767 I flew on (BZA) is now also with Nordwind as VQ-BPT.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 18): So, you experienced something more like the rocket launch of an MD-80?
Hmm something in between, it still wasn't very spectacular
Quoting akhmad (Reply 18):
Cruzcampo is fine. As long as it is not Heineken, like when I flew KE in 2009.
I agree! I never like to get Heineken when I'm traveling. Not when I'm at home either I must say. I always like to sample some local beer instead!
Quoting akhmad (Reply 18): Too bad I missed the shop last year. Did you spot any baseball cap on sale?
Hmm no I don't recall seeing that..
Quoting akhmad (Reply 18): Could he not be charmed by your good looking appearance as well?
Haha I guess it may have been a factor in getting the water for free
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 19): nice report about your LA A340 mission. Congratulations on getting on that type for the frst time.
Hi PH, thanks and I'm glad you liked the report.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 19): It's a shame what happened to the observation decks at FRA...the old ones at T1 were perfectly located and also open in winter.
Hmm I have never experienced this platform. I do think the T2 one is great, but why would you close it on a nice winter day?
Quoting SCL767 (Reply 20): When the flight arrives at MAD, all pax must disembark and proceed to the transit area. Meanwhile, the a/c is re-catered and cleaned. Also, some pax traveling between LIM and FRA connect onto this service from LAN's daily flight from LIM.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing that! I had figured the pax would stay on board instead.
Quoting SCL767 (Reply 20):
The A-340-313X will soon be history on this route. LAN will deploy the B-787-8 on the SCL-MAD-FRA route daily after LAN receives its first few B-787-8s.
All the more reason to fly this route again
Quoting roberts87 (Reply 21): Nice to read about your LA 343 trip, I took that flight last month as you know. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it just as much as you did.
Thanks Robert!
Quoting roberts87 (Reply 21): Good to hear about your positive experience at the IBIS in FRA. Better then my experience. When I stayed there last year, I got a smoking-room even though I requested non-smoking, and the airport shuttle was running well behind schedule
Hmm that certainly is disappointing... Thankfully my stay was perfect.
Hi Suryo, I was with you when you made that photo. Remember?
Quoting CrimsonNL (Reply 22): Hi Tim, I forgot to reply to you earlier on.
I'm glad. I was a little worried you've forgotted about me SZG Airport was nothing special. The city however was great. I also enjoyed a nice snowy train ride to Munich. Great scenery along the way.
25 Sultanils: Haai Martijn, Cool report! Nice to see something up from RTM, that airport is not much covered here. And Transavia as well, those seats look very 70-i
26 deltamartin: Hey Martijn! Great report, it was a very enjoyable read! Good idea to fly the LAN 5th freedom flight. Also nice to see that you had a nice trip with s
27 CrimsonNL: Hi Nils and Martin, thanks for the replies. INN sounds like fun, maybe try to catch the Welcome Air D38 or the Monarch 752 back to LGW while you're at
28 Parton87: Hello Martijn! Really good story with nice pictures. LAN looks like a really good carrier! Strange with no service on LH. You would at least expect so
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