PART 2 & pics
LS905
MAN-LGW
TF-ELA
SCHED DEP: 1800
ACT DEP: 1810
SCHED ARR: 1905
ACT ARR: 1850
After my day at the airport it was time to check in at the Jet2 checkin area, which was fairly bust as there were flights to Gatwick, Amsterdam, Murcia, Edinburgh and Alicante going within an hour of each other. We got allocated 23A/B, one row back from the earlier flight.
I hated Manchester’s terminals, especially T1 whose departure lounge was about the darkest and boring that i had seen. Poor selection of shops, lack of seating and very dark. Anyway, we didn’t need to wait that long as I saw my plane TF-ELA land from Gatwick, so I knew we wouldn’t be late as they have 55 minute turnarounds on the Gatwick route! (is this necessary?)
Gate 01 was the gate to be used and i didn;t like this as we had to sit down on one row of seats in the main corridor leading down to the other gates. I imagine at busier times this could be a nightmare. We seemed to spend a long time in there, enough time to see a WOW D8 arrive and depart again at gate 2.
Boarding was down a steep set of stairs to the apron and I walked again to the rear to be greeted by 3 female cabin crew this time in blistering heat – i’ve never been on such a warm plane! The cabin this time was nowhere near as good as on G-CELG, with horrid red-and-grey striped seats that were high up, so it was difficult to see out the windows. There was no advertising on the overhead bins like -LG, the only bit of Jet2 branding being the Magazine and a sticker on the meal tray advertising the ‘meal deal for £5’.
It was obvious that this plane was leased as everything about it didn;t feel right – safety cards with a different carrier’s logo and safety signs in Swedish/Finnish (i think) ahead of English.
We shut up all the doors at 5.55 as the crew introduced themselves to be a Dutch pilot and an english f/o. The push-back from stand 1 started bang on 1800 and engines were started during the latter part of this, as the cabin staff did the emergency briefing. The sky was dark now and i could see a couple of planes on approach. One landed before we could cross 24R whilst we sped accross to 24L before the other arrived.
Very speedy taxi out as the cabin lights were switched off ,and did a rolling take-off from 24L which was obviously difficult due to the gusty southerly crosswinds before we rotated and climbed up to a similar altitude to the outbound flight. The inflight service was good again although not many people bought stuff. We didn;t have any info. on our route but i presumed it was down towards birmingham and then over london.
ABout 1830 we started a slow descent into obviously busy London airspace as we descended steeply, then less so steeply before turning a few times. The sunset gave a clue as to which way we would land – towards the west on 26L. We popped out of the clouds at about 1000ft and the pilot did a smooth landing on the runway and exited quick for a Monarch to land. We taxied back to the Pier 1 parking at Gate 3 this time, next to a FlyVe BAe146 at gate 1 and another BAe146 at gate 7. An easyJet was getting ready for push back from gate 9 and the Aurigny ATR72 had just pushed back from gate 5.
The 100 or so passengers all disembarked using the airbridge and then we queued for a while whilst security checks which involved taking pictures of you were done. At Gatwick, when using Pier 1 gates, departing and arriving passengers must use the same walkway so they take a picture of you so that you can be tracked until you quit the area – make sure you don’t hitch a ride on another plane.
All in all, Jet2 are very efficient airline with good service and obviously healthy loads on the route. I’d find it hard to believe that they would drop the route, as some people have suggested of late.
Marks:
Punctuality – 10/10
Service – 9/10
Comfort – 7/10
Overall – Excellent airline
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