I was invited to participate on a seminarair on Training trainers outside Innsbruck, Austria. With the option being flying either SK CPH-MUC or OS CPH-VIE-INN my choice didn't require much thinking. I live in Växjö (VXO) but the flight out was full and so I took the train to Copenhagen early monday morning 24/3. The train would arrive 90 minutes before my flight departed but I was still worried since these trains have a reputation of being late (in fact my last one was).

Luckily I arrived at the airport in time and went to a SAS check-in counter. There were a handfull of people in line before me and the Checkin-agent told me that I would be the last one. As people came and placed themselves after me I told them that they would have to change queues. After 5-10 minutes I was at the desk and the agent thanked me for helping him. I told him that in return he could get me good seats. That he did and changed my boardingpass according to me wishes. As he handed me my boardingpass he told me in danish that I was seated way up front. I understand this as I had been upgraded and started to thank him but he told me he ment way up front in Y. Some waiting in CPH remained but since this is a very nice airport I could only enjoy it.


OS5302 CPH-VIE Operated by Tyrolean with a F70 OE-LFJ "Stadt Graz"
Seat 6A with scheduled departure and landing 030324

I boarded the plane and sat down behind the curtains. There was a lot of commotion since a lot of people had been assigned seat numbers C although only rows AB-DEF existed. There was even two people with seat 6C! Eventually all worked out since the plane was only 90% full. What rally annoyed me with all of my four Tyrolean flights this trip was the really bad Muzak played. It was of course turned down/off in flight but as soon as the wheels touched the ground it came back on. I guess muzak is something you have to get used to but this was really bad.
The Fokker 70 was a ok plane to fly but still the fans were a bit too loud I thought. A small sandwhich was served with a wine not very good. Nice weather all the way meant no turbulence.


OS5905 VIE-INN Operated by Tyrolean with a Q400 OE-LGB
Seat 9A with scheduled departure and landing 030324

Vienna airport sure is one of the more boring ones I've been to. I tried to get some sleep but because of the loud speaker-calls it was impossible. Eventually I could board the plane which was about 50% full. A stewardess sat on my seat and not wanting to argue with her I took the window seat on the opposite side. Also this time I sat behind the curtain with two pilots in the seats in front of me.
Taking off was uneventfull with a lovely weather but disappointment was to come in the air as the service my itinerary listed as "Cold meal" in reality was two small crackers and a drink! At least I had an amazing view. This was my first time flying to INN and landing between the mountains sure was spectacular. As the plane had landed it started to brake real hard. Loose object came "crawling" fowards on the floor and the pilots commented on it. The wheels were really smoking but I failed to get a good picture of them.


OS5906 INN-VIE Operated by Tyrolean with a Q300 OE-LTI
Seat 6F actual takeoff 15 minutes late and actual landing 25 mintues late

This flight I was flying with two friends. One contiuing to BRU and one to ARN while I could go on to CPH from VIE. The checkin-agent told us we had been placed togheter but that this would not be possible on the connecting flights (No, really?). I had a seat to the left but wanted to sit on the right side so that I could get a good look of the alps. The checkin-agent told me that I would have to sit on the row behind my friends, I agreed to this and we got our boarding passes. It was a wonderful day for plane-spotting and we took a walk along the runway. As we came back to the terminal the firetrucks were on the apron as MON (don't know the flightnumber) G-DAJB landed. The firetrucks never had to do anything but the passengers couldn't depart until after about 15 minutes. What had happened I do not know.
Our boarding started 5 minutes after scheduled take-off time and as we got on the plane there was some chocking news. We had been upgraded without the checkin-agent telling us! Well, we had been upgraded but then I had changed my seat. How stupid I had been. I had an upgrade without knowing it and changed it. My feelings weren't eased by looking at my friends laughing and waving back at me. The plane was 100% full. As we got up in the air the alps was mostly covered in clouds and so I got even more frustrated. Once again the "cold meal" consisting of the same two crackers was served. Luckily for my frustration (although I felt sorry for them) my friends also got Y-food. The seats were also the same so the only thing I missed was the feeling of sitting in C which I have never done.
There was heavy traffic over Vienna which meant that we had to circle a while before landing at the cloudy airport. My friends were worried about their connections. The one going to ARN was leaving in 5 minutes and my other friend's in 15 mintues. Now it was my turn to laugh at them. Or at least I thought until I discovered that mine was leaving in 10 minutes! The very long queue at security didn't help either. People sneaking by not understanding that almost everyone waiting for the security were late for their flights. I just made it and was the last one to board the plane.


OS5305 VIE-CPH Operated by Tyrolean with a F70
Seat 11A actual takeoff 10 minutes late but landing on time

This flight was also 100% full but I was seated in the emergency row. Lucky! There was now thunder and lightning over Vienna airport but only for a short while and the raining stopped as we took off. The same kind of sandwhich as on the way out was served and I got some sleep.


SK8285 CPH-VXO Operated by Skyways with a F50 SE-LIP
Seat 3E scheduled departure and takeoff

I had to get my bag and check in again at CPH. I got a window seat to the right as I asked for. I was really tired since I hadn't slept any the night before and hardly eaten anything which ment I was walking around in CPH singing to myself not really knowing what I was doing :-) . This Skyways-flight was about 90% full and before takeoff the captain warned about turbulence during takeoff and landing. Already before the plane had left the ground you could feel it shaking from side to side. Service onboard consisted of a bag of chips and cold drinks. The Fokker 50 I found to be a really nice turboprop to fly in. It was pretty quiet and felt relatively spacious. Landing was exciting and pretty hard and it didn't feel good having to put my sweater back on for the first time in a week.
There was no bus to the city from the airport for 90 minutes, not was there an ATM at the airport to get money for the bus! Luckily a spanish lady and me managed to get a lift with two norwegians in their taxi without having to pay anything. Thank you! Home at last.


To summarize I must say that Tyrolean was a disappointment, service was ok but not more. Skyways on the other hand was one of the best short-haul flight I've made. Their service was excellent with a very friendly flight attendant and a captain who made several announcments (that you could actually hear!). Skyways service felt more "real".
A funny note: I later heard from a friend flying MUC-MAD the same day that the bus had driven all the passangers to the wrong airplane. The one they boarded was due to Barcelona! Luckily the error was discovered and everyone had to deplane. The actual flight was 30 minutes late because of that.