Farewell to the Skywest (Virgin Australia) Fokker 50 : Part 2 Albany to Perth

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This post follows on from Part 1. This second report was for my return to Perth from Albany, on the Virgin Australia (Skywest) Fokker 50.

 FLIGHT 2: VA2526 ~ PERTH to ALBANY ~ 1525/1640  ~ Fokker 50 VH-FNH  ~ SEAT 9G

 I arrived at the airport a bit over an hour before departure and checked in for my flight to Perth, I was continuing on to Geraldton so I got the boarding pass for both sectors. Then it was through security where I was amazed to see that it took 3 security staff to process this small flight. It must be a costly process, and is something REX manages to avoid with it's smaller Saab 340 aircraft since they took over the route earlier this year.

Albany Airport Terminal


Departures Lounge - quite modern and comfortable

The lone departure gate
 There is a small cafe in the terminal at the departures area, so I had a cappuccino while I waited for the aircraft to arrive from Perth. Soon enough, it appeared out the window:



This time the flight would be on VH-FNH, a 1988 build and one of the former Ansett fleet. This was very exciting for me, as I believe I flew on this aircraft back in the early to mid 90s between Sydney and Wagga, when I was just a teenager.

Boarding was called and we made our way to the aircraft, I took 9G this time, for a nice view of the engine and landing gear.

Look at the legroom, its wonderful!



Despite this aircraft rapidly approaching its 30th birthday it was in good condition, the seats were comfortable and the legroom was amazing. I was very happy to have no seat neighbour as well. A very pleasant experience all round.

View from 9G

The very retro passenger service units overhead

Ready to go

Soon we were welcomed on board by the cabin crew and the captain for the 1 hour flight to Perth, flying conditions would be smooth with great weather.

The city of Albany after departure
 The standard Virgin Australia short haul daytime service was available. A buy on board menu plus a complimentary snack/juice/water/tea/coffee service.

In cruise at 20,000 ft

The complimentary on board service
I had an orange juice, cup of tea and took the complimentary small pack of biscuits. Perfectly ok for a flight of this length. An hour after departing we were on descent to Perth...

The view of the landing gear on approach


On the ground in Perth
Another fun flight on the Fokker 50, now a part of history for Virgin Australia and for Albany!


Comments

  1. AlanJune 15, 2016 at 4:55 AM

    Albany reminds me very much of the 2-gate airport in Longview, Texas (one of the gates is used for storage!) when the old Saab turbo-props were being used between LGG and DFW. The free parking is nice, too. I always enjoy hanging out at the small airports (Flagstaff, Arizona is also a nice small place).

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