After testing Radom Airport earlier this year with CSA, I decided to test another new polish airport. Olsztyn - Mazury, or maybe it's better to say Szczytno - Szymany? Anyway the official name is Olsztyn - Mazury even though the airport is situated quite a long ride from Olsztyn itself, nearby Szymany. A polish company Sprintair, known previously for their flights from Zielona Góra to Warsaw, decided to open at first two routes from SZY, Berlin and Cracow. All the flights operated with a Saab 340 plane. It wasn't hard to create an itinerary that would fit me, so after little thought I bought the tickets and was ready for a new experience. Getting for the morning departure wasn't hard thanks to the train connection from the city center and returning home from KRK is easiest by air. Easy? Yes. I just had to take enough margin for possible delays caused by weather that could make me loose my flight to Warsaw, 2 hours sounded good.
02 March 2016
SRN701 (0830-1005) SZY-KRK
SP-KPR S340
As said before I got to the airport by train. It arrived on-time, around one hour prior departure at the airport station. I was not the only passenger :) a walk to the airport, check-in easily with the kind ground staff, get my boarding pass and still have a lot of time for some pictures in and outside the terminal. The building itself is very appealing, has a nice design that fits the area and current needs of the airport. Inside there is a viewing area with soft couches to sit on and look at the apron. Not much traffic that day. Inside you'll also find a couple of kiosks landside and, IIRC, two shops airside. There will be a total of 11 passengers (33 seats) on my flight. Boarding commences and quickly all of us air on the apron, most taking pictures. The weather is wintery, snow is snowing, no signs of sun around. I take my seat (1C) and we have to wait for de-icing before we may taxi out to the runway and depart for Cracow. During the flight we are served a Princessa bar and a glass of water. After no time we land in Cracow, de-board to the bus which will take us to the terminal. As I have 2 hours to my next flight I go for a walk around to have a look how the airport has changed since my last visit and the changes are rather big. The new terminal (well old, but very refurbished) is almost completed, a direct bridge to the car park and train station is available. Changes are very positive! After they finish all the works all should look quite nice, I'd say. Overall the flight from SZY to KRK was pleasant, quick, very Saab like, quieter at the rear and so on. A video of the interior is available down. For the small airport in Szymany I wish the best, currently they have a flight to Warsaw with LOT, a connection to Munich and Wizz is said to open a couple of routes. Will have to try the direct link WAW-SZY.
The train station
Terminal overview
It's quite clear where you are
Viewing area at SZY
Our plane waiting for us at the tarmac
Check-in area at SZY
Calmly flying to Cracow
Calmly flying to Cracow
The view from row 1
Empty cabin after the flight
Baggage claim area in Cracow
02 March 2016
LO3908 (1210-1300) KRK-WAW
SP-EQH Bombardier Q400
After walking around and seeing everything there was to see I entered the restricted area and did the same thing there. Woah, it is currently quite cramped... I found a nice spot, sat down, ate some bagels, took a couple of pictures of the traffic on the apron and patiently waited for my flight to Warsaw observing the plane flying from Warsaw on flightradar. Finally it came! Boarding to the bus, hoping to the plane and flying back home on a typical dash flight. All was good (except the window being kinda scratched). I almost managed to film a full flight video but I didn't notice the battery died (or there was no more space on my SD card) at around, more or less, second phase of approach. Not much lost.
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