Trip Report – LGW – BHD – LGW

Monday 16th February 2004
FlyBe BE962 08:50 – 10:20
London Gatwick to Belfast City

Woke up at 4:30am for my day trip to Belfast. After a smooth drive, arrived at London Gatwick at 06:30am.

Walked straight through to the check in area to find that our check in was Zone F. Zone F is a small area just dedicated for FlyBe and Aurigny services. FlyBe had about 6 check in desks open for its flights to Belfast City, Guernsey and Jersey. Since my flight wasnt due to leave for over 2 hours, I was surprised that the check in desks were open and also the high number of desks open.

Walked to the check in desk to be asked what destination I was flying to. After handing over my I.D and confirmation, all the checking in was done quickly. I was then given by the friendly check in agent boarding card number 1 which was for my outbound flight and boarding card number 2 for my flight coming home. I was really surprised to receive my incoming boarding card as it meant I wouldnt have to check in at Belfast City and seeing as I only had a few hours in Belfast, it gave me more time to look around. I also thought this was very good service from a low cost airline too.

After having breakfast at a pub in “The Village”, I proceeded through security. Even though I always take out my phone out of my pocket and all my jewellery etc, I still always set off the alarms and get searched. I then reliased it was my belt which keeps setting off the alarms.

After looking round a few shops, the flight came up as “proceed to gate 107”. Walked to Gate 107 and didnt realise how far it was – a good 10 minute walk. Arrived at the gate 106/107 area and sat down and waited for my flight to board. The FlyBe Guernsey flight was boarding through Gate 106. After about 10 minutes, my flight was boarding. Even though FlyBe assigns you seats for your flights, they still board in row numbers. They board by Row 12 – 22 (the back of the aircraft), then all remaining passengers after.

Walked down the airbridge and qued up to board the plane. I looked out of the window and it was G – JEBE, a BAE146 – 300 in full FlyBe livery.

Once entering the aircraft, the head stewardess greeted me and asked to see my boarding pass. I was assigned seat 8A and she told me my seat would be on the right. That was a nice gesture because I havent received that polite treatment on an airline in ages.

I took my seat and done the usual thing of fastening seatbelt, taking coat off etc etc. The FlyBe aircraft have leather seats and they are extremely comfortable and there was also a good amount of legroom – about 30″ – 31″.

Looked out of the window and was sitting right next to an engine underneath the wing. I was a bit dissapointed as it blocked up the view slightly but it wasnt the end of the world.

After all the passengers had boarded, the safety demonstration began. It was done fairly quickly and done the usual explanations etc. I also noted how in every announcement they like to say “Welcome on FlyBe, the number 1 regional low fares airline”. The aircraft was mainly full of businessmen and was about 90% full.

Received a very warm welcome from the pilot as we made our way to the runway. It was a shame the engine was blocking my view as there was lots of take offs and landings to watch.

When we finally got to the runway, we waited for clearance and then full power was applied to the engines. Even though I was sitting right by an engine, the noise wasnt that bad at all. After a long accleration along the runway, we lifted off and made our climb towards 26,000 feet. Got a very good view of Gatwick before we entered the clouds.

Once in the air the cabin service begun. Looking in the magazine – FlyBe Uncovered and the duty free magazine Choices, I decided to buy a bottle of water for £1.

After a very smooth flight of 1 hour and 5 minutes we were landing at Belfast City airport. Quickly disembarked and made my way through the very modern and clean new terminal.

Once leaving the terminal, I got on a shuttle bus to the nearby Sydenham railway station to get the train into Belfast city centre

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Monday 16th February 2004
FlyBe BE973 17:40 – 19:00
Belfast City to London Gatwick

After a brilliant day in Belfast, I got off the train at Sydenham station and crossed the footbridge for the airport.

There were signs indicating there was no pedestrainsied route to the airpiort and a shuttle would be provided. It was extremely good service as you had to phone this number to tell them you had just arrived from the station and needed to get to the airport. Within 1 minute, a shuttle bus arrived to take me (alone) to the airport.

Having already checked in at Gatwick, I proceed to the upper floor of the terminal to to have a look at the airport activity. Nothing much to see except a FlyBe departue to Newcastle and then 5 mintues later my aircraft arrived from Gatwick on time.

Proceeded to security and again set off the alarms with my belt (forgot yet again) and made my way to departures. Belfast City airport is a really nice airport to fly out of as the terminal is small yet spacious and is clean, modern and comfortable.

Even though the aircraft had arrived on time, we started to wait at the gate to board. 10 minutes had passed and nothing was said. We then got an annoucement saying that the aircraft had a techincal fault and we would be delayed. The next information would be given at 18:00. Even though it was a pain to be delayed, it wasnt too bad as there was a bmi A320 to watch take off and some FlyBe aircraft arrive from destinations including Bristol and Southampton. I also thought it was good to be told a certain time when the next information would be coming as most of the time, airlines say next information soon which can be classed as anything.

Just before 18:00 an annoucement was made but it was to say that the aircraft would now be boarding and sorry for the delay. The boarding was done very quickly as most people I presume just wanted to get home. The aircraft was again a BAE146 – 300 aircraft in full FlyBe colours yet this one was G – JEBC.

Sat down again in the lovely comfortable seats and recived an apology and explanation of the delay from the captain. Once everyone had boarded (overheard dispatcher say 62 people), the cabin crew did their safety demo. The crew were again very smart and offered the good service of showing people where to sit and helping passengers stow their luggage. The crew also used “sir” and “madam” which was nice instead of “mate” which I have sometimes recieved on other airlines lol.

Taxied to the end of the runway and waited for clearance. Full throttle was applied yet brakes were still apllied. I have had take offs like this at London City Airport and they are so cool! After about 10 seconds of brakes applied, they were released and we shot off down the runway picking up speed quickly. Afetr a short roll we climb onto 25,000 feet. (I would love to seee what the take off is like on a bmi A320 from BHD!)

Once in the sky cabin crew passed with their “deli in the sky” range. I bought a can of Pepsi (the big cans – 330ml) and a Kit Kat chunky for £2.20. A little pricy but I expected it. I wanted to buy a model aircraft but was told it was only available on Channel Island flights. However I have ordered it through the mail order number which is in the magazine.

After a quick cruise, we made our decent into Gatwick. The crew also made an announcement that if anyone wanted another drink to ring their bell!”. The flight was again very smooth and about 65% full with a mix of business and leisure travellers.

Even though the flight was suppossed to be 1 hour it took about 1 hour 10 minutes as we seemed to circle over Gatwick for quite a long time before landing. The landing was also very enjoyable as we seemed quite high on approach and the aircraft sort of landed half way through Gatwicks runway and maximum brakes and I mean MAXIMUM brakes were applied to slow us down. I enjoyed it but I think some people got a bit panicy. We landed at 19:20 – 20 minutes behing schedule but having experienced a 15 1/2 hour delay on Caledonian one year, this was nothing.

After leaving the aircraft, at the gate we had to have our pictures taken by security and they went on the system and we were handed over a card to hold. After a long walk through to arrivals, we handed over this card back and I looked on the computer to see me on there. I presume this is some sort of new security thing making sure the same person leaving the aircraft enters the arrival hall.
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Overall I must say that I was EXTREMELY impressed with FlyBe. All the little things which add up like several check ins, inbound check in, polite air and ground crew, leather seats, legroom, nice magazines, smooth flights, good handling of delay etc etc all make this airline top notch. Being a low cost airline I would have to give them 9/10 overall.

Having travelled on a lot of the low cost airlines I would now have to say FlyBe is at the top of my list followed by buzz, easyJet, Ryanair then go. Im travelling with MyTravel Lite in April so it will be interesting to see how they compare. Maybe one day I will get on bmibaby or Jet2.

Sorry that there are no pictures PLUS another thing:

If you want a nice place to visit – GO TO BELFAST!!! It is absolutly superb with everything down to the history, the atrractions, the friendly locals who sometimes have accents so strong you cant understand them lol. I would also reccommend a tour of the Belfast murals and the history of the protestant and catholic conflict – really interesting.