Review of Air Baltic flight Tallinn → Amsterdam in Economy

Hello everyone,

End of our stay in Talinn.
It's time to go home and, of course, back to BT.
This will be the last leg with them, as afterwards I'm supposed to meet up with KLM (and I do mean KLM…) after a wider transit than at RIX, as this time I'll be at AMS for almost 3 hours.

Routing reminder.

TLL

To get to TLL, no mystery: ridesharing for less than 10 euros.
Leaving my hotel at 6.00 am in the freezing cold, I didn't feel like looking at the other transport options available.
So I was dropped off at Kiss & Fly, located opposite the terminal.
To be dropped off as close to the gate as possible, I had to choose a "regular" cab.

Did I mention it's cold?
Well, I'll tell you again.

By the way, hotel left at 6am, less than 10 euros from ridesharing but also, less than 15 min travel time!
Almost too fast for my 7:35 a.m. flight.
But better not to play with fire.

The day's flight schedule is clear.

To the right is the departure gate, but first I have to collect my BP from the counter again.

This will be achieved fairly quickly as there aren't many people as you can see.
I'll be surprised to be SEQ118, but that's the price of not being able to check in online…
once again, no window, it will be 15C.

airside

Once you've got your boarding pass, it's off to the start.
It's shaping up to be a smooth ride.

Work in progress makes the passage rather narrow.

I'll pass quickly over the security controls, although as usual with the parallel tray preparation stations, you soon find yourself clogging up even if there are only a few pax.

Next, duty free.

Say hello to the Juniperium stand for gin aficionados.
They've got a bar in town (and so does the little factory) and I urge you to go and have a taste, in moderation of course.
As for me, I didn't miss the chance to take a look, as I did last time. They say that when you reach a certain age, you shouldn't change your habits…

After the duty free, I settle down in a small café (no lounge here for skyteam pax).
I take the opportunity to check which is the plane of the day.
No special livery this morning.
I'm shocked. 

Once you've had your coffee (and your cupcake, of course), it's time to head for the gate (5AB).
Once again, you'll notice the car dealership side of TLL as you cans see various vehicles on display.

5AB is downstairs, so it means boarding by bus or on foot.

In fact, it's much more crowded downstairs.

Forward, forward, and soon the gate.
Boarding starts on schedule. 

boarding

You'd think I was the last one here.

We'll be boarding on foot.

with the snow, it's quite classy.

I approach the animal.

Divine light at the end of the steps?

Here we go for door and fuselage pictures.
Clearly our plane has been sleeping here and it smells of future de-icing.

I'm settling into familiar territory.
For a moment, I believe in destiny for the 15A, but the missing pax in the photo will arrive…
Goodbye window.

The pitch is still comfortable.

Looking over my neighbor's shoulder, one thing's for sure: I'm all for de-icing.

7.25am, boarding seems to be over.
A little personal reflection: I find that BT seems to be quite flexible on cabin baggage.
There are size and weight restrictions, but obviously everyone flirts more or less with the limit (without exaggeration though) and I can see that. I think it's positive not to be obtuse about the rule, because in the low-cost sector, you need a PhD in suitcase size and weight… (and above all, pay very quickly…).

A few announcements, including a 2h20 flight that's likely to be longer than usual due to the wind, the de-icing to be varnished (no surprise there) which should last 15 min….
7:30 am, gate closed.

To my surprise, the de-icing starts at the gate.
I was expecting to be moved to a dedicated effluents recovery area.
The apocalyptic beast of the 22nd century passes by, menacingly staring out the window. 

7:50 am, end of the operation.
We're all sticky now.

taxi, take off

Taxiing starts at 7:56 am.
The plane is full, but not 100%.

Another surprise: after a shorttaxi, we take off in the opposite direction to our arrival 3 days earlier.

in the air

The climb is gentle.
And very soon, the glowing light of the sunrise joins us in the cabin.

At 8.07am, the service is announced and the trolley rolls into the aisle.
After its furtive passage, it's time for me to nap…

An hour or so of flight time has gone.
It's time to switch back to AMS time (-1), but first, off to the toilets.
These are always unique, at the back of the aircraft, and quite comfortable.
The absence of a special livery makes no difference to this backstage area (yes, that's an important observation).

I return to my seat, hoping for a sudden acceleration, but no, time remains relentless and still a long way to my destination.

Landing

This is it, AMS is coming.
At 9.02am, the start of the descent is announced.
I'll try again to see what's going on over my neighbor's shoulder.
It's not the most colorful. 

We hear the landing gear opening at 09:19, followed by a gentle touch of Dutch soil at 09:22.
Here, all the planes are blue, my good man!

All the same, I'll be quite surprised by the flock of delta planes on site.
Here's one to prove it, but as we drove along, we came across two others.
The ST alliance is iworking well.

Disembarkation will be easy as I have plenty of time ahead of me.

As I tried to take a portrait of our plane, I noticed a special BT livery in the background.
They never seem to leave me!
You'll also have noticed the 3 BTs at the gates.
The house is well represented at AMS in the morning.

After a final good bye to the flying machine, it's time to head back to the lounge to await my KL flight to Paris.

I leave you here with FR24 and a mini teaser, as not everything will be as simple as expected at AMS….
See you.