Intro
Hello amigos!
Welcome to this FR on the short hop between Lisbon and Madrid on Iberia.
This route is served by three mainline carriers TAP, Iberia and Air Europa, and EasyJet for the LCCs.
I think that out of the three, I like TP the most, but it seldom has good fares for this hop. UX is hit or miss, but in the end, as an IB cardholder, I have 10% discount on fares, and this gives me some fun ideas for the weekend.
So, here goes the trip.
At Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport
We took the metro from Baixa. A bit long..but cheap and convenient. I love the cork seats.
Once arrived…it was time to cross the mall-cum-terminal at LIS
Since we weren't going to check in bags, we went straight to security…which is probably the worst part of using LIS. The queues are huge, and while they flow, the place feels crowded and exasperating.
Once security is cleared, you get thrown at the Duty Free, where I bought a couple of bottles of Porto wine.
The main waiting room is big and airy. Feels just like a mall and not like an airport. But it does get crowded and boring after a some time.
So let's head to the ANA lounge
It was quite crowded too…just like the whole of Lisbon, is a victim of its own success.
Food offerings were quite decent
I went with this
I didn't get a better view of the apron :/
Once our boarding time approached, we left in search of our gate.
Here is a view of the main area from above
Our gate was towards the end of the South Concourse…which shows the original architecture of the terminal
A map of the small terminal in case you find it handy (it's hard to get maps of LIS online)
We reached our gate and a queue was already forming up
Lisbon is very limited in gate availability, so chances are quite high that you'll be bussed.
While annoying, the sights are a treat for us AV geeks
We made it to our plane…a 2001 vintage A320.
On IB's A320
IB's short haul fleet is equipped with two kinds of seats. The first 7 rows have decent seats. The rest of the plane flies in awful slim seats. At least, this is a very short hop so there is no point in complaining. At least the legroom is decent and the person in front won't take any space from you.
I like TAP's livery so much…actually I'm a big fan of all of their corporate image. Is such a stark contrast to Iberia…
Enroute to Madrid
The plane was packed, so it took quite a while to have everyone settled. Once this was done, we were good to go.
We took off from RWY 02 straight to Madrid…allowing for some cool views of the Vasco da Gama bridge
The cabin is starting to show its age…I wonder if non AVGeeks do tell this.
The quick hop to Madrid is almost imperceptible…
BTW does anyone know what this compound is?
Madrid in sight!
We bordered the norwest of the city and over the Sierra de Guadarrama to line up with RWY 18R
Navacerrada pass, and (former?) ski resort
MAD in sight
Blurry (used a lot of zoom) pic of Madrid
I felt we were quite close to the hills
Lining up
Over the northern suburbs of Ciudalcampo and RACE
Another shot of Madrid
Another smooth landing, as usual with IB
And the veteran Airbus has made it back home
We walked from our gate to catch a bus to the city, with no bags to catch we were in our flat less than an hour after leaving the plane.
