23rd May
STN-EDI
EZY245
ETD:2120
Actual: Around 2135
ETA: 2240
Actual: 2240 roughly.

B733- G-IGOR. Another double, just like DUB last week! Ah well, it had to be either IGOR or IGOM.

The desks allocated at check-in were for “All UK Flights”. For the next 10mins all 3 queues were slow to say the least! We eventually got checked-in and I had sequence number 57.
Headed straight through security (small queue) and got something to eat at ‘Pret A Manger’. Checked the screens to see what gate we had been assigned (84), and that was when I noticed the 1800 EDI flight hadn’t left yet, the time was now 2030. I was slightly concerned we were going to face a knock on delay thinking that the aircraft doing the delayed 1800 flight would have to return to STN before it would then do our flight. Thankfully I was wrong, an A319 turned up to operate the 1800 flight at about 2045, G-EZIP, and I knew we were on one of the trusty old B733s….
Sure enough, G-IGOR arrived at about 2110 and parked alongside the 1800 EDI flight which seemed to be taking a long time to board. It then looked like a couple of trailers of bags that belonged to pax on the 1800 flight were put on our flight! :confused:
It was only 10mins or so until boarding commenced and I got a seat in 20A, there were only a few empty seats so again another busy flight, I had discovered earlier that the delayed 1800 flight was full.

The delayed 1800 EDI flight, sorry about quality, quickly taken on phone.

We pushed back about 2135- a couple of mins after the 1800 flight, notice the difference in turnaround times between B733 and A319 there! The A319 had started boarding before our aircraft had even arrived- and taxied out to runway 23 where we were number 5 for take off behind 2 Air Berlin B737s, another EZY B733 (to GLA) and the delayed 1800 EDI flight.
We took off as soon as possible after the A319 to EDI and climbed to FL330. An uneventful flight followed, although it was quite interesting watching the sky get lighter as the time got later as we flew North!
After an hour or so in flight we were on approach to r/w 24 at EDI, right behind none other than the delayed A319, good views of the city all lit up. It was a pretty smooth landing, with CSA from PRG arriving immediately after us. We parked next to G-IGOM who has now been banished to LTN, replaced by a shiny new A319, G-EZAS at EDI.

This was a good trip for comparing EZY and FR. With regards to punctuality that is definitely FR’s strong point, EZY weren’t quite as good although in fairness it was the some of the last flights of the day we were on with EZY.
Boarding is just a complete scrum as is to be expected, although FR at STN is a bit more organised, all other occasions were just the usual scrum.
EZY’s pilots seemed to be a lot more informative than their FR equivalents. Whereas EZY’s crew would give us info on routing, weather, cruise altitude etc, we’d be lucky if we heard anything from FR’s flightdeck, a quick weather update was about all that would be said.
In a direct comparison I prefer EZY, however I can’t have any complaints with FR they’ve not done anything wrong so far when I’ve flown with them and they do offer great value for money with their cheapest fares. Although the sooner they both introduce pre-assigned seating the better!

Apologies for the quality of the pics, ice on the window combined with the fact that I currently don’t have use of photoshop means the pics aren’t the best.