jamesbrownontheroad

I agree about T5F; but I suspect that operations tend cluster about C, D and E Piers because of the convenience of operations. Less distance to/from operations rooms, other gates, etc. F is far superior for boarding wide body flights, the non-Schengen gate area the end of T5D is often packed to standing with long queues for the few toilets. T5G is still planned to be built (a new pier that will continue east at right angles from the base of T5F).

I might be wrong, but I think the other J&J franchise was a victim of Covid. But you might see the one in terminal 4 / C pier more often because with the airside connector passageway from T5D underneath SkyCity, more and more SAS flights (especially CRJ, but also A320) are departing from there.

Welcome to Scandinavia! It’s lovely. Just don’t try and start a conversation with strangers.

RedChili

My experience is that F is widely used for widebodies during the day, and the wingspan means that a widebody blocks two hard stands. So e.g. if there's a widebody parked at F32/62, and another parked at F36/66, a narrowbody can't fit into F34/64. And widebodies are usually parked for a much longer time span than narrowbodies. But they can use F34 as a bus gate. That's why F is widely used for bus gates departures.

Few widebodies are parked at ARN during the night, so late night arrivals with early morning departures on narrowbodies frequently use the F gates. Many departures between 06:00-07:00 are from F.

Edited to add that there's a much wider selection of restaurants, shops, and lounges at the E pier compared to the F pier. I have an impression that they try to limit departures from F after 19:00, and that may play into it.

There are many airplanes that arrive from intra-Schengen and depart to extra-Schengen, or vice versa. Apart from gates 17-18, the F gates are the only ones that can handle all combinations of arrivals/departures, and all sizes of airplanes. SAS obviously has many such flights. And while a SAS LHR-ARN-CPH turnaround also can be handled at gates 13-16, the opposite turnaround can only be handled on gates 17-18 and the F gates. The same is true for e.g. a Thomas Cook turnaround with an A333 arriving from e.g. PMI and departing to e.g. AYT. That flight can only be handled at gates 17-18 and the F gates.

If the F gates wouldn't be dual use, they would have a lot of flights every day when they would either have to physically tow the planes from one pier to another pier between arrival and departure, or they would have to take the passengers by bus on either arrival or departure.

nacho

SK Fast Track exit at CPH is pretty close to the lounge which I think it's close enough not to complain Try going through CPH Express and I use the allergy route to avoid going through the idiotic duty free shops.

CPH-Flyer

For those looking forward to get ANA started on the HND ARN route as an alternative to CPH HND on SK, ANA just released their summer 23 schedule, and no Stockholm flights are currently planned. Stockholm should not necessarily feel singled out, the new Istanbul and Milan routes don't take flight either.

GUWonder

Is anyone really surprised that ARN-Japan isn't the order of the day? Even if the JPY depreciates more -- a lot more at that -- not sure that would be able to make this kind of thing fly for ANA.

nacho

Now I know why TK tickets to NRT is so expensive...

Not that I want to go to Japan now or in the near future, the hotel prices are like double than what it was before.

CPH-Flyer

I would be surprised if it ever took off. But as it is SK got a Haneda slot, so a Japanese airline got one for Scandinavia as well. I would think JAL is even less interested in Stockholm than ANA is. But someone had to put it in the schedule, and I guess ANA was too slow when the shout went out "incoming, fire-in-the-hole"

FlyingMoose

I didn't realize it was still a thing after the pre-pandemic announcement but would gladly use this route a lot. There are currently no long haul routes from ARN to anywhere relevant in APAC other than the good old mailorder bride route to BKK.

Whether its NH flying to HND or SQ rebooting their SIN route, either would be welcome.

GUWonder

What's up with Air India at ARN? India is part of the APAC region.

In other ARN news, it seems like IHG will be having a CrownePlaza and HIX hotel opening not too far from Arlanda -- but closer to the expo site than to ARN.

jamesbrownontheroad

I found a slew of news articles from trade publications that all re-hash the same press release, but not much hard info about where the hotels will actually be. Good luck to them. It will not be easy to compete with convenience of the three hotels in or next to SkyCity.

GUWonder

They seem to be aimed primarily for the convention center/exhibition hall business, so that suggests to me that it will be closer to the Quality Hotel Arlanda XPO than to SkyCity.

There are no IHG brand hotels in Sweden -- or at least none that are coming up on my search on the IHG app.

nacho

Has MH axed the KUL-ARN route?
I think CA is still flying to PEK.

nacho

Been like that for years, I don't think there's any in Norway either.

jamesbrownontheroad

MH hasn’t flown to ARN in a long time.

CA911/912 is weekly at present.

Fredrik74

Are there any in Denmark besides the one next to Field's`?