Nordica, LOT Polish’s Estonian partner – disappointing Business Class

Nordica is the state-owned Estonia flag carrier, after the liquation of Estonia Air. For the first year, it relied on Slovenian Adria Airways to provide support, and then eventually it settled on a deal with LOT Polish Airlines, which actually allow or “lend” Nordica its code and even its booking website. You are literally buying a ticket with LOT Polish Airlines and even earn the same Star Alliance benefits including mileage and elite benefits. You are literally flying LOT, except that the plane is painted in Nordica’s livery, the service is provided by Nordica, and the service is Nordica. It is an interesting arrangement but unfortunately that strategic partnership stopped short of catering, which Nordica needs lots of work.

Full album link:
http://s1213.photobucket.com/user/Ca...-17/NordicaLOT

LO 8133 TLL-OSL Lv0725 Arr0800 CRJ-700ER ES-ACF

Tallinn Airport is under some construction now but the airport is actually quite well designed. All the gates are decorated in some ways to promote different Estonian business and part of the country. I guess Tallinn is preparing for some massive growth in the future (and I hope that will include some major help with Nordica.) Check-in was located directly next to the entrance to the departure area.

Nordica/LOT Polish mixed branding







The agent was quite friendly and I was given a boarding pass and my bag was tagged with the Star Alliance Gold priority tag.

There was a fast track lane for business class and elite passengers, and then I headed straight to the sole business class lounge at Tallinn airport.



The lounge was quite cute and the orange theme was clear. There was a limited food spread including pastries, cereals and some sandwiches.



Lots of orange themed furniture


There was an outdoor smoking terrace.


Food spread




I got some sandwiches, just in case the onboarding offering was insufficient.


Spotted this airBaltic Boeing 737 – heading to Amsterdam later



Plenty of Nordica CRJ-700/900





Gate 4, which is sponsored by Tallink



These gates are almost like lounges



Bus Gate this morning again which I did not mind. Unfortunately, I did not get a cabin interior shot since I was the last one onboard.






Business Class cabin consisted of six seats and I was the only passenger again. Newspapers were offered to all passengers and the only English paper was the Baltic Times.


Business Class cabin



The load this morning was 50-60% full and boarding took little time. Door was closed on time and we pushed back a few minutes later. We took off from R/W26 at 7:38am.




Flying time was an hour and eighteen minutes and we stayed at 36,000feet.

There was no inflight entertainment, except the magazine on your seat pocket.



In terms of catering, economy class is buy on board, but tea, coffee or water will be provided for free. They also have an extensive pre-order menu onboard.


For business class, the service cannot be more underwhelming, especially given the price that they charge. There is no discount business class fare and I definitely feel that I could have spent less money on the ticket but get a better pre-order meal as well as a comfortable exit row seat.

The F/A almost felt bad, but the meal offered to me was pretty bad. I got a plastic box that consists of two pieces of egg frittata, and a piece of chocolate is also given. I got my choice of beverage, which is served in plastic and paper cups. Everything is plastic including the utensils. I was thankful that I had some sandwiches.



So-called Snack






Refreshing towel


Chocolate


The F/A kept asking if I want something more, but other than more food, I don’t know what to ask for. I literally got more food on my next flight from OSL to Aalborg in Sun Air in economy, than this snack box. I include a picture for comparison.
BA Sun Air economy class meal on a 40 minutes flight


Seats:
I actually like the unique headrest cover.

Seats – recline – not too noticeable



The legroom was the best on the bulkhead rows, but Row 1AC was not good because it was next to the bathroom. Since I was the only passenger, I moved to Row 2A after boarding was completed.

2DF – the best pair of seats in business class on CRJ-700ERs


Legroom on 1AC – bulkhead


Legroom on 2AC – non-bulkhead



CRJ-700 galley


There was a duty-free service too after the meal service was completed.

Descent began on 7:33am Oslo local time, which is an hour behind from Tallinn.


We landed on R/W19R at 7:56am and parked at spot 89 right at 8am. It took a while for the bus to arrive, but we were in no hurry as the bags did not roll out until 8:20am.

Oslo Airport



Nordica is an interesting experience, but its business class is insufficient in every single way. As a Star Alliance gold member, I could have enjoyed most of the benefits anyway. I felt that Nordica either forgets about business class or actually tries to do it right with improved catering. I am not going to go out of my way to fly Nordica anytime soon, but if our paths cross again, I will stay in economy and just pay for those extra items like exit seats and meals.

Carfield