Airline review: AIS Airlines Jetstream 32 economy class, Stockholm to Sveg

Befriending the pilot - my review of AIS Airlines JS32 economy class from Stockholm (ARN) to Sveg (EVG)
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01. Trip report introduction
02. AIS Airlines Jetstream 32 economy class, Stockholm to Sveg
03. Photo Essay: Hiking in Härjedalen
04. AIS Airlines Jetstream 32 economy class, Sveg to Stockholm
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Stockholm (ARN) to Sveg (EVG)

Date: 2018-08-06
Flight number: IS652
Aircraft: Jetstream 32
Registration: PH-NCI
Age of aircraft: 29 years
Duration of flight: 1:03 (gate to gate)
Seat: 2A (economy class)

There is no seat map for the JS32 on Seatguru.com

So the start of this trip was definitely familiar. Scheduled time of departure for this flight was only 20 minutes earlier than our flight the week before, so we could take the same train and bus as then, and arriving at Terminal 3 at the same time. This time, we knew where to go, and this time around, there was actually a little more action, as there were a couple of more flights departing this morning.

The way to T3 is through a long corridor, the entrance of which is in the middle of this picture

Waiting to check in (no online check-in available for these flights)

The only café in T3 is closed down (as mentioned in my previous trip report), so there's really nothing to do here...

Boarding started a few minutes ahead of schedule, but we had to wait a while on board the bus for the last passengers (there were five adults and four kids on this flight). The pilots took the same bus as we did.

Gate 59A is ours this morning, and this is a gate that requires a bus to a remote stand

No, there weren't that many passengers today...

The pilots have just opened the door and are naturally the first to board...

AIS Airlines have a white and blue livery

Just like on the Saab 340 that we flew one week earlier, this plane had a 1-2 configuration. I chose seat 2A, and thereby had both a window and an aisle seat. The first thing i noticed was that there was no door to the cockpit. I thought they just hadn't closed it, but there wasn't any door at all. It was really cool to see the pilots throughout the flight. Before take-off, the co-pilot performed a short safety demonstration and handed out earplugs. It turned out they were needed just as much for the kids on this flight as the engines of the aircraft...

No door to the cockpit!

Earplugs provided before take-off

Propeller view from 2A

This aircraft felt older than last week's Saab 340

Not that good leg room...

Safety card

Air nozzles

After an on-time pushback and a short taxi, we took off from runway 08. It was a really short take-off roll, as this little aircraft didn't need much time at all to start climbing into the air. The windows had a blue tint on this JS32, so it was hard to get decent photos, but at least the windows were located at a good height and angle.

Going through the checklist before taking off

Takeoff roll

And we're off!

Looking back towards ARN

There were no overhead compartments on this aircraft, but I (barely) managed to stuff my backpack under the seat in front of me.

Looking towards the cockpit from the back of the cabin

After a while, the co-pilot turned around and motioned for me to step up to the cockpit. It was great fun to get a pilot's view as we had reached cruising altitude.

Getting invited to the cockpit

Looking towards the right hand side of the cabin...

...And a shot of the right engine

Soon enough, the fasten seatbelt sign was turned on, and after a short descent, we touched down a few minutes ahead of schedule.

Boarding and disembarking is done through a door in the aft of the cabin

Built-in airstairs

Thanks for this ride, PH-NCI!

We'll see you again in a few hours!

After going through the arrivals hall at EVG airport, we started to walk towards Sveg (about 3-4km from the airport), when a car pulled up alongside us. It was the pilots who apparently were going to Sveg to rest before their next mission, and they asked us if we wanted a ride. So this was a different experience. First I was invited to see the cockpit during the flight, and then we had the pilot as our personal chauffeur to Sveg... Unfortunately, we had two different pilots on our way back to Stockholm that evening.