Introduction

In August Ryanair announced the opening of a new route from Tampere: Rygge/Moss, the quickly growing airport that is surpassing Sandrefjord/Torp as THE low cost airport for Oslo. At the same time they also announced the closing of a couple of routes ex-TMP, but as any PR professional will tell you: hide the bad news within the good news! Anyway being a fan of inaugural flights (not that I expect FR to have any special celebrations, but maybe the TMP airport will have something!) I decided to do it. The date of the first flight would be 31st of October, so the flight was booked for a reasonable 34 EUR including priority boarding and the various fees.

I couldn’t find anything interesting from Rygge onwards, so I had to fly back from the main Oslo airport Gardermoen. Since I’m trying to get some status in SK Eurobonus at the moment (after they relaxed the rules a while ago you can no get Star Gold for only 40 segments on SAS Group airlines in any booking class, not too shabby actually!) I narrowed the return flights down to SAS or KF. The latter had a perfectly timed evening flight OSL-HEL for around 70 EUR and it was scheduled on one of their new Boeing 717s - that would be nice. However SK was also offering a detour via CPH for 100 EUR, with CPH-HEL on a Mad Dog - so in the end I went for this. Who knows how long the MDs will still be around and besides it’s an additional qualifying segment for me!

As usual with new routes FR kept playing the rescheduling game on me, shuffling the flight time backwards and forwards half an hour or so a few times. Nothing too bad, though, I think we ended up on the original schedule in the end.

Here’s the routing:



Finally I had a bit of a dilemma on how to get to TMP airport - there is a bus that runs between the Tampere railway station and the Ryanair terminal which is synchronized with Ryanair flight schedules. Well, for whatever reason there wasn’t a dedicated bus for the Rygge flight, the only bus left Tampere station already at 8.10, serving both the earlier Bremen departure and my flight. Too bad that is far too early to make there with any train (by far the most convenient and fastest way from my place), the earliest arrive half an hour later. There’s a bus running from Helsinki-Vantaa airport to Tampere departing at 5.45 which I considered for a while, but decided to abandon the idea as that meant far too little sleep and still left me with only five minutes to get from the bus station to the train station for the bus, quite risky considering that it is around a kilometer or so. So in the end I bit my lip, accepted the fact that I had to take an expensive taxi from Tampere station to the airport and booked a ticket on the later train.

Sunday 31.10.2010

Luckily the previous night saw the switch to the Daylight Saving Time which allowed me an extra hour of sleep - after all I got home from the previous trip: End Of The BA 757 Era: HEL-MAN-LHR-HEL (by FlyingFinn76 Nov 2 2010 in Trip Reports) just 7 or so hours earlier. Up and away, I make my way to my local train station and board the 7.46 Intercity train up to Tampere, sleeping through the whole journey.



At Tampere station I buy a sandwich for breakfast, call a taxi which arrives in two minutes - Sunday mornings aren’t exactly peak times - and end up at Tampere Airport Terminal 2 25 minutes later. I mention to the taxi driver that the ride cost about the same as my ticket to Rygge - but he doesn’t seem to appreciate the irony...



Lots of people around - the BRE flight has just arrived and passengers are deboarding. There are separate check in desks for BRE and RYG, and once checked in (yes, even though I did OLCI they still insist to scrutinize your documentation at the desk) I am handed a small eyeglass wiping cloth with a city of Tampere motif “to celebrate this inaugural flight on behalf of the city” - sheesh, is this all I’m going to get? I ask what if i didn’t have glasses - “Well you can use it to wipe something else as well!”

The BRE flight:



Security is annoying as some Russians (there are plenty of them around here) in front of me seem to be doing everything wrong, lots of oversized liquid containers, coins in their pockets, you name it which slows down the progress. Airside is still packed with pax queuing for the BRE boarding, but once those queues are gone it becomes strangely quiet - I ask the girl working at the store there do they have any plans of introducing real tax free now that there are flights to Norway (outside the EU, thus qualifying for genuine tax free) but she doesn’t know. I grab a coffee at the upstairs cafe. Here’s my inaugural flight gift in all its glory:



The seating arrangements downstairs in front of the sole gate always remind me of a church:



The inbound flight arrives early at 9.45. Interestingly they delay the deboarding of the flight until 9.55 after the BRE flight has left - I guess they don’t want pax walking on the apron with a departing plane or something. Not that many passengers deboard and boarding is called already five minutes later. There are only three persons in the Priority queue, so I manage to be the first one.

Today’s ride is EI-EMJ, a new frame for me.





TMP - RYG
FR1362
B737-800 EI-EMJ
Seat 29F
10.14 - 10.27

I board through the back stairs. I tell the Eastern European girl in the back galley “What a horrible weather, please tell me Oslo weather is sunny and twenty degrees!” - she mutters something although I get the impression that she didn’t really understand what I said... Several rows in the back have been blocked off as is usual on the FR flights with lighter loads. I grab a window on the last available row, 29.

Lots of Russians here as well - some of them try to occupy the blocked seats but luckily the purser, Inga speaks fluent Russian and is ready to put them straight. The guys trying to sit behind me reek of fresh vodka at ten in the morning - luckily they go somewhere more up front instead of my row, leaving me with a block of three seats.

None of the four cabin crew members are Norwegians, two Eastern European girls and two boys who are from Southern Europe, Spain I think.

Load is around 60%, not too bad for an inaugural flight on an obscure route like this, actually. Boarding is completed rather quickly, and soon our Norwegian captain comes on with a very eager welcome speech along the lines of “Welcome, fantastic new plane (well, it is half a year old!), great crew, wonderful flight...”. I start worrying whether he is fit to fly the plane - after all he sounds like he’s stoned or on steroids or something. Flight time is announced as 55 minutes with “the same kind of weather in Oslo as here in Tampere” - now that sounds bad to me!

Departure is 11 minutes early, with take off from runway 26 two minutes later. Very cloudy in Finland so no views.











I decide not to bother with the BOB service, just read the paper and try to catch some more sleep later. No bin ads on this bird:



Some scattered views of Sweden enroute, but not many:





The estimate for the flight time seems to have been a bit optimistic since the seat belt sign is switched back on a good hour after departure, with “landing in ten minutes” announced soon afterwards. Initially the weather looks rather bad during our descent - I like this shot with our shadow in the middle of a halo:











But suddenly we break the clouds into glorious sunshine:



The military apron:



There’s quite a lot of sidewind, so our landing on runway 30 around 1h10mins after departure is very uneven and wobbly, for a while I’m afraid we will actually skid off the runway.



The “Another early Ryanair arrival” fanfare is of course played out - well with the generous paddings they use on their schedules its no wonder we are almost half an hour early.

Our captain is on it again, very eagerly welcoming us to “Gorgeous sunny Norway 25 minutes ahead of schedule!!!”.

While taxiing to our parking position a number of the Russians get up and start opening the overhead bins - they do not seem to react to English announcements asking them to sit down, but luckily the purser’s Russian works better. Apart from one guy, who sits down but immediately pops up again and grabs his coat from the overhead bin, this time one of the FAs has to physically push him down and close the bin.



While waiting for deboarding through the rear door I ask the crew whether the captain is always too happy like this - “We don’t know, he’s not our regular captain, he is just helping here for today”. The plane and the crew are off to Gatwick next.

Bye:





Since the bus schedules are aligned with the official flight times there’s a bit of slack before the next bus departs, so I take a quick look around this airport:







Finally the bus arrives, although boarding it takes a very long time - there are lots of very confused passengers, including a good number of Russians who don’t seemingly speak any other language so even buying a simple ticket (for 16 EURs, so expensive) seems to be very hard. There’s also a French girl (apparently studying in Tampere) who is shocked to learn that Norway doesn’t use Euros - tsk, I think you should do a bit more preparation for your trips!

Oslo

Finally, almost two hours after landing the bus stops at the Oslo bus terminal. The weather is still gorgeous, so I head for a nice stroll around Oslo.









The famous Karl Johans Gate, leading to the Royal Castle up on the hill:



The Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget):



The have a skating rink here during the winter:



Norwegian National Theater (surprise!):



I end up at the waterfront, on the Aker Brygge area which used to be a bunch of rundown old harbor warehouses and other derelict buildings, but has been rejuvenated into a modern shopping/dining/nightlife area. There are tons of people around enjoying the sunny and warm weather.

The rather ugly city hall of Oslo, where the Nobel Peace Price is awarded each year:



This is the Nobel Visitor Centre, I’m not sure about that “Slaughter” in front, though:





Akershus Fortress:



The sun glittering on the Oslofjord:



“Paralyzed by the beauty of her eyes”:



Ok, last time in Lisbon I wondered about dirty pants posing as art - this falls into the same category:











Love it:











Is Oslo the next Dubai?



The architecturally distinct Opera house:



After a few hours of walking around, admiring the sights, enjoying the beautiful weather and a horribly expensive lunch I head back to the train station. My original plan was to catch one of the local trains to Gardermoen airport, but after I stumble upon the Flytoget high speed train area:



I decide to take it instead - at 22 EUR it is expensive, but then again with the damage Oslo already did to my credit limit I don’t think it will matter any more.

Norwegian has check in machines next to the Flytoget ticket ones:



The train:



Exactly 22 minutes later I step off the train at Gardermoen airport.

Oslo Gardermoen Airport

Here’s a local train:



The ATC tower from an interesting perspective:



The airport is packed - but that’s nothing unusual, I don’t think I’ve ever seen OSL less than so. Security is luckily very efficient, and soon I’m airside. With plenty of time I decide to walk down the domestic pier first, watching for any interesting planes. Here’s a WF baby Dash:



SASBraathens remains the biggest player here:



Closely followed by Norwegian:



I never cease to be amazed by the sheer number and frequency of Norwegian domestic flights, made all the more impressive by the fact that many of these flights are operated by 737s. All this in a country of 4,5 million people - Finland with a similar land area and 5,3 million people has most domestic flights operated by FC ATRs apart from a few trunk routes and peak time departures on jets:



I head to the international part, stopping for some shopping on the way. Interesting name on this beer:



Another WF to GOT:





To kill time and ease my addiction I buy an expensive hour of wifi time. That exhausted, I go to check out the KF flight to HEL, which should be operated by the new 717s - and it indeed is:



Just beautiful, I should be riding one of these babies in a week’s time:



Some Russian guys at the gate ask me why am I “and all the people” (not that I see anybody else) taking pictures of this plane, I explain that it is a brand new plane and type for Blue1, they seem to be satisfied with this explanation. Since I’m unable to see the registration I ask the gate agent, it turns out to be Mike, or more precisely OH-BLM, the first KF 717 delivered in the beginning of August.

I grab a very overpriced pint of beer at a bar and head to my gate. The OLCI was showing a 737-400 instead of the originally scheduled -700, and this is confirmed by the presence of LN-BRQ at the gate. Not too bad, a new registration for me and another chance to fly a 737 classic.





Boarding is called around 25 minutes before departure. There are lots of uniformed SAS FAs and pilots at the gate area, I ask the gate agent “Is this some sort of SAS crew shuttle flight?” - “Oh, they are the crews for the late long haul flights from Copenhagen” is the answer.

OSL - CPH
SK1477
B737-400 LN-BRQ “Harald Gråfell”
Seat 8F
18.00 - 19.06

I like these glass jetways:



Old fashioned controls:





Load is quite good, 80% or so. Luckily I get an empty middle seat next to me. There are five rows of economy extra today. Flight time is announced as 55 minutes and push back is about five minutes ahead of schedule.



While taking this picture it occurred to me that OSL is definitely 737 land:



Take off is from 19L. It is very dark and cloudy so no good photo opportunities at all.



I decide to buy a beer - paying with a 5 EUR note I get back 4 NOK as coins. I tell the FA “At least they have holes in them so I can make them into a necklace.” - for whatever reason she finds this very funny.



The seatbelt sign is switched back on after around 50 minutes in the air, with an announcement that we should be “on the ground in 10 minutes”. I have a hard time figuring out where we are as there are lots of lights down below where they shouldn’t be any if we were approaching the usual runway 22L. Eventually I figure out that we seem to be landing on the 04s instead, so are passing the airport from the west, flying over the western suburbs of Copenhagen. This is confirmed after we turn 180 degrees towards the left and land on runway 04L after a bit over an hour of flight time.

Some minutes later we dock to a jetway at the B-pier:





Kastrup Airport

From the plane window I spied a mad dog just two gates over. It turns out to be my ride to HEL:



No gate agents are yet here and more than half an hour before the departure so I decide to pay a quick visit to the lounge. Over there I grab a glass of wine and make myself a large sandwich - very delicious apart from my liberal sprinkle of mustard which turned out to be very hot. The red wine is quite horrible as well, so I need to recalibrate my taste buds with some Tuborg.

15 minutes later I head back to the gate, snapping a photo of the plane along the way:



It’s the expected MD-82 OY-KHG, surprisingly a new registration for me - I thought I had pretty much all the SK Mad Dogs already logged but apparently not.

Boarding starts right as I arrive at the gate.

CPH - HEL
SK714
MD-82 OY-KHG “Alle Viking”
Seat 6F
20.03 - 22.25

The captain was out at the gate area to snatch a newspaper, he boards just in front of me and almost trips on the threshold. I look at him funnily - the purser sees this and immediately says “He’s the captain!” - “What has he been up to?” I ask and get a bunch of smiles in response.



The legroom on these old trustworthy birds has always been good:



There are three rows of business class and two of economy extra today. I’m sitting in the front economy row. All the seats (apart from the blocked middle seats in business) appear to be taken in every class, so the load is 100% as far as I can see. At the last moment a panting Swedish guy arrives and sits down in the middle seat next to me - apparently he got confused with the Finnair flight departing some minutes earlier and was at that gate over at the A pier and had to run here - quite a distance actually. He eyes curiously my log book which I’m browsing and asks if I write down all my flights. “Yes” - “Oh cool, why do you do it?” - I try to explain but he doesn’t really seem to get the point.



Flight time is announced as 1h20mins with “favorable tailwinds getting us to HEL ahead of schedule” promised by the captain. Push back is two minutes ahead of schedule, with take off from runway 04R seven minutes later.

Not much to say about this flight, I watch some videos on my Ipod, the captain pops in to say that we have “up to 30 knots of tailwind having us land 15 minutes early” and before I know we are descending again towards very rainy and windy HEL where we land on runway 15 after 1h15mins of flight, the promised 15 minutes ahead of schedule. A minute later we dock to a jetway at T1.



While deboarding the captain is there and after he sees me he says “You know, I was only kidding!” - “That’s what you say! Good night!”.

A bus home brings an end to yet another trip.

Conclusions

The great sunny weather in Oslo worked wonders for me - I very much enjoyed my day there.

As for the airlines - well, to be honest I’m starting to grow weary of Ryanair. Sure, the fares are still good (even though they’ve been going up compared to what was available a year ago for example) and you can easily log some very obscure airports and routes. But the uncomfortable and tight seats, general nastiness, weird cabin crew and fellow passengers who range from normal folks to scum of the earth are starting to get on me. Compared to Ezy who I just flew two days prior there definitely is a difference, and unfortunately it is not to FR’s favor.

SAS provided a couple of perfectly decent flights, nice to catch a flight on both a 737 classic and a Mad Dog, and both were even frames I hadn’t logged before, so no complaints there.


Next weekend brings yet another trip, it’s back to the fringes of the UK this time with HEL-RIX-PIK/GLA-BHD/BFS-LHR-HEL including (hopefully) my first ride on a KF 717!

Happy contrails!

What a nice report again, P! RYG seems to be a decent low cost airport and TMP - well, I´ve never liked the low cost terminal there.

Have you been to Oslo City Hall? It´s surprisingly impressive inside!

Hi P,

very good report on another new route. FR is not bad at all, and you scored a new reg.
Oslo seems a great city, and since I've never been there, I should add it to my list someday. And a nice train too!

Regards
Eric

Hola FlyingFinn76!

Another interesting read and routing from yours.

Any route out of Finland you have not flown yet?  
Just in case, I heard on the radio that JK has opened a new route BCN-HEL-BCN on Mondays and Fridays... just in case you run out of ideas.

OSL pictures are great, although I have been told about how expensive the whole country is.

Like the idea of catching MD as long as they are available around, here only JK seems to operate some of them before turning into an all Airbus airline, except for the B717s.

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): I mention to the taxi driver that the ride cost about the same as my ticket to Rygge - but he doesn’t seem to appreciate the irony...

Some people need to get some sense of humor.

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): What a horrible weather, please tell me Oslo weather is sunny and twenty degrees!”

Exactly the kind of weather we enjoyed here today, sunny and 20ºC in this unusual fall days we have been having this week.

Salut!

Roger

You have some of the greatest reports FlyingFinn. Nice that you get to fly so much. Thanks for posting all of these so far, I look forward to many many more.  

Hi guys, nice to see some comments already!

Quoting AYA333 (Reply 1): What a nice report again, P! RYG seems to be a decent low cost airport and TMP - well, I´ve never liked the low cost terminal there.

Hi J, well, TMP T2 is still far superior to TKU T2, if that's anything to go by... There was a pair of annoyingly chirpy, chatty, giggling and naive Finnish girls sitting on the row after me in the bus from Rygge to Oslo (coincidentally they were also the two others apart from me who had splurged for priority boarding over at TMP!) who I just couldn't help but overhead all through the way - they were actually just staying for the night at OSL and continuing with FR RYG-LGW the next day. So I guess the route might do OK if there are enough adventurous people like them. For pure O/D traffic I think it just won't do.

Quoting AYA333 (Reply 1): Have you been to Oslo City Hall? It´s surprisingly impressive inside!

Nope, actually it never occurred to me that one could go in. Not until I get my peace price which will take another 10 years or so!

Quoting airbuseric (Reply 2): very good report on another new route. FR is not bad at all, and you scored a new reg.

Thanks Eric, good to see you having some time to post at least something  .

Quoting airbuseric (Reply 2): Oslo seems a great city, and since I've never been there, I should add it to my list someday. And a nice train too!

Yeah, Oslo isn't bad on a day like that. On a gray autumn day or in the middle of the winter it is quite another story, I once spent 4 hours there in the middle of January and it was horrible.

I like that train too, I find it more stylish than the Arlanda Express, maybe because of the colors. The cheap yellow colors or Arlanda Express are a bit of a letdown and look so cheap and nasty.

Quoting Rogerbcn (Reply 3): Any route out of Finland you have not flown yet?

Oh, there are many of them. I think I have the European routes mostly covered, but any Russian routes and of course most AY long haul routes are virgin territory for me. Not that I particularly want to go Russia ever, thank you.

Quoting Rogerbcn (Reply 3): Just in case, I heard on the radio that JK has opened a new route BCN-HEL-BCN on Mondays and Fridays... just in case you run out of ideas.

Yes, and they are even increasing the frequency to four weekly by next summer. At the same time KF is actually dropping their HEL-BCN flights, preferring to codeshare with JK instead. I've flown HEL-BCN or vice versa with Finnar and Clickair, maybe I should do it with JK at some point as well as I've never flown on their Airbuses yet. Oh, and DY is starting HEL-BCN in the spring as well, so there's quite bit of competition on that route.

Quoting Rogerbcn (Reply 3): OSL pictures are great, although I have been told about how expensive the whole country is.

Oh yes, even a Finn accustomed to high prices in this bloody country can agree to this. Some examples: Lunch sandwich and a single beer at TGI Friday's: 30 EUR, a 0.5-0.6 pint of beer: 8-10 EUR etc. Last April I paid 43 EUR for a normal pizza and two pints of beer.

Quoting flyorski (Reply 4): You have some of the greatest reports FlyingFinn. Nice that you get to fly so much. Thanks for posting all of these so far, I look forward to many many more.

Thanks flyorski. As I always say, I'm just a crazy Finn who loves to fly! And write about it as well!

Now I must go and get some sleep, another early morning for more travel tomorrow!

Hi FlyingFinn - I enjoyed your latest trip report very much - although I almost feel exhausted keeping up with your flight schedule. Great that you've managed so many flights and even better that you have posted your reports here for us to read. Thanks for that.

Like you, I also came to the conclusion that there is just something about FR that I've grown weary of. Every flight experience I've had with them (and I stopped flying with FR in 2007), has progressively been along the lines that you describe - crews who can barely communicate clearly, strange pax, cheap and an overall nasty travel experience....I've come to the conclusion that I'd rather pay more (and also, completely agree, my experiences on EZY have been so different when compared to FR). It's great that FR have allowed people to travel by air when they might otherwise have not been able to do so, but they've managed to make it so unpleasant, I'll do anything to avoid them these days.

Look forward to the next report. Where are you off to next?

P/jet

Hi P,

Another good read, glad you managed to get up for another days flying  

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): Since I’m trying to get some status in SK Eurobonus at the moment (after they relaxed the rules a while ago you can no get Star Gold for only 40 segments on SAS Group airlines in any booking class, not too shabby actually!) I narrowed the return flights down to SAS or KF. The latter had a perfectly timed evening flight OSL-HEL for around 70 EUR and it was scheduled on one of their new Boeing 717s - that would be nice. However SK was also offering a detour via CPH for 100 EUR, with CPH-HEL on a Mad Dog - so in the end I went for this. Who knows how long the MDs will still be around and besides it’s an additional qualifying segment for me!

- Yep, well worth 2 SK sectors in my book!

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): Here’s my inaugural flight gift in all its glory:

- Wow, why do I feel underwhelmed?

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): The guys trying to sit behind me reek of fresh vodka at ten in the morning -

- Hmm. a tad early for the hard stuff, even for me  

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): The OLCI was showing a 737-400 instead of the originally scheduled -700, and this is confirmed by the presence of LN-BRQ at the gate. Not too bad, a new registration for me and another chance to fly a 737 classic.

- Always nice to get an older machine, not sure how long SK will keep these, they along with the -500's seem to be leaving gradually.

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): He eyes curiously my log book which I’m browsing and asks if I write down all my flights. “Yes” - “Oh cool, why do you do it?” - I try to explain but he doesn’t really seem to get the point.

- You now, I don't know why we explain it to people, a guy in Miami asked me some years back why I was spotting, he thought I was getting paid for it, just could not get it was a hobby!

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): to be honest I’m starting to grow weary of Ryanair. Sure, the fares are still good (even though they’ve been going up compared to what was available a year ago for example) and you can easily log some very obscure airports and routes. But the uncomfortable and tight seats, general nastiness, weird cabin crew and fellow passengers who range from normal folks to scum of the earth are starting to get on me. Compared to Ezy who I just flew two days prior there definitely is a difference, and unfortunately it is not to FR’s favor.

- Am I rubbing off on you or are you seeing the light?  

Cheers

Mark

BTW - Can't catch up on Sunday, wife back from the inlaws!

Hi FlyingFinn,

interesting report about your latest journey! You took some nice pictures in Oslo, I should visit the city one day, not just the airport again...

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): No bin ads on this bird:

I don't know what's worse - ugly yellow bins without ads or ugly yellow bins with ads...  

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): As for the airlines - well, to be honest I’m starting to grow weary of Ryanair. Sure, the fares are still good (even though they’ve been going up compared to what was available a year ago for example) and you can easily log some very obscure airports and routes. But the uncomfortable and tight seats, general nastiness, weird cabin crew and fellow passengers who range from normal folks to scum of the earth are starting to get on me.

I don't like FR at all for a number of reasons and try to avoid it. Cheap fares alone cannot attract me.


PH

[Edited 2010-11-05 13:33:34]

Hi, P.,

you protect me another time with working on one of my soon-topost stories here.
And let me say, you´re really fast, much faster than me.

Well done, catching a new FR route with "generous" goodies around and two SK classic birds.
Nice pictures from Oslo also, looks like the perfect autums weather there.

So, watching for some northern Ireland coming up.

Regards,
Markus(FLIEGER67)

Thanks for another great trip report. Glad you enjoyed Oslo.
It's always cool to read about trips to Norway, and Oslo especially since it's where i live, and see what other people think 

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): This is the Nobel Visitor Centre, I’m not sure about that “Slaughter” in front, though:

It's a neon sign. The "laughter" part is constantly lit up, while the s is blinking. I think it plays on the "you can't have slaughter without laughter" saying. Guess it was hard to see in the sun 

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): Ok, last time in Lisbon I wondered about dirty pants posing as art - this falls into the same category:

After a quick google search, it seems that this has something to do with the pink ribbon campaign for breast cancer. But weird indeed.

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): I never cease to be amazed by the sheer number and frequency of Norwegian domestic flights, made all the more impressive by the fact that many of these flights are operated by 737s.

Related fact: In 2009 12.6 million trips were done by air domestically in Norway. For international the number was 12.5million trips.
With long distances, and bad roads it's usually more convenient to fly. Especially to the northern parts of Norway, where flight time is 2-3hrs and driving takes the better part of 24-36hrs.

Hi - Good report and I also really enjoyed your photos of Oslo. Having travelled around quite a few countries myself, Oslo is definitely my favorite city in the world (apart from the absurd prices). I've only been there a couple of times but hopefully will make it back somewhat soon again.

Excellent TR as always FF76! I love your regular reports of the (usually) northerly routes that you travel on. Looking forward to your next one (especially the BHD segment). Keep it on!

Very nice report with nice pictures! Weather in Oslo seems like a very nice fall day. Nice that you got on some older aircaft but lookng forward to your next reprt on KF's new 717s!

The777Man

Another excellent read, thank you!

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): The famous Karl Johans Gate, leading to the Royal Castle up on the hill: http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/a...5.jpg

Ah yes, I remember the most expensive beer I ever bought was from a street cafe here. It cost GBP8 / EUR10 in 2005, and wasn't even a full pint - was 500ml...

signol

You should have told me you'll be in OSL, I could have taken you into the Scandinavian Lounge as I was on that OH-BLM...

Hi FlyingFinn, thanks for yet another great report about an interesting day. Looks like you were lucky with the weather this time. And congratulations for getting a great gift for the inaugural flight   Nice pictures of Oslo as well, seems like a nice city (but then, with sunshine almost every city looks good). Just the prices there...   

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): I mention to the taxi driver that the ride cost about the same as my ticket to Rygge - but he doesn’t seem to appreciate the irony...

I guess the driver hears this joke quite often. Actually reminds of the now gone German airline HLX, they had the slogan of flying for the price of a taxi ride and their planes painted like a NYC taxi cab.

CaptainRed

Hi P.,

Thank you for another enjoyable read for the weekend. I like your pictures of Oslo very much. You were lucky indeed with the weather.

You bumped into the Russians several times. Were they probably on their autumn getaway?

Cheers,
Suryo

Hi folks, thanks for the additional comments!

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): Next weekend brings yet another trip, it%u2019s back to the fringes of the UK this time with HEL-RIX-PIK/GLA-BHD/BFS-LHR-HEL including (hopefully) my first ride on a KF 717!

Quoting Palmjet (Reply 6): Look forward to the next report. Where are you off to next?

See above, read even the last paragraph of my reports and you will know  .

Quoting Palmjet (Reply 6): It's great that FR have allowed people to travel by air when they might otherwise have not been able to do so, but they've managed to make it so unpleasant, I'll do anything to avoid them these days.

My sentiments exactly. I tihnk I'm moving on from them, too bad cheapness is a so tempting....

Quoting BA319-131 (Reply 7): - Wow, why do I feel underwhelmed?

Maybe because I felt too?!

Quoting BA319-131 (Reply 7): - Am I rubbing off on you or are you seeing the light?

I think it's a bit of both. Today I was again thinking why do i put myself through this while sitting over 3 hours in a FR 738, the young, cute hot Latvian blonde sitting next to me sure tilted the scales a bit, though  

Quoting BA319-131 (Reply 7): BTW - Can't catch up on Sunday, wife back from the inlaws!

No prob, my upgrade cleared so I'll be getting intimate with the SAS LHR T3 lounge instead...

Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 8): interesting report about your latest journey! You took some nice pictures in Oslo, I should visit the city one day, not just the airport again...

Thanks PH, Oslo ain't a bad city to visit. Just remember the two golden rules that are popping up even on this thread: it'll be bloody expensive and it can get very depressing if the weather isn't co-operative.

Quoting FLIEGER67 (Reply 9): So, watching for some northern Ireland coming up.

I'm here, right in the middle of that particular trip, in Scotland right now.

Quoting mckvakk (Reply 10): Thanks for another great trip report. Glad you enjoyed Oslo.

Oh yeah, no problems. I've been to Norway at least a dozen times so I know it pretty well. And yes, I do enjoy it most of the time.

Quoting mckvakk (Reply 10): It's always cool to read about trips to Norway, and Oslo especially since it's where i live, and see what other people think

I know the feeling, I have this exact same thing about reports that cover Finland, or even better HEL.

Quoting mckvakk (Reply 10): It's a neon sign. The "laughter" part is constantly lit up, while the s is blinking. I think it plays on the "you can't have slaughter without laughter" saying. Guess it was hard to see in the sun

Thanks, now that you mention it I think I read about it somewhere a while ago.

Quoting mckvakk (Reply 10): Related fact: In 2009 12.6 million trips were done by air domestically in Norway. For international the number was 12.5million trips. With long distances, and bad roads it's usually more convenient to fly. Especially to the northern parts of Norway, where flight time is 2-3hrs and driving takes the better part of 24-36hrs.

Yeah, I know. But it still never ceases to amaze me. In Finland in 2009 there were under 4.8 million domestic passengers, 40% of the Norwegian amount. Amazing.

I still intend to do the WF milk run between TOS and KKN at some point, that'll be an interesting flight  .

Quoting WideBodyroga (Reply 12): Excellent TR as always FF76! I love your regular reports of the (usually) northerly routes that you travel on. Looking forward to your next one (especially the BHD segment). Keep it on!

Thanks for the kind words - I just write such reports I myself would like to read. That's a good thumb rule for anyone writing reports, methinks!

Quoting The777Man (Reply 13): aircaft but lookng forward to your next reprt on KF's new 717s!

Oh yes, scheduled for tomorrow. Even my upgrade cleared so I'll be up front.

Quoting Lufthansa747 (Reply 15): You should have told me you'll be in OSL, I could have taken you into the Scandinavian Lounge as I was on that OH-BLM...

Really?! So close yet so far apart, we definitely should've coordinated this. I knew you were doing that flight at some date but didn't realize it was the very same Sunday! Oh well, c'est la vie. How was the 717?

Quoting CaptainRed (Reply 16): Actually reminds of the now gone German airline HLX, they had the slogan of flying for the price of a taxi ride and their planes painted like a NYC taxi cab.

Yeah, I once flew with them on a NYC Cab plane. "Fliegen zum Taxipriesen" or something like that if my memory serves me right.

Quoting akhmad (Reply 17): You bumped into the Russians several times. Were they probably on their autumn getaway?

I don't know really. 4-5th of November are a public holiday in Russia, in honor of the October revolution (you know they used a different calendar back then so it actually took place in November as per the Julian calendar) so maybe that's it. But all the low cost flights from Finland are usually very well patronized by Russians, they think nothing of driving 400-500 kilometers from St. Petersburg to TMP to catch a loco flight. I'm actually quite interested to see what the passenger demographics on my upcoming LPP-CRL flight in three weeks will be - after all LPP is just 10 minutes from the border!

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 18): Really?! So close yet so far apart, we definitely should've coordinated this. I knew you were doing that flight at some date but didn't realize it was the very same Sunday! Oh well, c'est la vie. How was the 717?

Indeed we should have... I came in from LHR and had about 90mins in OSL.

Legroom in exit row was great, but completely absurd behind that - the F/A was apologizing actually. I'll try to post a report later tonight as I think there's no KF 717 report here yet.

Regards,

Lari

Great report as always FlyingFinn. Looking forward to reading about your trip to Belfast.

Nice trip report! Thanks for sharing, it makes me want to go up to Norway one time.

Great report from my home city (i live some 40 km away in the suburbs though)!

Autumn is not the best time to go to Norway/Oslo. It's too cold. It's better to go in the winter (try taking the nr. 1 metro to Frognerseteren on a Sunday! That's real Norway!) or in the summer.

Hi P!

Thanks for posting another report, where you find the time I don't know.

Great to see some pictures of Oslo, I really want to visit, its my last Nordic country to 'check off' so hopefully I'll get planning soon!

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): The guys trying to sit behind me reek of fresh vodka at ten in the morning - luckily they go somewhere more up front instead of my row, leaving me with a block of three seats.

I noticed this when catching the ferry Helsinki to Tallinn. I though us English were know for drinking?!

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): The legroom on these old trustworthy birds has always been good:

I liked the legroom and also found the seats pretty comfortable. Nice to have some cloth seating for a change, from all the 'leather' there is these days.

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): weird cabin crew and fellow passengers who range from normal folks to scum of the earth are starting to get on me.

I love your sense of humour P!

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): Next weekend brings yet another trip, it’s back to the fringes of the UK this time with HEL-RIX-PIK/GLA-BHD/BFS-LHR-HEL including (hopefully) my first ride on a KF 717!

Will look out for you jetting in/out of LHR!

Cheers for sharing

Matt

Hi FlyingFinn,

Great report and pictures once again about his inaugural service. Oslo in the nice autumn light looks beautiful - you were really lucky with the weather there.

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): SK was also offering a detour via CPH for 100 EUR, with CPH-HEL on a Mad Dog - so in the end I went for this. Who knows how long the MDs will still be around

Sounds good - I would also have preferred the Mad Dog, considering that they probably won't be around in Europe for too long.

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): I am handed a small eyeglass wiping cloth with a city of Tampere motif “to celebrate this inaugural flight on behalf of the city” - sheesh, is this all I’m going to get?

Wow, impressive (or not...?) Well, at least anybody took a note of the inaugural flight at all. And maybe they wanted to get rid of those wiping cloths...

Regards
Christoph

Hi all, glad to see more comments, thanks.

Quoting BFSBHD (Reply 20): Great report as always FlyingFinn. Looking forward to reading about your trip to Belfast.

Thanks. Somehow, judging from your nickname I know you are  

Quoting MSS658 (Reply 21): Thanks for sharing, it makes me want to go up to Norway one time.

Do it. Norway can be amazingly beautiful, especially the northern, rugged parts of it. A flight up the coast can sometimes yield breathtaking views, one of my favorite flights ever is TRD-BOO-TOS, both SK and DY operate the route. If the weather is good do grab a window seat on the F side and prepare to be blown away. I have actually written a report on this route back in August 2009 so search for it for some photos if interested.

Quoting aerobus12 (Reply 22): Autumn is not the best time to go to Norway/Oslo. It's too cold. It's better to go in the winter (try taking the nr. 1 metro to Frognerseteren on a Sunday! That's real Norway!) or in the summer.

I kinda enjoyed that autumn day, but then again it can be a hit and miss. I remember a couple of depressing visits to Norway in Janury - so cold and dark and one night spent in Tromsö in late November - boy was that dark!

Quoting DunaA320 (Reply 23): I noticed this when catching the ferry Helsinki to Tallinn. I though us English were know for drinking?!

Well, to be honest with you the drinking culture in Russia, the Baltics etc. is quite different from the British one. They swig vodka the way you guys swig pints, sometimes with very unfortunate consequences.

Quoting DunaA320 (Reply 23): Nice to have some cloth seating for a change, from all the 'leather' there is these days.

I prefer cloth seats over leather any day. Although there are some comfortable leather seats like the BA ones, especially after a few years of use when they have softened a bit and are so comfortable, just like a good lazyboy in your living room!

Needless to say the Ryanair seats are among the least favorites of mine!

Quoting DunaA320 (Reply 23): Will look out for you jetting in/out of LHR!

Landed in EI-DEF on 09L around 13.50, took off in OH-BLM from 09R around 18.40. Were you out spotting that day?

Hi FF,

You get 10/10 for dedication, off to Oslo just a few hours after returning from the last trip and for getting this online so fast.

Bit of a disappointing inaugural flight after some of your previous ones, but at least it was acknowledged, even if it was only a wet wipe. Perhaps it was a secret message about the cleanliness of FR's planes  

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): There’s also a French girl (apparently studying in Tampere) who is shocked to learn that Norway doesn’t use Euros - tsk, I think you should do a bit more preparation for your trips!

Tell me about it! If I got 1 Euro for everytime i tell someone that we use francs in Switzerland, I'd have a gold bar in the bank vault by now....

Really enjoyed your snaps of Oslo, it looks lovely in the autumn sun.

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): at 22 EUR it is expensive,

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Thread starter): Exactly 22 minutes later I step off the train at Gardermoen airport.

1 Euro a minute, yep, that's expensive.

Happy flying
Infodesk   

Hi there Mr. P! I thought it was time for me to catch up on one of your reports!  

It seems like you had quite a decent inaugural flight on Ryanair. The lack of celebrations seemed pretty obvious to me, but at least that wiping cloth was a nice touch. They sell for at least €5 in the shops anyway. On the other hand I wonder if it's good to wipe camera lenses with, hmm  

The flight FR flight itself seemed pretty ok, nice to see them taking off those horrible overhead-bin advertisements. Also nice that they proved to be wrong about the weather, hehe.

The transfer to Oslo from RYG sounded like a ripoff to me, €16! Was it a long ride? On the other hand it's not that surprising since it's Norway... Everything is expensive there.

Your stay in Oslo looked very nice, love the architecture. I've only been there once, but it only stayed at the train station for one hour during the night, so I didn't get to see much of the city. However your pics gave me the impression of Olso as a rather nice and interesting place, so I should then consider taking a daytrip there soon.

The flight on SAS looked rather bad actually, I don't like the seats on the 737 Classics. I had also forgotten that they don't serve free food anymore, which to me seemed even worse. They should really consider to reintroduce the proper service concept again, since most of their competitors in the Scandinavian region seem to offer free meals, etc. Just look at Skyways and Malmö Aviation.

Thanks for sharing!
//Jonas

Hi Hannah & Jonas, thanks very much for your comments!

Quoting infodesk (Reply 26): You get 10/10 for dedication, off to Oslo just a few hours after returning from the last trip and for getting this online so fast.

Well, this trip was planned well before that spur of the moment 757 one  . Plus I'm a Finn, and we are well known for our Lutheran work ethics.

Quoting infodesk (Reply 26): Tell me about it! If I got 1 Euro for everytime i tell someone that we use francs in Switzerland, I'd have a gold bar in the bank vault by now....

Really? Somehow this makes me depressed, I just keep thinking that people are smarter than that and do a bit of background research before embarking on a journey abroad...

Quoting infodesk (Reply 26): Really enjoyed your snaps of Oslo, it looks lovely in the autumn sun.

Yes, it does. That's why I posted quite a few of those.

Quoting infodesk (Reply 26): 1 Euro a minute, yep, that's expensive.

Hmm, I think the HEX is even more than that - it was quoted somewhere as the most expensive train journey in the world!

Quoting LH4116 (Reply 27): They sell for at least €5 in the shops anyway. On the other hand I wonder if it's good to wipe camera lenses with, hmm

Well the cost in large quantities is less than an Euro, I'm pretty sure of that. But if I get an additional one I'll gladly give it to you!

Quoting LH4116 (Reply 27): The transfer to Oslo from RYG sounded like a ripoff to me, €16! Was it a long ride?

Around 45 minutes now that the new Oslo tunnel is finally open. That's Norway for you, there's also a train connection but it costs around the same and you have to take a shuttle bus to the station so it's not really worth it.

Quoting LH4116 (Reply 27): I've only been there once, but it only stayed at the train station for one hour during the night, so I didn't get to see much of the city.

Well, I think even in Norway the train station at night represents the worst of the society...

Quoting LH4116 (Reply 27): However your pics gave me the impression of Olso as a rather nice and interesting place, so I should then consider taking a daytrip there soon.

As you seem to be a person who is very "financially aware" (a bit like me, really), that it will be helluva expensive, no matter what you do. Even buying some basic food from a supermarket for lunch will cost twice of what it costs across the border in Sverige!

Quoting LH4116 (Reply 27): I had also forgotten that they don't serve free food anymore, which to me seemed even worse.

Can you actually forget that?!

Quoting LH4116 (Reply 27): Just look at Skyways and Malmö Aviation.

Yeah, well it's not really food with JZ at least - but on the short routes the biscuits and coffee are fine. TF sandwiches are quite good, I agree.

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 28): As you seem to be a person who is very "financially aware" (a bit like me, really), that it will be helluva expensive, no matter what you do. Even buying some basic food from a supermarket for lunch will cost twice of what it costs across the border in Sverige!

That's very true! We have some friends in Bergen who I visit now and then, it's been a while since last. And yes, it's bloody expensive in Norway. I get the impression of being robbed every time I go there. Luckily accommodation, meals and alcohol is at the expense of our dear friends, so I normally don't suffer that much. Train tickets however turned to be very cheap, if you book well in advance  

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 28): Can you actually forget that?!

Well, I've been on the X2000 too many times lately. I guess that spoiled me 
(and yes you pay for the food on them as well, but since it's done at booking I'm much more glad to pay for it. If SAS did the same thing, I'll forgive them for charging for food)

I've never been at any of the airports before, but the city is very pretty!

I think I missed this trip report the first time round, until someone replied to it.

Thanks for another good trip report, I like that you include some pictures of the destination not just the flights.