Aer Lingus EI149
Thursday 16 December 06:50hrs
At 2.10am, I caught the bus to Heathrow Airport from my local town. The bus arrived at Heathrow at about 2.50am, then I had to wait about an hour and a half for A330Crazy to arrive. The next bus would have gotten me into Heathrow a little too late, so the earlier one was necessary.
After meeting up with A330Crazy, we loitered the check-in area. Aer Lingus have their own check-in section in Terminal 1, which can be found in zone E. We started a queue and people eveutally started to queue, too, but the check-in staff did not check anybody in. Instead, they stood about giggling and chatting with one another. To the left, bmi check-in was well under way.
Shortly before 5.30am, Aer Lingus check-in desks opened and we were at the front of the queue. The agent who checked us in couldn’t have had a better personality or sense of humour – she was excellent and her customer service was just as good. Unfortunately, this wasn’t really the case. She was very miserable and didn’t speak much. After asking if we had any bags to check in, we obviously answered no, but she insisted on asking us the security questions, “did you pack your bags yourselves?” etc. Anyway, she issued boarding cards for seats 28E and 28F, towards the rear of the aircraft.
The airport was still very much closed. No shops were open; just a few of the smaller restaurants, where we stopped and I enjoyed a sandwich, a flapjack and a drink for £7.00!
As we sat down to eat, passengers for our flight were already being called to gate 88 for boarding. We ignored it and only once we had finished eating did we make any effort to proceed to the gate.
The gate was not very busy and despite the many calls that had been put out for the flight, boarding had not started. In fact, there were Aer Lingus staff at the gate to board us.
Boarding started a while before departure. Instead of calling row by row, the staff decided we should all board at once, so a bundle of almost 200 people was the result. As we all boarded the aircraft and walked down the jetway, the Captain and the First Officer was only just in front of us, also boarding the aircraft.
The aircraft was an Airbus A321, registered EI-CPF.
We were greeted by two female members of crew once on board. My first impression was not good. The pair were scruffy and had clearly not made very much effort for work. Fortunately, the aircraft was clean and there were plenty of announcements welcoming us on board the flight to Dublin. The Captain spoke to us and explained how the flight would last approximately 50 minutes. He also said that we should be departing ahead of schedule.
The doors were closed, the doors were set and we waited for pushback, but it never happened. The crew performed their very quick safety demonstration and packed away their props (life jackets, oxygen mask and safety card) and then took their seats. Only afterwards did the aircraft start to move away from the terminal and taxi to runway 27L for takeoff to Dublin.
One aircraft departed ahead of us, then it was our turn. We turned onto the runway and full-throttle was applied. The nose raised slightly and were off of the ground and into the air. Straight away we hit rather fierce turbulence and the aircraft was tossed from side to side. This wasn’t a surprise, weather forecasts had predicted very strong winds all over the country, up to 70mph!
I put my head back and closed my eyes for what seemed like a few seconds and was woken by the sound of the intercom asking the crew to take their seats for landing. A minute or so later, the airport could be seen out of the window and the aircraft started to wobble slightly. We passed the threshold and were still quite high. We soon touched down on runway 28 and the reverse thrust was applied. With the bad weather, the landing was rather bumpy. It seemed that we had touched down much further down the runway than was anticipated!
The aircraft taxiied off of the runway and started heading towards the terminal. A few aircraft queued for departure from runway 28, one of which was a Malév 737-600.
When parked at the terminal, the seatbelt sign was switched off and I was forced to wrestle with two rather large bags in the overhead locker, both which had been thrown on top oy my bag. It annoys me when airlines have policies in place but tend not to enforce them. It was clear that these bags weighed well over the permitted 6kg, but nothing was done to stop the passenger from bringing them on board.
By the time we had gotten to the front of the aircraft to get off, the crew were chatting to one another, occasionally stopping their conversations to say thank you.
So, so far, Aer Lingus is nothing special. Inflight service is non-existent, leg-room is average and the staff that work for the airline are alright, but again, they’re nothing special. For the first flight, I’d score it about 6/10.
Part 2 on Saturday evening: Dublin to London Heathrow.
By: Future Pilot - 18th December 2004 at 21:35
Both great trip reports thier Michael :D, sad that Aer Lingus didnt sound like a very enjoyable experiance…
By: LBARULES - 18th December 2004 at 21:09
Another great report Michael, shame you didnt enjoy Aer Lingus.
By: T5 - 18th December 2004 at 21:04
Aer Lingus EI192
Thursday 16 December 20:50hrs
With it getting dark so early, we headed back to the airport in the middle of the afternoon. wannabe pilot had only an hour or so before he could check in for his Stansted-bound flight and myself and A330Crazy had already checked in at Heathrow earlier in the morning, securing seats 5E and 5F on the Airbus A321.
Whilst waiting for check-in, we grabbed a seat in the arrivals area, where I continued to fall asleep in the chair. Considering I hadn’t had any sleep the night before, I thought I was doing quite well! It seemed that every time I sat down and got comfortable, I would drift off to sleep!
The regular Dublin traffic was in, the aircraft were mainly Aer Lingus A320s, A321s and 737-400/500s, Ryanair 737-200/800s and Aer Arann ATRs.
By about 6.00pm, we walked with wannabe pilot to boarding area A where his flight would depart from. Hoping to walk down to the gate, we were told to turn back by some electronic voice coming from the ceiling. It was time to say our goodbyes and then proceed to boarding area B where our Aer Lingus flight would be.
There was still at least 2 and a half hours to kill at this time, so we followed the signs to our gate (number 8 I think) and grabbed a seat. The gate was packed with passengers who were awaiting an Iberia A320 for their evening flight to Madrid. Eventually, this arrived and after a delay, it departed for the Spanish capital with what appeared to be a full-load.
I managed to get onto the Internet at the airport. My parents were flying into London Gatwick that evening with Monarch Airlines from Sharm el Sheikh. They were scheduled for a 21:25hrs arrival, though the website said the flight was expected at 20:40hrs.
The wait was boring, mainly due to the fact that it was pitch black outside and that nothing could be seen, so we had no choice but to listen to the sound of screaming children and breathe in the terrible smell of fresh vomit that seemed to linger in the terminal.
By about 20:00hrs, a quick check of the monitor revealed that our 20:50hrs flight to Heathrow, EI192, was now delayed by 35 minutes. Unfortunately, no announcement was ever put out to either explain that there was a delay to the flight or an apology for it.
Not long afterwards, an Aer Lingus A320 pulled up at the gate next to ours. We were convinced that this would be our aircraft back to Heathrow, but it sadly wasn’t. We had to wait longer still for an aircraft to arrive. Using a little bit of initiative (!!) I managed to figure out that we would be flying on an A321 again. We had flown the first flight from Heathrow in the morning, which was an A321. We then returned on the last flight from Dublin. Whatever aircraft flew the last service from Dublin, would surely fly the first route from Heathrow that following morning – an aircraft which I knew would be an A321. I was craving a different aircraft. I have already flown 4 bmi A321s this year and I desperately wanted something a little different.
Aer Lingus staff entered the gate area and conerned passengers asked questions as to the whereabouts of our aircraft. A member of staff said it was 5 minutes away and would be departing at about 21:10hrs. Sure enough, it did arrive 5 minutes later and eventually, an A321, EI-CPG, pulled up onto the stand and passengers were disembarked.
Boarding was soon under way and we managed to barge to the front of the queue and get onto the aircraft. The usual Aer Lingus greeting was in place and it was nothing special, just a quick “hi”. We passed through the business class area and took our seats to the left, in the first row of economy, so I had some tatty curtain draped in front of me.
The safety demonstration was performed and the aircraft made the rather short trip to the runway, number 28, taxiing behind a Channel Express A300. As we taxiied, the Captain told us that we should expect a flight time of just 45 minutes to London – quite impressive. The crew then told us how the lights would be dimmed and reminded us to fasten our seatbelts. This time around, I hadn’t dozed off, and I don’t remember a single member of the crew checking the passengers belts were fastened, seats upright etc.
Only as the aircraft turned onto the runway were the lights switched off in the cabin and as we turned on, full-throttle was applied and we sped down the runway, eventually lifting off into the rather strong winds. A 180 degree turn was necessary shortly after takeoff and we climbed high above the clouds, heading towards London.
Cabin service commenced quite quickly and we were the first to be served. I was feeling peckish, so I decided to spend a few Euros on a few bits to nibble on. €4,50 got me two small tubes of Pringles and a can of Coke. When you’re not really flying with a low cost airline, I do think the prices of their snacks and beverages were mildly overpriced.
Before we knew it, the Captain spoke again and told us we were just 16 miles north of London. The flight was nearly over in a very short space of time. Unfortunately, the flight wasn’t nearly over. The Captain explained that Heathrow was very busy and that it would be around 25 minutes before we landed. Peering out of the windows, aircraft lights were flashing all around and it was clear as to just how busy the London skies were.
After a flight-time of somewhere in the region of 1h 15min, we touched down on runway 27L and were welcomed to London by the crew. We taxiied past terminal 3, seeing many aircraft parked up for the night and then turned into gate 88, the same gate at which we had used to board earlier that morning. Being at the front, we were almost the first off of the aircraft and we passed through the airport in only a few minutes.
—
So, an interesting set of flights with Aer Lingus, though I’m not impressed by their service. It doesn’t stand out when compared with its oneworld partner, British Airways.
Service on board is non-existent. Your money gets you a seat and nothing more. It can be compared to easyJet and Ryanair when looking at the service on board. I don’t care what anybody says, but when paying £50 for a flight (the cheapest available fare, too), you expect a little bit extra. Okay, the flight was less than an hour, so a meal is not necessary, but to offer every passenger a free beverage would be appreciated. Aer Lingus is not really a low cost airline.
The staff were again quite average. Some of them were scruffy and didn’t talk to the passengers much. When they did, conversation was very limited.
So, would I fly Aer Lingus again? I doubt it to be honest. They are, in my opinion, a rather below average airline. I didn’t enjoy anything in particular and there were plenty of things both on the ground and in the air which did not satisfy me; inflight service, ground staff, check-in and more!
By: dc10fan - 18th December 2004 at 13:39
Great report; you’ve identified 2 of my pet hates when taking early flights. They don’t open check-in or the shops/restaurants early enough. IMO check-in should be open 2 hrs before flights depart whatever the time of day.
By: Airline owner - 18th December 2004 at 09:06
great report Michael.
By: SHAMROCK321 - 17th December 2004 at 22:52
Indeed BMI Star EI do need to sort them slfs out but it isnt going to happen.Those stupid *******s are ruining the airline and ruining tourists first impressions of our country.
Im in the middle of a ATRS course and I can see exactly the sort of people you are talking about who will be let loose in the airport next year.
I cringe when I think about some of the bimbos lined up thinking commercial aviation is a glamourous job.There in for a nasty shock.
By: BigJet - 17th December 2004 at 22:51
good detail, i take it you fell asleep then?
By: bmi-star - 17th December 2004 at 22:12
Nice report Michael, looks like Aer Lingus need to sort themselfs out!
By: LBARULES - 17th December 2004 at 22:08
Very good report, as yours always are. Looking forward to the next one 🙂
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December 17, 2004 at 9:54 pm