Transfer in Vienna – I’ve just arrived in Vienna on a flight from Zürich. The bus ejects me at arrivals, and then from there I take the lift up to flight connections on the F concourse. As Skopje is outside Schengen, I have to go up one more floor to the G gates behind immigration. I make good progress, mainly because most of the airport has already shut down for the night and there aren’t many passengers about.

Boarding

I reach my gate in good time, and just a few minutes later, groups 1 and 2 are called to come forward as boarding begins.

The Cabin & Seat

On this flight there are only two rows of Business Class for eight passengers in total. Only five seats are occupied and I have all of row 1 to myself.

The Service & Crew

The service on this flight is much better, and the purser working the Business Class cabin is just lovely. While we wait for a few delayed passengers to board, she comes to greet me by name and hands me a packaged towel. She asks if there’s anything else she can get me while we wait, and shortly after brings me a glass of still water.

Eventually, we push back 24 minutes behind schedule at 23h09. The flight time to Skopje is 75 minutes.

The Meal – Midnight Dinner

On this flight, Austrian Airlines serves a hot meal, which is quite surprising given the late hour and the fairly short flight time. The main course is some kind of meat with grilled vegetables in a green peppercorn sauce and served with buttery polenta. The crew serve bread rolls with the meal and pass through the cabin with the breadbasket twice.

For dessert there’s a very nice tiramisu, which is sweeter than I would have liked but still a very good dessert. It’s a nice meal. I’m kind of wondering, though, if perhaps it isn’t time for Austrian Airlines to consider investing in some new crockery. I mean, those triangular plates might have been hip and funky when Lauda Air introduced them many moons ago to show just how innovative and quirky they were. But now they just look rather bulky and more than just a bit retro. After the meal, the crew pass through the cabin with the Lindor pralines.

Arrival in Skopje

We land in Skopje exactly on time, at 00h15. A Lufthansa A 321 and a Croatian A 319 are parked at the terminal and are night stopping here, just like Austrian Airlines. Immigration and arrivals are very quiet and I’m through customs within twenty minutes of touchdown.

Getting into Town

The only option to get into Skopje, which is 25 km away, is to take one of the white airport taxis outside arrivals. If somebody approaches you in the terminal offering taxi services, refuse. Just step outside, that’s where the official white taxis wait. It’s a flat rate from the airport to the city of EUR25. The journey time depends a lot on the traffic, obviously.

Conclusion

So, Austrian Airlines. The crew on the first flight from Zürich to Vienna were okay but rather bland. The food on that first flight was just plain weird and not very appealing. In contrast, the crew on this flight to Skopje were excellent. Especially the purser was just lovely and provided outstanding customer service. And the meal was very nice. The transfer in Vienna was effortlessly smooth and much easier than I would have thought – despite it being one of the weirdest airports I’ve ever passed through.