I’m off on a multi-leg trip. My first stop will be Helsinki. The weather app is predicting cold and wet weather up north, which is unfortunate, of course, because in Switzerland it’s finally started to feel like spring.
Getting to the Airport
It’s been quite a while since I last flew from Basel. My flight departs at 13h00. I figure I might as well catch the bus at 10h45 from the main railway station, which will get me to the airport just after eleven, two hours before departure.
Check-In
Lufthansa checks in on rows 64 to 66. Counter 64 is for premium passengers. Security tends to be a bit unpredictable at Basel airport, but today is a good day and I’m cleared fairly quickly through the priority lane.
The Swissport Aspire SkyLounge
The lounge is busy, but not full. What is immediately noticeable, is that it’s rather warm inside the lounge. At least they’ve opened the door to let in the gentle spring breeze. They’ve also decked out the terrace with chairs and parasols, which should be nice in summer, once it gets a bit warmer. Right now it’s still a bit fresh in the shade.
The food options in the lounge are a bit weird – even the salads contain meat. The only non-meat option is the vegetable soup, which doesn’t taste nice at all. Also, it has a consistency which reminds me of what it looks like when a little kitten… yeah, I’ll leave it to your imagination to finish that sentence.
Boarding
At 12h18 the inbound from Munich touches down on runway 15 and taxies to its stand at the root of the pier. Boarding starts at 12h40, twenty minutes before departure.
I wait until the very end to board the flight, figuring there’s no point getting in everybody’s way. It looks like it’s going to be a full flight.
The Cabin & Seat
There are five seats in the Business Class cabin. I’m seated on 2A, which is the second row on the port side. On the starboard side, though, row two is the bulkhead row. There are no 1D and F seats. The Canadair Regionaljet is really not a very nice aircraft. It’s narrow and feels cramped. And I know from a pilot friend of mine that it’s not that pleasant to fly either, kept in the air mainly by brute force.
The Service & Crew
There are two female cabin crew on this flight. They’re friendly and welcoming. A bottle of still water and a comfortable pillow have been placed at each seat in the forward cabin.
We push back exactly on time at 13h00. Our flight time to Munich is announced as 45 minutes. We take off in a southeasterly direction and I manage to take a photo of Basel before we make a right hand turn of 270 degrees to point us in the general direction of Bavaria and Munich.
The Meal – Late Lunch
The meal service starts soon after take-off. And I really must say, it’s a very nice meal. I’m just not sure the green stuff legally qualifies as guacamole if it’s made of peas instead of avocado. But the taste is good, so it’s no skin of my nose, really.
The main dish is flavourful and tasty. The only thing that’s a bit weird is the small loaf of bread. It’s tough, rubbery and near impossible to bite through.
The dessert is typically German. It is, I think, what they refer to as a Käsekuchen. I like it. The sharpness of the cherries contrast nicely with the cream and the buttery crumble.
Once I’m done, the crew comes to clear my tray, and there’s even time for a coffee with milk. Just before we start the descent, the crew pass through the cabin with little Lindt golden Easter Bunnies.
Arrival
We land in Munich on time and taxi to our remote stand on the far side of the airport. It takes us ten minutes by bus to finally reach the terminal building.
One thing I really don’t understand about airports like Paris, London, Frankfurt, or Munich, is why they insist on using these old busses to shuttle passengers to and from aircraft that look as though they were previously used for public transport. I think the Cobus busses they have at Zürich or Malta airports make a lot more sense because they have fewer seats so they can accommodate more passengers on what are, mostly, fairly short distances.
In any case, I now have fifty minutes to make my connection to Helsinki.
Yes,it is narrow and cramped, but i like the CRJ——- i think its an elegant looking aeroplane[especially in the revised LH colours] The one time i used one,i was squashed up against the bulkhead in a 1 and a half row Biz class——hardly any legroom but a gold Lindt football at the end of the flight!
Looks like this was one of your past flights on Lufthansa Cityline…
Last, not past…
And I think I may also have already had my last on a SWISS A 220.
Dont Understand——- are they phasing this aircraft out?
Apparently, yes. Initially, they reported that they were parking up only the 10 A 220-100. But it now looks like they’re standardizing the short-haul fleet on the A 320 family.
My first thought on learning This was,What about LCY?. They are apparently working on introducing a shallower approach angle from 2027.
So far, I don’t think they’ll be getting rid of the Helvetic Airways operation, and their aircraft are certified for LCY. I think the changes concern only the LH Group’s mainline fleets.