The Bulgarian charter airline European Air Charter has so far served various hot water destinations from Graz and Linz on behalf of tour operators with McDonnell Douglas MD-82. This week the changeover to the Airbus A320 was planned, because the capacity will be increased with it. However, the aircraft was exchanged prematurely and not entirely voluntarily.
On Wednesday evening, the pilots decided to make a safety landing in Sofia, because a technical defect occurred during the flight from Heraklion to Linz. This meant that an engine had to be switched off. Since it was near the Sofia homebase, the safety landing was carried out there. The passengers were then transported to their Upper Austrian destination with the LZ-LAA.
The landing of the MD-82 in Sofia was safe and easy. For the travelers it was an advantage that European Air Charter was able to use an Airbus A320 for the onward journey within a short time. The LZ-LAA then carried out the charter flights from Linz and Graz to Rhodes on Thursday. It will stay that way, because the MD-82 was exchanged for an Airbus A320 due to the increased capacity.
The LZ-LAA is 29,7 years old and was originally used in Cyprus. European Air Charter has been using this machine for several years. The seating does not reveal the age of the machine, because Recaro leather seats are installed. Due to the corona pandemic, the tour operators have decided that no catering will be served during the flight. The travelers receive two 0,5 liter water bottles. In view of the fact that many other tour operators or airlines make do with a small cup of water or even paid catering, a liter of water per passenger is quite a lot.
The fact that the MD-82 with the registration LZ-LDJ made a safety landing due to a technical problem, the passengers were safely brought to their destination Linz with the LZ-LAA and the charter flights were carried out on time the following day, shows the high level European Air Charter professionalism.
The LZ-LAA was used as scheduled for the first time this season on July 8, 2021 on a charter connection from Linz and Graz to Rhodes. Aviation.Direct was able to pay this machine a visit in Styria. The Airbus A320 flew on schedule from Graz to Rhodes.
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