Croatian ATRs

Well, the Forum appears to have a problem, so I’ll knock this out on NotePad
and hopefully copy and paste later.
I’ve been away, and haven’t had a chance to catch up on any posts since the
1st of October. My travels led me to Croatia, where I managed to fly in the entire
fleet of Croatia Airlines ATR-42’s! Oh,OK, they only have three.
Getting to Split at short notice meant a 0635 departure from LHR by Austrian
Airlines.All carried out on time, and in a very tidy and discreetly furnished A320.
I found the seating comfort very acceptable (31″ pitch?,quite wide), and would
certainly not have complained if the flight had been longer than the 2hrs 10 mins
to Vienna. What I do have a complaint about however, is the food.(Yes, I know I
tend to judge my flights on this rather than on the aircraft), But, raising the whole
subject of in-flight food again, I want to make my point that, having got up at
0415 for a 0530 check-in I haven’t really had a good start to the day, so when
I’m on the aircraft for a flight lasting more than two hours (and paid well for
the privilege), I’d like something more than a ****** hot cheese roll if you
don’t mind!
Anyway,having got to Vienna comfortably, if not gastronomically satisfied,
I made a prompt transfer to Croatia Airlines ATR-42 9A-CTT which departed
on time, but without my luggage. Of course the thing about the ATR-42 is
that everyone flies Business Class (no, really!), so apart from the more
comfotable seating(?), perhaps there will be an executive snack en route.
Well, no, actually just a choice between cold cheese roll or cold ham roll
(plus an individual single Croatian Pepper Biscuit-ummmm).
Anyway, we arrived in Split more or less on time, and of course watched the
baggage carousel gradually empty at which point a Croatia Airlines rep
approached and correctly identified me as the man whose luggage was
still in Vienna. It eventually caught me up next day.
My return trip was last Wednesday and had an extra sector, being Split-
Zagreb-Vienna-Heathrow.
Split-Zagreb was on ATR-42 9A-CTU which departed Split at 1450 on a very
windy afternoon. Shortly after takeoff we experienced enough turbulence
to provoke a lot of “oohs” and “aahs” from some of the passengers who
were clearly not enthusiastic. (He smirks) After a 360 to stbd, we gained enough
height for the course to Zagreb over the newly snow covered mountains of
Bosnia-Herzogovnia.
I forget to mention the safety briefing, which was given by the most bored and
unenthusiatic cabin person I have ever encountered. She managed to stick it
out for the Croatian version, but put her bits away before the English
translation started to play. Never mind, at least she offered us in-flight
refreshments later. “Still or Fizzy Water, Sir?”
Arrival in Zagreb an hour later was uneventful, and there were a few aircraft
to be seen from Turkey, Hungary(Malev),USA (Diplomatic? 3 engines and very
polished), plus a couple of Croatia Airlines Airbus and an all-white 146 G-BPNT.
Transfer in Zagreb was a bit slow as their computer was down and boarding cards
had to be handwritten. Boarding the ATR-42 9A-CTS (thats it,I’ve flown all they’ve
got) was on time, but it took 15 mins for the manifests etc (presumably also
hand written), so we were late getting airborne for the 50mins or so to Vienna.
Smooth enough flight, but I do find that there is a very uncomfortable
vibration (prop?) which does not give the same sort of ride as the Dash 400
for example.
We arrived in Vienna exactly 20 mins before scheduled departure time of the
Austrian A320 to Heathrow and not having been given a boarding card in
Zagreb, I was pushed to make it, although Austrian Airlines were obviously
in touch with the situation and had left a bunch of seats empty at the rear of
the aircraft. Departure was delayed as only one runway was in use due to high
winds and we were certainly rocking about as we waited for clearance to go.
A very smooth take-off and climb out (I do like the Airbus) and we were on our
way. It’s been a long day, and I’m ready for my in-flight meal, and its a ………
……………..cheese or ham roll! At least there are no surprises on Austrian
Airlines.
A really nice flight back however, and we were right on time until we were put
on hold for 20 mins over Essex, eventually landing and taxying to a stand where
there were steps but no buses to take us to the Terminal for 15 mins. Great
performance,BAA.
Anyway,eventually got to the stage of waiting for my luggage to arrive until,
a voice on the PA requested my presence – my bags were still in Vienna!
Now I could go on to tell you about my train which was “terminated” before
it reached it’s destination, but I’ll spare you all that.
To sum up; Austrian Airlines, clean,smart,efficient, shame about the food;
Croatia Airlines, OK,but I think I’ve had enough of ATR-42’s for a bit.
My luggage? It arrived at my house on the Isle of Wight in less than 24
hours – Well Done Austrian Airlines.
And next week its the long one; Singapore Airlines to Changi (744), 3nights
stopover, then on to Manila (777),couple of days there then PAL A320 to
the “last Frontier”, Palawan, for three weeks.