Hi, dear flight-report members and readers!
In this FR I'd like to present a review of a short intra-EU hop on the smallest Embraer E1: E170 on a LOT Warsaw (WAW) to Budapest (BUD) flight, taken on 2 May 2019.
Intro
LOT - the largest East European airline - has quite a diverse and interesting fleet. In particular, it operates all the modifications of 1st-gen Embraer E-jets: E195s, E190s, E175s and E170s.
So, I used the opportunity to fly the smallest E-jet. It was the 2nd leg of the open-jaw ticket SVO-WAW-BUD + PRG-WAW-SVO (with SVO-WAW-SVO legs being operated by E195s and PRG-WAW being operated by one of now-gone DH4s).
Embraer E170 Operators
It would be useful to list the current E170 operators and their layouts (generally all-economy, as this jet is small).
1) Air France HOP: 13 units (CY76).
2) Airlink: 3 units (C6_Y68).
3) Airnorth: 3 units (Y76).
4) Binani Air: 3 units (Y76).
5) Envoy: 43 units (C12_Y54), operating for American Eagle.
6) Fuji Dream Airlines: 2 units (Y76).
7) J-Air: 18 units (Y76).
8) LOT Polish Airlines: 5 units (CY76).
9) People's: 1 unit (Y76).
10) Petro Air: 1 unit (Y76).
11) Republic Airways: 10 units (C6_Y64) operating for United Express, plus 10 units (C12_Y54) operating for American Eagle, plus 11 units (C9_Y60) operating for Delta Connection.
12) S7 Airlines: 17 units (Y78).
Warsaw Chopin International Airport (WAW)
WAW is the Warsaw's main airport with rather modern and compact terminal, convenient for both short and long layovers. WAW has convenient rail link with the city centre.
The Aircraft
My flight from Warsaw to Budapest was operated by 2005-built SP-LDG with CY76 layout. It was not possible to make good photos of the aircraft in WAW and I made it later in BUD.
Boarding
The portside GE CF34 engine view from the jetbridge.
The 1L door.
The Cabin
The cabin has 76 seats in 2-2 layout, standard for E-jet. Up to 4 first rows (needless to say that row 1 and 2 have only right-side seatblocks) can be "eurobusiness" rows (with one pax per duo block), the rest are the regular economy rows. On this flight "eurobusiness" expanded over 3 rows. The last row was blocked for some operational reasons (the last 2 photos in the gallery).
The Seat
My seat is 10A with properly aligned window (misalignment between rows and windows is a common problem in E-jets). The seat is comfortable with generous 18" seatwidth, has generous padding, adjustable headrest, leather upholstery, tray table and seat pocket (kudos to LO, these seats are one of the best in E-jets). The row pitch is OK.
The seatpocket content: safety card, inflight magazine and waste bag.
The LO fleet back in May 2019 (I already flew one of these rare B734s in April 2018 before they were retired in 2019-2020).
The overhead panel is standard for 1st-gen E-jets, with airvents.
The Flight
The cabin during pushback.
Takeoff from WAW.
Crossing the cloud layer.
At the cruise level.
Cabin view inflight.
The 2L door, the crew's jumpseat and the lavatory door.
Tour de lavatorie.
Somewhere over southern Poland or Slovakia.
Only drinks were served on this short flight. The crew were friendly.
Engine view.
The cabin during the start of the descent to BUD.
Spoilers deployed.
Beautiful Hungarian rapeseed fields.
Flaps in the landing configuration (I moved to the 19D seat in the rear).
Aviation museum near BUD, having some very interesting Soviet-era aircrafts, including ex-Malev birds. I visited it a few days later in rainy weather.
The Cabin After The Flight
Cabin views in details upon disembarkment.
The Aircraft After The Flight
Finally, it became possible to take decent photos of the aircraft from the bus, taking passengers from the remote stand to the arrivals.
Thank you for your attention and see you in the next FRs!
