TRIP REPORT: Thessaloniki - Warsaw via Belgrade and Krakow

TRIP REPORT

Written by jsg

Prelude. It is time to return to Warsaw after a week of traveling. My trip began last Saturday when I took a train to the Hanseatic city of Gdańsk. From there, I flew with LOT to Bucharest via Warsaw. The Romanian capital welcomed me with cloudy and cold weather, but the tour of the Palace of the Parliament was well worth the visit.

After spending a couple of days in Bucharest, I was scheduled to travel to Thessaloniki. However, TAROM had suspended all flights to Greece's second-largest city for the winter, so I had to revise my plans and rebook my flight to Athens instead. I arrived there a day earlier than originally planned. Although unplanned, the addition of the Greek capital to my itinerary brought unexpected joy, as I find that such impromptu stops add extra excitement to the pleasure of traveling. Additionally, visiting Athens in the off-season allowed me to experience the city in a much quieter setting than during the busy summer months. The weather was no longer hot but still pleasantly sunny.

The next stop on my adventure was Thessaloniki, which I reached by train from Athens' main train station, often called Larissa, named after the district where it is located. The nearly five-hour journey was very enjoyable. The train passed through several tunnels and the foothills of Mount Parnassus and Mount Olympus before arriving in Thessaloniki. It was also my first time traveling by train in Greece.

Departure. It is a sunny day here in Thessaloniki. After checking out of my accommodation, I take a walk along the city’s main thoroughfare, Egnatia Street, named after the Latin name for Thessaloniki. At Aristotelous Square (Thessaloniki 546 24, Greece), I stop for a late breakfast at one of the many cafés surrounding the square. A delicious piece of pita with cheese and spinach (€2.20) and a large cappuccino (€2.20) brighten my day. I watch pedestrians passing by and a flock of pigeons aggressively fighting over crumbs and food scraps.

Reluctantly, I leave behind this lazy Sunday atmosphere and head to the nearby bus stop, Πλ. Αριστοτέλους (Aristotelous Square), to catch the 01X bus to Thessaloniki Airport. Twenty minutes pass, but there is still no sign of the bus. It should have arrived by now, and I start to feel worried. Then, I overhear a conversation between some tourists who are also waiting for the bus. They mention that protests in Thessaloniki may be affecting services. Suddenly, an additional line appears on the bus display board, announcing that the 01X bus is now expected in 12 minutes.

As predicted, the bus finally arrives, but it is very crowded. It seems the previous service was canceled for some reason, and all passengers for both buses are squeezed into this one. The journey to the airport takes just over 40 minutes and costs €1.80.

JU158 Thessaloniki - Belgrade. The bus drops me off at the bus stop located on level +1, between Terminal 1 (T1) and Terminal 2 (T2). My flight to Belgrade departs from T1, which is easily accessible from the bus stop.

Inside the entrance hall, I check the display screens to find which check-in desks have been assigned to my flight. Desks 29-31 are listed, located on the left-hand side. There is already a queue at the check-in desks, but only desk 30 is manned. The queue moves slowly, and I start to worry whether all passengers will be able to complete the check-in process before it closes. Then, 1 hour and 50 minutes before the scheduled departure, two additional agents arrive and begin serving passengers at desks 29 and 31. With the extra help, the queue starts moving faster, and soon it’s my turn to check in.

I place my luggage on the scale and hand over my ID card. The ID card had caused me a moment of panic about a week ago during my flight on LO645 from Warsaw to Bucharest. Mid-flight, I suddenly realised I had left my passport at home and wasn’t sure whether I could transit through Belgrade with just my ID card. As soon as we landed and the seatbelt sign was turned off, I quickly checked the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs website for entry requirements. To my relief, Serbian entry regulations allow EU citizens to enter with an ID card. Phew - panic over!

Meanwhile, I ask the agent if I can have a window seat on the flight to Belgrade, but I am told that only aisle seats are left. I confirm that I am fine with an aisle seat and receive my two boarding passes and my ID card. The agent wishes me a good trip. My suitcase is tagged “KRK via BEG” and disappears through the conveyor belt’s opening. The entire check-in process takes 30 minutes - slightly longer than I expected.

The next step is security control, located in T2. There is a short queue, but both the boarding pass scan and the security check are quick and straightforward, taking just over 5 minutes.

In the departure hall, I browse the duty-free shop but find nothing worth purchasing. I then consult the departure board to confirm my gate number. My flight departs from gate 23, back in T1 where the check-in took place. Before proceeding, I must pass through passport control as I am leaving the Schengen area. There is no queue for document control.

I place my (famous) ID card and both boarding passes on the counter. “Where are you traveling to Sir?”, asks a tall policeman with grayish hair. “To Kraków via Belgrade”, I reply. The policeman inspects both boarding passes, quickly returns my ID card, and wishes me a pleasant trip. I thank him, collect my documents and boarding passes, and proceed to the departure lounge to wait for boarding.

With a good view of the runway, I observe the arrival of flight JU542 from Belgrade, which lands at 15:05 - 15 minutes ahead of schedule. After taxiing, the aircraft parks in front of the terminal building.

At 15:25, the ground staff announces boarding for flight JU543 at gate 23. After scanning my boarding pass and checking my documents, I step outside, walk along the terminal, go downstairs, and cross the tarmac to the aircraft parked outside.

Today’s flight is operated by an Airbus A319-132 (registration number YU-APD), named after Goran Bregović, who was also popular in Poland in the 1990s. He released the album Kayah i Bregović with the Polish artist Kayah. I purchased this album back then, and I still have it in my CD collection.

Boarding for the flight is via stairs. Inside, I am greeted by a member of the cabin crew (1 male and 2 female) and make my way to the middle section of the plane to take my assigned seat, 16C. The flight is not full, and most of the middle seats are unoccupied, including the one next to me. The passenger group is primarily Serbian and Greek, with the latter likely traveling onward from Belgrade.

While sitting comfortably in my seat, I take a look around the cabin and am pleasantly surprised by the condition of the 20.1-year-old aircraft. The cabin is clean, well-maintained, and clearly underwent a retrofit some time ago. The light grey interior complements the deep blue seats and soft blue cabin lighting, creating a comfortable and inviting atmosphere.

Boarding is completed, and the cabin crew stands by for the safety demonstration, delivered in both Serbian and English. At 16:00, pushback is completed, and after taxiing to the runway, we take off at 16:13.

Once we reach cruising altitude, the cabin crew offers complimentary mini Plazma biscuits (20g) and a small bottle of still water (0.25l). Later, a flight attendant walks down the aisle offering items from the "buy-on-board" menu, Elevate Deli & Bar, but there are no takers.

I find the legroom decent and comfortable by my standards, as a person of short height. At 16:37, the captain makes a passenger announcement, providing basic information about the flight, including the distance (>500 km), cruising altitude (10,000 m), outside temperature (-50°C), and the planned flight path over Skopje and Niš.

At 16:40, an announcement is made to inform passengers of the start of descent. Eleven minutes later, the captain notifies the cabin crew to prepare for landing and switches on the "fasten seatbelt" sign. We land at Belgrade Airport at 17:03.

After taking off from Thessaloniki Airport, we fly over the city of Kilkis (Greece) and Dojran Lake (North Macedonia), entering Serbian airspace near the village of Surlica. We then continue west of Niš and Kragujevac before approaching Belgrade Airport.

Flight statistics:

LF: 70 %

Distance: 525 kms (456 nm)

Departure time (scheduled/actual): 16:05/16:13

Arrival time (scheduled/actual): 16:15/16:03

Flight duration (scheduled/actual): 1h 10 min/0 h 50 min

JU158 Belgrade - Kraków. I disembark the aircraft via an air bridge and follow the signs for "Connecting Flights." The path for connecting flights is winding - left, right, up, and down - until I finally reach the security screening area. "Oh no, not again", I think to myself, but the security check is quick and takes no more than 5 minutes.

On the display screen, I check the gate assigned to flight JU158 and proceed to gate C10E, passing several other gates, duty-free shops, and food and drink establishments along the way. After reaching gate 10 on level +1, I head downstairs to gates C10A-E on the ground level and take a seat to wait for the start of boarding.

At 17:52, the ground agent announces boarding for the flight. The queue forms quickly, and I assume the flight will be busy. After my boarding pass is scanned, I move to a bus parked outside. While standing there, I observe passengers boarding the bus. Most of them are Polish, but there are also some Serbian passengers and a few Greek-speaking ones. I wonder if they were on my flight from Thessaloniki or perhaps connected from Athens.

Among the passengers, there is a six-person heavy metal band from Poland and a small group of Wizz Air staff (pilots and cabin crew) returning to Poland after an event in Belgrade. We wait briefly for some connecting passengers whose flight arrived late. Finally, at 17:22, the bus doors close, and we take a rather long ride to a distant parking position where our aircraft is parked.

Boarding is via the rear stairs. Inside, I am greeted by a cabin crew member and proceed to my assigned seat, 12C. At 18:45, the cabin crew (1 male and 1 female) announces the completion of boarding and prepares for the safety demonstration in both Serbian and English. The doors are now closed, and we begin taxiing to the runway. Finally, we take off at 17:59.

Today's flight is full, with only a few empty seats. The cabin interior is clean, featuring neutral grey tones and soft light blue lighting. The legroom is comfortable for me. Overall, I am once again pleased with the ambiance of Air Serbia's cabin interiors.

After reaching cruising altitude, the cabin crew offers a complimentary service consisting of a pack of Plazma biscuits (20g) and a bottle of still water (0.25l). Later, a crew member walks down the aisle offering drinks and snacks from the Elevate Deli & Bar buy-on-board menu. Several passengers decide to purchase something, but the main sales come from the six-person metal band, who seem very eager to try some alcoholic beverages.

Meanwhile, I read an article in the Elevate onboard magazine about Shanghai, a destination to which Air Serbia will commence flights in January 2025.

The flight is uneventful. Today's flight path takes us over Novi Sad (Serbia), Szeged (Hungary), Liptovský Mikuláš (Slovakia), and into Polish airspace near the village of Chyżne before approaching Kraków Airport. During the flight, the captain makes an announcement and provides some details about the flight, but due to background noise, I cannot clearly hear it.

At 19:02, the cabin crew announces the start of descent. By 19:10, they inform passengers to prepare for landing and conduct the pre-landing cabin check.

Today's flight was operated by a 10.6-year-old ATR 72-600, registered as YU-ASB. We disembark via the rear stairs and are taken by bus to the non-Schengen arrivals area. After passing through the automated document control gates, I proceed to the baggage reclaim area, where I collect my suitcase from belt 2. Next to the baggage conveyor belt, a screen displays the message: "Thank you for flying with Air Serbia".

Flight statistics:

LF: 95 %

Distance: 586 kms (509 nm)

Departure time (scheduled/actual): 17:30/17:59

Arrival time (scheduled/actual): 19:30/19:27

Flight duration (scheduled/actual): 2h 00 min/1 h 28 min

LO3922 Kraków - Warsaw. I hadn’t originally planned to take this flight to Warsaw. My initial plan was to spend a night in Kraków, work from my company's office there, and take the evening train home. However, with a change of plans, I decided to book this flight to return home on Sunday instead.

After claiming my luggage, I proceed to check-in desks 7 and 8 located in the departure hall of Kraków Airport. There is no queue, and I quickly complete the process at desk 7. My bag is tagged for WAW, and I receive my boarding pass. I then move to level +1 to complete the security check, which takes only a few minutes.

In the departure lounge, I purchase a pack of coated peanuts (8.00 PLN) and take a seat to wait for boarding. At 21:08, an announcement is made that boarding for flight LO3922 has started at gate 7.

I proceed to gate 7, where a short queue has formed. After my boarding pass is scanned, I make my way to the aircraft via an air bridge and head to the rear of the plane to take my assigned seat, 19D.

Today's flight is operated by a 19.6-year-old Embraer E170STD aircraft, registered as SP-LDI. To my surprise, the flight is nearly full, with only two or three seats remaining unoccupied. Flight LO3922 is the sixth and final flight of the day between Kraków, Poland’s second-largest city, and Warsaw, making it the busiest domestic route in the country.

At 21:22, the cabin crew (two female members) stands by to deliver the safety demonstration in Polish and English. Shortly afterward, we begin the pushback procedure at 21:25 and taxi to the runway.

Most of the passengers are Polish. Among them, I notice a couple who were also on the flight from Belgrade and three Wizz Air representatives who were on the JU158 flight as well.

The "fasten seatbelt" sign is soon turned off, and the cabin crew begins the onboard service, which consists of a bun with a pudding filling (60g) and a cup of still or sparkling water. During this short flight, I read an article about Lower Silesia in the onboard magazine Kaleidoscope.

At 21:50, we begin our descent into Warsaw, as announced to the passengers. Today's flight path takes us over the town of Sędziszów and the city of Radom. We then appear to enter a holding pattern, making a loop over the town of Piaseczno and a U-turn over the town of Góra Kalwaria before approaching Warsaw Airport, where we land at 22:23.

After taxiing to the terminal, the aircraft parks in front of the building, but no air bridge is attached. Instead, we disembark via stairs and are transported to the terminal by bus. Inside the terminal, I head to belt 2, where my luggage is already waiting. This concludes my 3-segment journey from Thessaloniki to Warsaw via Belgrade and Kraków.

Flight statistics:

LF: 98 %

Distance: 247 kms (215 nm)

Departure time (scheduled/actual): 21:30/21:30

Arrival time (scheduled/actual): 22:20/22:23

Flight duration (scheduled/actual): 0h 50 min/0 h 53 min

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