SAS/Cityjet CRJ900 economy class, Vilnius to Stockholm
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01. Trip report introduction
02. Norwegian 737-800 economy class, Stockholm to Vilnius
03. Which Baltic state is the best?
04. SAS/Cityjet CRJ900 economy class, Vilnius to Stockholm
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| Vilnius (VNO) to Stockholm (ARN) |
Flight number: SAS/Cityjet SK739
Aircraft: Bombardier CRJ900
Registration: EI-FPF
Age of aircraft: 2 years
Duration of flight: 1:13 (gate to gate)
Seat: 20F (economy class)
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| Seat map with my seat (20F) in red. Courtesy of Seatguru.com |
I've flown on these SAS/CityJet flights before, but last time (from Berlin (TXL) to Stockholm in January this year), you could tell that it was a leased aircraft. The staff only spoke English, and there was really nothing signifying that this was an SAS flight. I was therefore a little surprised this time, as we were greeted by Swedish speaking flight attendants in SAS uniforms. This time I could never have guessed that it was indeed a leased flight.
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| Unfortunately, the departure gate wasn't located in the control tower... |
I had already checked in for this flight, and unlike Norwegian, there was no problem in choosing my own seat. When I checked in the night before, I noticed that there were many empty seats in the back half of the plane, and therefore I chose row 20, keeping my fingers crossed for an empty seat next to me. I don't suffer from xenophobia by any means, but it's always nice with a little extra space!
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| I was already checked in, though. And VNO is a teeny-tiny airport. Not much to do but wait... |
VNO really is the tiniest airport. There is not a lot to do, and there is not much traffic either, meaning that there are barely any planes to look at. I browsed the few tax free shops, most of which consisted of nothing but booze and cigarettes, and then I went to the gate (A12) to wait. Luckily, I had some podcasts to listen to on my phone, so the hour or so that I had to wait went by in a jiffy.
The boarding process started right on time, and after scanning the boarding pass, we went down a flight of stairs to ground level, where a bus took us to the aircraft. Boarding was completed real quick, as the CRJ900 is a small plane, and it was not full at all (I'm guessing it was a half full flight).
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| You lookin' at me? |
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| "Arna Viking" - she has received a SAS Viking name, despite the fact that she's owned by CityJet |
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| Looking back at the terminal here at VNO |
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| Standing in the boarding queue |
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| Ready to climb the airstair, but first one final photo. I was the last one to board as I wanted to take some pictures before boarding. |
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| These seats are also slim, but they look a little more classy than the Norwegian seats in my opinion |
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| Dark seat pocket and black jeans - it's not easy to see in this pic, but the legroom was decent. |
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| Most of the passengers were riding in the front half of the aircraft |
The FA:s were quite active walking up and down the aisle for the duration of this flight. And since there weren't a lot of passengers, service was attentive. Most items are for purchase, but SAS offer complimentary tea or coffee at least. It was a little too late for coffee, but a hot cup of tea hit the spot!
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| Let's have a look at the menu! |
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| Unlike Norwegian, tee and coffee is complimentary. All other items are for purchase. |
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| Goodbye Vilnius! It was way to dark to get any decent runway and take off shots... |
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| The complimentary tea, served with a slice of lemon - refreshing! |
One bottle of Coke at the airport, and one cup of tea on the flight meant I would have to use either the airplane lavatory or wait until the restrooms at Arlanda. Airport restrooms are rarely fancy, so I went for the lavatory. And boy, was it tiny!?
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| And I thought the mid-cabin lavatory on the Emirates 777 was tiny... I could barely close the door here, since it opened into the lavatory... And I'm only 175cm tall (5.7"), imagine using this lavatory if you're taller or overweight... |
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| Few passengers (and barely any in the aft half) and a short flight meant a clean and fresh lavatory |
I kind of like the CRJ900. It's a little noisy when taking off, but they are perfectly fine for short hauls. I don't really mind narrow-bodies, and I especially like the ones with a 2-2 configuration. Besides, it's nice with a CRJ or an Embraer instead of the usual Boeing 737s that are ubiquitous in Europe.
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| "You're getting bolder taking pictures," my wife said as she saw this picture. Nah... like the previous flight, I could walk about the cabin pretty uninhibited, as nary a person was sitting here. |
We landed a little ahead of schedule. The flight maps revealed afterwards that we had landed on runway 26. I would have guessed 19R as we were making a few turns during the approach, but I'm not going to argue with the data. These flight websites are pretty accurate most of the time. Be that as it may, it was just a short taxi to our gate. No jetbridge for this tiny aircraft, but no bus was needed, as it was just a short walk to the terminal.
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| Blurry and dark picture, but I didn't want to block the aisle... |
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| Thanks for this flight, EI-FPF! |
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| The tiny "Operated by CityJet" logo next to the airstair |
Our gate was located in Terminal 5, but really far from the arrivals hall, so it was a long walk out of the airport. Luckily, there is no passport control on EU flights.
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| Unmistakably ARN! |
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| The long walk to the arrivals hall... |
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