LO3886 KTW-WAW 2017.08.15

15 August 2017
LO3886 (1825-1920) KTW-WAW
SP-LDH Embraer 170

The return segment of a kinda mileage run. There and back, the plane has not changed, the crew is the same. So after a quick walk out and back in to the terminal I get on board and am not the last one on it! :) Nice light makes for a cool lighting conditions during the flight. After departure a great overview of the airport in Pyrzowice, both runways (old and new) easily visible. Landed on time. Nothing to complain about on this short journey.

LO3885 WAW-KTW 2017.08.15

15 August 2017
LO3885 (1640-1730) WAW-KTW
SP-LDH Embraer 170

The first segment of a kinda mileage run. There and back to Katowice. A low load factor, a small delay (around 35 minutes) on departure (making my turnaround in KTW shorter but still easily doable). Boarding through the jetway and soon after we are waiting to line up on the runway. Up, straight, and down, a couple of turns and we have arrived at Pyrzowice airport. Very quick hop, I'd be one of the first out if we wouldn't be taking a bus, as it makes no difference in that case. Absolutely nothing to complain about the flight.

Ready on stand 1

LO776 KUN-WAW 2017.07.23

Usually a flight from Vilnius, but this time (and on the span of almost a month) from Kaunas instead.

23 July 2017
LO776 (1900-1910) KUN-WAW
SP-LDF Embraer 170

Arriving early at the airport and having plenty of time I stand by the fence and take some pictures of the traffic moving in and out. I even get to wittness the departure of the earlier flight to Warsaw. After some time, I go for a walk around the terminals and later to the restricted area of the temporary terminal (used by LOT during this short time operating from KUN instead of VNO) where I'll wait for my plane. SP-LDF arrives on time and we board walking to the plane. On board, when everybody is seated and doors are closed we are being informed that due to bad weather in Warsaw we have to wait on the ground. After 30 minutes (new METAR) the situation isn't better enough so we sit 30 more.An hour has passed since the planned departure time and we are still on the ground. The thunderstorm is slowly moving east and we may slowly get going. Quick departure, right turn, up and of to Warsaw. The flight itself was quick and not as turbulent as I'd suspect. We did encounter the Cbs on our way, thunder wasn't hard to spot, putting safety first is always a good option. The runway in Warsaw is wet, we get to our gate in Warsaw, some passengers have missed their connection, others are taken quickly directly to the gates, and others have to try to make it. Lucky as I was, Warsaw being my final destination I slowly proceeded to take a bus back home.
Fun experience at Kaunas, quite happy LOT opens a scheduled direct flight to KUN in S18, maybe there will be some time this summer to test the normal terminal ;)

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

EPWA 2017.04.25

A little spotting in the morning (~9-10am) and some from the evening wave (~5pm)

4X-EKH

LO409 WAW-DUS 2017.02.25

25 February 2017
LO409 (0735-0930) WAW-DUS
SP-LDK Embraer 170

A weekend excursion to Düsseldorf in some nice company. Luckily the morning departure wave of LOT flights from Warsaw starts after 7 am which is rather ok for a morning departure. Much better than a 6 am flight. Most passengers have already passed through security, thus, around 7 o’clock there merely is a queue to the security control. With around 40 minutes until departure we arrive at the airport, check a bag in for a hassle free flight and head to the gates. A brief stop at the duty free and for a coffee. Just in time at the gate. Today’s ride, SP-LDK, the only plane painted in Star Alliance colors in the fleet. We leave the gate on time, taxi briefly and head up and west, towards DUS. Not too many people, not exactly a business hour to fly, Saturday morning, the atmosphere on board is sleepy and the flight passes quickly, without greater problems. Just enough time to get a small breakfast on board. At our destination airport we park at a remote position, hop on a bus and are quickly transported to the terminal where we pick up our bag and head on to the city.

Overall, I still hold up the impression that LOTs jungle jets are one of the best for short travels around Europe. Really hard to beat them in my opinion.

Leaving snowy Warsaw behind

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!

EPWA 2016.08.20 An124 departure from runway 11

Due to some works in progress, runway 15/33 was closed. Thus the An124 visible in the last entry when it was supposed to depart we've been wondering whether or not will it wait for the longer runway to open or use the shortest one available for departures in Warsaw. They did not wait and what a sight it was!

UR-82029

EPWA 2016.06.23 A little closer (and the MD11)

Thanks to the kindness of Warsaw Chopin airport and "Warsaw Spotters" who organized an entry to the other side of the fence for a group of spotters. At first, we've been transported near the glide slope antenna of ILS for RWY 33. As 11/15 have been in use we had the ability to take some pictures from a closer distance than usually of departing aircraft.
Later on, after the MD-11F arrived, we've been transported close to where it's usually unloaded, loaded and prepared for its departure. We took turns in walking around the plane. Time passed by and after 9 pm the plane was almost ready for departure. All looked fine, push-back, engine start and... and the plane had to return back to its stand due to some issues on board. As our time limit at the airport we had to go, and satisfy ourselves with what we got. It was a truly phenomenal evening in some great company.

SP-LLF

N286UP

EPWA 2016.04.02

After a year of flying for Air Europa, SP-LRF "Franek" returned back to Warsaw. Here is his first dusk at PPS12. Additionally one 737 is undergoing maintenance at the gate.

SP-LRF

LO454 ARN-WAW 2015.12.06

After the bankruptcy of Estonian the government of Estonia formed a company that in cooperation
with Adria took over the network after Estonian. As Adria doesn't have the resources to do it with their own metal they wet-leased different machines (an BAe ATP from Nextjet, a couple Fokker 100s and Embraer 145s for different routes from different airlines). So I decided to go and try catch the ATP on a international sector. Combining it with some sightseeing in Tallinn and a short stay in Stockholm throughout the weekend sounded like a good plan. It later expanded with a couple of flights on a smaller BAe, the J32. The trip started on Friday and ended after around 48 hours with a flight back to WAW from ARN.

06 December 2015
LO454 (1010-1155) ARN-WAW
SP-LDH Embraer 170

It's still dark outside when I wake-up. I take my things and direct myself for the bus to Arlanda. There I quickly check-in and drop my bag after which I'm free to head airside. Having still time to the scheduled departure time I do some last minute shopping, eat breakfast and take some pictures of the local traffic. The weather is no different that the day before. Cloudy, shady and rainy. The time to board came. A small load of around 25 passengers today. Lots of space for everyone. A smooth flight. Landed on time. That would be it. The little Embraer once again did a fantastic job. Love it!

Climbing out of ARN

EPWA 2015.11.26

Another day at work. Today a Boeing 787 Dreamliner taxiing to its stand after a flight from Toronto. A KLM doing the same thing, and an Air France A320 being pushed back. All topped with a Day Airlines CRJ.

SP-LRE

PH-BGW