Croatia Airlines CRJX business class, Zagreb to Copenhagen
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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 Zagreb
04. Croatia Airlines Dash 8 economy class, Zagreb to
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 Copenhagen (CPH) |
Date: 2018-06-03
Flight number: Croatia Airlines OU480
Aircraft: Bombardier CRJ1000 (CRJX)
Registration: EC-LJT (leased from Spanish regional airline Air Nostrum)
Age of aircraft: 7 years
Duration of flight: 1:49 (gate to gate)
Seat: 2C (business class)
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| Seat map with my seat (2C) in red. Courtesy of Seatguru.com |
It was a fine morning in Zagreb, and after having breakfast in the Primeclass Lounge, we headed to our departure gate for this flight to Copenhagen. Quick glance at the departures board. Uh-oh. Gate 17 again. Let's hope this flight will actually reach its destination...
There were only six business class seats on this flight (rows 1 and 2), and all of them were taken. I was a little surprised that they didn't used blocked seats, as that is quite common on intra-european business class (where you get one seat, and the one next to you is blocked, so you get a little more space and privacy, to make up for having the same seats and seat pitch as the rest of the passengers). Just like the day before, we had to take a bus to a remote stand, and with only six business class passengers, I totally understand that they didn't have a separate bus for us. However, it's not really a perk with early boarding when you need to take a bus to a remote stand. Sure, we were the first to board the bus, but when everyone had gotten on, we obviously got off the bus last...
There were two buses to get all the passengers to the plane, and it seemed to be a full flight. When we had settled in our seats, the second bus arrived, which meant there was a constant queue in the aisle for three minutes. I can think of better ways to start a flight than to have crotches and asses in my face...
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| As you can see on the registration, this was a Spanish aircraft |
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| Not as good looking as an Embraer, but this will have to do! |
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| Welcome aboard, Mr. Feuillade! |
We were offered newspapers (Croatian or New York Times), wet wipes and a pre departure drink before we pushed back eight minutes behind schedule. Not a lot at traffic at ZAG, though, so we could take off shortly after taxiing to the runway. There was a little turbulence as we climbed through the clouds, but other than that, this was an uneventful flight.
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| Ridiculous legroom as this was a bulkhead seat |
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| Pre-departure drink: Apple juice, naturally! |
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| The New York Times |
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| Air Nostrum safety card |
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| Loose-limbed infant... |
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| In case of emergency, please ask Chuck Norris to throw out the door... |
Breakfast was served 15 minutes after take-off, and it was a really tasty breakfast, with smoked salmon, yoghurt, a croissant and fresh fruit. Definitely more tasty than in the Primeclass lounge. The coffee on the other hand tasted like instant coffee and was lukewarm...
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| We've had one breakfast, yes, but what about second breakfast? |
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| Real cutleries |
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| Orange, grapefruit and melon |
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| Instant "coffee" - meh... |
The flight between Zagreb and Copenhagen takes less than two hours, which surprised me a little bit. Copenhagen obviously is located much further south than Stockholm, but it still felt weird with just a little over one and a half hour between a mediterranean country and Scandinavia. Stockholm coined this silly slogan a couple of years ago that it is "The Capital of Scandinavia". One might argue that Copenhagen is better suited for that epithet, as it is a lot closer to the rest of Europe, and bigger than Stockholm if you combine it with the Swedish city of Malmö across the strait.
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| Signs in Spanish on this leased aircraft |
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| CRJ lavatories are as small as they come... |
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| Time to head back to the seat - we have started our descent! |
The approach was really nice, as it was a little foggy at first, before all the wind power stations and the Öresund bridge between Denmark and Sweden could be spotted. We touched down to give us just a little over an hour before our SAS A321 were to take us home to Stockholm. However, when we had arrived at the gate, they didn't let us off the plane for a really long time, and as they had turned off the air vents, it got really hot. Finally, we could deplane and head into the terminal at CPH.
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| Wind power stations in the waters outside of Copenhagen |
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| A quick look at the business class seats across the aisle - leg room is the same as economy class |
So, was it worth it to fly business class? Well, this time it definitely was, since we didn't pay for it ourselves. It was nice to be able to skip most of the lines, get lounge access, and get a nice breakfast onboard. However, the boarding process isn't really that smooth on these CRJ:s, and the business class cabin wasn't separated from the rest of the cabin. There was a small curtain, but only behind the seats, not in the aisle, which meant that the business class lavatory was "free for all". If you're looking for more privacy when flying business class, you might want to choose another airline, or at least a different type of aircraft.
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| Wow - look at these beauties! Can you name the five airlines? |
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| Thanks for this ride, EC-LJT! |
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| Fancy airport... |
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