TRIP REPORT: LOT, Amsterdam - Sarajevo in business

TRIP REPORT

Written by AGR

Pozdrav iz Sarajeva.

This is my second trip report to feature on EX-YU, the ever-scholarly blog which, by all means, comfortably sits amongst my top choices for aviation matters from the mighty Balkans (and further afield).

That aside, I am based in Sarajevo and work for a major pharmaceutical business. Towards the end of 2022 I was assigned to Amsterdam HQ (from London, where I used to travel to on a regular basis) and, as such, I am now travelling to and from AMS every couple of weeks (even weekly, more often than not). In a nutshell: I commute by plane.

The airline of choice during the IATA summer season is LOT and for a variety of reasons, including the relatively low business class fares, ease-of-transfer at their main hub (i.e. WAW), “small” planes leading to swift boarding and indeed reduced delays, lounge product and so forth. Sadly, I’m pretty much “stuck” with LH, OS and JU (rarely) during winter, reason behind the “sadly” and “stuck” infamous choice of words is mostly down to: connecting at FRA (far from being a pleasant experience and no doubt a statement which I’m sure most folks on here will concur with); JU/BEG used to be a valid option up to a few months back, before things went “south” as we all know (the SJJ-BEG-SJJ services became a user-manual for chronic delays…); OS/VIE, however, remain a decent option.

That aside and coming to the “avio-juicy” details, this particular trip report is to capture one of my recent AMS-WAW-SJJ work trips.

LO266 AMS-WAW

Business

My favourite time of the day to be out-and-about in Amsterdam without the ever-present hordes of tourists: early morning.

 Security at AMS is a breeze these days (I’m sure most people will recall the absolute shambles from last year…), merely a matter of seconds before I’m through and walking the short distance to the Star Alliance lounge for a quick bite.

Priority boarding called perfectly on-time, 2 passengers - including mysel f- at the front of the plane, pre-departure drink duly offered followed by a light meal (the best option amongst the current “cold” range) roughly 15 minutes after take-off, uneventful flight, early landing and, on what seems to be a lucky day, arrival at a gate with direct access to the terminal (to briefly expand on this: no “remote” stand/bus today, which is a rare occurrence at WAW, although travelling in business I occasionally get the ad-hoc van transfer to the terminal, I was indeed pleased to experience the service in question on a number of occasions this year).

Some graphic evidence (at last):

LO579 WAW-SJJ

Business

I quickly head to the non-Schengen side of the airport and I am through the automated border checks in literally seconds, before paying my usual visit to one of the LOT lounges at WAW, namely “Mazurek”. LOT has an excellent lounge product featuring catering options way above average if compared to most other carriers (including LH, with the exception of their First Class lounges, but that’s clearly a “different world“ per se).

Egg soufflé with spinach and goat cheese along with tiny bites of herring, prawns, salmon and tuna, washed down by Cava:

A fine Purcari from Bessarabia, smoothly entertaining my regular visit to Warsaw:

Back upstairs to board my flight “home”, priority boarding procedures duly adhered to but no advantage as such given that we will be heading to our Embraer 170 by bus.

A close encounter with one of the “locals”:

Other species belonging to the “local population”:

The long wait in the bus prior to boarding allowed enough time for the Warsaw skyline to get tarnished by a storm-threatening set of clouds:

A very professional yet particularly friendly crew on today’s flight: the young purser went as far as congratulating my Polish and even asked where (and indeed how) I had learned the lingo (one of the 4 language I speak and admittedly a tough task for a non-Slavic speaker!).

The meal consisted of cured ham combined with a variety of vegetables and with a herring salad on the side (somewhat a bizarre combination but fine nonetheless), all washed down with a French Merlot:

The usual hard-on-the-brakes upon touching down in the former Roman/Byzantine/Ottoman/Habsburg/SFRY lands marks a perfectly on-time arrival in SJJ, followed by a brisk walk towards passports via “side door” (building works) and out for my usual leisure walk to catch one of the iconic Sarajevo trams at Alipašino Polje towards Marijn Dvor. Picture taken from one of my many trips to SJJ but not this one in particular, I however thought it was worth sharing it.

To conclude, some off-topic and indeed sparse notes along with photographic evidence aimed at highlighting the beauty of this city, especially at sunset.

Breathtaking view which I’m lucky enough to experience from the comfort of home (“Sarajevo Tower”):

View from the slopes of “the lungs of Sarajevo” or simply Trebević, my own personal weekend refuge to recharge from the challenges of frequent travel but also to escape traffic, noise and crowds:

Lastly and to close this trip report on an “AvGeek” note, a further set of images accompanying the “cover picture” at the very top, also taken from myself.

Views over Sarajevo shortly after take-off towards WAW and whilst comfortably contemplating life from seat 1D:

A LOT aircraft just after landing at SJJ, as seen from Ilidža, with the high buildings of Alipašino Polje “rising” in the background:

Hvala i ćao.

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