Flying the Classic Maddog: Rhodes to Linz on a Rare MD-80!

Background

The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and its constituent variants are undoubtedly elusive beasts that are today rarely seen across much of Europe and indeed most parts of the world. As with other similarly aged types such as the BAe 146 and Boeing 737 Classic, the downfall of the MD-80 has been swift and not long ago these distinctive T-tail jets served to be the short haul workhorses of major carriers across the world. A decade ago, a spotting trip to Heathrow would have been almost certain to result in sightings of Alitalia and Scandinavian Airlines’ MD-80s, whilst North American readers may lament over the type’s recent retirement at American Airlines and Delta Air Lines. Prior to this trip, my last ride onboard an MD-80 had taken place back in October 2017 when I had been fortunate enough to fly on a Meridiana MD-80 from Olbia to London Gatwick during the type’s final month of the type at the now defunct Sardinian airline. Since their retirement from service at Europe’s major airlines, as per summer 2022 the continent is home to just nine verifiably active MD-80s. All of these are operated by Bulgarian carriers ALK Airlines and European Air Charter who maintain a fleet of two and seven McDonnell Douglas MD-82s respectively. However, I should also mention that Ukrainian carrier Bravo Airways officially has a fleet of two MD-80s although unfortunately the status of these cannot be verified owing to the ongoing conflict. 

Of the two carriers that remain operating the type, sampling a ride on ALK Airlines’ MD-82s is particularly difficult as their operations consist exclusively of charter flights – most of which take the form of package holiday flights between Bulgaria and the resort cities of North Africa and Turkey. Fortunately for enthusiasts, sampling a ride on a European Air Charter MD-80 is slightly easier as contrary to their name, the carrier also operates a number of scheduled services, with a focus on flights between Bulgaria and Germany. However, with the airline also operating six Airbus A320s, there is the risk that those hoping to fly on one of the airline’s rare MD-82s will instead end up on this more mundane type!

In January 2022, I was delighted to read on a Facebook group that European Air Charter planned to base an MD-80 in Austria for the summer 2022 season. From there it would operate to the Greek sunshine destinations of Corfu, Heraklion, Karpathos, Kos, Rhodes and Zakynthos. As I understood it, these would serve as semi-charter services, included in package holidays purchased via several travel agencies whilst also being bookable as standalone flights via third party booking sites. Seeing this as potentially my last chance to bag an ‘easy’ ride onboard an MD-80 and given the rumours that European Air Charter would retire their McDonnell Douglas jets at the end of the summer 2022 travel season, I soon set my sights on this and began to plan how I would fit this into an itinerary. 

Booking

Having already booked a week off work during the series of bank holidays in early June, I decided that this would be when I would attempt to ride the MD-80. Specifically, I would head to Greece onboard Scoot’s Dreamliner operated service from Berlin, island hop on a Sky Express ATR and end up in the historic city of Rhodes. Beginning my journey back to the UK on a Tuesday, this would allow me to catch European Air Charter’s 1030 service to Linz. Once in Austria I would hop across to Vienna Airport by train and end my journey by catching a Wizz Air flight back to London Gatwick. After searching Skyscanner, I found that I could book the flight via several online Austrian and German travel agencies, as well as the online booking platform, Kiwi. Opting for that latter, I made a quick and easy purchase using Kiwi’s app and was soon set to go. With no options to select seats offered by Kiwi, I had initially assumed that I would have to wait until I reached the check-in counter at the airport to select my seat. However, upon searching through European Air Charter’s rather rudimentary website, I was pleased to see that seat selection was offered for the airline’s services to and from Austria via an external German site. 

Upon reaching this, I was presented with what appeared to be a flight search engine. However, in reality, this was for passengers to search for the flight that they are booked on. After doing this I was presented with a list of all of European Air Charter’s flights between Rhodes and Linz that week and once I had selected my flight, I entered my details and was given the option of selecting a seat, adding a pet, additional luggage or sporting equipment, or signing up for the unaccompanied minor service. Upon opening the seat map, this revealed that most seats were charged for €10, whilst €20 was charged for exit row seats – with all those seats in the first few rows of the aircraft proving not to be selectable. Seeking both a view of the wing, the world below and the screaming JT6 engine, I opted to sit in 33F. 

A Spanner in the Works

Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse two days before my flight, when after managing to remain Covid-free for over two years, I was finally struck down by the virus! Destroying my plans to fly the MD-80 I spent the day of my flight in bed feeling rather gloomy. Once feeling a little better, determined to fly on this rare type before its retirement I soon got to work planning how I could catch a ride on one of the jets. Fortunately, with another week off in mid-September, I decided to head to Greece once more where I would fly the same service from Rhodes to Linz. However this time I would make a day trip of it and fly back to Rhodes from Vienna via Athens on Austrian Airlines and Sky Express. This time around, tickets for the flight appeared to be on sale via the website of German airline Condor, with a one-way ticket setting me back £125.99. However, unfortunately, since my first attempt to fly the MD-80, European Air Charter’s seat reservation system could not be used by those without a German bank account. 

As was to be expected seeing as I would not be heading off on a Condor service, I was unable to check-in with the German holiday giant, and unfortunately at the time of my flight European Air Charter’s website did not allow for passengers to check-in online. Talking of this, the Bulgarian carrier’s site is rather dated-looking and rudimentary in its appearance and focuses primarily on drumming up custom amongst tour operators and airlines for its ACMI services, rather than for passengers themselves. This does however include some rather novel slapdash attempts at the airline’s logo superimposed onto the fuselages of plain white aircraft – just why they could not include more photos of their actual fleet I will never know! 

The Journey

Staying in Rhodes’ famous resort town of Faliraki, getting to Rhodes Airport by public transport would involve a couple of bus journeys – one into the city of Rhodes and another to the airport, with a total travel time of a little over an hour assuming good traffic and minimal waiting in between buses. However, with my flight scheduled to depart at 1005 and the first bus from Faliraki leaving after 0800 this would not be an option for me that morning. Not wanting to splurge out on a taxi, I thus turned to the airport shuttle booking platform, Sun Transfers, who offered me a one-way trip to the airport on a shared shuttle for just €6.60 – this only proved to be slightly more expensive than the bus option. With this booked a couple of days in advance, 24 hours before departure I received an email informing me that this would pick me up from a nearby supermarket at 0600 and that I should be there ten minutes before this time. 

Following a pleasant couple of days in Faliraki, the morning of my long Austrian day trip arrived and I woke up at 0500 ready and raring to go for the day ahead. After having a quick cup of instant coffee, a shower and packing the small collection of items that I would need for my trip, at 0545 I journeyed out onto the dark and quiet backstreets of Faliraki, soon arriving at the closed supermarket. It wasn’t long before 0600 arrived although there was no sign of my bus, or any other vehicle for that matter as I stood and waited on the silent Greek street. However, whilst the sun was yet to rise, the air was warm and I still had plenty of time before my flight so I was particularly worried. Eventually, at 0608 a small Hyundai people carrier pulled up and I dived in ready to head off to the airport. With this being empty, once we hit the main road and sped over the hills that sit in between Rhodes’ east and west coastlines, it became evident that whilst I had paid for a shared shuttle, we would not be picking up anyone else on the journey that morning! Thus, I paid just €6.60 for my private ride to the airport! 

After no more than twenty minutes of high-speed driving along Rhodes’ mostly empty roads, the island’s western coastline could be seen and soon we arrived at the end of the airport’s runway indicating that we were nearing the end of our journey across the island. At that time, an Aegean Airlines Airbus A320 could be seen lining up at the beginning of its early morning flight to Tel Aviv, followed by an identical aircraft that would head up to the Finnish city of Tampere. A very short time later, the car came to an abrupt halt directly outside the terminal building and after thanking the driver I disembarked and made my way inside. 

Admittedly, few would likely describe Rhodes Airport’s sole terminal as being the most modern in the world nor does it serve to be particularly spectacular in its design and decoration. Nevertheless, this is functional and serves its purpose, capable of processing large amounts of passenger traffic during the busy summer months. Importantly, at that time in the morning, the terminal appeared to be clean and tidy, with a fair amount of space for passengers to sit down and wait. Upon entering the terminal, I found myself inside the larger of the terminal’s two check-in halls, which at that time seemed to be relatively empty save from two long queues at the check-in desks processing those heading off on Arkia’s two morning flights to Tel Aviv, as well as a Eurowings service to Cologne. 

Once inside, I made my way over to the nearest departure board which revealed that check-in for my flight to Austria would take place at desks 21, 22 and 23, although unsurprisingly given my early arrival, these were devoid of passengers and airport staff. With plenty of time on my hands, I decided to pass the time by exploring the landside portion of the terminal. For those who, like me, arrive ridiculously early, other than the terminal’s check-in desks and ticket offices, the landside portion of this is home to three cafés (one of which is technically outside the terminal). All of which seemed to sell items at the usual inflated airport prices. In need of breakfast, I decided to stop by at the Votsala Cafe and Bakery located in one corner of the check-in hall. There I parted with a little over €8 for a regular-sized low-quality coffee and a cheese and ham pastry. For those looking to stay connected, it is worth mentioning that complimentary wifi is offered throughout the terminal for a three-hour period which I found to work without an issue. However plug sockets were few and far between – with those that existed appearing to be located in awkward positions away from seating. 

As time passed, more and more weary-looking passengers began to arrive and at 0715 several Linz-bound passengers could be seen forming a queue leading up to the three aforementioned check-in desks. Hoping to secure a good seat, I joined this and at 0740 a pair of Goldair Handling staff members arrived and soon began checking in passengers. Ending up fifth in the queue to check-in, I handed over my passport and requested to be assigned Seat 33F which I hoped would allow for a good view of both the wing and the engine. However, even though I had previously reserved this on my failed attempt to ride onboard European Air Charter’s MD-80 from Rhodes to Linz, I was advised that there was no row 33 onboard the aircraft. Still seeking to sit far back, but slightly forward of the engines to avoid a completely obscured view, I then requested seat 28F. Following some typing, a Goldair Handling branded boarding pass was printed out and passed over to me which revealed that I had ended up being assigned seat 14F. Whilst this was much further away from the MD-80’s two engines than I would have liked, I hoped that the flight would not be full and once onboard I would be able to grab a seat further back. 

With my boarding pass in hand, I was left with no reason to remain in the landside area and thus made my way up the escalators to the terminal’s security area. After having my boarding pass scanned I entered this and was delighted to find that even though only two of the airport’s eight checkpoints were open, nothing more than a short queue could be seen leading up to these. Travelling light, following a couple of minutes of queueing, I walked up to the checkpoint and passed through this with ease. As with many European airports, once through security, I was required to walk through a large duty free store, in Rhodes Airport’s case, the local branch of Hellenic Duty Free before I reached the terminal’s main airside waiting area. 

As I found to be the case with the terminal’s landside area, the airside portion of the terminal is a little utilitarian although I was pleased to find this to be in a pleasantly clean and tidy state, with enough space to sit down and wait. For those looking to eat or drink before their flight, this part of the terminal is home to a fair selection of cafés and light eateries, including branches of major chains Burger King and Starbucks. However, all of these appeared to be incredibly busy that morning, with long queues of hungry passengers being a constant feature of these outlets for the duration of my stay in the terminal. Seeing as I had already had breakfast, once airside I had a quick wander around before settling down near one of the terminal’s large windows. On this note, large windows are offered throughout the terminal, although it is worth noting that only a small number of these provide an unobstructed view of the action outside. Furthermore, most of these appeared to require a good clean which I imagine would have made any decent photography through these particularly difficult. 

Looking outside, a reasonable selection of aircraft could be seen on the apron. These included a colourful Arkia Airbus A321neo which contrasted with a boring plain white Avion Express Airbus A320. Whilst Czech carrier Travel Service Airlines rebranded into Smartwings in late 2018, almost four years later I spotted one of the carrier’s Boeing 737-800s still wearing the livery of the long-gone airline. In addition to these, the same ATR-42 that I had taken from Rhodes to Athens via Kos, Kalymnos, Leros and Astypalaia several months earlier could be seen waiting at a remote stand. A short time after sitting down, perhaps one of the highlight movements that morning could be seen in the form of a Boeing 737-800 operated by American carrier iAero Airways, this operating a flight from the Czech city of Brno on behalf of Smartwings. Later on during my stay, amongst the more ‘expected’ arrivals, I managed to spot a Dan Air Airbus A319 operating on behalf of Air Serbia. Not to be confused with the once major British carrier, this is a small Romanian airline specialising in charters and ACMI operations. Another aircraft that I would be unlikely to see back in the UK was a Boeing 737-800 operated by El Al’s holiday subsidiary carrier, Sun D’Or International Airlines. Meanwhile, beyond the runway, thanks to the clear weather the hills of the Greek island of Symi and Turkey’s Bozburun Peninsula could be clearly seen. 

As the hours passed, more and more passengers arrived in the airside portion of the terminal, ready to head off on flights to Athens, Brno, Cologne, Ostrava, Prague, Tel Aviv and Vilnius. In particular, it appeared to be rush hour for Czech leisure carrier Smartwings whose services comprised four of the twelve departures from the airport during my stay. After doing some work interspersed by bouts of planespotting, before I knew it European Air Charter’s early morning service from Austria was nearing Rhodes. Turning to the windows, I watched as one of Europe’s last remaining McDonnell Douglas MD-80s made its final approach into Rhodes Airport before the pencil-like mostly white jet touched down on Runway 24 at 0910. 

Once off the runway, the distinctive aircraft journeyed a short distance over to stand 1, located towards the far end of the ramp meaning nothing of this other than its tail could be seen from the terminal building. Whilst far from being a brand new aircraft, the MD-80 that would operate the service to Linz took the form of one of the youngest examples of the type in service today, ironically younger than six of European Air Charter’s Airbus A320s! Bearing the registration LZ-LDJ, line number 2106 and construction number 53230, this particular McDonnell Douglas MD-82 rolled off the famed manufacturer’s Long Beach production line in January 1995. Adorned in the iconic red, white and green livery of the defunct Italian national carrier, and christened with the name Cividale del Friuli in honour of the northeast Italian town, in February that year the aircraft was ferried from California to Italy where it commenced its life with Alitalia. With the registration I-DATM, the jet spent over seventeen years shuttling passengers between Italy and destinations across Europe and remained operational with the carrier until several days before the type’s retirement from service in October 2012. Entering storage, the MD-80 remained on the ground until it was taken up by Bulgarian Air Charter in June 2013 with whom it has operated with ever since (although now technically known as European Air Charter). In the week before my flight, the aircraft had been based in Austria and had connected the cities of Graz and Linz with the Greek holiday destinations of Corfu, Heraklion, Karpathos, Kos and Rhodes. During this time, the aircraft had flown nineteen sectors and at least 17,400 miles, well over the distance of flying from Rhodes to the aircraft’s Californian hometown of Long Beach and then back.

That morning, boarding for European Air Charter’s service to Linz was set to take place through gate 16 and once the inbound aircraft had safely landed on the island, I decided to wend my way through the busy terminal to the gate. Arriving there with approximately fifty minutes to go until the scheduled departure time, plenty of passengers could already be seen waiting around this and few seats remained vacant indicating that it would be a busy flight. According to my boarding pass, boarding would commence forty minutes before departure at 0925, and indicating that this would be the case, several minutes before this time the two Goldair Handling agents who had manned the check-in desks appeared at the gate podium. By this time, a fairly long queue of eager passengers had already assembled; however 0925 came and went, and with the two agents remaining deep in conversation at the podium, there was no sign of boarding’s commencement. Following a further fifteen minutes of waiting, without any announcement at 0940 one of the gate agents commenced the boarding process and after a few minutes, the same staff member that had checked me in scanned my boarding pass and checked my passport before allowing me to head outside – this being done in a cool manner without any words whatsoever. 

From the terminal, I journeyed outside into the pleasantly warm morning sunshine and made my way down the ramp towards the two waiting tired looking Cobus 3000s that would shuttle Linz-bound passengers out to their jet. As has been the case with each flight that I have taken from Rhodes, once outside some waiting was required before passengers were actually permitted to board the bus although given the weather and the views of the apron, this was nothing to complain about. After a few short minutes spent observing several aircraft as they taxied past, the bus doors slid open and I climbed aboard for the short ride to the terminal. Once this bus was comfortably full, the doors closed and without delay, the Cobus pulled away from the terminal and skirted around an Athens-bound Aegean Airlines Airbus A320 before heading down the flight line and passing the tails of the collection of waiting airliners. 

Whilst Rhodes Airport may be Greece’s fourth busiest, it is fairly compact in size and thus no Schiphol-style long bus journey was required to reach our aircraft. Not much more than a minute after departing the terminal, the rare McDonnell Douglas MD-82 appeared, basking in the sunshine just in front of the airport’s air traffic control tower. As airliners go, this particular MD-80 is rather self-sufficient when it comes to getting passengers on and off the jet – complete with built-in airstairs at both of its two passenger doors. As a true enthusiast, I was delighted to see that both of these were in use that morning and I could not resist the opportunity to board the MD-80 via its famous rear entryway. 

Once the bus doors opened, passengers spilt out onto the apron and journeyed towards the aircraft’s two doors.  Unlike at most airports, I was surprised to see that the ramp staff appeared not to care about the fact that many passengers ignored the cones set up around the port wing and passed directly underneath this. This came despite the MD-80’s shorter-than-usual wing height and the presence of several hazards protruding downwards from the wing which could have easily caused a nasty bump to the head. Not being in any major rush to board, I first headed towards the front of the aircraft where I took a few photographs before making my way to the rear of the jet. Whilst I appeared to be the only passenger flying on European Air Charter’s service to Linz to catch a ride aboard the rare McDonnell Douglas MD-82, plenty of passengers could be seen taking photos of the jet as they queued to board. Although it is likely that they were simply taking some last-minute holiday snaps and oblivious to the jet’s rare status! Upon arriving at the rear of the aircraft, I was greeted by the deafening racket of the aircraft’s AlliedSignal auxiliary power unit and several drops of what I hoped was a harmless liquid dripped onto my head as I passed underneath the pointed tail cone. 

After slowly heading up the McDonnell Douglas’ built-in steps, I passed through the thick rear door and entered the rear of the aircraft where I received a cool and quiet greeting in English from one of the four flight attendants onboard. From the rear of the jet, I passed the two lavatories on either side of the aisle before heading into the passenger cabin. Onboard, all of European Air Charter’s McDonnell Douglas MD-82 aircraft are fitted with a total of 164 seats which are arranged in an all-economy 2-3 configuration. Those who are more acquainted with the thin lightweight seats of today would have likely been positively taken aback by the unusually chunky appearance of the seats onboard this particular MD-82, as well as the wide armrests that featured the retro sight of (sealed) ashtrays. Likely harking back to the days when a complimentary inflight meal was the norm, each seat came complete with a large tray table – the underside of which was green alongside the armrests and seat belt straps, all of which provided clues as to the jet’s former operator. However, the most definite telltale sign of this was the presence of Alitalia’s famous motif engraved into the seat belt buckles, as well as the Italian signage which could be seen throughout the aircraft. Even though green and red are the primary colours of the European Air Charter brand (and its predecessor Bulgarian Air Charter), interestingly the carrier opted not to retain the green fabric that each seat sported when flying for Alitalia. Instead, each seat is covered in a dark blue fabric that is complete with a zebra-like pattern of blue stripes. Meanwhile, a disposable fabric antimacassar with the airline’s logo covered the tops of each seat.

Whilst this particular MD-80 was not incredibly old, even to those not so au fait with cabin design, it was perhaps obvious that they were flying onboard a dated aircraft. Other than the aforementioned chunky seats and the presence of ashtrays, the mish-mash of yellow lighting illuminating the cabin, the retro-looking passenger service units and the vintage cabin panelling provided clear clues that this was not the latest jet. Meanwhile, up above, the small overhead lockers appeared to hark from an era where passengers were not forced into carrying small suitcases as cabin luggage as these could be checked in for no additional fee. Upon examining the design of the cabin, this appeared to be dated beyond its years and I had to remind myself that the aircraft was manufactured in 1995 and not 1985! 

Once safely onboard, I decided to hover around row 33 in the hope that this had been unreservable during the check-in process and would thus remain vacant once all passengers had made it onto the jet. After several minutes of waiting, the second bus arrived and at 0959, one of the flight attendants announced ‘boarding complete’ at which time I was delighted to see that my plan had worked with row 33 remaining vacant. Settling down in Seat 33F provided me with a good view of the wing and the engine, albeit through a rather heavily scratched window. Whilst the area around the gate had been busy, once all passengers were on the aircraft I estimate that this was no more than about 65% full. As was to be expected, most if not all passengers took the form of returning Austrian holidaymakers, with plenty of middle-aged and elderly couples plus a few families. As was to be expected given the age of the jet, I spotted a few scratches, marks and well-ingrained dirt, however other than this the area around my seat appeared to be in a fairly reasonable condition. Furthermore, other than some crisps lodged in between the two seats, the area around my seat appeared to be clean and tidy. Turning to comfort, whilst the legroom was not the most generous that I have come across, this was acceptable given the length of the flight, with the seat itself being well-padded and comfortable. Examining the contents of the seatback pocket, this contained the usual safety card as well as a sick bag. Perhaps having a surplus of bags with the carrier’s old name, rather than having these re-produced, European Air Charter stickers had been applied to these – something that I imagine must have been a rather tedious task for a poor member of staff! 

Once all passengers had made it onto the aircraft, a loud whine could be heard followed by a thump as the built-in airstairs at the rear of the aircraft were raised before the door was closed. Glancing outside, indicating our impending pushback a ground worker could be seen removing the cones from around the aircraft. Meanwhile beyond this one of the airport’s more unusual visitors, an Israeli-registered light aircraft, a Tecnam P2002 Sierra light aircraft could be seen. At that time its pilot appeared to be performing their pre-flight inspection with this Tecnam having arrived from Israel via Paphos a couple of days earlier and would head onwards to Heraklion that morning. Back inside the aircraft, the crackly cabin speakers came into life as the only German-speaking member of the Bulgarian crew performed their pre-flight welcome announcement. Unfortunately, not being able to understand German beyond the very basics, with no English version of this or any subsequent announcements made, I had little idea of exactly what was said. However, I imagine that this consisted of the usual welcomes, thanks and warnings. This then transitioned into the safety announcement during which the other crew members took to the aisle and performed a demonstration. After this came to an end, the crew passed through the cabin in the usual manner ensuring that all was in position for our departure and at 1010 the MD-82 jolted backwards before being gently pushed back away from its stand and its nose soon pointed in the general direction of Runway 24. 

Following a short pushback, the aircraft came to a halt at which point plenty of humming and whining could be heard as the MD-80’s two rear-mounted Pratt & Whitney JT8D-217C engines fired up in preparation for the flight north to mainland Europe. A few minutes later, the flaps could be seen quickly falling into position before the aircraft began its journey to the end of the runway. Heading along the terminal, the vintage jet passed the collection of five more modern airliners seen waiting for their next flights before reaching what seemed to be the graveyard for Rhodes Airport’s ground equipment. From there, the aircraft then trundled along the airport’s perimeter fence where I spotted no fewer than four planespotters closely watching and snapping away at the aircraft as it taxied past. A short time later, the MD-82 came to a gentle halt at the end of Runway 24 where it waited for a Vilnius-bound Avion Express Airbus A320 to take to the skies, and a TUI Airlines Belgium Boeing 737-700 to touch down at the end of its early morning flight from the Belgian city of Liège. 

Once the Boeing had touched down on the island, our MD-82 lumbered onto the runway before coming to a short halt whilst it allowed for the jet ahead to vacate this. As the aircraft did so, one of the pilots could be heard over the cabin speakers announcing ‘cabin crew take off’. At 1023, with the brakes held, the engines partially spooled up producing a loud whine that seemed to be far noisier than you would expect on your typical modern Airbus or Boeing (although the engines were probably barely audible at the front of the aircraft!). A few moments later, the brakes were released and the aircraft commenced a fairly powerful yet long take-off roll before reassuringly the nose was eventually pointed skywards and the pencil jet rocketed upwards into Rhodes’ sunny skies. 

Whilst those sitting on the opposite side of the cabin would have been treated to good views of Rhodes during the first few minutes of the flight, from my seat little could be seen below other than the sandy coastline which disappeared within about a minute of our departure. Although I was provided with a good view of the inviting blue Aegean waters below and the island of Symi in the distance. A short time after taking to the skies, the aircraft banked to the right and headed out to sea where it made a beeline for the island of Tilos. Sitting roughly halfway between the islands of Rhodes and Kos, this is home to around 780 inhabitants and passing directly over this, only a small portion of this island could be seen. As we climbed higher into the blue sky, next up on our morning tour of the picturesque Dodecanese Archipelago was the island of Nisyros, home to just over 1,000 inhabitants followed a short time later by the smaller island of Gyali, much of which appeared to be taken up by a large pumice mine. 

With the climb going smoothly, upon climbing through 10,000 feet the seatbelt signs were extinguished and an announcement was made in German which I presume consisted of the usual warning about keeping these fastened whilst seated. Turning my attention back outside, around twelve minutes after our departure the MD-82 crossed the shores of the popular holiday island of Kos, passing over the very southern tip of the island. Crossing this at around 25,000 feet, at this time the majority of the island could be seen and I was treated to a good view of its airport to the north where a cluster of airliners could be seen waiting to head off to destinations across Europe. 

Soon leaving the island of Kos behind, the smaller hilly islands of Kalymnos and Leros popped into view, both of which I was able to easily recognise having visited these during my Sky Express ATR-42 island hopper ride in June 2022. These two islands were then followed by the even smaller islands of Arkoi, Leipsoi and Patmos before the larger islands of Ikaria and Chios could be seen. As we neared the latter island, the aircraft smoothly levelled off at its cruising altitude of 34,000 feet and continued to trundle northwards over the Aegean Sea. That morning, the aircraft appeared to be taking the same route as I had taken onboard an Aegean Airlines Airbus A320 from Thessaloniki to Rhodes several days earlier, albeit in reverse and so I managed to spot the same sights as I had seen during this flight. 

Turning my attention back inside the cabin, as the aircraft soared high above the picturesque islands of the Aegean, a trolley was rolled out from the small half-galley opposite my seat, with two flight attendants pushing this to the front of the cabin before commencing the inflight service. Given European Air Charter’s status as a low-cost holiday airline, when the trolley hit the aisle, I was expecting a buy-on-board service to be made, especially seeing as a fairly comprehensive BoB menu is provided on the carrier’s website. However, instead, all passengers were handed a complimentary 500ml bottle of still Austrian mineral water. Being rather thirsty and in need of hydration, this was a welcome addition to the flight and left me with nothing to complain about. However, those passengers feeling peckish may have been disappointed that nothing else was provided – either to purchase or for free. 

Travelling northwards over the Aegean Sea, around fifty minutes into the flight the aircraft returned to where I had started my Greek trip a week earlier, Chalkidiki. As we neared this, the 6,670 foot tall mountain, Mount Athos, appeared rising out of the blue sea and soon we passed directly over the village of Vourvourou on the Sithonia Peninsula where I had spent three nights at the start of my trip. To the north, the cloudless skies ensured that a good view of the Athos Peninsula could be had as we trundled northwestwards, with the town of Ouranoupoli and the nearby island of Ammouliani coming into view. Soon, the jet made landfall near the Central Macedonian town of Pyrgadikia and crossed over the hilly countryside of northern Greece. Roughly following the course of the Struma River, after a few minutes, the aircraft reached Kerkini Lake before Radomir mountain on the border between Bulgaria came into view. 

A little over an hour into the flight, the aircraft left Greek airspace behind and quickly trundled up the far eastern side of the country of North Macedonia. During our eight-minute crossing of the country, the aircraft passed the city of Strumica and the town of Kočani before reaching the country’s northern border with Serbia. Unfortunately by this time, clouds had rolled in below ensuring that nothing could be seen until the aircraft was on its approach to Linz. As the jet cruised high above Central Serbia, with nothing to see below other than clouds, I decided to pay a visit to one of the two lavatories located on either side of the aisle at the very rear of the aircraft. 

As I journeyed rearwards, two of the flight attendants had set up camp in the rearmost row and could be seen playing games on their phones. Heading into one of the toilets, this was expectedly retro in its design and complete with several bilingual signs indicating the jet’s former career with the late Italian national carrier. Meanwhile given its location right next to one of the engines, I was not particularly surprised to find this to be particularly noisy. However, this seemed to be in a reasonably clean condition and was stocked with the basics, ultimately serving its highly important purpose and leaving me with little to make a valid complaint about. 

Once in the skies of Serbia, the aircraft spent thirty minutes heading diagonally across the country, during which time it passed the small cities of Leskovac, Čačak and Šabac before entering Croatian airspace. A few minutes after returning to my seat the aircraft hit a patch of turbulence which proved to be significant enough to warrant the temporary re-illumination of the seatbelt signs, which was followed by an announcement in German by the flight attendant. Heading into Croatian skies near the border town of Batrovci, the aircraft began to head westwards over the northern region of Slavonia, passing the cities of Vinkovci and Virovitica. From Slavonia, the aircraft made its way over Croatia’s northernmost region, the appropriately named region of Northern Croatia and after passing the city of Koprivnica, the aircraft turned to head towards Croatia’s border with Slovenia. 

Passing over a minuscule portion of the Central European country, our crossing of Slovenia was short, lasting all of three minutes as we flew parallel to the country’s eastern border with Hungary. Before I knew it, my first MD-80 flight in almost five years was nearing its end and whilst in Slovenian airspace, the aircraft could be felt leaving its cruising altitude and commencing its journey back down to earth. A short time later, the seatbelt signs were reilluminated and a pre-arrival announcement was performed in German which I can only assume featured the usual instructions regarding window shades, tray tables, seatbacks and seat belts. As this was being made another flight attendant commenced their journey down the cabin with a plastic bag, collecting any rubbish that passengers had accumulated during the flight. At 1129 Central European Summer Time, the aircraft entered Austrian airspace just to the southeast of the city of Graz and the aircraft began to bump around a fair bit causing the flight attendants to temporarily strap themselves in before returning to the cabin to undertake their pre-arrival checks. 

After crossing the Austrian province of Styria, the jet journeyed through the thick layer of grey clouds resulting in plenty of fairly rough turbulence. After several minutes of bumping around, any nervous flyers would have likely been pleased to see the rain-soaked green rural landscapes of Lower Austria pop into view some way below the aircraft. This was soon followed by the sight of the wide River Danube which we seemed to follow for a short time before reaching the town of Enns. Upon crossing from the province of Lower to Upper Austria, the MD-82 turned towards Linz and a short time later the city popped into view to the north of the aircraft. 

As we descended, the two engines behind me produced plenty of noise as if the pilots kept fluctuating the thrust levers in the cockpit with power continuously being added and taken away – with this continuing on repeat until we made it back to the ground. As we neared Linz, the flaps were extended and the landing gear fell into position with a few clunks and squeaks in preparation for our arrival into Austria’s third-largest city. Following our bumpy descent, by the time the aircraft reached the city’s southern suburbs, the turbulence had calmed down and the final few minutes of our flight proved to be smooth as we crossed over the city’s residential, industrial and semi-rural suburbs. 

Before I knew it, the MD-82 whizzed over Linz Airport’s perimeter fence and soon gently touched down on the airport’s rain-soaked Runway 27 at 1152, a grand total of 2H29 after rocketing upwards into the distant sunny skies of Greece. Once back on the ground, the speed brakes popped up from the wing and the roar of the reverse thrust filled the cabin, with the jet soon rapidly decelerating. Outside, as we slowed Linz Airport’s terminal could be seen alongside a cluster of small business jets from Austria, Germany and Poland. Meanwhile, at that time the only comparably sized aircraft took the form of a Boeing 737-800 freighter operated by Bulgarian cargo airline Cargoair, sitting on the ground before another night of flying parcels on behalf of DHL. 

Once off the runway, the flight attendant performed their final announcement of the flight as the jet began its short taxi over to the small terminal building before coming to a halt at stand 11. Waiting there, a small army of rainproof reflective clothing-wearing ground staff could be seen who immediately sprung into action as soon as the aircraft came to a halt. Upon stopping, the two engines spooled down and the cabin fell silent before the two doors at the front and the rear of the aircraft were opened almost immediately allowing passengers to make a quick exit. Savouring my last few moments onboard the MD-80 recognising it could well be my final ever flight on the type, I was in no rush to leave and after letting plenty of passengers pass, I stood up and walked the short distance to the rear of the aircraft where I thanked the flight attendant that had welcomed me aboard before heading down the steps and out into the rainy Austrian weather – a far cry from the heat and sunshine we had left behind in Rhodes! 

Given the size of Linz Airport, no bus was needed to reach the terminal building and once on the apron, I began the short walk over to this. With both Austria and Greece located within the Schengen area, no passport check was required following my arrival and upon entering the terminal I headed straight into the airport’s baggage collection hall. Having not checked anything in, I was able to pass straight through this and made my way into the airport’s modern and clean landside area no more than a couple of minutes after I had disembarked the aircraft. That day, just two other scheduled passenger flights would pass through Linz – both being Air Dolomiti Embraer 195 services to Frankfurt. Thus, unsurprisingly once away from the area outside arrivals, the terminal was akin to a ghost town, with few other people seen milling about. 

Whilst small, the airport features a café-restaurant, a conference centre and plenty of ticket and travel agency desks for those looking to get away. However, perhaps most importantly this is home to an observation deck! Seeing as I had thirty minutes on my hands until the next bus into the city centre, I decided to wander up to this to catch one last glimpse of the rare aircraft that had carried me up from Greece. Whilst the lunchtime drizzle ensured that my stay there was brief, this provided a fantastic view out over the airfield and would most certainly be a great place to hang out and watch aircraft on sunny summer days. Following my quick trip to the observation deck, I made my way back down to the ground floor level and journeyed outside to the bus stop. Soon enough, a bus appeared and I paid the €3.60 fare for the 20-minute journey to Linz Hauptbahnhof, ending my exciting journey with European Air Charter. 

Summary

Were I to take the form of a ‘normal’ passenger, then my ride from Rhodes to Linz may simply have been mediocre. Examining the customer experience, being unable to check in online and experiencing a cool and distant level of customer service during check-in, boarding and onboard, there was absolutely nothing that made my experience with European Air Charter completely unforgettable. Although it should also be mentioned that whilst European Air Charter was somewhat lacking in their customer experience, the option for holidaymakers to fly to and from their convenient local airport rather than Vienna or Prague was likely highly appreciated. However, as this blog probably suggests, I am far from a ‘normal’ flyer and rather than dwelling on the slightly negative aspects of my trip, I was instead delighted that I was able to catch a ride onboard a rare McDonnell Douglas MD-82 in 2022 before they completely bow out of service in European skies. That said, once the MD-80 is retired from service at European Air Charter, I would be unlikely to go out of my way to fly onboard one of the carrier’s mundane Airbus A320s.