TRIP REPORT
Written by Tomislav Ivanović
On 20th June, while arriving at the airport, I was admiring the outlines of new developments at Belgrade's airport. The construction site of the new control tower dominates the area whilst new extensions of the terminal make an impression that the airport is truly changing its attire and turning into a state-of-the-art airport...
Covid-pandemic in Europe seems to be losing force, so life slowly seems to be returning to normal. Hence, I have again started receiving invitations to judge wine competitions. The following day, one of the most important global wine competitions (Concours Mondial de Bruxelles) was about to start in Luxembourg. I am happy that Belgrade profits from direct flights to Luxembourg provided by Luxair. I have never flown this airline company before, so felt even more excited to board a Luxair plane.
Check-in area at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport was surprisingly quite busy. A lot of people swarming around Air Serbia counters... I reached the check-in desks of Luxair, where only 3-4 passengers were queueing to check-in. I could notice that everyone was wearing masks although it didn't seem that distancing rules were followed. During check-in, the staff asked me whether I have any document to prove the purpose of my trip (Luxembourg still didn't allow non-essential travel). Luckily, the organisers of the wine competition have sent me the invitation letter. Also, she asked for either PCR test or confirmation of being vaccinated with any vaccine approved by EU regulator.
The flight LG8116 to Luxembourg was announced to leave from gate A4a. While the passengers were entering the bus, I counted. There were about 40 passengers in total. Most of them were actually Serbs, Montenegrins and Macedonians who live in Luxembourg.
We reached the parking position of flight LG8116, a Bombardier Q400 plane. My seat was 5A. The flight departed on time. All passengers were instructed to wear masks during the entire flight.
Soon, the crew started distributing sandwiches and drinks. I was quite surprised to see that Luxair actually still offers a meal box with a sandwich and a package of dried fruit & nuts. I asked for a glass of white wine as well but felt even more surprised when the flight attendant offered me cremant (sparkling wine). Of course, who could say no to some bubbles in the glass. Actually, that was the moment when masks were not worn by passengers (and so was the case until we started to descend).
When the plane landed, the bus took us from the parked plane to the airport building. Police was controlling whether we have all the required papers to prove the reason for entering Luxembourg, PCR test or vaccine confirmation, but everything was checked quite efficiently. However, it took some 20 minutes to pick up luggage.
Altogether, flying with Luxair was a nice experience and already looking forwards flying again with this company on my return flight.
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Nice trip report. That load is not bad at all. Nice to see they still have decent service.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reprort...
ReplyDeleteHow long was the ride on the Q?
Very often I see their little Q400 on FR24 and the flight is usually around 02 hours and 10 minutes.
DeleteConsidering the distance its not horrible, it's definitely quieter then ATR but its a stretch.. Anything over 2hr on any turboprop is rough.
DeleteDon't forget that the ATR was not made to operate such routes, it's a regional aircraft. Q400 on the other hand was made for exactly this kind of thin and longer routes. That's why they put an emphasis on it being quieter.
DeleteTalking of ATR, AY is struggling big time now with covid and travel restrictions. About a month ago they sent the ATR to places like STR. That was over three hours from HEL. Now that's rough.
3hrs??! Ouch!!!! That's brutal
DeleteNice trip report. Great to see that works on the A gates are advancing quite nicely. BEG is in desperate need of an upgrade as facilities are really not great anymore for the amount of traffic the airport handles.
ReplyDeleteBtw how was the load on the flight back?
The load on the flight back on 24th June was similar (between 30 and 40 passengers)
Delete40 pax ?
ReplyDeleteIs that good or not ...
That's around 53% with their configuration. I guess it's not bad since tickets are not that cheap and non essential traveling is still not allowed.
DeleteNice niche route for BEG.
ReplyDeleteIs it seasonal or year round?
Nice trip report. I would like to see more airlines like Luxair at BEG, with interesting destinations like this one. I think that those routes are future for BEG, not only gastro and seasonal.
ReplyDelete