FLIEGER67 From Germany, joined Sep 2003, 2193 posts, RR: 50 Posted (4 years 3 months 2 weeks 5 days 20 hours ago) and read 3398 times:
1 day, 4 airlines, STR-PMI-BCN-PMI-STR with PIX
Introduction:
I had 2 days free of work, gone day 1 STR-LYS-FCO-STR and want to use some changeable tix from not working trips today for this trip.
Flight 1:
Tuesday, 18.10.2005
STR (Stuttgart-Echterdingen) - PMI (Palma de Mallorca-Son San Juan)
X3 5330 operated by HLX owned by Germania D-AGES B 737-700
Scheduled: 06.10 // 08.25
Actual: 06.15 // 07.50
Gate: 406 Seat: 06C
Load Factor: near 100 %
Fare: 64,29 EURO booked early October
Delivered to Germania Fluggesellschaft: 30.06.1998
Operated for HLX since : 01.03.2003
After a real short night I arrived by car at STR airport at 04.45 early in the morning.
Walked to T3 where Stuttgart Ground Services operated the check in for HLX.
STR T3 HLX desks, 04.45 am:
2 desks open, only 5 or 6 pax in front. A older female was ready to check me in after 2 or 3 minutes to wait. What to say about, annoyed, mumbling only, she had not her best day, today, more later.
I was pax No. 89 this time.
Not that crowd today at T3 security, so I passed quickly to the airside part of T3, no action outside as
STR opens at 06.00 am.Down the stairs to my gate, lots of people there and settled down on another free gate with a lower number of people around. I picked up my boarding pass and was surprised, I saw a pre assigned seat No. 6C, no free seating on this flight. I thinked about and remembered that tour operators had also seats on this flight and so it will be the only HLX service with fixed seating. That female at check in did not tell me and dont asked me about my choice of seating,
real bad service. C was the aisle seat, I waited till a female arrived at the gate and asked if its possible to change to a window, she said not unfriendly that she will look for it. But the flight was nearly full and all windows occupied.
Boarding started early at 05.40 by bus.
Leisure flight No. 3 on the B737-700 and the first on this plane. At the aircraft at 05.50 am, welcomed by a middle aged female FA at the front door, not to friendly. Boarding was the expected chaos, I heard 6 or 7 times, sorry thats my seat around. Some pax thinked about free seating, some others dont find theyre announced seats and so on. Leather seats, only limited space there. Boarding was finished at 06.05. We´re the third plane today after a HapagFly B737-800 and a Swiss EMB145 to depart from runway 07.
A long run this time and a not to steep departure follows.
Flight route: STR-west of ZRH-GVA-Marseille-PMI. 3 female FAs on the flight, not to friendly at all.
Some of the pax had meal and drink vouchers from their tour-operator, some had to pay, they need ages
for their service. Calm flight, detailed informations from the flightdeck, that was ok. They had screens
in the plane and used it for HLX advertisings and the other positive thing, for a inflight map system.
Inside HLX:
Detailed informations from the flightdeck about wheather conditions at PMI inflight.
More interesting for me than to the others around. Approach started 25 minutes ahead of arrival, heavy brakes and thrust-reversers for a quick stop on PMIs runway 24L.
Deboarding by a finger gate nearly 30 minutes ahead of schedule.
My plane from STR to PMI:
Tuesday, 18.10.2005
Flight 2:
PMI (Palma de Mallorca-Son Sant Juan) - BCN (Barcelona-El Prat)
IB 1713 operated by Iberia MD - 88 EC-FIG
Scheduled: 11.25 // 12.10
Actual: 13.10 // 13.50
Gate: D64 Seat: 15A
Load Factor: around 60 %
Fare: 36,62 EUR booked early October
Delivered to Aviaco: 31.10.1991
Merged with IB: 01.09.1999
In the public area at 08.00 am. I checked the screens if there is another, earlier IB service to BCN, it isnt and further decided to check in and go airside for some spotting.
Only some pax at the IB desks, no time to wait. A very friendly and helpful elder female checked me in.
I asked if she bring my Asia Miles membership number in the booking, it was impossible online as the number was to long. First she thinked about Asiana Airlines and replyed that Asiana has no partnership with IB but I explained that I mean OneWorld member Cathays programm and she fixed it quickly.
I was pax No.12 for this flight.
Boarding was announced for 10.55 am , so I spend the next 2 1/2 hours to explore PMI airport and view the traffic there. Tuesday is UK day with lots of action around: Thomsonfly, First Choice, Jet2, Excel,My Travel,Thomas Cook and so on, interesting.
The A area is the oldest part of the building, B for the regional flights, C the newest part for all the UK flights today and D for the others.
AREA C deserted:
Traffic:
My plane for the later flight?:
Arrival Air Europa AREA A:
Back at the gate at 10.30, lots of pax there and the announcement: retrasardo that means delayed on the screen. No time for the delay was announced. Two females at the gate with lots of hysteric pax around. The older female explained that the plane will not arrive before 12.30, turnaround needs 30 minutes more, that means a expected departure not earlier than 1 pm. Another IB service departs 1 hour later than our scheduled time at 12.20, so some pax want to change to this flight but she told that only the few ones with early connections will be allowed to change and had to go to the IB service desk.
The plane for the other BCN service arrived, an A320, no question for me to wait for the MD 88.
EC-FIG arrived as announced at 12.30, parked at our gate.
EC-FIG finally arrived:
Leisure flight no. 1 , on the MD 88.
The handlers worked fast and we´re allowed to board at 1.00 pm.
Retrasardo:
Yeah, that was a real old-fashioned one, fabric seats and good legroom. 1 male, 2 females on the plane, all friendly.
Pushed back and on the way to taxi to runway 24R,
no time to wait there and a powerful, typical MD departure follows.
The pilot appologized for the delay during the flight and explained it with the bad wheather conditions around BCN. The FAs come around with free spanish newspapers, no more ser vice there.
Clouds all around, BCN wheather forecast was not to good this day. Approach started after 15 minutes in flight along the coastline, circling around some heavy clouds and a hard touchdown on
BCN´s runway 07R follows.
I know the taxi procedure at BCN, but it was again amazing, the beachside runway was used for the arrivals, that means crossing the active departure runway is not allowed, so we taxied in the middle between the two runways along the side till the other end, passed and the whole track back to the IB area at Terminal A. Deboarding by a finger gate. In the public area at 2 pm, to late for a city sidestep.
Tuesday, 18.10.2005
Flight 3:
BCN (Barcelona-El Prat) - PMI (Palma de Mallorca-Son Sant Juan)
JK 5722 operated by Spanair owned by AerBal B 717 EC-HUZ
Scheduled: 15.45 // 16.30
Actual: 15.45 // 16.25
Gate: 29A Seat: 08F
Load Factor: around 80 %
Fare: 36,44 EUR booked early October
Only 2 or 3 customers at the Spanair check in desks. A young, very friendly female checked me in,
brought my Miles and More account in the booking, I will see if they pay miles for this fare.
I was pax No. 27 this time.
I crossed security without problems and had 1 1/2 hours to wait for my flight back to PMI.
Heavy action at BCN, so the time goes by quick. Interesting was a Russian TU-154 titled Continental Airlines and all the european traffic, LH/BA/AF/AZ LoCos like Easyjet/Germanwings/Helvetic/AirBerlin and so on.
EC-FIG leaves BCN again:
BCN action ground floor:
Down the stairs to the bus gates at 3 pm, a heavy rain shower outside, they changed departure/arrival
directions twice and boarding started early at 3.10 pm. We had a free apron tour as the plane parked far outside beneath two untitled F100s, the regs informed me about the GirJet planes operating for Spanair.
First time, leisure flight No.1 on the B717.
3 very friendly young females on this service.
A LH A320 had to wait at the entrance to the active runway 25 R, we´re allowed to depart first.
What a powerful takeoff, I ám impressed about the 717. One round with free sweets, thats it.
Fabric seats, good legroom.
Calm flight, no shakers.
Again clouds during most of the short flight, approach started after 15 minutes in flight, 20 minutes ahead to arrival on PMIs runway 24L.
No thrust-reversers this time, only low brakes and parked at a finger gate.
Quick deboarding and in the public area at 5.00 pm.
EC-HUZ after deboarding at PMI:
Flight 4:
Tuesday, 18.10.2005
PMI (Palma de Mallorca-Son Sant Juan) - STR (Stuttgart-Echterdingen)
AB 9389 operated by AirBerlin B737-800 D-ABBL
Scheduled: 20.15 // 22.15
Actual: 20.45 // 22.30
Gate: D64 Seat: 30A
Load Factor: 100 %, no empty seat
Fare: 182.-- EUR booked first as one-way STR-CTA in early April and rebooked in early October
Delivered to Euralair France: 14.12.1998
Leased to Air Horizons: 01.01.2004
Leased to Air Berlin: 01.05.2004
Main problem for this trip was to connect my changeable, existing AirBerlin booking with a acceptable outbound fare STR-PMI and with a not to high inbound PMI-STR. I checked all the operators from STR: Germanwings/HLX/LTU/Condor and so on, fares going high till 200.-- Euros for both outbound and inbound legs, so Tuesday out on HLX and back on this high AB fare was the only possible way.
Not much to see outside PMI Airport, the announced check in desks for the STR flight closed, what to do now?
Unbelievable,the old, small terminal:
PMI screen:
I walked along the desks and saw a counter with an AirBerlin sign, lucky there is one counter from InEuropa Handling open the day long for all pax with cabin-bags only.
No other customers there. I presented my Top Bonus card and a middle aged, real friendly female checked me in. I crossed security and was airside PMI at 5.30 pm, 2 hours 45 minutes prior to departure.
Again EC-FIG at PMI, fresh air,please:
Push back, cool pilots:
They had a fire fighter exercise at the eastern runway, so all the action at the western runway,
good to follow from the A area. Lots of british planes like in the morning and the usual european leisure action. Boarding was announced for 7.30 pm, so short after 7.00 pm I decided to go to the D area where the AirBerlin Palma actions operate.
Lots of people there, roundabout 10 - 12 AB flights on the screens with connecting pax from all around Spain and Portugal to destinations in Germany, Austria and the UK.
Gate 64 was empty, my flight was delayed. Settled down and waited for the arrival of my plane.
D-ABBL, one of the 737-800s without winglets arrived at 8.00 pm and parked at D64.
Leisure flight No.8 on the 737-800 and the first on this plane.
The pax queueing at the gate, dont they think about the turnaround time?.
Boarding started then at 8.30 pm through finger gate D64. Welcomed by a friendly male FA at the front door, total 1 male, 3 female FAs on this flight, all friendly.
Free newspapers and magazines on offer during boarding. The captain welcomed us and apologized for the delay about the wheather conditions today. Pushed back at 8.40 pm and airborne from runway 24 R
at 08.50 pm. It was dark and cloudy outside, not much to see. Flight route: PMI/Marseille/Geneva/west of Zurich/Lake Constance/STR.
Service: A cold plate with ham and cheese, salad and a small cake, a fresh bread roll, soft drinks, coffee or tea.
Calm flight, no turbulences.One further information about the expected wheather conditions at STR and flight details.
Approach to STR runway 07 started 30 minutes ahead of departure, a hard, bumpy touchdown and back at STR at 10.30 pm, 15 minutes delayed. We vacated late at the last exit before the end of the runway, maybe that was a fast approach.
No finger gate this time, parked at the apron for the nightstop and deboarding by bus.
Another welcomed gesture was that one of the girls gone down the rear stair first and wished her pax a personal goodbye on the ground, I am impressed there was only a temperature of 4 degrees celcius this late evening.Back in the public area quickly and on the way back home.
Conclusion: "Normal" travellers call me silly, but 7 flights on all different aircraft types in 2 days, not bad for me as an aircraft enthusiast.
HLX: Positive the good fare and the map system, negative the unfriendly employees and the not well organized thing itself, be aware HLX, thats not the best way.
IB:Positive,friendly employees, a real good fare and a first time plane for me, negative the delay but not bad for IB.
Spanair: Positive, good fare, ontime service, very friendly employees, what do you want more these days on such a short hop and another first time plane for me, real good JK.
AirBerlin:Positive, the best personal service on a german airline during my last flights, friendly employees at all, negative the high fare and the small delay, but over all a OK to AirBerlin.
Comments and critics, as always, welcome,
Markus (FLIEGER67)
MH017 From Netherlands, joined Apr 2005, 1115 posts, RR: 24 Reply 2, posted (4 years 3 months 2 weeks 5 days 19 hours ago) and read 3297 times:
Markus,
Excellent trip-report: good to see you were able to "do" so many different aircraft-types and airlines within such a short time.
Think, the PMI-BCN-PMI fares are quite reasonable...wow, HLX arriving almost half-an-hour early...
As a big AB-supporter (TopBonus silver member already, aiming for Gold ) I'm very glad to see you enjoyed their flight and in-flight service...
Looking forward to your excellent future trip-reports: keep up the excellent work
Contact Air From Germany, joined Apr 2001, 913 posts, RR: 13 Reply 3, posted (4 years 3 months 2 weeks 5 days 18 hours ago) and read 3285 times:
Hi Markus,
interesting report and great pics!
Quoting FLIEGER67 (Thread starter): Conclusion: "Normal" travellers call me silly, but 7 flights on all different aircraft types in 2 days, not bad for me as an aircraft enthusiast.
Well, I guess most members of A.net will think the same way as you do! I somehow envy you for so many flights.
Quoting FLIEGER67 (Thread starter): HLX: Positive the good fare and the map system, negative the unfriendly employees and the not well organized thing itself, be aware HLX, thats not the best way.
Obvisly HLX didn't perform too well on that flight. I have to say that I find these HLX-flights to PMI somehow strange with a mixture between a low-cost flight and a "real" charter flight: pre-assigned seats on the one side (but nobody seems to know about that...), meal vouchers for some of the pax, paying for meals for the others... what a chaos! In my opinion they should give back that route to their "mainline" airline Hapagfly again to avoit this confusion.
Airbuseric From Netherlands, joined Jan 2005, 2207 posts, RR: 20 Reply 4, posted (4 years 3 months 2 weeks 5 days 18 hours ago) and read 3277 times:
Nice to read about your B717 experience with JK, as I will do the same in coming March on a domestic flight in Spain. Really looking forward on this flight!
Also Air Berlin is in this day, and I also look forward to fly them, as I only hear positive stories about this airline!
TriStar500 From Germany, joined Nov 1999, 4646 posts, RR: 52 Reply 6, posted (4 years 3 months 2 weeks 5 days 7 hours ago) and read 3118 times:
Hi Markus!
That's a very nice trip idea, and also an interesting means to compare the standard of a lagre variety of airlines in very little time.
Seems like HLX did not have their very best time on your day of travel; unfortunately that's the impression many fellow travellers seem to get when they compare the direct competitors HLX and Germanwings.
So you got on the MD-88? Lucky you! This variant of the "Mad Dog" is the only one still missing in my collection in Iberia colors after flying the MD-87 and even the DC-9 a couple of times. Maybe I will look out for the opportunity of another daytrip to Spain in order to do a side trip like you did - unfortunately, my Madrid-daytrip in December was shortened after several schedule changes from 8 to just 2,5h layover.
Not much to add about JK and AB, they are both very fine low cost carriers IMO, who show that you don't have to lower your business to Ryanair style in order to be competitive and financially healthy.
Homer: Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!
Ndebele From Germany, joined Apr 2001, 2885 posts, RR: 37 Reply 7, posted (4 years 3 months 2 weeks 5 days 5 hours ago) and read 3084 times:
Hi Markus, and thanks for this interesting report. Your first report with pictures, well done, I enjoyed it!
You were indeed lucky to get both the MD-88 and (more important) the B717, did you choose your flights by purpose just to get this aircraft combination, or was it more like a lucky coincidence?
FLIEGER67 From Germany, joined Sep 2003, 2193 posts, RR: 50 Reply 8, posted (4 years 3 months 2 weeks 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 2947 times:
First of all, thanx for your replys.
Mark:That was a real great day. I had no problems till now with IB.
MH017: I know about your last AB trips, tell us more when you do the next level!
Christoph:These crazy A.netters!. Yes, thats also my opinion about HLX to PMI, this one will be better done by HLF itself.
Eric: Tell us more after your trip,thats interesting to compare your experiences with mine.
Andy:My second one with pix, I will work on higher standards!
Jens:So, your´re in Madrid in December, I will tell you, when I´am also be there, joke, nothing planned like this, tell us more after your trip.
Alex: I choose this flights in the meantime for this aircraft combination, fares ok, let´s go!
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From Netherlands, joined Apr 2005, 1115 posts, 
This variant of the "Mad Dog" is the only one still missing in my collection in Iberia colors after flying the MD-87 and even the DC-9 a couple of times. Maybe I will look out for the opportunity of another daytrip to Spain in order to do a side trip like you did - unfortunately, my Madrid-daytrip in December was shortened after several schedule changes from 8 to just 2,5h layover.
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