[Trip Report] Honeymoon in the Azores : BRU-LIS-PDL with TAP and SATA's A310 in C!

Hi everybody!

Long time since the last report, for the simple reason I did not fly in the last 6 months, being too busy in preparing… my wedding! And, naturally, this trip report will cover the first flights we had for our honeymoon, in the Azores, Portugal. A destination I recommend to anyone that likes nature, calm, and amazing landscapes!

The itinerary was the following:

BRU – LIS :TP619 (A319 – TAP Portugal)

LIS – PDL : SP129 (A310 – Sata International)  

PDL – PIX : SP430 (D8Q400 – Sata Air Açores)

PIX – TER: SP621 (D8Q400 – Sata Air Açores)

TER – LIS: TP1822 (A330-200 – TAP Portugal)

LIS – BRU: TP614 (A319 – TAP Portugal)

And it is how it was looking like on the map :

 

Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz

This message will be about the arrival in the Azores: a short report on BRU-LIS with TAP, followed by a full one on LIS-PDL (with surprises).

So, here it starts!

BRU - LIS

Flight number: TP619

Scheduled time of departure / Arrival: 20:35-22:20 (on time)

Plane: Airbus A319 (CS-TTM – “Alexandre Herculano”, named after a Portuguese Novelist and Historian)

Seat: 19E (middle)

Load Factor: 90%

This flight was a nice one, friendly crew, clean aircraft, acceptable food, and on time. What else do you want? Below, some pictures.

CS-TTM was operating the flight that day

... and she was named after Alexandre Herculano

Legroom pic: check!

Dinner wasn't that bad

LIS-PDL

Flight number: SP129

Scheduled time of departure / Arrival: 19:00-20:15 (in reality: very long delay: 26h!)

Plane: Airbus A310 (CS-TKM – “Autonomia”)

Seat: 2F (Centre aisle – C-Class)

Load Factor: >80%

Fasten your seatbelt, this will be a flight with lots of surprises!

After a short stay in the beautiful city of Lisbon, we were back at the airport at 17:00, two hours before take off. As I had read previsously on SATA’s website, there was the possibility to get an upgrade in C-Class for a small fee (50€) the day of the departure, depending on availability, I headed to the counter and asked if there were two seats together still free... and yes, there were (but unfortunately no windows ones... well, you can’t have everything in life ;-) )! So, after we dropped the luggage, we headed to another counter to pay the upgrade, before passing security through the fast lane... which made no difference with the normal one, as there were no queue at security at that time!

Early at the airport: no gate announced yet

As we had two hours to kill, we headed to the “Blue Lounge”, where we were given the opportunity of drinking and eating some food, and got free Wi-Fi. The selection of food and drink was ok, but the staff not really friendly.

LIS Blue Lounge's entrance

Some perks of the upgrade: complimentary bar and buffet

Inside the Lounge: in case you did not notice, it was operated by Groundforce ;-)

45 minutes before boarding, we got out of the lounge, and went to our gate, as I wanted to make a bit of spotting (see another message that will be posted later on). 

We'll board at gate 11

Soon after, I was relieved to see that our flight would be indeed operated by an A310!

SATA International - Airbus A310 - CS-TKM

Indeed, I was trying to catch this type since several years, and wanted to complete my list of Airbus type I flew on, which is now done, until the A350 enters into commercial service! Now, let’s complete the list by flying on the subtypes ;-)

Boarding was called and few minutes later we were in the bus, direction the apron where our A310 was waiting for us. 

On the way to the apron, we passed just below CS-TNJ

The bus had to manoeuvre a bit before letting us get out... which was a good opportunity for me to snap several pictures of this classic aircraft:

CS-TKM

If there was still any doubt... it is indeed an A310

 

 

Boarding

I would have preferred an uncovered stair ;-)

Coat of Arms of the Azores (more info here)

Once aboard, we were greeted by very friendly F/As, and this was to be consistent for all flights we had with SATA. We had not to walk long before finding our seats, and installing ourselves comfortably.

2E and 2 F

Best legroom I've ever had so far

The F/A launching the Safety Demo tape

Overhead buttons

Safety Demo on good old CRT screen

Mandatory reading on every new type

After a security briefing on the old CRT screen, we pushed back and took off on time, before heading to the Atlantic Ocean. 20 minutes later, covers and pillows were distributed, as it was quite cold in the cabin. Service also started, with first an aperitive drink, followed by the meal, which was tasty, and served with true china plates and silver cutlery, not in plastic.

Aperitive: port wine and peanuts

Starter: Octopus salad - Main: sort of Hamburger with roasted potatoes - Dessert: "Fondant au Chocolat"

1h30 after take-off, the Captain announced that we would soon start our descent, and so it was. 30 minutes later, we were in short final, and could distinguish the ground, despite the darkness. We were seconds from touch down when... the engines roared, the nose went up, and our vertical speed went from negative to positive... this was my first go around, and quite an impressive and powerful one! According to my wife, I had a big smile ;-) We continued climbing during several minutes, and while explaining to my soulmate that a go around was a careful decision, I was thinking to myself that we were climbing a lot for just a circle before starting a new approach. This was explained shortly after by the Captain when he informed us that, due to too important tailwind, it was not possible to land in Ponta Delgada... and that therefore we were heading towards the island of Terceira (200km from Ponta Delgada), to land at Lajes Airport, and wait for the weather to get better. After that announcement, my smile, although a bit smaller, was still there: great, that would mean another flight in the A310, when we would fly back to Ponta Delgada! Well... hopefully...

30 minutes later, we landed without problem at Lajes. First we stayed 10 minutes in the plane, before being informed that we had to deplane and wait in the terminal. 

Deplaning at night

Hope to see you very soon!

"Aerogare das Lajes"... I wasn't expecting to be there so early!

Just out of the bus, we were handed transit passes, and went in the departure area, where another flight to Ponta Delgada was waiting to board. It was around 20:40 (local time, -2h compared with Belgium), and our flight back to PDL had a departure time announced at 21:30, so no big worry. 

I wonder how many times this was used for a diversion...

Departure scheduled for 21:30... does not seem too bad

We found a seat, and waited (we completely forgot that due to our Business Class ticket, we could have had access in the business lounge...). Soon after, we saw in the FIDS that the “departure at 21:30” had been changed into “more info at 22:00”. 

OK, only the time changed, but it is still written "boarding" here...

In the mean time, the other flight to PDL boarded, so our hope to arrive at destination was still high. At 22:00, we got the info that the weather still did not improve, and that new info would be given at 23:00. 

"Boarding" they say... hmmm, I don't really believe it...

At 23:00, nothing was announced. At 23:05, people were beginning to be very nervous, some of them getting quite angry towards the F/A that were having a hard time with these passengers, but remained very professional, despite being as tired as us. The tension was rising in the next 20 minutes, until finally, we got news, without a surprise: the flight was cancelled, the luggage were being unloaded, and we were to spend the night in Terceira, buses were coming in to the airport to drive us to our hotel. It was a rush to the counter, where we received the name of our hotel. Having heard rumors that SATA would be on strike the next day, I asked if it was true. Indeed it was... but our flight would still take place, exceptionally. There was nothing we could do, but go to the baggage claim, get our suitcases, and wait for our bus, that was there 15 minutes later. After a 30min drive across the island, in the fog, we arrived in the nice city of Angra do Heroísmo, and had to make a last queue to get our key, and be informed that a bus would come the next day at 10:30 to bring us back to the airport. At the time we went to bed, it was around 01:00 AM.

At the end of the queue, we'll get a key to our room... and a most desired bed! We are so tired!

The next day, after a good night (the hotel was nice), and a poor breakfast (possibly because the hotel staff, very helpful and friendly, was not expecting 200+ customers in the middle of the night!), we were at the reception desk shortly before 10:30. And we heard the news:

      -          Sir, did you get the information?

      -          No, what’s up?

      -          There is no flight today, due to a strike at SATA.

      -          ... well, that is half a surprise! But the strike is supposed to last 3 days! How do we...

      -          ... get to Ponta Delgada? We have been informed that a ship left Ponta Delgada this morning, and that it will take you to the island of São Miguel today. You will have a lunch here at 12:00,  the bus will be there at 13:30, and the ship will leave around 15:00.

      -          Ah... err... ok, after all, we are on holiday and have all the time! But how long does it take to get to Ponta Delgada by ship?

      -          I’m sorry Sir, I don’t know!

Discussing with other passengers, we finally learned that the crossing lasted approximately 6 hours. That would mean that we would arrive in São Miguel around 21:00. Most of us, passengers, were fatalists, some were optimistic: well, maybe we’ll see whales and dolphins (the observation of cetaceans is a huge activity in the Azores)! And everything went as planned: the lunch, the bus, and the arrival at the port, where, indeed, there was a ship waiting for us. 

One last control before boarding

Our ship: "Express Santorini"

Prior boarding, we received a lunch packet consisting in one sandwich, some cookies and one fruit juice... for 6 hours, that was very small!

Yes... this is the only food we received for 6 hours... fortunately, there was a bar selling some snacks and drinks...

We found some seats and tables in one of the ship’s lounges, and saw lots of buses carrying lots of stranded passengers. 

Legroom shot, just for fun ;-)

The ship was full, and shortly after 15:00, we left the port, direction Ponta Delgada. The weather was not that nice, lots of fog (so long for whale and dolphin watching!), the sea a bit rough, and we were all tired.

Leaving Terceira

5 hours later, the island of São Miguel was in sight, and lots of passengers went outside. The atmosphere was very strange: quiet, but enthusiastic, with lots of relief! 

Land in sight!

One hour later, around 21:00 as foreseen, we docked in the port. The crew (also extremely friendly and comprehensive) apologize for not having provided the full usual services (i.e. entertainment etc.) as it was not a scheduled service (normal service was due to start only in May) and also for not being in full uniform, as the crew was assembled in a hurry for this unscheduled crossing. No problem at all and no need to apologize, we were so glad to be at our destination! We even laughed when they ended their message by: “Thank you for your preference in choosing Atlanticolines services for your crossing!”

We were supposed to arrive here by plane at daylight, instead we deboarded a ship at night!

At least, we are already on the right island!

However, the day was not over. After getting out of the ship, we had to collect our luggage. Let’s use your imagination. Take a normal luggage belt, and cut its length in two. Then, make sure that the equivalent of 6 full A320 flights arrive at the same time, and need to use the same belt. Oh... and add to that that the flights have a delay of up to 26 hours, and that everybody wants to get home as soon as possible! This is what we experienced! But it was not as chaotic as one can imagine, as anybody was helping in each other, with luggage being passed over the heads, sorted on the belt (which was too small to accommodate a continuous stream of bags and suitcases). And finally, after 15-20 minutes, we got our luggage.

Waiting for our luggage...

Next step was to find a taxi, because we had a rented car waiting for us... at the airport. So, we got our cab, and our driver drove quite fast (maybe he wanted to be part of the WRC race that was taking place on the island that week?), so that we arrived at the airport around 22:15, 26 hours after our scheduled arrival. 

Finally, we got to PDL airport!

We got our car, and drove across the island, in the darkness, in the fog, on unknown roads, to a small village situated 40 minutes away from Ponta Delgada. We finally arrived at destination at 23:30. These were the first 48 hours of our honeymoon, and we had already a lot to tell!

Conclusion

Surely, we were not expecting this! So far, the only annoyance I got in my 80+ flights wre small delays and a plane change (from A319 to B733 classic, no complain ;-) ). And suddenly, I had almost everything: diversion; cancellation; strike (but also C-Class, Go Around, A310 :-) ). The only annoyance missing, is now a lost luggage... but let's wait another 80+ flights for that...

The flight BRU-LIS with TAP was rather good, I would take them again if price and schedule are convenient.

The flight LIS-(PDL)TER was very good for the flight itself, as well as how SATA handled the diversion (apparently, they are quite used to it). However, although we were taken care of from "behind the scene", the communication aspect could be improved. We did not see any SATA representative during the entire diversion (maybe due to the strike?), and none of them was at the seaport when we arrived at São Miguel, although there were lots of flights involved. For that, fortunately, the personnel of the hotel as well as the ship's crew were wonderful! 

A big lesson was learned: when you fly to the Azores, expect the unexpected... and do not foresee tight connections! We heard that it is not rare for passengers to get stranded on an island for a couple of days, with the weather being so rough that even ships do not leave port...