Tranfer in Arlanda

I’ve just arrived in Stockholm on a flight from Zürich. I’m on my way to Trondheim to give a course. The flight from Zürich pulls onto its stand at the E pier at 12h38. Boarding for my flight to Trondheim starts at 13h15 from gate F 31 – which is all just a bit confusing, I think. The F pier is a mixed Schengen/non-Schengen pier. Gates with a low number are at Schengen level, whereas F gates with a higher number are one floor up and accessible only by going through passport control – from which there’s no turning back without having to go through security again.

The Stockholm F Pier SAS Gold Lounge

There are two SAS lounges at the beginning of the F pier at Schengen level. First, there is the standard lounge, the entrance of which is pictured in the following photo. But further along there’s also the Eurobonus gold lounge. I approach the lady at reception for the gold lounge and inquire if I’m in the right place.

She just smiles and tells me that there have been so many changes recently, that the most reliable answer will be for me to scan my boarding pass. So, I do that and it shows up green and I’m good to go, I mean stay.

The lounge is small but adequate. There’s a small buffet with cold dishes. I just make myself a quick cheese sandwich. I only have about 30 minutes before boarding begins.

Boarding

Just a piece of advice, okay? If you think you need to go to the loo, go while you’re still in the lounge in Stockholm. Simply because it’s not so busy. In a bid to be more gender neutral and politically correct, Stockholm Airport appears to have only mixed gender loos with closed cabins. But while this may be very politically correct, it’s also rather dumb because it’s only increased the queues. They haven’t increased the number of facilities though.

In any case, our flight is boarding from a bus gate, as the aircraft is parked on a remote stand by the SAS MRO facility. I count about 60 passengers, so the flight is not completely full.

There’s a luggage cart standing by the stairs to the aircraft for passengers to dump their oversized cabin luggage. I’m quite happy to get rid of mine, but by the looks of it, most passengers seem rather reluctant.

I’m wearing a t-shirt with the Emirates Flight Training logo, which I got the last time I gave a course there. The flight attendant looks at it and asks if I work for Emirates. So I explain where I got the t-shirt from and she tells me she’s in the process of applying to Emirates as cabin crew. She hands me a small bottle of water as a welcome.

The Cabin & Seat

The Bombardier CRJ-900 really is a horrible little thing. Everything about this aircraft feels tight and cramped. There’s not enough head clearance to be able to stand up straight. And the seats are just über tight. Especially when, as on today’s flight, you have a guy my size sitting next to another guy roughly my size. It’s a tight squeeze, we keep bumping elbows when we put on our seatbelts and basically everytime either one of us moves. At least the seat pitch on row 16 is very good. Rows 16 and 17 are the two emergency exit rows.

The Service & Crew

The flight today is operated by Cityjet on behalf of SAS. There are two cabin crew, but I’m not sure where they’re from. Both speak Norwegian, but in both cases, it doesn’t sound like that’s their first language. Other than that, though, they couldn’t be more different. While the female working the forward cabin is outgoing and chatty, the gentleman working the rear cabin is a lot more reserved, but still friendly.

The flight time is announced as fifty minutes. As we taxi out, in the distance I see a DC-8 and Caravelle and also an MD-80 in a really badly done job to conceal the aircraft’s original Alitalia livery. I’m guessing all three aircraft are used for fire training, which just seems wrong to me somehow. They should use a crappy CRJ-900 for that sort of thing, not a legend like the Caravelle.

Once we’re airborne, the service follows the same pattern as on the previous flight – however, this time without mystery order special meals. Coffee, tea, and water are complimentary. Everything else is buy on board.

Arrival in Trondheim

Our arrival into Trondheim is gorgeous. Surprisingly, the weather is much nicer than in Stockholm, and certainly better than Zürich. We approach the airport from the east and fly past the airfield to the south. We then make a wide right-hand turn over the bay, to line up with the runway for the landing over the water. Eventually, we land and the main landing gear makes all sorts of strange noises as we slow to taxi speed to vacate the runway.

Inside the terminal, international arrivals are segregated from domestic arrivals. However, once you pass through customs, international passengers emerge in the same place as domestic travellers.

Getting into Town

From Trondheim Airport you can either take the Flytoget, the train, or the Flygbussarna, the airport bus. Trains to the city are frequent and cheap. However, the journey by train is quite long and takes just under 40 minutes. It’s a lovely journey, though, that runs along the sea most of the way.

Conclusion

This second leg on SAS to Trondheim was a little less pleasant than the first, but that’s mainly due to the fact that the CJR-900 is just a horrible little thing that simply cannot rival the comfort and space of the A 320 family. Recently, SAS announced a larger order for Embraer’s E2 series of aircraft. Hopefully, once delivered they will herald the end of the CRJ-900 ordeal for SAS customers.