TRIP REPORT: Sarajevo - Malta via Vienna and Frankfurt
Trip Report Written by A.G. Sarajevo - Malta via Vienna and Frankfurt (August 26 - 30) Hello readers. This summer, I decided to do the same thing I did last year: visit Malta at the end of August and officially close my summer season. I had a lovely time in Malta last year, so I thought, why not do it again? Clearly, I had not learned my lesson about August heat. Malta is also easily accessible and still slightly cheaper than some closer destinations, including Croatia which I visit all the time because, the Adriatic Sea is still far better than any Maltese beach, if you ask me. However, I really enjoy the vibe in Malta, wonderful Valletta, the food, the streets, and that special kind of heat that you love and hate at exactly the same time. Boarding to Vienna bound flight The road to Malta takes me via... big surprise: Vienna. It was by far the easiest and cheapest option for a return ticket, at only around €200 (which included checked luggage - but there was a catch, on the way back that was not the case – obviously, I didn't pay enough attention to what I was actually buying) for Economy. I was surprised to find such a good price, considering that the end of August is still very much the commercial high season and Malta is a popular destination + we have all these sh..s happening with wars and instabilities. Bye Sarajevo. Early takeoff from Sarajevo Of course, I take my early-morning flight from Sarajevo at 6:10 which we call „pekarski let“. This is really convenient, but also extremely annoying because it means waking up right in the middle of what should be my proper, deep sleep. I arrived at pretty much packed airport around 4:50, grabbed a coffee and spent the next while staring into nothing because my brain was still somewhere between yesterday and tomorrow at this early hour. Today we fly with A320-200. We took off while the sun was rising somewhere behind Sarajevo’s many mountains. Lately, take-offs and landings in Sarajevo have been a little different. We now make a sharp turn to the right and fly over the Bosna River valley, following the route towards Ilijaš, Kakanj, Zenica and then further toward northern Bosnia. I fell asleep and, after about 45-50 minutes, we reached the very familiar Vienna Airport. Some passengers, however, clearly have a different understanding of the concept of “staying seated until the aircraft stops.” They started leaving their seats as soon as we touched the runway, forcing the stewards to intervene. We Balkanitos are not patient people, right? Waiting area for transfer to C gates Sunny day at Vienna airport Since I had a few hours before my next flight, I decided to see if I could use the lounge in the Schengen area. Last time at Vienna Airport, when I was travelling to London for example, I used the lounge in the non-Schengen area, and I was not impressed. It was packed, small and dirty. This time, it was quite the opposite. Since I landed at one terminal and had to take my next flight from another, there were buses provided to take passengers there. At the terminal, I found this nice lounge, walked in and paid 48 EUR. I would say it is worth it if you have at least three or so hours to kill. You will probably spend 40-50 EUR anyway on food and drinks at the airport, so you might as well eat and drink in a more comfortable environment. Or I could just bring a good Bosnian burek from home next time and save some money?! Morning beer, because why not. It was also a beautiful day, so I got the chance to sit on the balcony and observe the metal birds taking off and landing. After almost five hours, my flight to Malta was ready. This time, I was flying with KM Malta A320neo. It is always a rarity and a pleasure to hear Maltese, a language that somehow sounds like an Italian person speaking Arabic, or an Arab person mixing Italian and English. Whatever the exact formula is, it sounds super cool. The flight was uneventful, with basic service, basically a glass of water, and after 2 hours and 20 minutes, we reached our destination. The view was not particuraly exciting due to extreme heat and Sahara sand flying around for days above the Mediterrean. Malta has only one airport, which makes sense considering that the entire country is basically one bigger and a few smaller islands with a lot of people and even more cars. The airport was extremely busy and packed, but still functional. At the same time, it was already uncomfortable because people seemed to be everywhere. The terminal building is small, and considering Malta handles millions of passengers every year, I really think it is time for some extension. And then we walked outside. The heat was extreme; even worse than last year. I spent the next few days doing what a traveller is supposed to do in Malta: chilling in the heat, eating wonderful food and enjoying the streets of Valletta. I visited some beaches (not impressed, but ok), drove on the left (to push my brain to work a bit more) and spent hours walking around. Malta is extremely international: almost all staff in bars, restaurants and boyond are foreigners. There are many Serbs (in particular) and Macedonians working here, so hearing our local Balkan languages is not really surprising. Muża: a musem and restaurant at the same time After five days, I was ready: well, almost ready, to go home. Getting from Valletta to the airport is easy, with buses as well as Uber and Bolt. Just keep in mind that traffic in Malta can be absolutely horrendous, so take that into consideration. Malta is tiny, but moving around is really difficult if you don't drive, which means everybody is driving and creating a lot of mess on such a tiny piece of land. I arrived at the airport about two hours before my flight. The airport was extremely and uncomfortably busy, with travellers everywhere and limited food and drink options considering the number of people passing through. Lines were long, messy and not properly organized. However, it somehow works so it is ok I guess. Main entrance to Malta Airport Over the last few trips, I have realised that I have less and less patience for rude people when I fly, so this trip was no different. I had my quick morning argument with two Italian passengers who decided to skip the entire queue and stand directly in front of me. I immediately activated (or it rather got activated automatically) my Balkan spirit AGAIN (Hello Warsaw Airport) and sent them back to the end of the line. Visibly unhappy with this interaction, the two passengers started doing some “bla bla bla” gestures toward me and left. Ciao belli. I wonder which nationality will be next to cross my line? Let's see. Packed Maltese airport My trip back home took me via Frankfurt this time with A321. The flight was fully packed, with nervous passengers and, of course, the heat being part of the experience. Malta's airport has no bridges for boarding, so we all had to take buses to the aircraft. Although I enjoyed the 40°+C weather, a big part of me was already dreaming about the 20-something degrees in Sarajevo. And considering that this summer in Sarajevo was hotter than usual, that says something. A glass of water and a small chocolate bar were all we got on the 2.5-hour ish flight to Frankfurt. I spent the next few hours at the airport. Unfortunately, I couldn't access the lounge because my flight was booked through Austrian Airlines, so I did nothing particularly exciting except wait for my next flight. Finally, we were ready to board for Sarajevo, again, with A321. It was almost full. After some more sleep we landed in Sarajevo, went quickly through passport control, and that was it. Overall, this was an easy and enjoyable trip. I highly recommend Malta, especially if you want a destination that is easy to reach, has great food, beautiful streets, a lively atmosphere and enough sunshine. I believe May or September might be much better times to visit for majority of people who cannot stand extreme heat. The temperatures should be more comfortable and there should be fewer visitors. Make sure you rent a car if you want to see beyond Valletta. And get ready to drive on the left. But if you, like me, enjoy testing the limits of your body by walking around this little country in 40 C heat, then August is also perfectly fine. Also: pay attention to pigeons - they poop everywhere. Share your travel experience by submitting a trip report to exyu@exyuaviation.com EX-YU Aviation News
EAEX-YU Aviation News•EX-YU Aviation (noreply@blogger.com)20 Sept
