My trip to Amsterdam via Zurich

I’ve had a chance to rest up and organize my thoughts on this latest trip I’ve taken for work. The Itinerary was as follows;

YUL-ZRH June 25/05 LX87 Swiss A330-200 HB-IQK Seat 37A
ZRH-AMS June 36/05 LX724 Swiss ARJ-100 HB-IXN Seat 18A
AMS-ZRH June 29/05 LX725 Swiss A319 HB-IPV Seat 15A
ZRH-YUL June 29/05 LX86 Swiss A330-200 HB-IQJ Seat 40A

Around 12:45 PM I called a local taxi company to take me to Montreal International Airport for my first leg of the trip to Amsterdam. The dispatcher was quite abrupt so I called on a second company where I met another abrupt person on the other end of the phone. From my experiences the Montreal taxi scene is very rocky… sometimes excellent sometimes an unpleasant uncomfortable experience. In the end though the driver himself was nice and got me to the airport three hours in advance of my flight to Zurich on Swiss Air Lines.

The airport was busy with a lot of Air Transat and Air France passengers mulling around the terminal. Swiss counters were located along the front of the departure level and next to the Air Transat counters where a large number of people heading off to Cuba. The line up at Swiss was only about 5 or 6 people and the counters hadn't opened yet. Once LX personnel arrived the check-in procedure went very smoothly and my seats and boarding passes were processed as planned...also my new frequent flyer points with Swiss were added in. It seems today you have to join everyone's plan or else you find yourself with no choices in the end. It’s become rather meaningless actually.



My colleague joined me about half an hour later and she too went through it all very smoothly. The LX Check in staff was very friendly. I had checked in one very small bag, she had a large suitcase. Knowing that this would be my first time through the new International Jetty I was anxious to go through security and have look around.

The security check went smoothly. There wasn't much of a line up and we were out in no time walking past the now closed up duty free shop. Within a minute we walked into the new International Jetty and a whole new Montreal. First impressions were excellent and though we entered into the blandest antiseptic section which leads you into the gate areas it still looked modern and impressive. To begin with we stopped off at an excellent restaurant where they served pasta to go, unusual pizzas, really innovative wraps and sandwiches.. in short a pretty decent fast food styled sit down restaurant. I chose a small pizza, My colleague also but a more exotic mix of toppings and we settled into a booth that lined windows looking out into the apron. I noticed the old International section of the Aeroquay was being torn down as an Air Canada A320 pulled into the gate next to the restaurant. The past was being removed for good. An amazing site I never thought I'd ever see and done so quickly!



We finished up and headed into the main shopping area of the new Jetty.



It was around 3pm and still pretty quiet. There was no real activity as our A330 would be one of the first planes in although a Czech A310 was parked at one of the gates so was an Air Transat A333 at the very end south side. It was generally quiet.



We started to look in the duty free and bookstore. The atmosphere was pleasant and the selection of goods was decent. The bookstore offered more things of interest to me. I picked up a few magazines and some Sun Chips. Some stores were not opened yet but most were. Business at that hour was slow or non existent.

Our gate was 58 on the south side of the jetty.



Some people had already started to come in but we walked to the very end just to look around. My colleague seemed quite impressed overall. We sat in a couple of the twin chairs facing out at the old hangars so we'd see our plane as it came in. Air Canada sent in a toothpaste 767 which parked itself right at the end north side next to where we were sitting. Another parked on the south side closer to the Custom’s Hall. I've come to the conclusion I don't like their new colours. I'm sick of it already... too baby blue/green for my taste and too much of it.. plus the tail design looks dirty from a distance. You practically have to be boarding it to appreciate its subtleties. I hope it doesn't last long. Air France came in next with a 777-300 so I snapped some pictures of it.







It's hard to take pics from this terminal because the windows slope out, are large and there is lots of sunlight so lots of reflection. At the end it's almost impossible to get a good shot looking north in the afternoon.





The Swiss A330-200 came in shortly after we settled in. It looked spectacular in it's bright red and white livery. In the beginning I was skeptical about this branding but over time it has appealed to me more and more. I was so anxious to get on board and get moving.





HB-IQK was the registration. I was destined for seat 37A at the back of the plane.



The view from our gate was so similar to Schiphol it was amazing. The best part was it felt like a BETTER version of Schiphol.. more modern, more colours, more comfortable seating.. Higher ceilings, larger windows, nice boarding areas... it feels too good to be true. When I think back to cramped seating area at Heathrow and compare it to this nice open space in Montreal it’s a bit like night and day. When the Air Transat A310 pulled out and a KLM MD-11 pulled in next to us I had to take a double take to make sure I was really in Montreal. It all felt right and very good.









Right on schedule, I guess in the usual Swiss way, we started to board our plane. It would be my first experience flying Swiss, my first A330-200 flight and my first time into Zurich Airport or for that matter into Switzerland. We boarded via the second door and were greeted by smiling flight attendants. My first impression of the cabin was positive.. nice dark blue seats, two each on the window sides… roomy and comfortable looking.



I settled into 37A, my colleague was next to me in 37B. I had no cabin luggage to stow in the overhead bins, only my camera and a bag of magazines and a water bottle.



Looking at the cabin more intensely I could see it was quite attractive. Dark blue seats, a beige coloured bulk head and walls that were white with a pinkish colour overlay. Leg room seemed pretty good but the seat pitch felt tight, perhaps as tight as KLM or maybe a little less. KLM seats are quite tight by comparison. Once nice feature was they had lumbar adjustment so you could change the lower back of the seat to fit your body shape. I’ve never seen that before on an airliner, only in cars. The plane looked roomy and airy. Toilets were ahead of us at the bulkhead and none at the rear. The windows were large but not as large as the MD11s. All seats had nice PTVs on their backs... a really great toy to play with throughout the flight. It would be a 7 hour plus flight and we'd arrive around 00:20pm our time or around 6:20 CET. It’s one of the earlier European arrivals out of Montreal so you are not really a mess at that point.

I had posted a message on the board for anyone to take a picture of me leaving the runway and sure enough l-749a who works at YUL said he'd do it. He told me to watch for a Jazz truck to come up and he'd actually take a shot of me looking out the window.. so cool. My colleague thought that was different and quite amazing. Unfortunately though we sat in the plane and roasted. It was well into the 30s and this A330 model had no individual air vents and everyone was boiling hot. We were breaking out into sweat and only after about 20 minutes did they power up and start with the air conditioning which quite frankly made little difference. The Jazz truck eventually appeared and I totally forgot about the heat.. here's him from my perspective taking his pics :):):)





…and his pictures of me staring out the window and the plane taking off;







We started to leave pretty much on time and he followed the plane and managed to get shots of me taking off! Unreal.. Thanks so much Frederic, merci!!;













...cut to inside the plane... now from my seat 37A my perspective… We took off on 24R passing the terminal;







Take off was powerful and steep. The plane seemed to me to be about 95% full. I saw no empty seats but my colleague said there was one or two empty behind us. We both settled into our spots and turned on the PTV's. We began with The Pacifier (Vin Diesel) and then Finding Nemo. Supper was served during the first flic. The devices were easy to operate with a remote control that was lodged in the arm rest. It works much like a TV remote. There were games, a flight path channel, news, audio selections and of course movies.



The movies were excellent! Vin Diesel was amazing and reminded me of a bulked up bald version of Mark.. they have the same eyes and mouth and similar facial expression.. I think they might possibly be related way down the line somewhere...LOL… and Ellen Degenerous playing a supporting role in Finding Nemo was an absolute hoot. The Supper was unbelievably good also. Probably the best or one of the best I've ever had on an airplane. Unfortunately for us being seated at the back we had no selection choices at this point but still I loved everything about the dinner, it was scrumptious. Chicken, potatoes, a nice salad, bread, Swiss cheese and desert with some wine.

Watching two movies takes up 4-5 hours of flights time and because of it the whole trip seemed to fly by. I had no time to sleep and we were hitting England by the time Nemo was found and the credits were rolling. The sun was coming up at 5am... the sunrise was beautiful and I could see lights over Wales. The longest part of the trip was behind us and it felt like we had just left.



By now we had time to evaluate the cabin crews. My colleague was used to flying KLM and only came on Swiss because I was flying them. Their price was almost $1000 cheaper and of course being an airline fanatic I saw this as a big opportunity to try Swiss out. So she agreed but I thought she was doing so with a little reluctance. She would be out of her comfort zone and make everything a comparison to KLM. Perhaps she was a good study for me to observe actually.

At this point in the flight she wasn't too impressed overall. She was annoyed there were no above head air vents and the plane never really cooled off much. The cabin crew was not very friendly or overly helpful. They were also quite old on average seeming a little seasoned. She sensed they just wanted to get it all over with and go home. The Swiss crew just didn't stand out on that level, at least on this outbound flight. Also their dark blue uniforms blend in with the passengers and it was often hard to tell them apart unlike KLM or say Martinair who's bright blue or red uniforms are exactly that and quite striking.

Anyways, in my opinion they were not bad while the whole flight experience for my colleague going over just wasn't anything exceptional. She's also the type of person who goes to the washroom every half hour so they being located in front of us and shared with the forward cabin also was a problem for her as people from the forward cabin also used it so they were occupied a lot. It left her under impressed.

I guess her opinion brought me to a more critical examination but I was generally happy with them although I can't say they were any better than KLM or British Airways. I generally liked the A330 but I would have liked individual air vents as well. They aren't on BA's 777s either by the way.. so a new and unfortunate trend by some carriers for what ever reason. I’d thought had she not been there I’d be praising them much more highly. For me it was a very good experience. Her points were legit but perhaps the things that bothered her were not things I’d hold up as highly important for my flying needs. Give me a modern high tech widebody, an on time departure, a window seat, decent leg room, a pleasant professional cabin environment, a cabin crew that tends to you needs without hovering over you, a functioning PTV, an on time landing and I’m satisfied. Swiss met my needs.

We approached Zurich on time and I anxiously looked out hoping to see the Alps somewhere. I was unfamiliar with Zurich and the surroundings. The mountains are further south actually but probably close enough to get some glimpses of them.. we did but only briefly... Check out the pic below with the Alps barely showing at the bottom and the moon hovering way above.



I love the painted winglets.. the white on red cross is so striking against the deep blue sky.



The surrounding landscape of Zurich is spectacular on it's own right regardless that the larger mountains are further south. The city is located at the end of the Zürichse (Lake of Zurich) and we flew in a circle outside the city to gain some time for ATC and then went around the lake and along the other side for the landing at Kloten.









Downtown;





Touchdown was smooth and we headed for the Intercontinental terminal and gate E22. Zurich Airport is divided up into three areas basically… a isolated Intercontinental terminal (E), an attached European and domestic terminal with two piers. It’s most striking features are hidden in areas you don’t see right away. Terminal E is large, long and is basically a concrete and glass rectangle. Functional but not visually impressive… but more so on the inside.



We pulled up along side Swiss' A330 sister ship A332 HB-IQC



A glass loading bridge was our exit into a cold concrete and steel terminal. We walked to the centre area where we would now grab an internal train and head to the Continental/European terminal A. Our ARJ-100 would be waiting to take us to Amsterdam in an hour. The international presence at ZRH was similar to YUL in the sense of numbers of inter-continental airlines and airport activity. The usuals, at least from my trips were there, Singapore Airlines' 744, a BA A319, and Aeroflot A319, Thai 744 but not much else except a beautiful line up of Swiss tails everywhere... more so than you'd see Air Canada at Montreal but not much more if not less than Toronto. The terminal/train experience felt very "Swiss" like... Tall mountainous ceilings and a concrete cavernous feel at some points. It was quite interesting actually. We headed down long steep escalators to catch the train along with incoming passengers from the Singapore flight. As cool as this is I can imagine it being a serious bottleneck if a lot of flights come in at once... we waited for the second train with this relatively small crowd.. Also if the escalators ever stopped it would be exhausting to climb if people had no other choice. Still though it was all quite impressive and typically Swiss :)





The high tech trains were run on a pully system, I guess on the same principle as those used in the Alps. A set of cables pulling them around between the terminals. My colleague was more impressed than me though.. perhaps a good thing given her criticisms of the cabin crew. LOL I still liked ZRH but overall I thought YUL was much more impressive with it's new Jetty. We clearly match what they offer if not better it. We cleared security again and headed into Terminal A.

Shopping at ZRH was pretty good but we had no time. There were lots of stores, many Chocolate stores and of course Watch stores... prices were in CHF (Swiss Francs)... and everything looked amazing but it was mostly high end and I didn't know the exchange rate. Many of the other stores were familiar higher end brand names we see over here.



We now had to grab a bus to go to our ARJ-100 which was remotely parked. We headed downstairs to a gate at the end of the terminal... where a temporary customs desk was set up to stamp our boarding cards and then go out onto a large wide bus. We were going for a trip around Zurich Airport, how cool was that?! Now I started noticing the local carriers... Helvetic in purple/pink, Edelweiss with a wild flower logo and red and white design.. I’m sure I saw some old Crossair planes, more European carriers and more Swiss aircraft, ARJs, A319s, A320s, A321s, A330s and A340s. They all look so impressive lined up. The Red and White tails are really striking when seen like this. Look below they are only A319s, A320s and A321s yet they stand out with the sun blazing those colours.



Our ARJ-100 HB-IXN was sitting out with several others parked away from the terminal. We boarded via it's own stairs passing those two engines on the upper fuselage wings as we went in. It would be my first ARJ flight too. I’ve always wanted to fly one of these but never had the opportunity. They are kinda cool looking planes with no other types like them really.





My colleague reluctantly put her cabin bag onto the outside rack so as to pick it up when we got off the plane at Schiphol. She fretted about it the rest of the trip. The plane itself was spacious with nice leather seats. Less leg room than on the A330 but I think a wider pitch. In all it was a nice atmosphere and perhaps 55% full. A Dutch football team boarded with big athletic men in their 20s wearing black jerseys with Nederlands written in orange on their backs. The cabin crew was younger and friendlier.



Some planes came by as we waited and then started to head out to the runway. I had a nice view of all the activity even though I was getting sleepy by now.







Take off again was swift and steep and the views impressive;





The moon was still above us and spectacular landscape below us



The Alps were hidden in a haze.. working with this pic I can see them now better than I could live. They are impressive. I was more concerned about my colleague seeing them as I had that beautiful view for two hours when crossing over them en route to Athens last December. They still impressed me now. The more that made her happy the less critical she’d be LOL. It seemed to be working at least for now.



Sleep was now catching up to me. We each ate a chocolatine and I fell asleep for a bit. The flight took about an hour and a half. When I awoke we were over Holland descending into Schiphol;



We landed safely, pulled into gate G2 and out we went. AMS was full of planes from everywhere as usual... much busier than ZRH. My colleague was expecting her bags to be given to her when she walked out the door but the gate agent told her to get it with the regular baggage at the carrousel. Well she fumed at that and wasn't a happy camper until we got to baggage claim and it came out safely. The Swiss experience part one was finished.



The Netherlands
I’ll throw in some of the land portion. One of my European colleagues took us and some of the other participants to the meeting I was attending out on Sunday evening to an old bar in the woods... it must have been from the late 1700s or early 1800s.. quite simple but fascinating. We had a beers or two and some snacks.







Some typical scenes in Tilburg, southern Holland



Some window boxes near by were striking;



After it was all over my colleague and I planned to go into Amsterdam for supper. We took a taxi up to the Ibis Airport Hotel after work. We'd then take the shuttle bus to Schiphol and hop the train into Central Station and grab a bite to eat somewhere near by. The double decker trains below are made by Bombardier actually..



Central Station was a bustle of activity as always. You get thrown full force into Amsterdam's pace of life the minute you get off the train.



It's been a couple of years since I've actually gone into the city itself. We've all seen it so many times now that we don't feel we need to anymore. However it turned out to be a great idea and I was again struck by the beauty of it all once I stepped out into the lively atmosphere around Central Station. A world of exotic people from everywhere on the planet.. good looking young people everywhere from every culture. Languages of all sorts.. very old buildings next to very advanced high tech gadgets, cars, trains and the latest fashions in the stores and on the streets.. Sophisticated, bustling and simply amazing only begin to describe the city and it's pulse.

Ok look at this... typical Amsterdam. A parking lot for bikes.. yes bikes... and each level went on into the horizon forever....amazing eh?!



Our restaurant - excellent home made pasta at this amazing place!



After supper it was 11:30 and the sky was still light.. felt like 8pm in Montreal visually. We walked back to Dam square where I took some pics. This is a famous square from the beginning of the city. The Royal pace sits there but overall it's just a large open central place for shows, displays or whatever else they want to put in there.



Central Station even looked impressive at night;



We headed over to Schiphol at 7am the next morning. The shuttle bus from the Airport Ibis Hotel was crowded. The line up at the LX counter was short but they seemed so unorganized and it took forever to process all of us. Everyone who got to one of the two agents seemed to have a story and needed something special. The business class check in agent just sat there and served no one when she had no people to check in. We were getting impatient because we were going nowhere fast and we wanted to shop dammit LOL...



Once in past security we did a little shopping and eventually headed to G2. The view below is from the restaurant we had breakfast at.



Some spotting pics from AMS. I’ve taken so many over my trips I left disk space for Zurich on this trip.





This time around it was Swiss' A319 that we would board. HB-IPV and seat 15A. My colleague had the middle seat.





Boarding was quick and smooth and we were greeted by friendly staff;



The atmosphere in the cabin was a notch above the ARJ with leather seats as well. I learned they've even upgraded this on some planes.. in my opinion it was already pretty good.. lots of leg room and good seat pitch. Cabin staff was very friendly like they were also on the ARJ flight... better than the overseas flights.





We pulled out and headed to the runway for a smooth takeoff. Check out the overwing loading bridge here;











Although I only got a head shot I saw my first A318.. an Air France model. The view from the plane was typical of Dutch countryside;



Lots of pretty clouds in-flight as we headed over Frankfurt and Stuttgart.



The Swiss countryside is more hilly and colourful.. it came up on us within an hour, a much shorter flight;





The approach was totally different than the A330 approach. I never saw the lake of Zurich this time. We were approaching the airport from the east or west instead if the north like on arrival;





We landed smoothly and slowed to a stop;





An A340 took off next to us as we taxied to our gate.. whizzing by me suddenly and caught me off guard for the photo;



Some other general shots at the airport;







Here was a rare bird these days.. an A300 in Qatar Airways colours no less.. cool, a rare spotting for me.





We pulled into gate A73 and I was ready for another train trip.







My plane was the middle one of the three I believe;





The ZRH terminal now took on a whole different look to me.. I kinda liked it more this time around and so did my colleague.



We took the train over where our plane was sitting at E47. Shopping was good at the Departure level. I picked up a key chain and a bottle opener.. 24 CHF... I have no clue how much I really paid LOL.. They both had Swiss flags on them so small mementos.



So some more general shots from the gate area of Terminal E;



Humm... looks familiar :)



Out plane was already at it's gate. HB-IQJ. Gate E67 was located downstairs in an area like we would find for regional jets in a North American airport except there were full fledge loading bridges to them. Three gates shared the end of the terminal location. Our A332 was there next to an Air Berlin 737 and soon a Royal Jordanian airliner that hadn't arrived. Lots of people were waiting for our flight.. it was another packed flight set to go to Montreal.



The main departure gates inside Terminal E



Downstairs….





Other planes near us included this El Al 737.;





Boarding



The Y cabin in front of us





I sat in 40A this time around.



We waited about 40 minutes on the ground due to heavy air traffic in
France so I Spotted from the window of the plane.











Finally we pulled out and headed to the runway



Emirates A340-500 had arrived. Quite impressive actually.





It was cool seeing Privateair’s 737 Good for the banking crowd I would imagine. I also noticed Balair has changed it's name to Belair.. perhaps due to Swissair's demise and Swiss' emergence.. same company but a slight change in name and look to make it all legitimate.



Take off was very bumpy and we hit a few very deep air pockets that disturbed many of the passengers. The plane shook from side to side and we dipped more than once and deep enough to make even me a little uncomfortable... but it was soon over; The flight crew said nothing, I guess they are used to this when flying near the mountains.

I did manage this cool shot of a couple of wide bodies that passed me earlier readying for take off. The old DC-8 at the top is probably used for emergency procedure practices and/or fire brigade drills.









Supper again was outstanding! .. Really Swiss excels in this.. but again they ran out of choices for us at the back. The F/A gave us each an apple sauce as an extra compensation. The cabin crew on this flight were much better, younger and much more friendly. Even my colleague was happier with them.. plus the plane was cool and comfortable. BA was also like this where the inbound to Montreal was better all around.. I wonder if it's because the cabin crews are heading out so they are psychologically prepared for it whereas when they are coming home to Europe they are tired and just want to get home... plus the night makes if more difficult.. I dunno but we were both much more impressed with the flight coming back to Montreal





I watched Hitch and Be Cool... both were excellent flics.. and perfect for a plane ride. Will Smith is always amazing to me and the plot in Be Cool was really clever. Andre 3000 was a riot and that chair no one could sit it just had me rolling in the aisles.. I love stupid humor sometimes.. When the Be Cool credits rolled the first islands of Labrador were coming into view outside;



We crossed over Sept Iles ( the bay clearly in view) and flew straight down the centre of the St Lawrence river at 12200 meters until it eventually veered off to the north of the plane's routing somewhere just before Quebec City. It was cool to see the two sides of the river even at it's wider points... gradually narrowing all the way. Montreal soon came into view as we crossed over onto the island from the South Shore.



Place Versailles near my home was clearly visible.





We headed over the 40 onto 24R



..and landed smoothly parking on the north side of the new Jetty and pulled into gate 61 alongside an Air France 773.





We took the upper level to the Custom's Hall where it was busy but moving. My colleague remarked on how plain and white it was......(sound familiar?). One of the older passengers tripped while walking out into the "box" to head upstairs... she actually fell sending many of us including me rushing to her aid. She somehow tripped over a small piece of metal stripping on the floor which I really don't know how she managed to even find it let alone trip over it.. she was ok we think but was shocked by the fall.

In a very short time we arrived at the Custom's Hall.. It is so much easier to get to than from the old Aeroquay.. We had a conversation with an ex-Montrealer now living in Charlotte NC who was experiencing the CH for the first time while going through the dizzying paths to the booths. She was impressed. Our bags were waiting for us when we got to carousel 2.. Another big plus for the airport/airline..





So to summarize it all.. the inbound flight was better than the outbound in regards to in-flight service. Food on Swiss was excellent. The European flights had friendlier crews or as good as the inbound 332. I really loved the A332 despite the missing overhead air vents. I think the more traditional design of the ceiling and overhead bins beats the 777's curvy look. The engines were quieter overall compared to BA's big Trents. Swiss' choice of colours and seating was professional and impressive. They are as good as KLM but quite frankly after having flown AF, BA, AC, KL & LX none are exceptional and a cut above the rest.. They all excel in some areas and are weaker in others. It really comes down to what matters most to you. ZRH was a cool airport and the transfers went smoothly. It would be a great airport to go spotting at or near give the numbers of hills around the airport. Lastly the new international Jetty is absolutely amazing from a passenger perspective. Nice open and airy, close to the custom's hall... modern and restful. I loved it and thought it was as good if not better than a typical pier at Schiphol.. it just needs to be bigger and also replicated on the domestic side.

If anyone has made it this far and read the whole thing then good for ya LOL.. and thanks.