Hello and welcome to the last part of this short series covering my trip to Prague back in March! This part will cover the return flight, from Prague to Stockholm ARN.
Part 1 - BT118 ARN-RIX Airbaltic Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, Reg YL-BAE - http://flight-report.com/en/report-13556.html
Part 2 - BT481 RIX-PRG Airbaltic Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, Reg YL-BBW - http://flight-report.com/en/report-13778.html
Part 3 - OK490 PRG-ARN Czech Airlines (SmartLynx) Airbus A320-211, Reg YL-LCM - You are here
NOTE: Some pictures are taken with my phone and some with my camera.
Time flew by, it was time to return to Sweden. Me and my sister woke up at 07:00 AM, made sure we had everything with us and checked-out of the hotel at 08:00 AM.
We had a light breakfast at Starbucks located in a shopping complex next to Anděl and later went to the bus stop to catch the 09:16 AM bus to the airport. The weather was good today, albeit slightly chilly. Almost all of the snow had melted.
An SOR NB 18 articulated city bus operating line 167 to Nemocnice Na Homolce.
We hopped on bus 191 to Letiště, this bus would take us to the airport. There were two other people with hand luggage in this bus, probably also headed for the airport.
We made it to the airport in almost 50 minutes, the terminal visible on the picture is terminal 1 which is used for intercontinental and non-schengen flights I presume.
Terminal 2, used for schengen flights. The announcements in the bus were made in English and Czech for the terminal stops.
The old Karosa B952 that took us here leaving T2.
Walking to the departures area at Terminal 2, this is the arrivals area.
Huge open area in the departures hall.
Check-in desks at terminal 2.
Crappy shot of an FIDS.
There were three flights to Stockholm ARN leaving at almost the same time. SK1768 to Stockholm ARN at 11:45 AM, OK490 to Stockholm ARN at 12:00 PM and DY4572 to Stockholm ARN at 12:05 PM.
We had printed our BPs the night before at the hotel, there was no need to check-in for us. We went straight to security once I had finished taking pictures of the terminal.
Security was pretty smooth, even though the line was slightly long. I heard a lot of Swedish voices while moving through the line.
The actual gate for our flight wasn't known at this time, this screen only showed it would be one of the C gates. The SK flight to ARN would also depart from one of the C gates.
Walking to the C gates. None of us were interesting in any kind of shopping.
Nice classic Skoda on display.
We came to the end of the C gates after a few minutes of walking, there were some views of the apron, of some other gates and of runway 06/24.
This area was pretty quiet when we arrived here but would fill up later.
LX A320
HU B763.
LX A320 taxiing to runway 24.
U2 A319 in the new livery.
F7 Saab 2000 operating a flight to TXL for AB.
OK A319.
HU B763.
LH A321.
S7 A320 arriving from Novosibirsk.
4U A319 slowing down on runway 24.
OK A319 slowing down on runway 24.
OS Q400.
OK A319.
OS Q400.
FB A319.
U2 A319.
SmartWings 737 operating for OK.
LS B733 arriving from East Midlands.
SAS B738 arriving from Stockholm ARN.
BA A320 heading out to London LHR.
SK B738 arriving at its gate, gate C11 to be precise.
SU A320 arriving from Moscow SVO.
It actually turned out that our flight to ARN would depart from gate C10, while the SK flight to ARN would depart from gate C11.
Soon boarding for flight SK1768 to Stockholm ARN began, it seemed like that flight would be pretty full. Meanwhile the passengers on OK490 were still waiting.
Time passed, the SK flight was about to leave and there was no information about the boarding situation for flight OK490. It was 11:55 AM (5 minutes prior to our STD) but boarding hadn't been announced yet, boarding was basically delayed. A minute later there's an announcement for our flight. Apparently boarding had been delayed due to a 'technical issue', most of the passengers disappointingly left the line and sat down again. I decided to snap a few more spotting shots as a result.
SK B738 heading out to runway 24 as SK1768 to Stockholm ARN.
DY B738 docked at the gate.
B2 B733 arriving from MSQ.
AY E-190.
Finally boarding began at 12:03 PM, 6 minutes after that announcement even though they said it would take 15 minutes before we could board the flight. One interesting thing to note is that the passengers that we saw in the bus earlier in the morning were boarding for the same flight.
Walking down the jetbridge.
Flight information:
Airline: Czech Airlines (Aircraft from SmartLynx)
Flight no & route: OK490 PRG-ARN
Scheduled time of departure (actual): 12:00 PM (12:33 PM) UTC +1
Scheduled time of arrival (actual): 14:00/2:00 PM (14:06/2:06 PM) UTC +1
Scheduled flight time (actual): 2h 00 min (1h 33 min)
The flight was operated by Czech Airlines, the plane was from SmartLynx and the livery was from Travel Service. What a combination!
An FA greeted me upon boarding and I made my way to seat 9F. The passengers we saw in the bus to the airport were actually seated in the same row as us.
View from seat 9F.
The seat pitch was pretty tight in this A320 but the seat was still more comfortable than the seat in BT's Q400s.
'Life vest under your seat'.
LO E-170 next to us.
The load was estimated at 75-80%. We were lucky to have an empty middle seat, both me and my sister were able to stretch out on the flight.
Overhead bins.
Boarding was completed at 12:14 PM.
Pushback commenced a few minutes after boarding was completed. Announcements were made in English and Czech, a manual safety demonstration was also done as usual.
EK B77W arriving from DXB with a HOP! CRJ-1000 on the ground. The daily EK service to DXB will be replaced by an A380 in May.
HOP! CRJ-1000.
DY B738, this one was going to OSL.
HU B763.
More like 'Goodbye to the Czech Republic'.
Holding short of runway 24.
Rolling down runway 24.
Take-off from runway 24.
What a difference from when I arrived at PRG, all of this was covered in snow a few days ago.
Banking.
The city of Kladno.
Well….. This A320 is 24 years old in case you're wondering.
The tray table.
Czech Airlines Review magazine.
The OK fleet.
OK destinations (not all of them are visible).
The onboard menu. Everything was BOB on this flight, nothing was served for free. I've read other intra-European OK flights and seen that they actually serve a small snack and a drink for free. Was this not applicable to this flight as it was operated with a plane by SmartLynx? This flight had a scheduled flight time of 2 hours but nothing was served for free, I've read FR's on shorter flights with OK where they at least serve a drink and peanuts for free. Those flights were operated by actual OK aircraft though.
OK sky shop.
SmartLynx safety card.
The flight was pretty uneventful, there wasn't much to do or see. My sister was thankful this was a non-stop and that it wasn't operated by a turboprop.
My friend from Germany managed to track this flight. Thank you for tracking my flight :). All screenshots used in this FR were provided by him.
The lavatory.
Seat cover by Czech Airlines.
Barf bag by Travel Service.
Soon we initiated our descent to ARN, the pilot did give us weather updates throughout the flight and it didn't sound like the weather in STO would be nice.
Descending.
Landing on runway 19R at Stockholm-Arlanda Airport.
Slowing down on runway 19R.
Taxiing to terminal 2.
2 DHL 757s.
Ethiopian B788, and a UPS 752.
We disembarked at 14:16/2:16 PM local time.
Back in Sweden.
The last time I arrived at Terminal 2 was back in 2013.
Today would be my first time trying out Flygbussarna (Airport Coaches). They currently drive to a stop very close to my home, making it very convenient for me to take the bus to Arlanda.
The weather was horrible that day.
Flygbussarna Volvo 9700 going to Liljeholmen, we would take an other bus.
There comes our bus!
The trip from Arlanda T2 to my home took 27 minutes, it usually takes 20 minutes by car (unless it's rush-hour). I was at home by 14:54/2:54 PM. I guess that's it for this FR. Thank you for taking your time to read it :).
The meal and catering rating is a rating of the BOB, as there was no complimentary service onboard.
Some of my spotting shots taken at ARN:
AF A320 arriving from CDG.
KL B738 arriving from AMS.
Danish Air Transport MD-83 operating for SAS.
IB A320 heading out to MAD.
Thomas Cook Scandinavia A333 arriving on runway 26.
Iran Air A300 coming in from IKA.
Delta B752.
SK A343 from LAX.
BA 763 touching down on rwy 26.
Air China A333 arriving from PEK.
EK B77W.
RO 737 arriving from OTP.
UA B752.
ET B77L taxiing to its gate.
DY B788.
SK A333.
Thomson B788 operating for TUIfly Nordic.
TG B77W departing for BKK.
QR B788 departing as QR168 heavy to DOH.
LX 321 arriving as LX1254 from ZRH.
TK B77W arriving as TK1793 heavy from IST. This was a last-minute equipment change from an A332 to a B77W.
Thank you once again for taking your time to read this FR (and its bonuses) :).
Thank you for your great FR my friend!
You had an quite interesting flight to Stockholm. Your flight witch Czech Airlines was operated by a SmartLynx plane with Travel Service's livery.
Nice spotting at PRG! Thank you for the amazing pictures! Didn't expect the F7 Saab 2000 at PRG which is quite interesting. The FlyDubai plane was also surprising! It seems that PRG is a nice airport and I like it.
I'm wondering why you didn't get food or at least a drink on your flight. You said that you've seen free snacks and drinks being offered on even shorter flights with OK. Amazing pic of LX1254! Can't wait to be on this flight.
I hope you enjoyed the flight! Would you fly with OK again? Can't read to read your next flight-report!
Thanks!
Thank you for your nice comment :).
It was a weird feeling to be on a Czech Airlines flight, in a SmartLynx aircraft, sporting the Travel Service livery.
Thank you :). Neither did I haha, it was operating for AB as I mentioned.
I guess it has to do with the aircraft being from SmartLynx? Payment by card wasn't even available on this flight, which is normally available on other OK flights. Thank you! Can't wait to track it :).
The flight was okay, I don't think I would fly with them again with these inconsistencies in their service department. My next FR will probably be out in August, I'll fly ARN-CDG-LIS and return in July with my family so that will be the next series.
Thank you once again for your nice comment :).
Have a good one, see you!
Thank you for sharing this rare OK report! I considered using them on my last trip to Europe since you can redeem EY miles on OK, but decided not to go through PRG.
I guess a 50-minute trip to the airport is not that bad, I was expecting it to be worse getting to PRG.
HU B763.
- I wouldn't have expected that stranger at PRG. PRG seems to get a lot of regional traffic and diversity.
The flight was operated by Czech Airlines, the plane was from SmartLynx and the livery was from Travel Service. What a combination!
- This is what I don't understand about OK, their fleet is too small yet I have seen them lease their own planes out to 4U before.
I've read FR's on shorter flights with OK where they at least serve a drink and peanuts for free.
- I thought OK was going the LCC route. They do have a J cabin, so I think that service level is maintained, but Y might be following suit of IB/SK to remain profitable.
Fantastic spotting bonus at the end (also while waiting at PRG), the weather was definitely not always bad in STO.
This was a last-minute equipment change from an A332 to a B77W.
- Sounds very normal for TK ;)
OK doesn't look overly compelling of a carrier, based on your reports DY would have been a better experience given their younger fleet. Nevertheless, you can check OK off your list of carriers to try.
Thank you for your nice comment!
You can get to the airport from the central part of Prague in 35-40 minutes with a metro/bus combo.
I wouldn't have expected that stranger at PRG. PRG seems to get a lot of regional traffic and diversity.
- The traffic was quite interesting at PRG, Sichuan Airlines ran a few flights from CTU to PRG recently and MU will launch PVG-PRG services from June this year.
This is what I don't understand about OK, their fleet is too small yet I have seen them lease their own planes out to 4U before.
- They operate flights with leased planes on a regular basis on many intra-European sectors.
I thought OK was going the LCC route. They do have a J cabin, so I think that service level is maintained, but Y might be following suit of IB/SK to remain profitable.
- You're probably right, they might have changed their service concept recently.
Thank you so much :). The weather in Stockholm is very confusing and varies greatly haha.
You pretty much summed up my impression of OK, I tried them out and will probably never fly with them again.
Have a good one, see you!
Thank you for your nice comment!
You can get to the airport from the central part of Prague in 35-40 minutes with a metro/bus combo.
I wouldn't have expected that stranger at PRG. PRG seems to get a lot of regional traffic and diversity.
- The traffic was quite interesting at PRG, Sichuan Airlines ran a few flights from CTU to PRG recently and MU will launch PVG-PRG services from June this year.
This is what I don't understand about OK, their fleet is too small yet I have seen them lease their own planes out to 4U before.
- They operate flights with leased planes on a regular basis on many intra-European sectors.
I thought OK was going the LCC route. They do have a J cabin, so I think that service level is maintained, but Y might be following suit of IB/SK to remain profitable.
- You're probably right, they might have changed their service concept recently.
Thank you so much :). The weather in Stockholm is very confusing and varies greatly haha.
You pretty much summed up my impression of OK, I tried them out and will probably never fly with them again.
Have a good one, see you!