Review of Wizz Air flight from Luqa to Sofia in Economy

A very warm welcome back to the seemingly endless series regarding my travels of Summer 2019! When last we saw each other, I had arrived in Malta after a Wizz Air flight from Belgrade and was about to head to The Westin Dragonara Resort. But before I tell you that story, let me remind of the routing of my summer travels.

I know that this isn't a hotel review site, but I just thought that I'd briefly share my experience at The Westin Dragonara Resort, a Bonvoy Category 6 hotel. I'm a Titanium Elite member of Marriott's Bonvoy program, and was previously an SPG guy before the merger. I've been used to getting worse service at hotels since SPG was discontinued. But I still had fairly high expectations of this property. At check-in, I was told that no suites were available. Fine, it was only for a few nights. I was then taken to a decent room (nothing 5* about it, it felt more like a Florida beach club from the 80ies). While I wasn't thrilled, I resigned to it. However, the AC wasn't working, and I don't need to tell you how hot Malta gets in August. So I went back to the check-in desk and asked for a room with AC. The staff were rolling their eyes, and left me waiting in the lobby for 25 minutes while a receptionist went to "inspect the room". When he finally returned, I got my keys and was ready to crash. Then I arrived at my room to find a used bed. That's right. I, a Titanium Elite, was assigned an occupied room at a category 6 hotel. Long story short, I finally got an empty room with functioning AC around 10 PM and spent the night, but I decided leave the next day after I found a well-priced Airbnb house in Birgu, much closer to Valletta, and a quieter place than St. Julian's, where the Westin was located. I didn't regret it though, as I had a rooftop terrace with this view:

My trip to Malta was overall pretty enjoyable, and I took a bus to Malta's Airport. They should have some kind of express bus to the airport, because it stopped all the time, and by the time that we arrived at the airport, it was so crowded that I could barely get out in time.

I was curbside 1 hour 15 minutes before departure.

I checked-in with my phone and bypassed the (nonexistent) check-in line.

As I had a Wizz Priority ticket, I was able to take the fast-track lane at security, and was through in less than 5 minutes.

I still had some time to kill before boarding, so I headed to the Priority Pass lounge, La Vallette Club, which is located one level above the departures.

The lounge was very nicely appointed, but was quite crowded, so I only managed to take this photo of the inside.

There were plenty of good food options, too. I got a chicken wrap, Ziti pasta, and some kind of Maltese pastry.

Outside, there was a nice terrace, which was fairly empty and provided great views for spotting.

Atlantic Airways A320neo to Vagar.

EasyJet A320 to Newcastle.

I left the lounge 15 minutes before boarding, as I knew I still had to pass through immigration. That was also a breeze.

Flight information at the gate.

Unlike in Belgrade, priorities were respected, though as our ride was parked at a remote stand, it didn't really matter. The bus ride was quick, and soon enough, we arrived at our aircraft.

Flying me to Sofia was HA-LWC, a 2010-built A320 delivered to Wizz Air in June of that year.

Fireworks we going off in the distance, but I have no idea why.

Fuselage shots.

And a look forward.

I quickly found my seat 1C, as it was the aisle in the bulkhead row. I was treated to a good view while the departure preparations took place ?

As expected, the legroom in row 1 was very good.

Once boarding was completed, we taxied out to Runway 13 for takeoff.

Rolling.

Past the terminal.

V1 past this Air Malta A320.

Rotate.

Left turn towards Sofia!

One final look at Malta.

Our climb was uneventful, and we soon leveled off at our cruising altitude of 32,000 feet. I brought my own food and drink this time.

Around halfway through the flight, our French First Officer provided some more information about our flight, stating our cruising altitude and that we'd be landing to the east at around 1:15 AM.

Confirmation of the registration.

Props to Wizz Air for having a real curtain, unlike some other airlines (I'm looking at you, United).

I dosed off until I was woken up by what felt like an unusually sharp right Final turn, though at this point I was so tired that I couldn't telll what was normal anymore.

Final

Flare.

And a smooth touchdown at 1:14 AM.

View of the galley after landing ?

It was nice to step out into a fresh 15°C after a week in Malta!

On the bus to Sofia's old Terminal 1.

Our routing across the Ionian Sea.

Thanks for reading along this short little review. Stay tuned to what will (finally) be the last segment!