adamspotter From Netherlands, joined Feb 2011, 784 posts, RR: 2 Posted (7 months 2 weeks 1 day 3 hours ago) and read 4649 times:
Introduction
Let me take you back in time for a second. Back before my great summer vacation, as I then started booking flights for this weekend trip. KLM were having some nice offers to different European destinations to which I decided to book a round trip.
Of course I wanted to chose an airport that I haven’t been to before so after scrolling through the different destinations I chose Helsinki Vantaa Airport and booked the flights immediately. Departing AMS on Saturday (September 8th) mid-day and arriving back Sunday (September 9th) in the evening.
Of course I didn’t want to keep it at these 2 flights, so I decided to book some more (ex- HEL) once I got back from my vacation.
So an absolutely fantastic vacation in the USA/Canada ( for trip reports on my vacation see the bottom of this TR) followed and once I was home again I immediately started looking for some interesting flights ex HEL. After about an hour of searching different websites, I found an attractive fare on Air Baltic from HEL to ARN via RIX. Leaving HEL on Saturday night and departing from RIX early on Sunday morning, both flights with a Dash 8. With BT being a new airline and RIX a new airport I booked the flights right away.
All I needed now is book a flight from ARN to HEL to catch my evening KLM flight back to AMS. As many of you know there are a lot of different airlines that fly this route. As I have been wanting to fly Norwegian for a while now I decided to look at their fares first. I immediately found an acceptable fare and booked it (leaving ARN mid-day).
Spending the night in Riga meant I had to book an hotel. As I will be arriving in RIX at night and departing RIX bright and early the next morning my preference went out to an hotel close to the airport. The closest (and cheapest) hotel was the Sky High Hotel located just a 5 min walk from RIX, so I made a reservation there.
Hello everyone and welcome to my 18th trip report featuring part 2 of this weekend trip I made. Due to the large amount of pictures made, this series will be split into 2 parts. Part 1 will contain my first 2 flights (AMS-HEL-RIX), while part 2 will contain my last 3 flights (RIX-ARN-HEL-AMS).
The map for this part, thanks to the Great Circle Mapper:
The map for this weekend trip, also thanks to the Great Circle Mapper:
It’s 05:15 on Sunday morning the 9th of September when my alarm clock goes off. It’s not as early as Markus usually has to wake up, but still pretty early for me! While getting out of bed, I make my way towards the bathroom to take a nice shower that will hopefully wake me up.
After a nice and refreshing shower I gather my belongings and head towards the reception desk. The same receptionist as last night was still there and seemed to have just woken up. I purposely tell her “good morning” with a big smile on my face which she clearly doesn’t appreciate but hey, I had a laugh in the inside!
After handing in my key I took the 5 minute walk towards the terminal building where I arrived at 05:50.
Check-in area:
As I already got my BP yesterday at HEL I headed straight towards security. There was barely anybody there so I was through within a few minutes without a problem.
As there wasn’t much to do or see this early in the morning I decided to head straight to my gate and wait there. Assigned gate for this flight is B10, a bus gate. So I headed downstairs to ground level where my gate is:
The FIDS don’t look all to interesting this morning, except for the Uzbekistan Airways flight to JFK:
Boarding
BP for this flight:
After playing a game on my laptop for 10 minutes, boarding is called (at 06:22) for flight BT101 with destination to Stockholm Arlanda. I grabbed my belongings and joined the small formed que. The gate agent scanned my BP and had trouble with tearing it as there was no tear line (which is why my BP looks like that in the picture above). I stepped into the waiting bus and 5 minutes later we made our way towards our aircraft.
Once realizing there would be no equipment change all I was hoping for now was a new registration. Last night’s flight I got YL-BAX and this morning I get:
YL-BAF, a little more than 2 year old prop delivered factory fresh to Air Baltic on 27/07/2010 and a new registration for me.
I exited the bus and took one last shot of this nice and looong prop:
While entering the aircraft I was greeted by a female FA and made my way towards my seat: 8D. After getting settled in I took a quick look outside:
Flight crew consisted of 2 female FAs, nothing too special but they did their job with a smile. The door was closed at 06:40 and one of the female FAs came on the PA with the usual announcements and an announced flying time of 1 hour. No welcome from the cockpit, only later during flight with some info. Flight load was half full at 50% with the seat next to me occupied, but after the doors were closed my neighbor moved up a few rows which was very nice.
At 06:45, 10 minutes ahead of schedule, we started taxi to runway 36:
Take Off
At 06:50, still 5 minutes ahead of schedule, we rolled onto runway 36 and started take-off roll immediately:
Lifting off in no time:
The sun coming up in the distance:
The city of Riga in the background:
Air Baltic logo:
Seatback Contents
Seatback contents were the same as last nights flight.
BOB Service
Once the seatbelt sign got switched off the FAs performed the usual BOB service. I ordered a coffee to wake me a bit up, it got served in quite a big cup and tasted quite nice I must say. Price was 2.50EUR:
The sun coming up over the Baltic sea caused for some nice pictures:
Once land was in sight, we started our approach towards ARN:
Landing
After a couple of turns we were into final approach for runway 26:
Gear down:
And touchdown at 06:58, 12 minutes ahead of schedule:
We exited runway 26 and taxied to our assigned gate:
The UA 757 will be heavily delayed, but more on that later:
A good old MadDog, catch them while you can as Alitalia is phasing there last ones out very quick:
This Norwegian 737 (LN-NOR) turned out to be the plane that will fly me to HEL later during the day:
And in our final parking position at 07:02, still 8 minutes ahead of schedule, well done BT:
Once the seatbelt sign got switched off I bid the crew farewell, exited the aircraft and headed towards the terminal building.
Spotting @ ARN
As my Norwegian flight to HEL won’t be leaving until 12:25 I decided to do some spotting from the same place I spotted a couple of months ago, which is at the end of the F gates and offers nice views of aircraft taxiing by after landing on runway 26.
But first a quick picture of my aircraft:
adamspotter From Netherlands, joined Feb 2011, 784 posts, RR: 2 Reply 1, posted (7 months 2 weeks 1 day 3 hours ago) and read 4645 times:
Making my way towards the F gates:
This will be my spotting place for the next 3 hours. It wasn’t all too busy at ARN this morning as most traffic consisted of SAS 737s being towed to their gate. In the meantime I also made use of the now free WIFI that Swedavia offers to catch up on some trip reports:
Heading to somewhere sunny:
Just arrived from HEL:
Just arrived from ADD:
Just arrived from AMS:
Just arrived from ZRH:
Just arrived from VIE:
This big boy was heading to ORD:
Check-In
Unfortunately Norwegian doesn’t offer online check-in. So just over 2 hours before departure time, at 10:20, I decided to head back to the check-in area to collect my BP. But first a quick look at the FIDS, the UA 757 was now delayed until 23:30, a whopping 14h25mins. My flight to Helsinki looks to be on time, leaving from gate 11:
At 10:30 I was at the designated check-in area and approached one of Norwegians SSKs. Close to the SSKs is United’s service desk which had quite a long line with mad and shouting people causing quite a scene. Poor United, those TATL 757s seem to be delayed a lot!
Anyway I approached one of the SSKs, put in my confirmation number and selected my seat. To my surprise all of row 1 was still empty so I immediately opted for 1F. 2 minutes later the machine successfully spit out my BP and I headed straight to security.
There was a small line at security, so after 10 minutes I was through without a problem. As I hadn’t had any breakfast yet, I was feeling quite hungry so decided to have a bite to eat somewhere. I eventually opted for O’learys sports bar which coincidentally was situated next my assigned gate, 11:
While logging onto Facebook I realized that fellow a.netter Jonas (LH4116) was sitting in the SAS lounge awaiting his flight to Gdansk. So after a bit of messaging he came over and joined me for a short 20 minutes. We had all sorts of talks, most of it obviously being about aviation before he had to catch his flight and my flight was about to board in a couple of minutes. Jonas, it was nice to meet you and hope to see you again soon!
Boarding
BP for this flight:
Just before boarding time our aircraft finally rolled into the gate, not sure where it came from. LN-NOR will be doing the honors on this leg, delivered factory fresh to Norwegian on 23/02/2011:
Boarding time passed while the gate area got very crowded:
Eventually 10 minutes past original boarding time, at 12:05, boarding was called for flight DY 4285 with destination to Helsinki. The usual mad dash towards the gate followed as if the plane was to depart any second, so I decided to sit down and wait until most of the passengers had boarded.
After about 5 minutes I made my way towards the gate where the friendly agent scanned my BP and wished me a pleasant flight.
I headed through the jetway and entered the aircraft where I was kindly greeted by 2 male FAs. As my seat was in the first row I immediately put my carry-on in the luggage bin, got settled in, and took a quick look outside:
The first impression of the cabin was a very good one, a nice and clean plane in good condition. This plane was also fitted with the new Sky Boeing interior. Flight crew consisted of 1 male purser, 1 male FA and 1 female FA. Can’t say much about them as I barely had any interaction with them (only at the door when entering and exiting the aircraft). Flight load on this flight was about 80% with the seat next to me empty and the seat in the aisle occupied by a Norwegian pilot.
Once the door was closed, at 12:25 the male purser came on the PA with the usual announcements and a flying time of 40 minutes. No welcome from the cockpit, they came on later during flight with some info.
2 minutes after the door was closed, at 12:27, we started pushback while the drop down TVs were showing the safety demonstration:
We taxied to the active, which was runway 19R passing by this sistership LN-DYJ:
A Thai Airways 744 getting prepared for its flight back to BKK. This shot is dedicated to Win (Win1290) who will be flying the BKK-ARN route soon:
Turkish 737 getting prepared for its flight back to IST:
Take Off
8 minutes behind schedule, at 12:33, we rolled onto runway 19R and started take-off:
And lift off!:
Seatback Contents
Legroom shot:
The Norwegian.com branded bulkhead:
Safety card:
Norwegian magazine celebrating their remarkable 10 years anniversary:
A very nice thing that Norwegian offers is free WIFI on board. So once the seatbelt sign got switched off I grabbed my laptop and tried to connect to it. For some reason it wasn’t working for me, not sure if it was because of my laptop or the connection from Norwegians side. I decided not to bother the crew about it, as it is a short flight, and instead played a game.
In the meantime the crew came around with the BOB service but I didn’t bother:
In no time we started our descent towards HEL:
Through the clouds:
Landing
After a bunch of turns we were in final approach for runway 22L:
adamspotter From Netherlands, joined Feb 2011, 784 posts, RR: 2 Reply 2, posted (7 months 2 weeks 1 day 3 hours ago) and read 4634 times:
And touchdown at 14:13, 7 minutes ahead of schedule:
It’s great to hear that that oldie is still flying:
We exited runway 22L and taxied to our assigned gate, 26:
Being back in HEL means more Finnair heavies!:
Finnair tail design:
In our final parking position at 14:18, still 2 minutes ahead of schedule:
The seatbelt sign got dinged off so I grabbed my belongings, bid the crew farewell and was one of the first ones off the plane. As my last flight back home didn’t leave until 18:20 the same ritual as yesterday followed. I headed towards the baggage claim and passed customs, to which I once again was of no interest. Once at the arrivals hall I headed straight to Café Picnic where my second mini a.net meet of the day followed.
Back when I was waiting for my flight at ARN I started messaging with fellow a.netter Jani (AYA333) on Facebook about a possible meet at Helsinki. After a bit of messaging we decided to meet up at Café Picnic.
Once arriving at Café Picnic I waited for about 10 minutes until Jani arrived from the bus. First, we decided to head over to HELs viewing terrace. It is quite small but still offers some ok views. From here I did some spotting and had some nice talks with Jani:
As it was quite windy and cold from up here we decided to wait for the UIA AN 148 to arrive before heading back inside. Fellow a.netter FlyingFinn76 flew this route and type not too long ago: Antonov 148 And UIA On KBP-HEL (by FlyingFinn76 Sep 7 2012 in Trip Reports)
We headed back towards the terminal and had some coffee and food at Starbucks. From here we had more aviation and non-aviation talks before heading up to the check-in area to collect my BP.
Check-in
I had already check in online at my hotel in Riga so all I needed to do was print my BP. I headed over to one of the SSKs, inserted my FF card and decided to change my seat to the last row, as it was still showing 3 empty seats, in the hope those would remain empty. The SSK machine spit out my BP and we headed towards security. Before heading through I bid Jani farewell. Jani it was great to meet you and hope to see you again soon, thanks for the nice talks.
Security wasn’t all too busy so I was through within 10 minutes without a problem. As I still had a little over an hour before boarding time I found a place to sit and made use of the free WIFI while catching up on some more trip reports.
Boarding
BP for this flight:
Around boarding time, at 17:40 I headed over to my assigned gate which was by coincidence the same gate I arrived at earlier on Norwegian, gate 26. The gate area was quite crowded and boarding hadn’t commenced yet so I took a quick picture of my plane. PH-BXT will be doing the honors on this leg, a more than 8 year old plane delivered to KLM on 13/05/2004:
Boarding was called for flight KL1170 with destination to Amsterdam at 17:45, 5 minutes behind boarding time. I waited for a bit before joining the now smaller queue. A friendly gate agent scanned my BP and wished me a pleasant flight to which I thanked her and headed into the jetway.
Once entering the plane I was greeted by a male and female FA in a friendly manner. I walked all the way to the last row where an older Dutch couple were already occupying 33 D/E, bummer. After putting my carry-on into the bin I got settled into my seat and took a quick look outside:
Flight crew consisted of 3 female FAs and 1 male Purser, all in a good mood and did their job with a smile. The doors were closed 10 minutes ahead of dep. time (at 18:05) and after looking around I would say the flight load was close to 100% with just 1 empty seat to be seen. The male Purser came on the PA with the usual announcements and an announced flying time of 2h10mins followed by the flight deck who also welcomed us onboard and gave us some flight info.
While the crew were performing the safety demo we started pushback at 18:15, 5 minutes ahead of schedule:
We then started taxi to runway 22R:
Take Off
We rolled onto runway 22R and started take-off immediately:
And lift off at 18:24:
Snack Service
Once the seatbelt sign got switched off I grabbed my laptop and starting watching a movie. In the meantime the crew were preparing the snack service. 2 crew members started in the front and 2 in the back which was quite efficient. Being in the last row I was served immediately by a very friendly female FA. Snack consisted of 2 slices of bread. One with cheese and the other with egg salad. Both tasted quite tasty:
Together with that I got a Sprite:
After the snack the crew came around offering coffee and tea. I opted for a coffee:
Together with that we got one of these delicious Punselie “stroopkoekjes”:
Starting descent towards AMS:
A nice view of Batavia stad:
Making a couple of turns over the beautiful Dutch landscape:
Landing
And into final approach for the “Zwanenburgbaan” also known as 18C:
Parallel to us was a KLM Cityhopper Fokker landing on 18R:
And touchdown at 19:39, 16 minutes ahead of schedule!:
We exited 18C and taxied to our assigned gate D83:
What a beauty!:
Over the A4 highway:
Sun Express 737 getting prepared for a flight back to Turkey, probably filled with Dutch:
Kenya Airways getting ready for its flight back to NBO:
And in our final parking position at 19:45, 10 minutes ahead of schedule:
The seatbelt sign got switched off and the plane started to empty. Being in the last row I had to wait for a while. In the meantime another KLM 737 taxied into the gate next to us:
I thanked and bid the crew farewell before exiting the aircraft. It was the first time that I arrived at the D gates upstairs. So quite a lengthy walk followed to the baggage claim area and arrivals hall. Once arriving at the baggage claim area I went through customs without a problem and headed outside where my dad was kind enough to pick me up as there were still construction works on the rails.
Conclusion
Sky High hotel: Nothing special, but a nice place to stay if you have an early flight out of RIX the next morning.
Air Baltic: Another good impression. Left and landed ahead of time which is practically all that I wanted/expected. BOB service coffee cup was quite generous, tasty and not all too pricy.
Stockholm Arlanda: Had some nice spotting hours, despite it not being all too busy, and a nice mini meet with Jonas (LH4116).
Norwegian: Can’t say all too much about them as it was such a short flight. The cabin was in great condition, can’t say too much about the crew and we arrived at HEL ahead of schedule. Too bad the WIFI didn’t work but no idea who’s fault that was. Hope to fly them again soon and then on a longer flight.
Helsinki Vantaa: A nice airport to have a layover at and a great mini meet with Jani (AYA333)
KLM: A bit cramped being seated in the very back with all 3 seats occupied. But that would be on any airline being as tall as I am. The service was good, crew were great and I got to AMS well ahead of schedule. Another good and solid performance by KLM.
So this will end part 2 of this weekend trip. If you’re still reading, thank you very much for taking the time to read this report, it is much appreciated.
Please feel free to leave a comment or ask a question, I would really appreciate that!
My next report will be on a fifth freedom flight I took a couple weeks ago. Which one? Wait and see!
FLIEGER67 From Turkey, joined Sep 2003, 4391 posts, RR: 57 Reply 3, posted (7 months 2 weeks 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 4493 times:
Hoi, B.,
nice pictures and detailed story.
That map looks like the really crazy day of flying around northern europe.
Well done this way.
And also a good variety of airlines and aircrafts.
Quoting FLIEGER67 (Reply 3): That map looks like the really crazy day of flying around northern europe.
Well done this way.
And also a good variety of airlines and aircrafts.
PlaneHunter From Germany, joined Mar 2006, 6191 posts, RR: 79 Reply 5, posted (7 months 2 weeks 15 hours ago) and read 4109 times:
Hi Brendan,
another great report with many stunning pictures! The weather was perfect for flying!
Quoting adamspotter (Thread starter): I ordered a coffee to wake me a bit up, it got served in quite a big cup and tasted quite nice I must say. Price was 2.50EUR:
MSS658 From Belgium, joined Oct 2010, 2212 posts, RR: 14 Reply 9, posted (7 months 1 week 6 days 11 hours ago) and read 3480 times:
Hallo Brendan
Good trip report, thanks for sharing it with us. It looks like you had a great weekend in Riga
I'm quite surpised to see than Uzbekistan flight to JFK as well! DY, BT and KLM seam to offer decent service. I like the sunrise pics on the RIX-ARN leg.
Nice to hear about the mini A.net meeting in ARN as well
CaptainRed From Germany, joined Oct 2010, 578 posts, RR: 19 Reply 10, posted (7 months 1 week 6 days 9 hours ago) and read 3451 times:
Hi Brendan,
nice trip you have put together here, well done. Also some very nice pictures. Covers a few familiar things for me so it was an ejoyable read.
Quoting adamspotter (Thread starter): I purposely tell her “good morning” with a big smile on my face which she clearly doesn’t appreciate but hey, I had a laugh in the inside!
Hey, give her break, it was at 5 on a Sunday morning ...
Quoting adamspotter (Thread starter): The sun coming up over the Baltic sea caused for some nice pictures:
Indeed, lovely views.
Quoting adamspotter (Thread starter): But first a quick look at the FIDS, the UA 757 was now delayed until 23:30, a whopping 14h25mins.
Wow, that's really bad, even worse than the delay on the UA 757 I have seen at BHX recently.
Quoting CaptainRed (Reply 10): Wow, that's really bad, even worse than the delay on the UA 757 I have seen at BHX recently.
Yes, I was thinking of your report when writing that
Quoting CaptainRed (Reply 10): Nice catch, the 737-900 is the only 737 subtype that is still missing in my log. And KLM service also looks quite good, as expected.
jwhite9185 From United Kingdom, joined May 2007, 722 posts, RR: 0 Reply 15, posted (7 months 1 week 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 2865 times:
Good conclusion to your trip there Brendan. The snack your got on your KLM flight was interesting as I got a KLM branded waffle on my flight back in August, where as yours looks like it was an off the shelf product.
adamspotter From Netherlands, joined Feb 2011, 784 posts, RR: 2 Reply 16, posted (7 months 1 week 1 day 5 hours ago) and read 2730 times:
Quoting roberts87 (Reply 14): Excellent report as usual Brendan, thanks for posting.
Hi Robert,
Thanks, glad you liked it
Quoting roberts87 (Reply 14): Some nice scenery down there accross the Baltic, hopefully something for me next year!
yes, definetely worth a visit
Quoting jwhite9185 (Reply 15): Good conclusion to your trip there Brendan
Thanks J.
Quoting jwhite9185 (Reply 15): The snack your got on your KLM flight was interesting as I got a KLM branded waffle on my flight back in August, where as yours looks like it was an off the shelf product.
Knightsofmalta From Malta, joined Nov 2005, 1418 posts, RR: 17 Reply 18, posted (7 months 6 days 14 hours ago) and read 2559 times:
Hi Brendan
As usual a lovely report with many excellent pictures, especially the ones of the rising sun on your way from RIX to ARN. When I got stuck up in Helsinki recently I found an interesting alternative with Air Baltic to Zürich via Riga. Unfortunately though, the timings were no good.
As for KLM, they're just such a great airline. Thanks for posting!
Hello there William,
Its great to hear from you again
Quoting Knightsofmalta (Reply 18): As usual a lovely report with many excellent pictures, especially the ones of the rising sun on your way from RIX to ARN
Thank you very much! Yes, the sunrise was quite nice
Quoting Knightsofmalta (Reply 18): When I got stuck up in Helsinki recently I found an interesting alternative with Air Baltic to Zürich via Riga. Unfortunately though, the timings were no good.
That is unfortunate!
Quoting Knightsofmalta (Reply 18): As for KLM, they're just such a great airline. Thanks for posting!
deltamartin From Sweden, joined Dec 2010, 1059 posts, RR: 9 Reply 20, posted (7 months 11 hours ago) and read 2085 times:
Hi Brendan!
I finally got around reading the second part! A nice read as usual!
Glad to see your flights worked out fine and you had 2 mini-meets, a nice day all in all!
One of the BT flights I have booked is currently on the Dash but I would actually prefer a 735 or F50!
Quoting adamspotter (Thread starter): A good old MadDog, catch them while you can as Alitalia is phasing there last ones out very quick:
Good choice of frame as well, since I believe OY-KGT is the first MD80 delivered to SAS and hence the oldest aircraft in the SAS fleet. I have two flights logged on that bird, "Hake Viking".
Quoting deltamartin (Reply 20): I finally got around reading the second part! A nice read as usual!
Nice to know and glad you enjoyed it!
Quoting deltamartin (Reply 20): Glad to see your flights worked out fine and you had 2 mini-meets, a nice day all in all!
Another great weekend all in all
Quoting deltamartin (Reply 20): One of the BT flights I have booked is currently on the Dash but I would actually prefer a 735 or F50!
I would have much rather preffered that too
Quoting deltamartin (Reply 20): Good choice of frame as well, since I believe OY-KGT is the first MD80 delivered to SAS and hence the oldest aircraft in the SAS fleet. I have two flights logged on that bird, "Hake Viking".
Didn't know that, thanks for the info!
Quoting deltamartin (Reply 20): In the old and better livery! May it rest in peace.
Indeed
Quoting deltamartin (Reply 20): I believe the DY system doesn't assign row 1 until the last ones, so they are often open. I haven't taken advantage of this free perk yet though!
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