#29 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
922 reviews
I'm on my way to Norway. More precisely, I'm on my way to Haugesund, which is a small town roughly midway between Bergen and Oslo. My first leg takes me from Zürich to Oslo, where I will be spending the night at the Radisson Blue Oslo Airport.
I arrive at Zürich airport at around 18h00. I'm having dinner at the Hyatt Regency at The Circle, seeing as the flight is quite late and I'm not expecting anything much. The main restaurant at the Hyatt Regency is Babel, which serves a nice array of middle eastern fare.
Just before 20h00 I cross the piazza that separates The Circle from the terminal building. It's a nice balmy evening, and I'm not really looking forward to going up north to cold Haugesund.
I've already checked-in using the SWISS app, which still refuses to show my boarding passes on the lock screen. I just don't get it. It's the only app that does, or rather does not do, that.
The airport is quiet, which is a bit surprising, seeing as the evening wave of long-haul departures doesn't get underway until 22h45. I'm guessing that most passengers for those flights have already moved on to the midfield dock E.
Surprisingly, the Senator lounge is much busier, which is why I don't take any photos. I'm not there for very long anyway. At around 20h45 I leave the lounge and make my way to the gate. The flight is departing from B 34.
When I reach the gate, the seating area around B 34 is deserted. Initially, I figure this means that the load on tonight's flight is going to be very light, and that most passengers have already boarded. It turns out that most passengers on the flight are connecting from flights that have been delayed. So I board the aircraft and then we wait for the passengers to slowly trickle in.
I'm not the greatest fan of the Embraer 190 aircraft. Mainly because I always feel as through I don't really fit into the seat because everything it so small and tight. Which is mostly a head thing, seeing as the seat next to me is empty in Business Class and I can spread out.
I must say though, that I really like the cabin design, or rather the way it looks. The splashes of red brighten up the cabin.
Row 1 feels quite private, mainly because there are no seats on the right side of the aircraft.
I while away the time we spending waiting for passengers staring out the windows, watching the aircraft next to us being readied for its next flight.
While we wait, the crew pass through the cabin with packaged towels and bottles of still water. There are three female cabin crew on the flight. The MC is the most senior and in her early fifties, if I had to guess. She's not the friendliest person I've ever met, which is highlighted by the fat that her two younger colleagues are excellent, engaging and friendly.
Eventually, by the time the last of the connecting passengers arrive and we push back, we're running thirty minutes late. However, with a shorter flight time this evening it looks as though we'll still be arriving on Oslo on time.
The meal service is a bit of a surprise. Once the cabin crew are released, the smell of food starts wafting through the cabin. They're obviously heating up the hot meals. Which is not what I was expecting. I figured this would be another one of SWISS' cold plates. There's even a drinks service before the meal.
The tray arrives and contains the main dish, a small salad, cheese and dessert. With that, the crew serve warm bread rolls.
The hot meals is some sort of Thai chicken. I don't have any, seeing as I already had dinner, but it smells nice.
Dessert is a fruit Wähe, which is a typically Swiss type of sweet quiche. It's quite tasty. Surprisingly, though, the crew do not pass through the cabin asking of passengers would like tea or coffee after the meal.
As soon as the tray is removed, I nod off the sleep, which is a nice way to pass the time on a plane. I awake just as we start our descent. No chocolates are handed out, although I guess it could be that I just missed that while I was sleeping.
We arrive in Oslo on time. The airport is unexpectedly busy. On the approach I can see the lights of quite a few aircraft around us. The terminal building is quiet, and all the shops have already closed.
I only have a short wait to retrieve my suitcase. And then I make my way across the street to Radisson Blue Hotel for the night.
This was nice flight with SWISS and Helvetic Airways. As a rule, I find that Helvetic Airways has more talent in recruiting staff as flight attendants than SWISS. They're usually more alert and overall just seem friendlier. Other than that, sitting on row 1 was also nice, because the seat felt very private. The meal service was quite a surprise, both in terms of the quantity and quality of the meal. I wasn't expecting the hot meal.
2 Comments
Interesting. I'm not particularly tall (1m78) so I've never had that feeling on a Embraer. On the contrary I find them to be very spacious for a regional jet--certainly more than a CRJ, which I hate flying. Embraers also have much wider seats than most mainline aircraft at over 18" wide vs 17" on a 737. I guess I would feel differently if I were taller.
I'm also pleasantly surprised to see a hot meal on a 2h flight. It looks really nice too!
Thanks for sharing!
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