A 319 – knightofmalta

Croatia Airlines, Business Class – Airbus A 319: Paris Roissy to Zagreb

Introduction

Today I’m on my way from Paris to Zagreb. My options are Croatia Airlines or Air France. Normally, I would go with Air France. However, this time around there were several good reasons to take Croatia Airlines instead. First, they use an A319 on the route, whereas Air France operates an Embraer 175. And second, the schedule with Croatia Airlines is more appealing, with an arrival in Zagreb at 13h10.

Getting to the Airport

I’m staying at the Sofitel Le Scribe in Paris, which is just around the corner from the Opéra Garnier. The car picks me up in front of the hotel at 08:35 to take me to the airport. Being early Sunday morning, the traffic is fairly smooth – right up until we join the access road to CDG airport, where the traffic comes to a grinding halt. As a result, the trip ends up taking just shy of 60 minutes in total.

Check-in

Croatia Airlines checks in at Terminal 2D, Hall 3. Currently, they’re working on the outside of the terminal, so access to 2D is via 2B.

There are three counters open for Croatia Airlines passengers: one for Business Class and two for Economy Class.

Access to the security checkpoint is between terminals 2B and 2D. There is a separate queue for Business Class passengers and the process is quick.

CDG2 Extime Lounge

Croatia Airlines uses the Extime Lounge, which is in the Schengen area of the terminal building. There are no lounges in the non-Schengen part from where Croatia Airlines boards. Access to the lounge is via a corridor that leads off from the main area just in front of the Relay kiosk.

The lounge is certainly one of the better ones at CDG if you’re not travelling on Air France. And it’s certainly much better than the dreadful lounge I visited in July on my way to Australia!

The lounge has a large buffet with a good selection of hot and cold dishes.

Boarding

At 10h45 I exit the lounge and make my way to passport control. It’s not very busy. I reach the gate for my flight at B29, where the last remaining passengers of the inbound are just disembarking.

Alas, taking a decent picture of my chariot is impossible.

Boarding starts ten minutes late. The first call is for Business Class passengers only.

The Cabin

Croatia Airlines operates six A 319s in two different configurations. This aircraft is configured for a capacity of 150 passengers, which is also why it has two overwing exits on each side, contrary to your usual, standard issue A 319, which only has one on either side.

Seat pitch on row 1 is good. It also helps that the Business Class cabin is not full. So once boarding is completed, the guy on 1C moves one row back so that we each have a whole row of three to ourselves.

Service

There are three cabin crew on this flight and they’re lovely, very friendly and helpful. While we’re still on the ground, they offer a welcome drink and disinfectant towel.

Today’s traffic regime at CDG sees parallel approaches happening on the two southern runways, and departures on the inner one of the two northern runways. On our way there, we pass CDG 1, which is still closed, where I spot Conviasa’s A 340 and an Aerolineas Argentinas A 330. CDG 1 is scheduled to reopen next year.

The Meal

The flight time to Zagreb is one hour and forty minutes. It’s difficult to find anything nice to say about the meal service. One could forgive the rather ugly presentation if the content were good but…

…we start with porc sausage slices…

…followed by a paté of sorts made of more porc (49%!) and then some porc.

Which basically leaves me with pickled vegetables and crackers and a piece of walnut cake. Tragically, the crackers are limp and the walnut cake is just dead boring.

And to drink with that, I have a Coke Zero.

I also order a coffee. To be honest, even if you normally have your coffee black, if you’re drinking the Croatia Airlines stuff you may want to add the cream and sugar they provide for the sake of your taste buds. It’s not their fault…

The tray also comes with cutlery, although I’m not sure what I’m supposed to use it for, except perhaps to stick the fork in my leg in the hope that the pain will distract from just how hungry I am by this stage.

Arrival

Our route takes me overhead Basel, where I live, and then on to Innsbruck and Ljubljana. The flight is uneventful and the views of the mountains are beautiful, even though there’s still not much snow on them.

Eventually, we land with a delay of fifteen minutes.

Getting into Town

The airport bus runs to the city every thirty minutes. The journey takes 25 minutes to complete and will take you to the main bus terminus, which is still quite a walk away from the centre of town. The journey will cost you 45 Kuna, which is roughly EUR6.-. Only cash payment is possible on the bus, but there’s a telling machine at arrivals, just opposite the exit for the airport bus. The stop is on your far right as you exit the airport building.

Conclusion

In the sum of all things, I thought Croatia Airlines were quite okay. The aircraft was comfortable enough and the crew were really great and very friendly. On the down side, the food was seriously lacking. To be fair, they are the airline of Croatia. Even so, I think it would not be too much to ask for them to cater to a more international palate, shall we say.

Croatia Airlines, Business Class – Airbus A 319: Skopje to Zagreb

Date: 05 August 2016
Departure: 05h45
Arrival: 06h45
Flight time: 1 hour
Seat: 1F

Introduction

It is four o’clock in the morning as I step outside the hotel. It is still dark but already the temperature is quite high. It also feels a lot more humid than it has been these last few days. One way or another, it is time to go home. And so I get in the car. And off we go.

Getting to the Airport

Transport: Taxi.
Journey time: 20 minutes.
Cost: 900 Macedonian Dinar, roughly 20 Euros.

The journey from the centre of town to the airport does not take long to complete at this time of day and we appear to have hit a green streak with the lights. There is also a bus to the airport apparently, but whenever I tried to ask about it at the hotel, I drew a blank.

Check-in

Location: Ground floor.
Facilities: Web check-in (better not) or check-in at the desk (advisable).
Counters: There is one counter for Economy Class passengers to Zagreb, and another counter for Business Class passengers. In addition, there are two other counters on reserve, to ensure that check-in moves swiftly.

My suitcase it tagged all the way through to Zürich and I am issued the boarding passes for both flights, even though I have already checked in on the Croatia Airlines website and have added the boarding passes to Passbook.

From check-in I head straight for security. I show the guy checking boarding passes my iPhone and draw a blank. All I get from him is ‘no’. But then I give him the paper boarding pass I was issued at the counter and he seems happy to go along with that.

The Lounge

Location: Opposite the exit from security.
Type of Lounge: Prime Class contractor lounge.
Facilities: None really, other than a few comfortable couches. There are no toilets in the lounge.
Catering: A limited selection of cold drinks. There is also a Nescafe machine, but that appears to be out of order. To eat there are a few pastries and bowls with nuts, none of which I try though. To be honest, everything looks a bit stale.
Internet: Wifi is provided by T-Online in the lounge. Passwords are available at the reception desk outside.

I grab myself a bottle of water and take a seat in a remote corner of the lounge to get out of harm’s way. I overdosed on garlic at dinner last night and I still reek of the stuff. It is so bad that the guy ahead of me in the queue for security actually let me pass just to stop me breathing down his neck.

Boarding

There is a separate line for Business Class passengers and they are invited to board first.

The Cabin

Configuration: 2 + 2. The middle seat in the row of three is kept empty.
Seat: There are three rows of Business Class, which should in theory mean that there are twelve passengers in Business Class today. However, I notice that on some rows the middle seat has not been kept empty and there are in fact three people sitting in a row. According to the Croatia Airlines inflight magazine, the Airbus A 319 has a seating capacity of 144.
Facilities: Reading lamp and air vent.
Audio and Video: There are overhead screens showing advertisements for Croatia as a holiday destination.

The Crew

The crew seem pleasant enough, they are not overly friendly but then again it is rather early in the morning. So I can hardly hold it against them… The flight time is advised as one hour and five minutes.

The Meal

Delivery: Plastic box from the trolley.
Type of meal: Breakfast, I guess…

Cold cuts and cheese with a small cherry tomato.
Jam and butter.
Chocolate brownie.
Pre-packed roll of bread.
Tea or coffee, soft drinks.

Ladies and gentlemen, and the award for the worst Business Class meal presentation goes to… Croatia Airlines. Well done!

To be fair, the quality of the food is good, except perhaps for the spongy bread that looks and tastes as though is has been chemically treated to expire about forty years after I have expired of old age. But that is compensated by the delectable brownie, which is to die for. And the coffee is good too.

But enough with the niceties. The presentation of the meal is really, really not good. What is more, the cabin crew distribute the plastic boxes and the bread and then disappear. Uhm…how about some cutlery? Eventually, when half the Business Class cabin is already busy licking their sticky cheese fingers, the crew emerge from the galley, this time with napkins and cutlery.

Transfer in Zagreb

And then very soon we start our descent into Zagreb. It is a lovely day outside. We land in the middle of what appears to be Croatia Airlines’ morning bank of transfers. A new terminal is currently under construction at Zagreb. For the time being though, the operational apron only has open stands, which means I get to disembark via the stairs. Cool.