Review of CSA flight Prague → Frankfurt in Economy

Early the next morning, we just walked along a connecting linkway and 2 minutes later, was at the terminal building.




Checked in for the Czech Airlines flight at Terminal 2, which is a terminal dedicated for Schengen flights. There were hardly a queue for check-in and the check-in agent was really friendly.






Boarding pass. Another airline off my list!




The whole terminal building felt rather sterile but functional.






Using my Priority Pass, I went to the Erste Premier Lounge to grab some breakfast. The lounge is the biggest in Prague Airport, and is also used by Czech Airlines and Skyteam's premium passengers. Lounge was comfortable enough for a short stay, offering decent seating, workstations, a small hot/cold buffet and beverages.
















My simple breakfast. The egg rolls were delish!




30min prior to departure, we proceeded to the gate.






One of Czech Airline's main workhorses, A319, being pushed back.





03 May 2016
Czech Airlines
OK 534
Prague (PRG) - Frankfurt (FRA)
A319
OK-MEK
Economy Class
Flight Time: 40M

Initially when I booked the flight quite some time back, it was scheduled as A319, but was changed to an ATR72 a while back, and today, it was swapped back to an A319 again. Realised the reason why when I saw the board that the flight would be operating Prague-Frankfurt-Dusseldorf. Seemed that OK has combined the Dusseldorf flight with our flight since the load factor is rather low for both flights.

Boarding has just begun.




Another A319 at the gate beside.




Steps to striking another airline off my list.






Welcomed aboard and proceeded to my seat at 21F towards the rear of the aircraft. Passed the Business Class seats, which are again normal economy seating but with the middle seat blocked with a cocktail tray.




Regular economy seats.




Boarding in progress.




Legroom was good and there is an adjustable headrest on every seat. Cabin also seemed very well-maintained and clean despite this not being a very new aircraft.








View from the window, with another OK A319 seen taxiing out.




Contents of the seat pocket.




Czech and English papers were available at the door during boarding. I grabbed an English weekly news.




Czech Airlines has scrapped its free snacks and beverages service for economy since late last year and has followed the footsteps of many other European carriers to offer buy-on-board.








Welcome announcement by the crew. There were 3 cabin crew serving on this flight.




Pushed back right on schedule.




Safety video was shown on the drop-down overhead screens. The video was actually quite entertaining.






Taxi out to the runway for the 40min flight to Frankfurt. A Szechuan Airlines A330 was spotted at Terminal One.




Holding short of Rwy 24 for an Austrian Fokker70 to land.




Departure from Rwy24.








Video of the takeoff.




Climbing to cruising altitude.








Drop-down screens were showing the flight map and information.




After seatbelt signs were switched off, BOB service started (think Business Class passengers got a cold snack). At least Business Class was separated from Economy by a curtain. Programme on the drop-down screens were also changed to duty-free advertisements.






Lavatory offered the basic amenities.




Cabin view with service in progress. Generally, cabin crew seemed rather friendly and pleasant.




Just spent the rest of the short flight admiring the scenery.




We were soon descending into Frankfurt and cabin was prepared for arrival.




Getting lower.




Can you spot another aircraft making a parallel approach? River Main was running below us.






Flaps down.




Frankfurt's city skyline can be seen in the distance ahead.




Landing on Rwy25L half an hour ahead of schedule! The flight was only 40min while the flight time was padded at 1h20m.








Video of the landing




Had a long taxi to Terminal 2. Parked at the remote stand.




Disembarking. Passengers bound for Dusseldorf were requested to remain onboard.




My seat for the flight.




Down the stairs to the bus.




What a short and comfortable flight on this baby Airbus.






Heavies parked at the Terminal building.




Baggage claim was very efficient. There I counted only 5 pax with checked in bags!




As there were no trains from Terminal 2, we would need to board the 10min shuttle bus ride to Terminal 1 to catch the trains to the city.

Passing through T2's departure hall on the way to the shuttle bus station.






It was a quick 15min train ride from Terminal One to Frankfurt Main Train Station.




Stayed at Manhattan Hotel, which is literally just opposite the train station and offers very comfortable rooms at great rates. I would be only spending 24hrs in Frankfurt.




Walked down to River Main.




Reaching Romerburg, which is Frankfurt's old town.






Explored a local market.




Had a pasta lunch at a local joint.








Sinful but yummy Tartufo dessert




Fresh fruits and vegetables for sale.




Then it was down to the shopping street for some serious shopping!








A festival market selling german fare. Got a currywurst here.






For dinner, we actually had some Chinese food haha.




Next morning, it was an early start with breakfast at the hotel. The included breakfast, though simple, was of rather good quality and choice.






Then it was just across the street to catch the 0920am ICE train to Amsterdam. The train ride took slightly more than 4hr, passing Cologne, Dusseldorf and finally into the Netherlands. Tickets were also a mere 39Euros each when booked early!




As our final stop was Amsterdam Schiphol, we required a change of train at Utrecht Centraal, which was another 20min regional train ride to Schiphol. Total journey time: 4h20min from Frankfurt Main to Schiphol.