Airline review: Croatia Airlines Dash 8 economy class, Zagreb to Zagreb

Croatia Airlines Dash 8 economy class, Zagreb to Sarajevo Zagreb
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01. Trip report introduction
02. Air Serbia A319 economy class, Stockholm to Belgrade
03. Air Serbia ATR72 economy class, Belgrade to Sarajevo
03. Air Serbia ATR72 economy class, Belgrade to Zagreb
04. Croatia Airlines Dash 8 economy class, Zagreb to Sarajevo Zagreb
05. Sheraton Zagreb Hotel, Zagreb
06. Primeclass Lounge, Zagreb Airport
07. Croatia Airlines/Air Nostrum CRJX business class, Zagreb to Copenhagen
08. SAS A321 economy class, Copenhagen to Stockholm
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Zagreb (ZAG) to Sarajevo (SJJ), where we were supposed to go...

Date: 2018-06-02
Flight number: Croatia Airlines OU342
Aircraft: Bombardier Dash 8
Registration: 9A-CQF
Age of aircraft: 8 years
Duration of flight: 0:58 (gate to gate)
Seat: 15A (economy class)

Seat map with my seat (15A) in red. Courtesy of Seatguru.com

This will be a short airline review, for a couple of reasons. First, it had been a loooong day of travelling and waiting, and we just wanted to get to our hotel in Sarajevo. It was simply hard to stay enthusiastic after so many hours on the road. Second, it was a really short flight to Zagreb. Third, it was pitch black outside, which makes for lousy pictures. But it was sort of the peripety of this trip, and it was my first time flying Croatia Airlines, so I'm not going to skip it.

After having some dinner at the airport, it was finally time for our last flight for the day. Soon we would be in Sarajevo! (Or so we thought.) There was a slight delay, but at least our bird had arrived, and soon enough a bus came to drive us to the remote stand where our Dash 8 was parked.

Waiting for boarding at gate 17

Here she is, ready to take us to Sarajevo

Croatia Airlines, airline number 25 for me (not that I'm keeping track - just kidding, of course I'm keeping track..!)

The first thing I noticed about this flight was that the plane was a lot newer than the previous one. Sure enough, this bird was only about 8 years old. The cabin was a lot fresher and more modern, and the colours were not as hard on the eyes.

Seat 15A (just as on the first flight today)

Seat pitch good enough for a short-haul

Croatia Airlines Dash 8 safety card

Like I mentioned - it's basically impossible to get good photos for trip reports on night time flights

Buckle your seatbelt, Dorothy, 'cause Kansas is going bye-bye!

Shortly after take-off, the cabin crew handed out water and mediterranean biscuits, not unlike the ones they served on board Ethiopian B787. We had just gotten our snacks, and had only been airborne for 19 minutes when the captain announced that we had started our descent towards SJJ. Bosnia, you sure played hard-to-get, but in a few more minutes, you'll finally be the 40th country that I've visited!

Water and biscuits

Tasty snack! 

Three minutes later, the pilot made a new announcement, however. "There is some really bad weather ahead of us, and it doesn't look like it'll change for some time, so we'll be turning back to Zagreb..."

So, we didn't make it to Sarajevo. Back at the airport, we went to Croatia Airlines service desk (this felt eerily familiar...), and they suggested a new flight to Sarajevo the next day. However, it departed so late in the afternoon that we wouldn't make our flights back home to Stockholm... Instead I asked if they couldn't get us rebooked home to Stockholm, via Copenhagen. The agent typed away at her computer, and after quite a long while, she informed us that we had been rebooked. We would fly Croatia Airlines business class to Copenhagen, and then SAS economy class to Stockholm. With the tickets in our hands, it was time to head to the shuttle bus to Sheraton Zagreb Hotel to get a few hours of sleep...