introduction + trip information
Welcome to a short Flight-Report series about a quick trip I took to Sofia, Bulgaria in February 2019. There will only be two flights in the series, and here's the itinerary.
Flight routing
- 1OS799 - Economy - Vienna → Sofia - Airbus A320
- 2LH1705 - Economy - Sofia → Munich - Embraer 195
vienna schwechat international airport (vie)
I booked these flights in two ways, this Austrian flight was booked with MileagePlus for 8k miles, and the return flight was booked with an Economy Light fare for $103. Now, on to the actual flight.
I took the ÖBB Railjet train from Innsbruck to Vienna Airport. The ride took 4h23m, much longer than the flight itself. The train arrived right on time, at 4:57 PM.
I followed signs for Terminal 3, which is where all Star Alliance flights depart from.
After a 5 minute walk from the station, I arrived at the check-in area.
My flight tonight, OS799, was on time.
Check-in was super quick and I headed to security.
I was airside in no more than 5 minutes.
As Bulgaria isn't a Schengen country (yet), I had to pass through immigration, which was a breeze. After that, I headed to the Austrian Lounge.
austrian senator lounge non-schengen
Since my last visit, they have added some nice wallpaper, which makes the exterior look fancier.
The Senator Lounge is nice, but very small. I can image that it gets quite crowded when the US/Canada flights leave.
Also, no good views of the tarmac (at least at night, due to the reflection).
The food spread, however, is great. Not in terms of quantity, but in terms of quality. There are always two choices of soup…
…today, a Beef Consommé…
…and a Styrian Cream Soup…
The other hot food option of the day was Chicken with Spätzle.
My offerings: the delicious cream soup. I added croutons and chives. Yum!
At the dining tables, they have these really cool chargers.
It's interesting to note that the lounge uses the Airport's WiFi, instead of it's own network. The connection was flawless.
The lounge also has a semi-private quite room, if you want to nap.
I left the lounge around 10 minutes before boarding. It's a nice lounge, but it's small and there isn't much to do. For a 45-minute stay though, it was fine.
The long pier. One level below this are the F gates, for Schengen flights.
boarding + initial impressions
My flight would be departing from gate G04.
Flying me to Sofia was Austrian's oldest A320, OE-LBN, named Osttirol. The aircraft was delivered to Austrian in 1998, making it 21-years old.
Boarded commenced right on time, at 7:50 PM.
Down the jetbridge.
A good look at the fuselage.
The door.
The seatback pocket.
Good legroom for me.
A little pocket to put stuff lake a phone, tablet, book, etc.
Clean tray table.
In the seatback pocket you can find the safety card, Skylines magazine, FlyNet information, and the in-flight shopping magazine.
Cabin during boarding.
austrian 799 - vienna to sofia
As boarding was wrapping up, Captain Klaus welcomed us onboard and told us that we'd need to be de-iced before departure. He wished us a pleasant stay on board the 1h15m flight.
At the gate next to us was an Austrian A320 (OE-LBZ 'Obertauern') which was getting ready to fly to Munich as LH2333.
At 8:29 PM, we pushed back.
Taxiing to the de-icing pad.
Getting de-iced. Sorry about the scratched-up window.
Pulling out as an Austrian A321 (OE-LBD 'Steirisches Weinland') enters the de-icing pad.
Taxiing to Runway 29.
departure from vienna
"Austrian 73 November Golf, cleared for takeoff runway 29."
Rolling.
Rotate.
Climbing out over Burgenland.
Here's the full takeoff video.
Cabin after departure.
mid-flight
Oldish Airbus PSU.
The Skylines magazine, focusing on Florida this month.
A look at Austrian's route map. In Europe, it's expansive.
The rest of the world? Not so much.
The fleet page.
Time to check out the WiFi portal.
A lot of information about Sofia.
snack service
Soon after I checked out the WiFi, the service began.
An option of sweet or savory was given for the snack. I went for the former.
Water to drink.
arrival into sofia
As we were passing Belgrade, the First Officer announced that we would begin our descent soon and that the weather in Sofia was good.
I dozed off for a few minutes and woke up as we were in a cloud during our descent.
Turning final over Elin Pelin, Bulgaria.
On final.
Over the runway.
Touchdown!
Taxiing off the runway.
Landing video.
Pulling into our gate next to an engine-less Germanwings A319, here for maintenance.
Deplaning.
The exit row.
Only two rows of business class tonight.
Thanks for the ride, Osttirol!
Out into the terminal building. Immigration took a while because only 2 lanes were open.
routing of os799
Thanks for reading, and don't hesitate to leave a comment down below.
Thanks for this FR.
Well most of OS is old anyway so flying on the oldest A320 is some sort of treat ^^
A drink, snack and more importantly a friendly crew, that's all you need to make for a pleasant 1,5 hour flight.
Thanks for commenting! It's true, OS has one of the oldest fleets in Europe, but the sad thing about being on the oldest A320 is that it was a repeated registration. But apart from that, everything was fine. I hope to see you again in another report!