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 ;)

Kaunas Airport. 2017.07.22-23

Kaunas Airport was the place that most of the airlines redirected their flights from Vilnius during the runway maintenance over there. As the terminal is too small to accomodate the rise in traffic they have created temporary, provisional terminal halls. It's easy to get to the city center from the airport by bus which stops in front of the terminal. I must say that everything was well organised and easy to find. People with information about getting to Kaunas/Vilnius/other cities, or about which airline from which section were widely available, visible and easy to find. As LOT now openes a scheduled flight from WAW to KUN, I might be on my way to Kaunas to see the main terminal work some time in 2018.

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