This is the second part of a trip report I posted earlier. You can find it at http://www.airliners.net/discussions/trip_reports/read.main/30569/
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The GYLC ended way too soon on the 8th of August. After 12 wonderful days it was time for me to go to the Sunshine State—Florida—for 3 weeks to visit some friends. My chosen carrier (as mentioned earlier) was Delta. My routing was LGA-CVG-JAX, followed by JAX-ATL-IAD on August 31. Flights were okay—nothing special, really (except for the fact that I was “randomly” chosen for inspection at my gate at LGA, and my 2 suitcases—which took forever to pack—were chosen for a “random” search at JAX on my return).


On the 31st of August, after an early start at JAX, I found myself in Washington/Dulles with a FIVE-HOUR layover. Yippee. I spent my time spotting the plethora of planes flying into and out of the airport and visiting every single terminal/concourse, riding the Mobile Lounges countless times. Most terminals are quite boring, especially the Main Terminal, except for the Midfield Concourse B—it’s modern and chock-full of restaurants, shops, and huge windows providing lovely views of the action outside.

View Large View Medium Photo © Matthew Lee

View Large View Medium Photo © Rafal Szczypek

The Delta check-in agent at JAX was unable to check me all the way to AUH (although she could do that for my luggage!), so she advised me to check-in once at IAD. At 14.00—3 hours after arriving from ATL—I entered the Pre-Security area and headed towards the SWISS ticket desks. They were a bit hard to find, but I finally found them tucked in a corner of the spectacularly retro Main Terminal, designed by Eero Saarinen. The desks were closed, but opened soon after. The check-in agent, an Egyptian lady, was friendly, and we had an interesting conversation on what life is like for Arabs in post-Sept. 11 America. My boarding passes (IAD-ZRH, ZRH-AUH) were issued quickly and, before I knew it, I was past security, waiting for my trip back home.

The hours passed slowly, but 16.55 eventually came, and boarding was announced for…

Flight: LX035
Washington/Dulles IAD - Zurich-Kloten ZRH
Aircraft: Airbus A330-200; HB-I??
Departure Time: 17.30
Arrival Time: 07.45
Class: Economy Seat: 29J

Boarding today was from Gate H2, which turned out to be a remote stand gate—meaning a final good-bye trip on the Mobile Lounge! Boarding took a long time, and it was apparent from the beginning that this was going to be a full flight. Eventually, though, I ended up in another gleaming, white SWISS A332. The Airbus quickly filled up.
Before long we were soaring at 30,000 ft over the vast, blue Atlantic. Crew soon started the drink/snack service, again with that wonderful Swiss Mix!   One marked difference in this flight was the cabin crew: they weren’t as friendly as the ones before them (plus they were older). Nevertheless, service was efficient and quick. Dinner service commenced about 1.5 hours into the flight. Choice was the same as the inbound flight a month ago—pasta or another choice. I took the pasta, turned out to be the same (tomato/basil sauce), but this time with spaghetti. It didn’t taste as good as it did coming out of ZRH, although this meal, like the pervious ones, was catered by GateGourmet. Interesting. At least they didn’t ruin the rolls!   Other than that, it was a fine, enjoyable meal.
After missing out on ice cream on my inbound flight, I was determined not to miss it this time! And sure enough, ice cream was served shortly after dinner trays were cleared. Basically, every passenger was served a portion-sized tub of strawberry Mövenpick Swiss premium ice cream. Now, I don’t particularly like strawberry, but I tell you…strawberry never tasted so good! It was at the perfect temperature (not frozen solid, nor was it consommé!), had the perfect consistency, and it had real strawberry bits—Glorious! That definitely was the high point of that flight.
The rest of the flight was pretty uninteresting. I tried watching Clockstoppers, but it was just too excruciatingly painful to continue. I opted instead to listen to music and chill out. I did manage to get a couple of hours’ sleep (in 20-minute installments), and was wide-awake by the time breakfast was served. Unfortunately, I cannot recall what was served, but I’m pretty sure there were bread rolls involved!  Whatever it was, I’m sure it was a good meal.

Time passed quickly after that and, before I knew it, I found myself sitting at 08.00 in a café in the middle of Terminal A, sipping on a steaming cup of coffee. Beside me was my seatmate from LX035—a nice Indian-American woman on her way to a wedding in New Delhi. She would keep me company till shortly before noon, when her flight left. All I could do after that was wait until I boarded my final flight until the summer of 2003.

Sunday, 01/09/2002
Flight: LX228
Zurich-Kloten ZRH - Riyadh Int'l RUH - Abu Dhabi Int'l AUH
Aircraft: Airbus A330-200; HB-I??
Departure Time: 13.00
Arrival Time: 23.30
Class: Economy Seat: 31K

View Large View Medium Photo © Alexander Jonsson

View Large View Medium Photo © Alexander Jonsson

The flight was originally scheduled to depart at 12.35, with boarding commencing at 12.10 (as stated on my boarding pass). I was at the gate—which turned out to be the very same gate I used more than a month ago for my ZRH-IAD flight—half an hour early. The lounge was already beginning to fill up with passengers, mostly Arabs (especially Saudis) coming back from their Swiss/European/North American holidays; I even happened to run into a teacher from my school who was returning from her summer vacation in her native Austria. At this point I was getting really tired—I just wanted to get home. 12.10 came and went, yet nothing happened. Boarding began at 12.35 with no explanation or even an apology for the delay. Nevertheless, boarding was quick and problem-free. Economy was 100% full, while Business Class fared less well, with around 10-15 seats occupied in the entire cabin. I couldn’t catch the loads in First Class, unfortunately.

Pushback was quick and so was take-off. Drinks were served within the first hour or so into the flight, along with that great Swiss Mix. The cabin crew on this flight was, at first impression, great—they were younger than those on the transatlantic flights, friendlier, and much better-looking. I also noticed something strange: in all of my previous flights on SWISS, the flight attendants were mostly female, with one or two males; on this particular flight, though, there were more males; now was that merely a coincidence, or was it because the flight made a stop in Saudi Arabia? Nonetheless, they did a great job (although they weren’t as friendly as their female counterparts). What I found particularly nice was that all the children on the flight (and there were a lot!) were given toys and entertainment packs--some even got two!
Dinner (or was it lunch?) was served shortly. There were two choices, which I unfortunately cannot remember at the moment! I do remember that it was good, though (as expected). Ice cream was served on this flight as well, chocolate this time. Heavenly.
Lights were dimmed shortly after the ice cream tubs were collected. Most of the passengerseither went to sleep or watched TV. I chose to play some of the games, listen to my recently purchased Kylie CD, and watch anything good that happened to be on. I managed to waste quite a considerable amount of time that way.
An hour or so out of Riyadh, a light meal was served. Sadly, the exacts of this meal escape me, as well!  Suffice it to say, though, it was good. Especially since they served delicious, fluffy croissants.
The funniest thing on the flight happened towards the end of it. At the beginning, there were a few ladies wearing a hijab, or veil. But as the captain announced our approach to RUH, ¾ of the ladies in Economy left their seats and headed to the lavatories. Slowly, one by one, they returned dressed completely in black—black robes and head covers—and soon the cabin seemed completely different, as if new passengers replaced those who boarded in Zurich! Obviously, these women were disembarking in Riyadh. It was quite a site to behold!

Landing was smooth and uneventful. As we parked at the gate, passengers continuing on to Abu Dhabi were informed that transit time was 40 minutes, and that they were required to remain on board for that duration. Even the crew remained onboard. Most of the passengers disembarked, leaving behind 30 or so passengers, including myself, who were to fly on to Abu Dhabi. It was uneventful, with most passengers just walking up and down the cabin for exercise. Interesting note: the taillights were switched off the entire time we were on Saudi soil (I noticed the reflection of our plane on the terminal’s windows).

40 minutes after arriving in Riyadh, flight LX228 left Riyadh’s International terminal to complete the final leg of its—and my—journey.
After take-off the captain informed us that flight time was to be a quick one-hour and a half. On this leg of the flight, the crew was very attentive and extra efficient. To my surprise, a light snack was served on this short sector. Another meal!  They really do stuff you silly on SWISS! I was not disappointed with this “snack”: it consisted of cold cuts, salad, cheeses, fruit slices, and a delicious dessert. The crew were very liberal with the croissants and bread rolls, offering seconds, even thirds, to whoever wanted. This service, coupled with the free seat beside me and the clear skies, made this flight the best I had had in a long time.

The hour passed as quickly as the wind, and SWISS flight LX228 touched down at Abu Dhabi International Airport shortly after 23.30. The captain welcomed us to Abu Dhabi, where the temperature was a not-too-pleasant 30 degrees Celsius and humidity was a sticky 90%. Ouch. He thanked us for flying SWISS and wished to see us on another flight soon. As I disembarked, a gorgeous, blonde flight attendant smiled at me and said good bye.

My month-long expedition across half of the world had ended.

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Photo © Jonathan Simmons


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I hope you liked my very first trip report. Granted it's a bit too long, but I wanted to shed as much light as possible on an airline that, I feel, does a great job.
Your comments are welcome!  

TalalAUH