Date: 20 April 2016
Departure: 18:55
Arrival: 20:55
Flight time: 2 hours
Seat: 8A

Introduction

The Albanian authorities have been excellent hosts. In addition, the weather in Tirana today was quite simply stunning. The temperature is pleasantly warm, with a nice breeze preventing it from getting too hot. The dramatic location of the city, surrounded by mountains, is quite spectacular and with the clear air, the mountains look close enough to touch.

Getting to the Airport

Transport: Taxi.
Journey time: Roughly thirty minutes.
Departs from: Hotel Mondial.
Arrives: Tirana Rinas Airport.
Cost: 2000 Albanian Lek or EUR14.

The user group meeting comes to an end at 15h30. By the time I finish saying goodbye to everyone and pack up my things, it is already four o’clock in the afternoon.

Check-in

Location: Left half of the terminal, ground floor.
Facilities: Check-in counters for the Adria Airways flight open two hours before departure. Counters 17 and 18 are reserved for Adria Airways check-in.

Alternatively, there are also multipurpose self-service check-in machines. The self-service machines are located facing the entrance to the terminal. They are red and can hardly be missed. Once I get that out of the way, I step outside to have a coffee and watch the world go by in the warm sun. This is just lovely.

The Lounge

Location: First floor, right behind immigration.
Type of Lounge: Multipurpose contractor lounge.
Facilities: A variety of different seating options, two Mac workstations, toilets are available in the lounge.
Catering: There is a small buffet with a small but good selection of snacks.
Internet: At reception an access code for the internet is printed for you.

Access to the lounge is via a set of stairs hidden away behind the duty-free shops. The lounge is open to status cardholders of most airlines. Alternatively, you can also pay EUR20 to use the facility. Like the rest of the airport, the lounge is fairly small. But I rather like the design. It feels cosy.

Boarding

There is no priority boarding for this flight. However, given that there are only about forty passengers in total on the flight, it does not really matter that much.

The Cabin

Configuration: 3 + 3
Seat: 9A, window on the port side of the vessel.
Pitch: No information.
Width: No information.
Description: Unfortunately, I’m unable to find any useful information about the cabin configuration and seat of Adria Airways’ fleet of A 319s. The cabin looks nice enough and well maintained. However, the fact that everything is kept in various shades of grey does make the cabin look somewhat drab.

Other than that though, Adria has video screens installed throughout the aircraft and there is also internet connectivity available via OnAir, although I do not try it out on this flight.

Seating on this aircraft is fairly tight, but at lest the flight is only about a third full. Thus, I have a whole row to myself and manage to find a decently comfortable position to sit.

The Crew

There are three cabin crew. The purser is a charming lady in her early fifties, I would guess. Announcements are made live in Albanian, Slovenian, English and in German. The crew is friendly enough and I notice that they rigorously enforce safety on board.

The Meal

All passengers are served a cup of still water. Other than that, food and drinks are available for purchase only. Mostly, it is just light snacks and drinks. But at least the prices are reasonable. I order a cheese sandwich, a Coke Zero and a Nescafe with milk and sugar for EUR8.

It is another glorious day for flying outside. After take-off, our routing takes us along the Adriatic coast on a north-westerly track, until eventually the coastline gives way to the Alps and we cross into Germany.

Arrival

We land a few minutes ahead of schedule. It is quickly approaching 21h in the evening, so Munich airport is already fairly quiet. I pass through security and immigration and take the stairs up to the G concourse, which is the Schengen area, from where my connection to Basel will be leaving.

Conclusion

All in all I though, Adria Airways is not that bad at all. True, buy on board is never cool, but the quality of the food available is good and comes at a decent price. The aircraft is comfortable enough, although much of that has to do with the fact that is was mostly empty. On a longer or full flight I am not sure how comfortable the experience would be.