FlyingFinn
Mar 17, 03, 7:23 am
The following is a longish TR from my trip HEL-CPH-SVG-OSL-ARN-HEL.
Background
The other day I was bored and decided I needed something fun to do. Seeing that the redemption levels for SAS Eurobonus points for award flights inside Scandinavia was just 12 000 points, I played around with the routings and destinations a bit and ended up with a circular trip from Helsinki to Stavanger (SVG), Norway and back via Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm. Norwegian destinations seemed to offer some nice alternatives in terms of routing and carriers. Too bad I couldn't find any availability for flights in northern Norway (Tromsö, Lakselv or such) or with alternative carriers (would've loved do try out BU and/or WF) for the date I was looking for. At least I managed to fit in two new plane types for myself (the Dash 8 and 737-700) and a new airport (SVG). Oh well, onwards with the journey:
16.3 2003:
SK1717 HEL - CPH
LN-RDO Dash 8 Q400 "Frid Viking"
Dep: 10.19, Arr: 10.55
Made my way to Helsinki-Vantaa, reaching it way too early at 8.55. Tried using the self-service machines for checking in, but for reasons unknown the first one just complained that the checkin could not be completed, while the second one managed to retrieve my reservation before giving me an error message. Oh well, had to go to the counter to do it the old-fashioned way. Luckily no queues were present. Handed the lady my Eurobonus card (I was using an e-ticket), some typing (click click) followed, she retrieved my reservation and was a little surprised by my itinerary, but didn't make a fuss about it. I guess they are finally getting used to us crazy people coming up with all these convoluted routings. More clicks followed as she typed away, but she told me that she really couldn't check me anywhere. Another agent came to her help, and they tried all sorts of weird things, but no help. Finally she gave up, "forced" (that's what I could make out of their conversation) the machine to check me in only for the first segment to CPH. I got a BP with hand written "ETKT Flown Msg sent by HELKP" hand written to it. Never seen that before. She said that they'd been having some problems with Lufthansa e-tix that morning, so maybe they had a connection problem. First seat assignment was 3D, but I asked for a window seat, so she wrote 3F next to it.
Went though security, a breeze as pretty much always in HEL and did some aimless wondering around. For a Sunday morning, it was remarkably busy, probably due to the 3-4 charter cattle trucks (spotted at least a Futura, a MyTravel and 2 Finnair charter planes) about to leave in the next hour. Gate for my flight to Kastrup would be 26a, a bus gate, since I don't think the jetways here can accomodate a Dash 8. Went near the gate with a nice view of the airside and spent my time reading on the morning newspaper. At 9.45 I spotted the SK turboprop landing, and a few minutes later it parked at the apron directly in front of my viewpoint. There were no passengers embarking, although they did unload quite a fair amount of cargo. Looking at the SK timetable, this inbound flight doesn't seem to be listed, so I suspect it's only used for cargo and equipment positioning purposes.
At 10.00 sharp boarding commenced. Loads were light, I think they were around 15 of us in the bus. I spotted an AY MD11 taking off while waiting for the bus to start, always an impressive sight. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Flying Finn's (no relation to me, it's a new low-cost startup carrier in Finland) inaugural HEL - KTT flight that was supposed to take off at 10.00 using a MD83, but did not see anything. Either it was delayed or they used the rwy 15/33 to which the view was quite limited from our point. Oh well, I suppose I'll have to book a quick roundtrip with them at some point. Eventually the bus started, and a minute later we were stopped next to "Frid Viking". I was the first one onboard. There was no business class on this flight. Dark blue leather seats (I don't like leather seats at all). Seat pitch and leg room was ok, definitely more than on SK A321s. Next to us was an EE ATR-72 boarding for the short hop to TLL, looked full. Flight time was announced to be 1h 35mins, which is only about 20-25 minutes more than on the MD8x:s that usually fly this route. 2 youngish FAs onboard.
Started moving at 10.19, a short taxi to rwy 22L and an extremely powerful take-off followed. I was impressed by the power of the engines in this little turboprop. Then again the load was light. Quiet inside as well. There was definitely more room and comfort than in the AY ATR-72s I'm used to.
Soon after take-off the standard SK lunch boxes were handed out. Contents this time were a roll, water, some rice salad and pieces of cold turkey and lettuce and a muffin. Got orange juice from the beverage cart as well. The food was edible, but nothing to write home about. A cup of coffee finished the serving.
The flight got a little choppy when crossing over the Baltic Sea, and the captain came on announcing that our routing would be over Gotland, the city of Kalmar, across the southern Sweden, directly over Malmö and to Copenhagen. Nice weather was to be expected (+8 Celsius in CPH), with an early arrival at 11.05. The skies were clear, there was good visibility to the dozens of ships traveling the Baltic Sea. Passed the time by alternating between reading, watching out of the window and typing this report.
Around 10.35 descent started. Descended for a while following the Swedish coastline, and after a while a steep right turn put us on a path towards Malmö. 10.45 ten minutes was announced, together with the seat belt sign. We were just passing Malmö on the northern side, too bad I was sitting on the right hand side of the plane. Descended over the narrow body of water separating Sweden and Denmark, and banked to the left lining up with our runway. 10.50 finals were rang with the gears descending. I spotted a nice long row of wind power plants standing in the water before the runway. Touched down at 10.55. Powerful braking followed and we taxied to a remote stand (91). A quick bus ride to the terminal followed.
Emerged back to the terminal somewhere near the low numbered C-gates. Started the long trip towards the transfer counters determined to sort my ticket mess out. Halfway I stumbled across a lone self-service machine, and decided to give it a try. Lo and behold, it complied to my will, retrieving my reservation without a hitch and spat out boarding passes for all the remaining 4 legs of the day. For some strange reason I couldn't select a seat for the final ARN-HEL flight but was assigned 23D. Oh, I guess something to get fixed when I'll eventually reach Stockholm. Got sequence number 1 for two of the flights.
With a boarding pass to outside the EU (Norway) in hand, I headed off to the tax-free wonderland. Some Danish crowns and several minutes later I was back with a new item in my backpack. Decided to have a beer, so I walked all the way to the trusty good old Danish Kitchen's Food Court between the A and B -piers. Sat down with my malt beverage, watching the ramp action (saw LX, LH, KL, AF, DM and the usual SK planes arriving) and snapping a few photographs. Did some work as well.
I have to admit that Kastrup is one off my all time favourite airports. I like the single terminal approach (although the domestic terminal is a little off, but I've never been there), no need for trAAins or trams or cumbersome bus transfers between remote terminals. Although I can imagine that for people with disabilities some of the long distances (e.g. from the extreme end of the A-pier to the C-pier) might be a little off-putting. Anyway, just as I was about to leave for gate C5, a SK MD-87 SE-DIC arrived. A familiar bird, I was onboard her ZRH-CPH just last October. Went next to the C bus gates and watched one SK 767 departure for Washington Dulles and an A330 for Newark. The A340 to O'Hare seemed to be delayed.
SK1870 CPH - SVG
LN-RDO Dash 8 Q400 "Frid Viking"
Dep: 12.56, Arr: 14.14
Boarding commenced at 12.25, and we had to descent stairs to a small waiting room next to a large number of buses. Lots of people. Chatted a little with two young American women, at first they thought that I was Irish because of my Claddagh ring. They thought I was absolutely crazy for 1) not taking a direct flight between two points and 2) for doing 5 segments a day without any purpose whatsoever. Well, you can't explain this to everybody.. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
The bus took us back to LN-RDO again (bummer, I was hoping for another bird). The crew was different, though. Squeezed to my seat 6A, the lady next to me had a huge carry-on roller that barely fit under BOTH seats in front of us. Decided to keep my quiet about it, though. The plane was completely full. Announced flight time was 1h 10mins. Started moving at 12.56, 5 minutes later took off from rwy 22R towards the south. Flew past downtown Copenhagen from the south and west, which means that once again I was sitting on the wrong side of the plane. All I got to see were endless suburbs, industrial areas and highways. Oh well.
Service was started promptly, with the familiar Scandinavian Direct snackbag being offered. Inside was a tiny fruit smoothie drink and a muffin. A can of beer was acquired from the following beverage cart, and I settled back to enjoy the flight. Nice weather, with great views of the sea and northern Jylland. The F/O came on, telling that he expected smooth skies and 45-50 minutes of flight time ahead of us. By 13.50 we made landfall over the Norwegian coast and banked right. Got cloudy as well, with the occasional opening allowing for impressive views of the rugged coastline, snow-covered hills and mountains and the green, watery fjords in between. Soon we were descending through the clouds, and experienced some slight chop. A few minutes past 14 the seat belt sign came on and 10 minutes was announced. We broke the clouds over some farmland, flew over a few towns and villages, then over some sea and touched down at Sola airport in 14.14. Another powerful braking followed. Taxied and stopped next to gate 11. On the other side of us was a Spanair Airbus 321, a charter flight to Tenerife. The jetways of the airport were very low, and had stairs running to the ground. So we descended the stairs of our plane, took two steps in the apron and ascended the jetway stairs. A nice way to handle a turboprop.
The airport was pretty small, yet there were 10 (or 9?) gates. The international part was packed, due to the Spanair Airbus being boarded. Other destinations for today on the departure list included KL to AMS, WF to NCL, SK to OSL and CPH and BU to BGO, TRD and Kristiansand. Passed through customs (nobody there) and went to take a walk outside around the airport and the parking lots. The helicopter activity was busy, there was a separate terminal for helicopter passengers. Probably to/from the North Sea oil rigs.
After wondering around for a while got bored and went back inside. There was a decent restaurant on the top (third) floor, with a great view of the rwy and ramp. Sat down and spent the next hour photographing planes and reading. The JK plane was just being pushed back as I approached. Other activity included the arriving KL 737 from AMS, a few BU 737s, WF turboprops and some SK planes. 15.30 decided to go back airside. The security guy wanted to see the two bottles in my backpack, the water bottle he opened and smelled, but the tax-free vodka didn't hold his interest at all. Was directed to the domestic side of the terminal to gate 18. OY-KKI arrived early at 15.40 and taxied to the gate.
SK1316 SVG - OSL
OY-KKI Boeing 737-783 "Borgny Viking"
Dep: 16.16, Arr: 17.00
A number of people deplaned, and soon enough at 16.00 boarding was announced. My place 10F turned out to be in the middle of the wind, row 11 being the overwing exit row. Interestingly on the next gate I spotted a tug that had "Flughafen Leipzig-Halle" painted on its side. Recycling or a souvenir? Attached to that gate there was a Norwegian 737, LN-KKJ which had arrived a while ago. On this flight there were 2 FAs and a purser. Load was pretty good, probably around 60%. Empty middle seat next to me and most people, though.
Flight time was announced to be 40 minutes, nice flying conditions and the captain said that the F/O (a she) would be flying us all the way to Oslo Gardemoen. Pushed back early at 16.16, taxied to the end of rwy 18 (separated from the sea by only a few lanes of a highway and a perimeter fence), and took off at 16.22. The KL 737 was being pushed back as well. After a few moments of straight ascent we took a gentle but long left turn and disappeared into the low cloud level.
Service followed, with another snack bag, featuring yet another muffin and some pineapple juice. Got a tiny can of coke as well, but decided to pass on coffee/tea. Flight was uneventful and went by very quickly, with slow descend starting already some 20 minutes into the flight. The seat belt sign and 10 minutes came in at 17.52. The approach was a little weird, since we passed the airport at a high altitude, and after a while did a 180 degree turn to line up with the runway. Touched down at 17.00 sharp at runway 19R, docked to gate 23 5 minutes later.
While I like the new Oslo airport a lot (it's warm, modern, easy to navigate and spacious), I've never understood their flight connections practice. Everybody connecting from domestic flights needed to go through security again before allowed back into airside. Don't they trust the domestic airport security staff at Norway or what's the problem?
After security emerged to the domestic part of the terminal. Gate for the ARN-flight was 36, quite a hike from where I was. Before being admitted to the international part of the terminal, boarding passes were checked. By the time I reached the gate the boarding was just starting.
SK1482 OSL - ARN
LN-RMA MD-82 "Hasting Viking"
Dep: 17.43, Arr: 18.33
Our plane today would be LN-RMA, yet again in one class Scandinavian Direct configuration. Made my way to my seat 4F. Loads around the 80% region, luckily had the middle seat next to me empty again. Flight time as announced would be 45 minutes, with departure declared following "shortly". Sure enough, push back at 17.43, 7 minute taxi to rwy 01L and take off after a Norwegian 737.
After a few right turns we were headed to Stockholm and the ever-present snack bags appeared again. Contents were the same as on the previous flight, only the muffin was a blueberry one this time. I was starting to get sick of muffins. Got another beer from the beverage cart, and decided to grab a cup of coffee as well (little did I know about a long night ahead of me at this point..). Over Sweden the weather got overcast, so staring out of the window got a little boring and I resorted back to my trusty paperback.
The captain came on soon and announced that we should be landing to ARN by 18.35 and the temperature would be 7 degrees Celsius. Soon enough gradual descent was started, with seat belt sign following at 18.22. It had already got dark outside when we broke the clouds, with nice views of the lights of Stockholm and the northern suburbs in the distance. There was quite a string of arrivals into ARN in front of us, at one point I counted the lights of at least 5 planes visible at the same time. Made some turns and joined to pattern for a touch down at 17.33, short taxi to gate F31 and emerged to the deserted F-pier a few minutes later. The F-pier looks nice, although a little barren, since there are no shops or restaurants open yet, not to mention it was completely empty. SK702 to HEL would be leaving from gate 10a, so I took the long walk to the old part of Terminal 5.
This terminal is a total dump. It's weird that the main hub of SK at CPH is such a nice airport and a breeze to connect through, whereas the secondary hub at ARN is nowhere near it. Oh well, I suppose the new F-pier/Arlanda North will remedy the situation somewhat once it gets finished. Went to the SK service center to get my seat assignment changed. Picked 12F as my new seat, and the nice lady printed out a new boarding pass. When I asked if it was full, she muttered under her breath something like "too full..". This got my alert bells ringing.
Spent an hour by making some phonecalls and having a beer in a bar while doing some reading. Headed to the gate a few minutes after 20.00 (boarding would start at 20.45) to not miss out any bumping opportunities. After 20.30 the gate agents arrived, and a number of people went up trying to get their seats assigned. I overheard the agents mentioning about looking for 3-5 volunteers, and at that moment I sprang up and dashed to the counter. Sure enough, I was promised a seat on the next flight in two hours and a 150 EUR denied boarding voucher. A minute later I was standing at the service center, with my shiny new voucher in hand. Jackpot! Got booked to the last SK flight of the day (KF434/SK6664 leaving at 22.55) with seat 12A. According to the agent, this was full as well. Hmm, how about a double bump and a hotel night at ARN to finish it all off?
Walked the LONG way to the other pier of terminal 5, where gate 16A was located. The tunnel connecting the two piers was extremely narrow and run down, must be quite a challenge to navigate during the rush hour. Made my way to another bar and sat down reading for another hour or so. Eventually I made my way to the gate, the crowd looked quite big, so I was hopeful for another bump. Once the agent arrived I asked about overbooking, and he admitted to being overbooked. I of course volunteered, but he said that he'd call if any were needed. A young couple who had volunteered from the earlier flight as well seemed to try the same trick here as well.
KF434 ARN - HEL
OH-SAX Saab 2000 "Hiidenvesi"
Dep: 22.56, Arr: 00.48
Boarding was announced a few minutes before 22.30. I hung around for a while for any latecomers, but eventually decided to board the bus. The volunteering couple eventually boarded as well, so looks like no volunteers were needed. In the plane I later spotted one empty seat, which confirmed this. 22.45 the bus stopped in front of OH-SAX "Hiidenvesi", a Saab 2000 turboprop. Next to us was the entire fleet of KF Saabs, three other birds each departing within 10 minutes for their flights to TKU, TMP and VAA. Boarded, got greeted by the FA, with another at the back of the plane. Leather seats again (yuck), in a 1-2 configuration. 12A was just after the wing on the 1-side. The S2000 is really just a longer version of the Saab 340, with maybe a little more height in the cabin.
Engines were started at 22.53 in the normal sequence, first the right one and then the left one. I wonder is there some sort of SOP for this, since every turboprop that I've flown has always done this at this same order? Started moving 3 minutes later, taxied for 5 minutes to rwy 19R and promptly took off for Finland with 45 minutes of flying time ahead of us. Some choppy air after take-off. Noise in the cabin was definitely above the Dash 8 levels.
Service soon followed, luckily we were spared from the snack bag/muffin -experience and instead got a small tray with a tub or orange juice and a small rye bread with sausage, some pickles and lettuce inside. Asked for a beer to finish it, but instead got handed a can of Lapin Kulta. Well, what can you do. Finished the snack and dozed on and off until waking up to the seat belt sign and 10 minutes announcement at 00.43. Descended over Kerava and the Koff brewery. Touched down 00.48 to rwy 22L, thus closing the circle for today. I half-expected us to arrive to rwy 15, as the noise-abatement regulations dictate, but I guess the noise levels in the Saab aren't too high. Stopped to a hard stand and was quickly bussed to the terminal. Walked through baggage retrieval (was traveling with only my back pack as carry on for the whole trip), through deserted customs and to a waiting cab bringing the long day to an end.
Verdict
All in all a very enjoyable day. For a mere 12 000 Eurobonus points and 59 EUR in airport fees I got a nice day of flying plus 150 EUR bump voucher and numerous muffins to boot. SK was its usual self, although the snack bags COULD be a little more varied. Well, I suppose they aren't used to somebody doing five short intra-Scandinavian segments a day.
Background
The other day I was bored and decided I needed something fun to do. Seeing that the redemption levels for SAS Eurobonus points for award flights inside Scandinavia was just 12 000 points, I played around with the routings and destinations a bit and ended up with a circular trip from Helsinki to Stavanger (SVG), Norway and back via Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm. Norwegian destinations seemed to offer some nice alternatives in terms of routing and carriers. Too bad I couldn't find any availability for flights in northern Norway (Tromsö, Lakselv or such) or with alternative carriers (would've loved do try out BU and/or WF) for the date I was looking for. At least I managed to fit in two new plane types for myself (the Dash 8 and 737-700) and a new airport (SVG). Oh well, onwards with the journey:
16.3 2003:
SK1717 HEL - CPH
LN-RDO Dash 8 Q400 "Frid Viking"
Dep: 10.19, Arr: 10.55
Made my way to Helsinki-Vantaa, reaching it way too early at 8.55. Tried using the self-service machines for checking in, but for reasons unknown the first one just complained that the checkin could not be completed, while the second one managed to retrieve my reservation before giving me an error message. Oh well, had to go to the counter to do it the old-fashioned way. Luckily no queues were present. Handed the lady my Eurobonus card (I was using an e-ticket), some typing (click click) followed, she retrieved my reservation and was a little surprised by my itinerary, but didn't make a fuss about it. I guess they are finally getting used to us crazy people coming up with all these convoluted routings. More clicks followed as she typed away, but she told me that she really couldn't check me anywhere. Another agent came to her help, and they tried all sorts of weird things, but no help. Finally she gave up, "forced" (that's what I could make out of their conversation) the machine to check me in only for the first segment to CPH. I got a BP with hand written "ETKT Flown Msg sent by HELKP" hand written to it. Never seen that before. She said that they'd been having some problems with Lufthansa e-tix that morning, so maybe they had a connection problem. First seat assignment was 3D, but I asked for a window seat, so she wrote 3F next to it.
Went though security, a breeze as pretty much always in HEL and did some aimless wondering around. For a Sunday morning, it was remarkably busy, probably due to the 3-4 charter cattle trucks (spotted at least a Futura, a MyTravel and 2 Finnair charter planes) about to leave in the next hour. Gate for my flight to Kastrup would be 26a, a bus gate, since I don't think the jetways here can accomodate a Dash 8. Went near the gate with a nice view of the airside and spent my time reading on the morning newspaper. At 9.45 I spotted the SK turboprop landing, and a few minutes later it parked at the apron directly in front of my viewpoint. There were no passengers embarking, although they did unload quite a fair amount of cargo. Looking at the SK timetable, this inbound flight doesn't seem to be listed, so I suspect it's only used for cargo and equipment positioning purposes.
At 10.00 sharp boarding commenced. Loads were light, I think they were around 15 of us in the bus. I spotted an AY MD11 taking off while waiting for the bus to start, always an impressive sight. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Flying Finn's (no relation to me, it's a new low-cost startup carrier in Finland) inaugural HEL - KTT flight that was supposed to take off at 10.00 using a MD83, but did not see anything. Either it was delayed or they used the rwy 15/33 to which the view was quite limited from our point. Oh well, I suppose I'll have to book a quick roundtrip with them at some point. Eventually the bus started, and a minute later we were stopped next to "Frid Viking". I was the first one onboard. There was no business class on this flight. Dark blue leather seats (I don't like leather seats at all). Seat pitch and leg room was ok, definitely more than on SK A321s. Next to us was an EE ATR-72 boarding for the short hop to TLL, looked full. Flight time was announced to be 1h 35mins, which is only about 20-25 minutes more than on the MD8x:s that usually fly this route. 2 youngish FAs onboard.
Started moving at 10.19, a short taxi to rwy 22L and an extremely powerful take-off followed. I was impressed by the power of the engines in this little turboprop. Then again the load was light. Quiet inside as well. There was definitely more room and comfort than in the AY ATR-72s I'm used to.
Soon after take-off the standard SK lunch boxes were handed out. Contents this time were a roll, water, some rice salad and pieces of cold turkey and lettuce and a muffin. Got orange juice from the beverage cart as well. The food was edible, but nothing to write home about. A cup of coffee finished the serving.
The flight got a little choppy when crossing over the Baltic Sea, and the captain came on announcing that our routing would be over Gotland, the city of Kalmar, across the southern Sweden, directly over Malmö and to Copenhagen. Nice weather was to be expected (+8 Celsius in CPH), with an early arrival at 11.05. The skies were clear, there was good visibility to the dozens of ships traveling the Baltic Sea. Passed the time by alternating between reading, watching out of the window and typing this report.
Around 10.35 descent started. Descended for a while following the Swedish coastline, and after a while a steep right turn put us on a path towards Malmö. 10.45 ten minutes was announced, together with the seat belt sign. We were just passing Malmö on the northern side, too bad I was sitting on the right hand side of the plane. Descended over the narrow body of water separating Sweden and Denmark, and banked to the left lining up with our runway. 10.50 finals were rang with the gears descending. I spotted a nice long row of wind power plants standing in the water before the runway. Touched down at 10.55. Powerful braking followed and we taxied to a remote stand (91). A quick bus ride to the terminal followed.
Emerged back to the terminal somewhere near the low numbered C-gates. Started the long trip towards the transfer counters determined to sort my ticket mess out. Halfway I stumbled across a lone self-service machine, and decided to give it a try. Lo and behold, it complied to my will, retrieving my reservation without a hitch and spat out boarding passes for all the remaining 4 legs of the day. For some strange reason I couldn't select a seat for the final ARN-HEL flight but was assigned 23D. Oh, I guess something to get fixed when I'll eventually reach Stockholm. Got sequence number 1 for two of the flights.
With a boarding pass to outside the EU (Norway) in hand, I headed off to the tax-free wonderland. Some Danish crowns and several minutes later I was back with a new item in my backpack. Decided to have a beer, so I walked all the way to the trusty good old Danish Kitchen's Food Court between the A and B -piers. Sat down with my malt beverage, watching the ramp action (saw LX, LH, KL, AF, DM and the usual SK planes arriving) and snapping a few photographs. Did some work as well.
I have to admit that Kastrup is one off my all time favourite airports. I like the single terminal approach (although the domestic terminal is a little off, but I've never been there), no need for trAAins or trams or cumbersome bus transfers between remote terminals. Although I can imagine that for people with disabilities some of the long distances (e.g. from the extreme end of the A-pier to the C-pier) might be a little off-putting. Anyway, just as I was about to leave for gate C5, a SK MD-87 SE-DIC arrived. A familiar bird, I was onboard her ZRH-CPH just last October. Went next to the C bus gates and watched one SK 767 departure for Washington Dulles and an A330 for Newark. The A340 to O'Hare seemed to be delayed.
SK1870 CPH - SVG
LN-RDO Dash 8 Q400 "Frid Viking"
Dep: 12.56, Arr: 14.14
Boarding commenced at 12.25, and we had to descent stairs to a small waiting room next to a large number of buses. Lots of people. Chatted a little with two young American women, at first they thought that I was Irish because of my Claddagh ring. They thought I was absolutely crazy for 1) not taking a direct flight between two points and 2) for doing 5 segments a day without any purpose whatsoever. Well, you can't explain this to everybody.. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
The bus took us back to LN-RDO again (bummer, I was hoping for another bird). The crew was different, though. Squeezed to my seat 6A, the lady next to me had a huge carry-on roller that barely fit under BOTH seats in front of us. Decided to keep my quiet about it, though. The plane was completely full. Announced flight time was 1h 10mins. Started moving at 12.56, 5 minutes later took off from rwy 22R towards the south. Flew past downtown Copenhagen from the south and west, which means that once again I was sitting on the wrong side of the plane. All I got to see were endless suburbs, industrial areas and highways. Oh well.
Service was started promptly, with the familiar Scandinavian Direct snackbag being offered. Inside was a tiny fruit smoothie drink and a muffin. A can of beer was acquired from the following beverage cart, and I settled back to enjoy the flight. Nice weather, with great views of the sea and northern Jylland. The F/O came on, telling that he expected smooth skies and 45-50 minutes of flight time ahead of us. By 13.50 we made landfall over the Norwegian coast and banked right. Got cloudy as well, with the occasional opening allowing for impressive views of the rugged coastline, snow-covered hills and mountains and the green, watery fjords in between. Soon we were descending through the clouds, and experienced some slight chop. A few minutes past 14 the seat belt sign came on and 10 minutes was announced. We broke the clouds over some farmland, flew over a few towns and villages, then over some sea and touched down at Sola airport in 14.14. Another powerful braking followed. Taxied and stopped next to gate 11. On the other side of us was a Spanair Airbus 321, a charter flight to Tenerife. The jetways of the airport were very low, and had stairs running to the ground. So we descended the stairs of our plane, took two steps in the apron and ascended the jetway stairs. A nice way to handle a turboprop.
The airport was pretty small, yet there were 10 (or 9?) gates. The international part was packed, due to the Spanair Airbus being boarded. Other destinations for today on the departure list included KL to AMS, WF to NCL, SK to OSL and CPH and BU to BGO, TRD and Kristiansand. Passed through customs (nobody there) and went to take a walk outside around the airport and the parking lots. The helicopter activity was busy, there was a separate terminal for helicopter passengers. Probably to/from the North Sea oil rigs.
After wondering around for a while got bored and went back inside. There was a decent restaurant on the top (third) floor, with a great view of the rwy and ramp. Sat down and spent the next hour photographing planes and reading. The JK plane was just being pushed back as I approached. Other activity included the arriving KL 737 from AMS, a few BU 737s, WF turboprops and some SK planes. 15.30 decided to go back airside. The security guy wanted to see the two bottles in my backpack, the water bottle he opened and smelled, but the tax-free vodka didn't hold his interest at all. Was directed to the domestic side of the terminal to gate 18. OY-KKI arrived early at 15.40 and taxied to the gate.
SK1316 SVG - OSL
OY-KKI Boeing 737-783 "Borgny Viking"
Dep: 16.16, Arr: 17.00
A number of people deplaned, and soon enough at 16.00 boarding was announced. My place 10F turned out to be in the middle of the wind, row 11 being the overwing exit row. Interestingly on the next gate I spotted a tug that had "Flughafen Leipzig-Halle" painted on its side. Recycling or a souvenir? Attached to that gate there was a Norwegian 737, LN-KKJ which had arrived a while ago. On this flight there were 2 FAs and a purser. Load was pretty good, probably around 60%. Empty middle seat next to me and most people, though.
Flight time was announced to be 40 minutes, nice flying conditions and the captain said that the F/O (a she) would be flying us all the way to Oslo Gardemoen. Pushed back early at 16.16, taxied to the end of rwy 18 (separated from the sea by only a few lanes of a highway and a perimeter fence), and took off at 16.22. The KL 737 was being pushed back as well. After a few moments of straight ascent we took a gentle but long left turn and disappeared into the low cloud level.
Service followed, with another snack bag, featuring yet another muffin and some pineapple juice. Got a tiny can of coke as well, but decided to pass on coffee/tea. Flight was uneventful and went by very quickly, with slow descend starting already some 20 minutes into the flight. The seat belt sign and 10 minutes came in at 17.52. The approach was a little weird, since we passed the airport at a high altitude, and after a while did a 180 degree turn to line up with the runway. Touched down at 17.00 sharp at runway 19R, docked to gate 23 5 minutes later.
While I like the new Oslo airport a lot (it's warm, modern, easy to navigate and spacious), I've never understood their flight connections practice. Everybody connecting from domestic flights needed to go through security again before allowed back into airside. Don't they trust the domestic airport security staff at Norway or what's the problem?
After security emerged to the domestic part of the terminal. Gate for the ARN-flight was 36, quite a hike from where I was. Before being admitted to the international part of the terminal, boarding passes were checked. By the time I reached the gate the boarding was just starting.
SK1482 OSL - ARN
LN-RMA MD-82 "Hasting Viking"
Dep: 17.43, Arr: 18.33
Our plane today would be LN-RMA, yet again in one class Scandinavian Direct configuration. Made my way to my seat 4F. Loads around the 80% region, luckily had the middle seat next to me empty again. Flight time as announced would be 45 minutes, with departure declared following "shortly". Sure enough, push back at 17.43, 7 minute taxi to rwy 01L and take off after a Norwegian 737.
After a few right turns we were headed to Stockholm and the ever-present snack bags appeared again. Contents were the same as on the previous flight, only the muffin was a blueberry one this time. I was starting to get sick of muffins. Got another beer from the beverage cart, and decided to grab a cup of coffee as well (little did I know about a long night ahead of me at this point..). Over Sweden the weather got overcast, so staring out of the window got a little boring and I resorted back to my trusty paperback.
The captain came on soon and announced that we should be landing to ARN by 18.35 and the temperature would be 7 degrees Celsius. Soon enough gradual descent was started, with seat belt sign following at 18.22. It had already got dark outside when we broke the clouds, with nice views of the lights of Stockholm and the northern suburbs in the distance. There was quite a string of arrivals into ARN in front of us, at one point I counted the lights of at least 5 planes visible at the same time. Made some turns and joined to pattern for a touch down at 17.33, short taxi to gate F31 and emerged to the deserted F-pier a few minutes later. The F-pier looks nice, although a little barren, since there are no shops or restaurants open yet, not to mention it was completely empty. SK702 to HEL would be leaving from gate 10a, so I took the long walk to the old part of Terminal 5.
This terminal is a total dump. It's weird that the main hub of SK at CPH is such a nice airport and a breeze to connect through, whereas the secondary hub at ARN is nowhere near it. Oh well, I suppose the new F-pier/Arlanda North will remedy the situation somewhat once it gets finished. Went to the SK service center to get my seat assignment changed. Picked 12F as my new seat, and the nice lady printed out a new boarding pass. When I asked if it was full, she muttered under her breath something like "too full..". This got my alert bells ringing.
Spent an hour by making some phonecalls and having a beer in a bar while doing some reading. Headed to the gate a few minutes after 20.00 (boarding would start at 20.45) to not miss out any bumping opportunities. After 20.30 the gate agents arrived, and a number of people went up trying to get their seats assigned. I overheard the agents mentioning about looking for 3-5 volunteers, and at that moment I sprang up and dashed to the counter. Sure enough, I was promised a seat on the next flight in two hours and a 150 EUR denied boarding voucher. A minute later I was standing at the service center, with my shiny new voucher in hand. Jackpot! Got booked to the last SK flight of the day (KF434/SK6664 leaving at 22.55) with seat 12A. According to the agent, this was full as well. Hmm, how about a double bump and a hotel night at ARN to finish it all off?
Walked the LONG way to the other pier of terminal 5, where gate 16A was located. The tunnel connecting the two piers was extremely narrow and run down, must be quite a challenge to navigate during the rush hour. Made my way to another bar and sat down reading for another hour or so. Eventually I made my way to the gate, the crowd looked quite big, so I was hopeful for another bump. Once the agent arrived I asked about overbooking, and he admitted to being overbooked. I of course volunteered, but he said that he'd call if any were needed. A young couple who had volunteered from the earlier flight as well seemed to try the same trick here as well.
KF434 ARN - HEL
OH-SAX Saab 2000 "Hiidenvesi"
Dep: 22.56, Arr: 00.48
Boarding was announced a few minutes before 22.30. I hung around for a while for any latecomers, but eventually decided to board the bus. The volunteering couple eventually boarded as well, so looks like no volunteers were needed. In the plane I later spotted one empty seat, which confirmed this. 22.45 the bus stopped in front of OH-SAX "Hiidenvesi", a Saab 2000 turboprop. Next to us was the entire fleet of KF Saabs, three other birds each departing within 10 minutes for their flights to TKU, TMP and VAA. Boarded, got greeted by the FA, with another at the back of the plane. Leather seats again (yuck), in a 1-2 configuration. 12A was just after the wing on the 1-side. The S2000 is really just a longer version of the Saab 340, with maybe a little more height in the cabin.
Engines were started at 22.53 in the normal sequence, first the right one and then the left one. I wonder is there some sort of SOP for this, since every turboprop that I've flown has always done this at this same order? Started moving 3 minutes later, taxied for 5 minutes to rwy 19R and promptly took off for Finland with 45 minutes of flying time ahead of us. Some choppy air after take-off. Noise in the cabin was definitely above the Dash 8 levels.
Service soon followed, luckily we were spared from the snack bag/muffin -experience and instead got a small tray with a tub or orange juice and a small rye bread with sausage, some pickles and lettuce inside. Asked for a beer to finish it, but instead got handed a can of Lapin Kulta. Well, what can you do. Finished the snack and dozed on and off until waking up to the seat belt sign and 10 minutes announcement at 00.43. Descended over Kerava and the Koff brewery. Touched down 00.48 to rwy 22L, thus closing the circle for today. I half-expected us to arrive to rwy 15, as the noise-abatement regulations dictate, but I guess the noise levels in the Saab aren't too high. Stopped to a hard stand and was quickly bussed to the terminal. Walked through baggage retrieval (was traveling with only my back pack as carry on for the whole trip), through deserted customs and to a waiting cab bringing the long day to an end.
Verdict
All in all a very enjoyable day. For a mere 12 000 Eurobonus points and 59 EUR in airport fees I got a nice day of flying plus 150 EUR bump voucher and numerous muffins to boot. SK was its usual self, although the snack bags COULD be a little more varied. Well, I suppose they aren't used to somebody doing five short intra-Scandinavian segments a day.