Nordica (LOT) CRJ900 experience (LO779 WAW-KUN) 2017.07.22

LOT took over some stakes in Regional Jet and that way came into partnership with Estonian Nordica. EE flights on LOTs AOC and does some LO flights for LO (mainly TLL/ARN/CPH/VNO/ODS/GOT at the moment). Taking advantage of some reconstruction works at VNO at flights being redirected to KUN I hopped on one of their CRJs and flew to KUN.

22 July 2017
LO779 (1315-1520) WAW-KUN
ES-ACG Bombardier CRJ900

The midday flight to Kaunas, usually to Vilnius. We are taken to the aircraft by bus with a slight delay. The delay is insignificant as afterall we land in Kaunas on time. On board we get the Nordica service, their inflight magazine. menu etc. The seats on the CRJ are rather thick and soft, legspace is enough and the comfort of the ride is, overall, good. The cabin has the same mancaments as any other CRJ or Q400 has, limited space in the overhead compartments resulting in "Delivery at Aircraft" tags, the side walls near the windows are slightly cut (due to the small tube of the cabin) taking away some legspace. I like the dragonfly elements in the livery, in the outfits and in the on board magazine. The CRJ is a quiet plane up front, slightly louder at the rear, not a surprise when you consider where the engines are mounted. The Estonian flag looks nice on the winglets. My overall experience waws rather positive, the flight wasn't long enough to soak in more, rather a quick jump from A to B. After landing in Kaunas we taxi by two Let-410s and two Air Force planes, deboard to the bus and are later taken to the temporary terminal (which is going to be shown here).

Off from Warsaw with the downtown easily visible

LO800 PLQ-WAW and Palanga Airport 2017.07.19

19 July 2017
LO800 (0605-0625) PLQ-WAW
SP-EQH Bombardier Q400

This short story begins a little earlier than before the flight to Warsaw. First I had to get to Palanga, but as not many views are provided the only souvenir is the arrivals area of the airport.
This morning, seasonal flight to Warsaw departs minutes after 6 am, and lands after an hour and twenty minutes in Warsaw. We are on time, the weather is on our side, the sun is shining nicely both in Lithuania and in Poland. I take my seat in row 7 (not my favorite one if I'd be asked). The flight itself is very similar to others, but we can't buy sandwiches as they are from the day before and the crew cannot sell them to us. A slight minus for LOT. But the crew makes it up with their smiles and very positive attitude despite the time and the short sleep they had.

Katowice round-trip, LO3881 LO3884, 2017.07.16

The day before I've been to Munich and Lublin. On that day I had 3 flights planned, a mileage run to Katowice and later on in the evening an escapade to Palanga.

16 July 2017
LO3881 (1100-1150) WAW-KTW
SP-LDG Embraer 170

This flight has been recently added to the schedule. The load is rather small, very small I would say. Good for me, more space. The flight itself took around 40 minutes from block to block (the full video without cuts is available beneath) and was a pleasant one. Hard to have a poor experience on the E-Jet of LOT.

16 July 2017
LO3884 (1500-1550) KTW-WAW
SP-EQK Bombardier Q400

After disembarking from the previous flight I have plenty of time before my return. I wanted to get some knowledge of how the airport looks before my same plane mileage run the next month. Thus I wander around, in and outside. I've been already at KTW, but never as a passenger, did some spotting and picking up here. The airport is divided into three terminals, two for departures and one for arrivals. No transfer available. After having enough, what would be around 2,5h prior to departure I head to the security and later walk a little around the airside.Quite crampy I would say. But they have an awesome view on the apron and runway. I take a seat with a view and indulge in a book. When boarding comes I slowly get on the plane, take my seat in row 12 and want to enjoy the flight as is. Mainly because of the dirty window that I can do nothing about. The flight was quick and on time, the LF around 70%.

Boarding from the bus

BMI regional Embraer 145 experience (BM1771 MUC-LUZ) 2017.07.15

BMI opened a route from Munich to Lublin operated by the E135, usually. After getting to Munich from Warsaw, I head back to Poland, unluckily on the E145

15 July 2017
BM1771 (1110-1250) MUC-LUZ
G-RJXC Embraer 145


There were mixed signals from the start, some sources claimed that the 135 is to fly, others that the 145. Unluckily the gate confirmed that it was going to be the 145. The only 145 flight on that route in the span of a month. After wandering around the airport for some time, finally the time to board has come. I get on the bus, We are taken to the plane and board the aircraft. I take my seat in row 18, not as happy as I thought I'd be, I can see the 135 next to us. Well, it happens. We depart more or less on time, slightly behind schedule, but no problem as we arrived on time after all. The sound of the RRs spooling up and working is magnificent! The small jet is crampy, not much space for cabin luggage, so leaving yours as a Delivery at Aircraft is a good idea, for your own comfort. At the front it's rather quiet, at the back you have the possibility to listen to the engine sounds - a big yes! The service is basic, passengers are served drinks and a small snack. My experience with BMI regional was OK-, the major problems being the plane swap (happens...) and the poor information and attitude of the gate agent, who showed up at the gate, after the printed boarding time, and seemed like she had a problem with everyone and everything. Will have to try and catch the 135 some time...

Boarding our little jet

LO351 WAW-MUC 2017.07.15

BMI opened a route from Munich to Lublin operated by the E135, usually. but first one has to get to Munich.

15 July 2017
LO351 (0720-0900) WAW-MUC
SP-LIN Embraer 175

One of the first flights in the morning departure wave. We are taken to the plane by bus. As we wait for a couple transferring passengers we depart a couple of minutes later than schedule. After taking off from runway 29 we turn left and head for Wrocław. The flight passes quickly and soon we begin our descend for Munich. Most of the time we fly over some clouds, first Cu's start to form despite the early hour. On the approach itself we encounter a little turbulence. A smooth landing and all that is left is the taxi process to the gate. We dock at the satellite terminal after a couple of minutes of waiting for our gate to get free. A LH A321 had to be pushed back (you can see it at the last photo). In block - on time! So after yet another pleasant flight with LOT I disembark and head for some terminal airside sightseeing in MUC before my next flight.

Austrian Fokker 100 experience (OS631 VIE-WAW) 2017.06.22

Returning back home from England: the final leg, slightly later than planned.

22 June 2017
OS631 (1745-1905) VIE-WAW
OE-LVE Fokker 100

After missing my connection after the flight from London was delayed I've been rebooked for the next direct flight (unfortunately the fastest connection available). The good thing was that it was going to be operated by the Fokker 100. Always nice to fly the F100. After some time-killing, eating etc its time to board. We are taken to the aircraft by bus and the flight today is full so I must cope with my seat in row 21, well, it could be worse :D An on-time departure gets us on time to Warsaw where we land at runway 29 due to a incident that happened on runway 33 (see photos and flight video) that blocked the runway. The sounds on the Fokker jets are always solid! Love 'em. This wasn't my first Austrian Fokker 100 flight. I did some flights a couple years back (that is where the review video comes from) but nothing has changed on board. Today, they have recently been phased out of service, unluckily I did not manage to get the F70 neither with AUA nor KLM, well, will have to search for it somewhere farther.

Departing Heathrow (OS452 LHR-VIE) 2017.06.22

Returning from England back home. First leg: to Vienna and a short stop..

22 June 2017
OS452 (0905-1225) LHR-VIE
OE-LBA Airbus A321

I arrive at the airport with a time margin to get through all the controls. A quick walk around the general area of T2 and I head to the security check. The queue moves quickly and in no time I am on the other side. I must admit I really like how T2 is constructed with the gates having a double entry for each "flight", with all the clear markings and information. Exact gate shown around 1h before departure (when the inbound flight arrives) so gate changes are rather rare. My plane arrives from Vienna slightly delayed, our first delay is shown to be 13 minutes. But 13 minutes past departure time boarding is still in progress... It is important to me as I have a 35 minute (scheduled time) change in Vienna, so every minute counts. After all we pushback with a delay of 35 minutes, so my entire stop just disappeared. The taxi process to the northern runway is long and involves many stops. Heavy traffic, what can you do. With some hopes still left at the back of my head I sit back, relax and enjoy the flight. The A321 inside doesn't differ form the A320, luckily the seat next to me is vacant giving me some more comfort on board. When we get closer to Vienna I start browsing the inflight magazine searching for rerouting options as I am nearly sure that I won't make my flight. During the approach the purser informs that some connections will unfortunately not make it, and says which. After all we get to our gate 7 minutes before my planned departure, when I get to the terminal the flight to Warsaw isn't even on the screens anymore. Bad luck. So I head to the transfer desk where after a couple of minutes I get a new boarding pass for the next flight to Warsaw (4 hours later), which after all ended up to be the fastest way anyway. After my asking I also get a 12€ worth of voucher for food and drinks and some of the restaurants.
Summing up the flight: the inflight experience was standard, same as the A320. The crew was friendly and Heathrow was Heathrow :D The Austrian ground staff in Vienna was very professional, for what I thank them. There is nothing I could say went bad in Vienna.

Austrian A320 family experience (OS461 VIE-LHR) 2017.06.20

On my way to England. Heathrow via Vienna. Leg 2: bound for London

20 June 2017
OS461 (1250-1420) VIE-LHR
OE-LBW Airbus A320

After a smooth inbound flight I have just enough time to walk around the shops, the skylink terminal (which must be one of my favorite terminals), take some pictures and board without any hassle. The flight was delayed due to a slot restriction. It didn't really make any difference for me as I had a long stop at Heathrow before the onward journey. I was lucky to have a free seat next to me as the flight was rather full. The service during the flight was basic. Austrian offers WiFi connection in 3 different plans depending on what you would like to do during the flight. You may test it during the flight for a limited time and I must say it works pretty fine. The plane (despite being not the newest of frames) is clean and looks younger than it really is. The legspace is alright but the Recaro seats feel hard. All in all rather a typical flight from A to B, the seats are known from the OS EJet, the LH short-haul fleet, the SN short-haul fleet and the LX short-haul fleet. In other words, the entire LH group has these seats. I ain't a fan of them to be honest.
While we approach London I hoped for a landing from the east with superb views on London downtown. Unluckily, we did hold in one of the stacks and later on proceeded for the approach from the west. After touchdown we taxi around the airport to get to our gate.

Austrian Embraer 195 experience (OS626 VIE-WAW) 2017.06.20

On my way to England. Heathrow via Vienna. Leg 1: a short hop to Austria.

20 June 2017
OS626 (1030-1155) WAW-VIE
OE-LWK Embraer 195

Seated in row 23, a small load factor on that flight, less than 50%, plenty of free seats in the rear giving freedom to move around, photograph and film. That was my first flight on the OS E-Jet, the seats didn't make a good impression on me, desk-like with minimal material around it. Small recline but legroom was sufficient. More seats compared to the E95 of LOT thus windows aren't perfectly aligned with the seats. Nevertheless it makes it job and gets you from A to B quickly, but I wouldn't choose the OS E95 for longer journeys.
I arrive at the airport a little early thus I get some time to take a couple of pictures before boarding. The flight is on time giving me a decent 1 hour in Vienna (slightly more than planned as the next flight to LHR got delayed).

MF8119 FOC-PEK 2017.01.01

Time to return home. Again via Fuzhou and Beijing (a night stop at PEK) with Xiamen Airlines.

01 January 2017
MF8119 (1600-1850) FOC-PEK
B-2992 Boeing 737-700

Transfer at Fuzhou. Easy, or not? At first, pick up your bag, enter China, get a stamp on your visa (one of the few airports that you need a visa to transfer at), pass customs, go to the check-in area, check your bag in, go through security, find something to do as no place accepts Visa cards. So I walked around, took some photos and waited for my flight. Unfortunately a swap occurred. They changed the planned 787 for a 737-700. Bad but could be worse, could be another 737-800 flight :P This is going to be a full flight, very few vacant seats. I get a family next to me. Lucky to have my earphones and the window so I can fly in relative peace. The food is the same, the views differ a bit as the sun hides and we land in dark Beijing. After arriving all I need to do is get to my hotel where I'll rest before taking my last flight the next morning.

Xiamen Boeing 737 experience MF880, 2017.01.01

Time to return home. Again via Fuzhou and Beijing (a night stop at PEK) with Xiamen Airlines.

01 January 2017
MF880 (1125-1300) TPE-FOC
B-1966 Boeing 737-800

For the flight from Taipei Taoyuan airport I get a pretty new 737 with the Boeing Sky Interior. This time I'm seated in row 62, but before I get to the plane I walk around the general area a little bit. Eva Air really has a thing with Hello Kitty :D There ain't much opportunities for spotting from the terminal so I do some small duty free shopping and head for my gate. The seats on this new plane don't differ much from the ones on the older sibling. While we taxi we pass by some nice planes, unfortunately on the other side so I only get a chance to catch them when on the runway. The flight is smooth, the food exactly same as on the inbound journey. On the approach we are able to see some nice lens-like clouds over the hill tops. And that would be it, yet another transfer at Fuzhou. Unluckily they swapped the planned 787 for a 737 on the next flight. But that in a separate post.

Xiamen Boeing 757 experience MF8166, 2016.12.26

Christmas came and with the New Year ahead it was time to fly out somewhere. Destination: Taiwan, via China. First stop: Beijing, the second one: Fuzhou.

26 December 2016
MF8166 (1325-1620) PEK-FOC
B-2869 Boeing 757-200

My stopover in Beijing isn't the shortest which gives me the possibility for some spotting from the terminal area. Time slowly passes by but finally boarding started. We are taken by bus to the aircraft. Not many passengers on the flight today, no problem in choosing a seat on board. The crew makes no problems so I sit at 45A. You can feel the power of the 757, especially that the plane is rather empty today. En route we do experience slight turbulence. Most of the time we cruise over the clouds. The meal is served, noodles today, no choice, no tray, quite greasy and apart the parts that are toughened due to heat, the meal is edible. The crews english is sufficient for me to get what I'd like, we kinda get on ;)  After around two and a half hours we land in sunny Fuzhou and deboard to the bus which will take us to the terminal where I have another 2h stop before my final flight of the day to Taipei.

LO91 WAW-PEK 2016.12.25

Christmas came and with the New Year ahead it was time to fly out somewhere. Destination: Taiwan, via China. First stop: Beijing

25 December 2016
LO91 (1455-0635+1) WAW-PEK
SP-LRC Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner

Christmas Day, late breakfast with the family and off to the airport. Quick and problem free baggage drop off, security and passport control. Boarding started more or less on time. Seated down in 7A with more than sufficient legroom I buckle up and wait for the pushback and takeoff. After we depart and head east it quickly gets dark and will stay that way all the way to Beijing. Some time into the flight the meals are served, one portion wasn't enough so later on I had to ask for a second one. With my stomach satisfied I could get on to the In Flight Entertainment system and watch some videos. The flight was rather smooth and passed by quickly. Oh, I would have forgotten about a small nap before arrival. Well needed at that time of the day. Surely a good start of the trip!

Taxiing to the runway

LO646 OTP-WAW 2016.10.22

One of the goals for October was to fly the Tarom A310 before they retire it at the end of the month. In fact I wanted to fly it already back in August but due to work duties I had to cancel my flights (then it was WAW-VIE-OTP-VIE-WAW). So, after the final flight date was set I started to look for flight combinations that would fit me. Already in September the first of two A310s stopped flying, making the risk of a equipment change even greater. After all, I booked a one-way flight from Madrid to Bucharest. As I was time restricted there wasn't too many flight options. I ended up in flying the evening before with Ryanair on WMI-MAD, getting the night at the terminal, some spotting before the flight and a quick, little risky 70 minutes scheduled stop in Bucharest before flying back to Warsaw with LOT.

22 October 2016
LO646 (1800-1845) OTP-WAW
SP-LDF Embraer 170

An on time arrival from Madrid made it possible for a stress free transfer. If I remember correctly it took me 7 minutes to get from the plane to the duty-free shops area. Having plenty of time I browsed a little around the shops and later on proceeded to the gate. Boarding was swift and all ended with an on-time departure. The flight wasn't too full, around 40 I'd say. After take-off and cutting the clouds we could admire the sun set. Always worth it!

LO270 AMS-WAW 2016.05.16

May, the month when the weather isn't too hot yet, but ain't too cold either. A great month for traveling around western Europe. This year the plan was for a quick visit in Paris, as a tourist, and even quicker visits in Prague and Amsterdam, as a spotter.

16 May 2016
LO270 (0705-0900) AMS-WAW
SP-LIN Embraer 175

After a exhausting weekend in the Netherlands including some spotting, sightseeing and short nights it was time to return back to Warsaw, back to the daily routine.
After arriving early at the airport I drop my bag off and walk out for a photo with the famous "I amsterdam" monument and back to the terminal building. The queues for security were enormous and slow-moving. Thus, having 5 minutes until boarding time I got let in through the fast-track and after a walk (at a fast pace) I get to the gate (at the very end of the terminal) where, after two minutes, boarding starts. We board through a bridge over the technical road beside the terminal, down the stairs to the apron and up to the plane. The rest of the flight is smooth and pleasant. The cabin crew is fantastic and the flight passes at a glimpse of an eye. The flight is on time. In Warsaw greeted by some smiling ground crew (must say nice to be back with such a welcome). Quickly pick up my bag and head home for a quick change and on to the University. I was supposed to fly with my friends Robert and Mike but due to some misorganisation we did not book the same flights...

My plane is almost ready for passengers to board

LO265 WAW-AMS 2016.05.14

May, the month when the weather isn't too hot yet, but ain't too cold either. A great month for traveling around western Europe. This year the plan was for a quick visit in Paris, as a tourist, and even quicker visits in Prague and Amsterdam, as a spotter.

14 May 2016
LO265 (0725-0935) WAW-AMS
Embraer 175 SP-LIF

Saturday, one should perhaps sleep in, but no. A morning flight is to catch. The day before my friends took the same flight and now I was to join them in Amsterdam. A good aviation weekend was on the horizon! No queues to drop my bag so with that done quickly I head to the security, 10 minutes and it's behind me. A walk to the nearby gate, having more than enough time I get in touch with the guys is Amsterdam and we polish the details of how we meet up. Seated in row 18 I have plenty of space. The rear of the plane is basically empty today. The weather isn't fantastic in Warsaw and neither it showed to be in Amsterdam. Nevertheless the flight is smooth and pleasant. After landing we taxi past some nice planes and end up at a remote stand. A short bus ride, a little longer wait for the bag and of I go to see the viewing terrace. When the time is right I meet up with Robert, Mike and Simon and we head for some spotting action, first at one of the approaches and later the Polderbaan for departures. Photos from that are available here.
This was yet another flight with LOT after which I have nothing bad to say about my experience en-route.

After pushback from our gate. Preparing for taxi to runway 15

LO336 CDG-WAW 2016.05.05

May, the month when the weather isn't too hot yet, but ain't too cold either. A great month for traveling around western Europe. This year the plan was for a quick visit in Paris, as a tourist, and even quicker visits in Prague and Amsterdam, as a spotter.

05 May 2016
LO336 (1940-2150) CDG-WAW
SP-LNC Embraer 195

After arriving at the airport train station I head for another train that will get me to Terminal 1. There I briefly drop my baggage of and head for a tour outside around the terminal. After a couple pictures I return inside and head for my satellite. A ride through the tunnel, the security control and there I am, still having time until boarding. Nothing interesting that could be easily photographed from here so there's nothing else to do but wait for boarding to start. On board I take my seat in row 12. All is ready for departure on my side. We taxi next to a Boeing 757 from TACV, a nice goodbye to the apron it is. A smooth rotation and off we go up with a view on fields in the area. A beautiful mix of yellow, green and brown all over the place.
The flight proceeds smoothly and after an hour or so we dive into the night. Landing in Warsaw is on-time and I don't have to wait too long for the bags to arrive.
Once again there is nothing bad that I could say about my flight with LOT. The crew on board was fantastic, it was a sheer pleasure to be there with them.

LO331 WAW-CDG 2016.05.02

May, the month when the weather isn't too hot yet, but ain't too cold either. A great month for traveling around western Europe. This year the plan was for a quick visit in Paris, as a tourist, and even quicker visits in Prague and Amsterdam, as a spotter.

02 May 2016
LO331 (0730-0955) WAW-CDG
SP-LNB Embraer 195

The morning flight with LOT was the one I chose to get with to Paris. The weather that morning in Warsaw was gray. Cloudy with a slight breeze. At the check-in area there is no queue to the bag drop, so I quickly get rid of my bag over there and head over to the security control. The worst part of a journey from Warsaw... But well, one must get over the poor and rude treatment they get and move on, to the gate! Having a lot of time I catch up with some friends and when boarding is at it's end, board the plane. Today SP-LNB, seat 25D. The forecast for the flight is good, the sky in Paris is clear.
After almost two hours we finally begin our approach to Charles de Gaulle airport. Smooth touchdown and after a couple of minutes deboarding commences. The bags arrive rather quick, but as it is in Paris, not in the right order...
All in all, another very pleasant flight with LOT.

Someone here got priority for takeoff

Domestic flying: LO3931 & LO3950

One morning I woke up and thought "How about a flight in the near future? Perhaps a new city somewhere in my country?" and that is how I got the idea to fly to Szczecin and Poznań. Domestic travel in Poland is getting quicker and quicker both by train and by bus. New highways are being built and railways are upgraded. I would even tend to say that on some routes, when traveling P2P the train is the best option when compared to taking a coach and flying (ex. Warsaw to Gdansk/Cracow/Poznań/Katowice/maybe Wrocław). Nevertheless I have managed to find a cheap, open-jaw combination for WAW-SZZ/POZ-WAW flying out in the morning (which gives an entire day in SZZ), taking an evening train to Poznań and returning the next day in the evening from POZ (which gives me an entire day in POZ). Killing two birds with one stone - visiting new places and flying on new routes. So to the flights themselves.