A Bombardier Q400 of Croatia Airlines. Photo / Alec Wilson
Stephanie Holmes flies Croatia Airlines OU300 Dubrovnik to Athens.
The plane: A Bombardier Q400 Dash 8, a turbo-prop plane with capacity for 42 passengers.
Class: Economy. There were seven business class seats up front, separated by a curtain.
My seat: 19A, a window seat behind the wing.
Flight time: 1 hour 20 minutes.
Price: Tickets go for around $200 one way.
On time: About 10 minutes late to leave.
How full: A few spare seats here and there.
Fellow passengers: A lot of young couples and holidaymakers, plus one nun in the aisle across from me, which I took as a good sign.
Entertainment: A Croatia in-flight magazine, which was actually a pretty good read. And the view out the window, leaving Dubrovnik behind and flying over Albania and Greece.
Service: The two female cabin crew were efficient and pleasant.
Food and drink: Unlike some other national carriers we could mention, Croatia Airlines throw in a complimentary bar service, including beer and wine, as well as tea, coffee and soft drinks, for all passengers. The food was a pack of baked snacks called "Aroma mediterranea taralini mediteranski" — like savoury herby cookies, and the second ingredient listed was white wine. Love those Mediterraneans.
Toilets: I didn't use them.
Airport experience:Dubrovnik is a small airport but due to the booming tourism industry, has 100 flights in and out each day. Despite that, things were calm and running smoothly and queues moved quickly. The airport cafes were pretty pricey, but that's standard the world over. And only 15 minutes' free Wi-Fi throughout the airport, which is a bit stingy these days.
Would I fly again? I hope I'm lucky enough to visit Croatia again. And Croatia Airlines offers extras you don't get with many short-haul flights.
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