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!