Round The World and other travels

Flight Log 3 : LX1628

Zurich (ZRH) - Milan Malpensa (MXP)

There could only have been around thirty passengers on this flight, and the fact that boarding required only one busload to be transferred from the terminal meant that we were able to get the doors closed and be on our way remarkably close to the original scheduled time. Of course, I wasn't complaining about the delay as I'd come very close to missing the flight altogether! The Fokker 100 was operated by Helvetic Airways, a sister company of SWISS whose service I had previously experienced on a Zurich - Manchester run. The expected flight time was given as 35 minutes - a mere jump over the Alps! Our short taxi to Runway 28 had to slow to a crawl so that the cabin crew would have time to complete their pre-departure checks. We lifted into the cloudy skies at 1240.

As soon as the cabin crew had been released from their seats, a nice little antipasti-style snack was presented to the Business Class passengers, which I enjoyed with a glass of apple juice. Sadly, conditions were far too murky for the alpine crossing to be a particularly memorable experience. The seat belt signs were back on by 1300 as we progressed into the somewhat clearer air on the southern side of the mountains. As we flew over the plains much closer to the airport, I was amazed by the extent of the lying water, but then I had seen the weather forecasts earlier in the week and I knew that this part of the world had experienced some exceptionally heavy rain. I hoped it was over for now!

Touchdown was at 1310 and this was followed by some absolutely ferocious braking, causing various items to be sent sliding along the cabin floor from further back. 

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