Aviation Discussion

[atillathehunn]

They don't encourage it, but it's nice to know that the option is there if you really need it - plus they allow check-in 30 (or 60?) days in advance so I don't need it anyway. Ryanair is just four days now, which is tricky if you don't have access to a printer while you're away or don't have data on your smartphone etc - and of course you'll be charged a fortune if you don't do it.

Using Ryanair to fly predominently between west European reasonably modern airports means I haven't needed a boarding card in a long time. Everything is done through the App now. It's a life saver.

 

[J-2739]

Ha ha, don't worry that you sound like an amateur, you don't, compared to the trip reports on Airliners.net most of us are amateurs (Not comparing them to the railway trip reports on here by the way which are a good read with some damn good writers). Ha ha. God knows how a lot of them can afford so many trips in business and first class, I am guessing they are business trips. They are a good read though to see how the other half live. Ha ha.

Ryanair interiors are hideous, Michael O'Leary must have got a job lot of cheap yellow and blue plastic (I guess they are the colours of the airline, possibly better than white plastic everywhere, maybe not). The safety announcements and cards just have to tell you what you need to know. I guess the airline would have to pay a lot more for crew who sound like they went to stage school and artists to produce a better safety card. Ha ha.

I use them because they get me where I want to go at the right price. That said I am using them to fly to Warsaw Modlin next weekend and would rather have flown Wizzair to Warsaw Chopin. I didn't book mind you. Ha ha. I think the saving on the flights is going to be countered by the cost of getting in to Warsaw as compared to from Chopin.

Ryanair are useful, I would rather go to Liverpool city centre in a Lamborghini but Arriva, Stagecoach and Northern are cheaper and they do the job.

Thanks a lot, mate!

To be fair, the seats were the only horrible looking things of the aircraft, and they were pretty comfortable for someone my age. There was a trolly serving light snacks which is splendid, and at least it got us there, on time! The crew were more than decent also!

That's a fair and balanced view of Ryanair, and please do share more of your experiences in the air when you get another chance. Quite, I would say this applies to everyone, maybe even generate some trip report threads so the rest of the community here gets a chance to see them?

I like the blue and yellow, always have done. I have yet to properly look at the refurbished examples, but I'm not in a rush to do so. The Ryanair crews take some beating in my experience, I have had worse from the supposedly superior airlines. Depending which crew you get on Flybe, Ryanair can beat even some of them!

Quite, I can't wait to fly Ryanair again!

Cheers! When I fly more, I'd be sure to be making more reports!

I was maybe overeating about the seats, because they look rather unique, but to me, yellow and blue really don't have a nice contrast (black and white is the best). It's like an elephant in the middle of an ant farm (not the crappy show ).

I agree, the crew were fabulous, it was like they've known you for a long time but still want to make you feel like a king (or queen, settle ladies ). I really look forwards to flying them again!

 

[Techniquest]

180 NOK each way—it ain't cheap, but when compared with travel around Oslo for 32 NOK by journey it doesn't seem so bad!

I'm being lazy here, but do you have those costs in GBP? I can look it up another time of course, but just curious if you already have the numbers.

It sure doesn't sound cheap from memory of NOK - GBP mind. I'm more likely to buy a 3 or 4 day InterRail for use after arriving than booking each journey in advance too.

Not that I've made exact plans for my proposed trip yet, I have various options that I'm considering but it's all to be properly researched in seperate threads as we're now beyond discussing aviation!

As for my BA expectations, please note my BA review was more aimed at the general traveller, not the enthusiast. I attempted to make it fair and balanced. You mention to most people that you're flying BA and you will almost always get the "Ooh nice!" kind of response. It was intended for that sort of person.

I think it was more balanced than my Ryanair review

 

[Bletchleyite]

They don't encourage it, but it's nice to know that the option is there if you really need it - plus they allow check-in 30 (or 60?) days in advance so I don't need it anyway. Ryanair is just four days now, which is tricky if you don't have access to a printer while you're away or don't have data on your smartphone etc - and of course you'll be charged a fortune if you don't do it.

If you have a smartphone, you will always be able to find wifi to do it these days for nowt.

Without one I'll give you it's harder.

 

[gsnedders]

I'm being lazy here, but do you have those costs in GBP? I can look it up another time of course, but just curious if you already have the numbers.

It sure doesn't sound cheap from memory of NOK - GBP mind. I'm more likely to buy a 3 or 4 day InterRail for use after arriving than booking each journey in advance too.

Not that I've made exact plans for my proposed trip yet, I have various options that I'm considering but it's all to be properly researched in seperate threads as we're now beyond discussing aviation!

It's roughly 1:10, GBP:NOK—so divide by 10! (It's been everything from 8.5 to 13.3 in the past five years, but I normally just ballpark it by dividing by 10, for the sake of simplicity. It's currently quite close to 10, too.)

Depending on what you're doing, you can frequently get cheap tickets from NSB if you book in advance, sometimes down to almost a 10th of the cost—though I don't know how that compares with an InterRail and you obviously use the flexibility.

 

[WestCoast]

If you have a smartphone, you will always be able to find wifi to do it these days for nowt.

Without one I'll give you it's harder.

I'm far from a technophobe (I work in I.T) but I just prefer having a physical boarding pass in case my phone runs out of battery/fails. This is a very real problem if you've been travelling all day and your portable charger isn't charged or whatever. Also find it easier going through automated gates etc and I slot it inside my passport.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

As for the legroom Peter Mugridge refers to on a 390, I don't really mind which seat I'm at but I prefer to book a table seat next to the window so I can have a power socket. I have not found these seats with such tiny legroom you refer to, although I'm only 5'10" so I guess that makes the big difference!

Interesting... I'm about the same height...

 

[Techniquest]

It's roughly 1:10, GBP:NOK—so divide by 10! (It's been everything from 8.5 to 13.3 in the past five years, but I normally just ballpark it by dividing by 10, for the sake of simplicity. It's currently quite close to 10, too.)

Depending on what you're doing, you can frequently get cheap tickets from NSB if you book in advance, sometimes down to almost a 10th of the cost—though I don't know how that compares with an InterRail and you obviously use the flexibility.

Cheers, that's actually quite handy to know, a rough ballpark conversion figure!

Not a cheap trip from Torp airport then, but worth considering. I did take on board your point about flying to OSL, but I also thought of an excellent alternative for me. Fly to VST, bus to town then get a train over to Oslo, as I need that track!

Anyway, I'll launch a new thread in the coming weeks about this trip.

 

[Butts]

For short haul comfort and convenience you can't beat an Embraer 195 which is capable of reaching just about anywhere in Europe.

Three Cabin Staff Guaranteed and even the "rey ho" seats are fine for me at 6'3".

If only they would open her up to her 0.82 mach capability (600mph +)

 

[Bletchleyite]

For short haul comfort and convenience you can't beat an Embraer 195 which is capable of reaching just about anywhere in Europe.

I agree, I really like the Embraer RJs, excellent aircraft (and one of the few where, if the spacing isn't crammed in, you can get full window alignment with what are huge picture windows). The smaller 175 is just as nice. 2+2 seating too, so no bad seats.

 

[Techniquest]

For short haul comfort and convenience you can't beat an Embraer 195 which is capable of reaching just about anywhere in Europe.

Three Cabin Staff Guaranteed and even the "rey ho" seats are fine for me at 6'3".

If only they would open her up to her 0.82 mach capability (600mph +)

Flybe seem not to want to fly to Norway from Birmingham any more, which I found most disappointing. They don't go from Southampton either!

 

[fowler9]

Of course. The box is at buyer's discretion, as is the seating. I really have no figures on the subject, only second hand reports. I'm not going to talk about it more until I have my own experience or actual data. But anecdotal evidence suggests what I said before.

No, the 777 comment was sarcastic. It was said to emphasise how far we've come where, for me, just this one step back is a big benefit to the overall feel. Just too many hours spent down the back of a long or mid haul flight. Sorry it didn't come across so well.

There are thousands of better offers than a 9 across 777, but here is where the world is! And alas the A340 won't be around much longer.
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Tech: your expectations of BA were way, way, way too high. I also feel a lot of people on here told you that long before you stepped on board...

This thread has discussed many of the benefits of flying BA, many of which are being eroded. These include: schedule, frequency of service, range of destinations on the long-haul end, (no longer) baggage, IRROPS performance, majority use of hub or 'proper' airports.

They never included service. The food and drink... it's been done to death.

Alright chief, hope I didn't come across like I was right and you were wrong, was just thinking out loud. Ha ha. As regards BA, totally agree. I had a great trip but wasn't impressed with any of the aircraft I flew on or the cabin crew on the Heathrow to Hong Kong leg.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I'm being lazy here, but do you have those costs in GBP? I can look it up another time of course, but just curious if you already have the numbers.

It sure doesn't sound cheap from memory of NOK - GBP mind. I'm more likely to buy a 3 or 4 day InterRail for use after arriving than booking each journey in advance too.

Not that I've made exact plans for my proposed trip yet, I have various options that I'm considering but it's all to be properly researched in seperate threads as we're now beyond discussing aviation!

As for my BA expectations, please note my BA review was more aimed at the general traveller, not the enthusiast. I attempted to make it fair and balanced. You mention to most people that you're flying BA and you will almost always get the "Ooh nice!" kind of response. It was intended for that sort of person.

I think it was more balanced than my Ryanair review

I'll be honest I wasn't that excited about flying BA, I was excited about flying on a 747 and a 777. BA didn't let me down, it was as disappointing as I expected aside from being on the planes I was one. Decent choice of films though. Qantas and LAN were both better.
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I'm a Boeing fan, so I will naturally be less than pleased with Airbus craft, hence the term 'endure'.

I'm sorry, but I had to embolden the text in the quote above for a reason. I don't know which 390s you've been on, but the legroom has always been superior on a 390 to that on an Airbus craft for me. I would happily spend 8 hours on a 390 over 8 hours on an Airbus craft!

The thing you have to remember Tech is that the seat pitch is mostly down to the airline, not the aircraft type. I do believe that BA's 319's have a slightly shorter seat pitch than Ryanairs 738's by about an inch which would explain the increase in legroom. Again though it is very much down to airline specification. I am quite happy to fly with Ryanair and am doing on Friday. If they provide the best price I will use them.

 

[atillathehunn]

Alright chief, hope I didn't come across like I was right and you were wrong, was just thinking out loud. Ha ha. As regards BA, totally agree. I had a great trip but wasn't impressed with any of the aircraft I flew on or the cabin crew on the Heathrow to Hong Kong leg.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


I'll be honest I wasn't that excited about flying BA, I was excited about flying on a 747 and a 777. BA didn't let me down, it was as disappointing as I expected aside from being on the planes I was one. Decent choice of films though. Qantas and LAN were both better.

Sorry fowler. Not formulating posts properly these days... My bad. Nothing intended in anything of what I've said. The world seems to be mounting up a bit this weekend, not doing anything clearly.

It's usually one or two small details which make a given airline stick in the mind. I remember little usually about this sort of thing. But it's the little things: the sweet Turkish Airlines gives, or the insane temperature in their planes; or the deeply weird food on Cathay and Dragonair.

 

[fowler9]

Sorry fowler. Not formulating posts properly these days... My bad. Nothing intended in anything of what I've said. The world seems to be mounting up a bit this weekend, not doing anything clearly.

It's usually one or two small details which make a given airline stick in the mind. I remember little usually about this sort of thing. But it's the little things: the sweet Turkish Airlines gives, or the insane temperature in their planes; or the deeply weird food on Cathay and Dragonair.

Ha ha. Was thinking of visiting a mate in China using China Southern as they were really cheap. I was chatting to a girl in work about it from the Philippines and she was saying the reason they were cheap was that all of the food on the flights was insanely spicey hot and that none of the crew speak English. Now this is ony hearsay but to be honest it wouldn't put me off. What is the temp like on Turkish Airlines? I could put up with a bit of chill (You have to with BA anyway from my experience) but if it was dead hot I would feel ill for the entire flight.

 

[Butts]

Ha ha. Was thinking of visiting a mate in China using China Southern as they were really cheap. I was chatting to a girl in work about it from the Philippines and she was saying the reason they were cheap was that all of the food on the flights was insanely spicey hot and that none of the crew speak English. Now this is ony hearsay but to be honest it wouldn't put me off. What is the temp like on Turkish Airlines? I could put up with a bit of chill (You have to with BA anyway from my experience) but if it was dead hot I would feel ill for the entire flight.

Ever fancied a bit of "wing walking" - that should be chilly enough for you

 

[fowler9]

[/B]

Ever fancied a bit of "wing walking" - that should be chilly enough for you

Ha ha, I get you.

 

[Butts]

I agree, I really like the Embraer RJs, excellent aircraft (and one of the few where, if the spacing isn't crammed in, you can get full window alignment with what are huge picture windows). The smaller 175 is just as nice. 2+2 seating too, so no bad seats.

Believe me the 195 is far better than the 175 principally as it has 4 Exit Seats (Row 15) which are normally easy to blag if you check in at the Airport rather than paying £15 beforehand.

The 175 is still better than the elastic band powered Q400's mind you

What really annoys me is the Embraer and Q400's often take almost the same time to fly from Edinburgh to Birmingham when the former can fly 200mph faster. Why can't they open up and hammer down !!!

 

[Bletchleyite]

What really annoys me is the Embraer and Q400's often take almost the same time to fly from Edinburgh to Birmingham when the former can fly 200mph faster. Why can't they open up and hammer down !!!

Probably so the two types are interchangeable, and to save fuel.

 

[Techniquest]

Possibly due to slots for landing and at the gate too? No point getting to EDI 20 minutes early (for example) if you then go into a holding pattern while space to land becomes available! It has happened for me once though, 21 minutes early at the gate - note I time my actual departure times from the moment we get pushback, and actual arrival times once we reach the terminal building - on a GLA-BHX flight. Helped we had an E195 of course, but I also recall we had a fair amount of slack at the BHX end, so I'm not sure. We left late, although the amount I don't rememeber.

 

[ian959]

Yeah I understand. Only flew with Jetstar once from Brisbane to Auckland and that was on a round the world ticket with Oneworld. Kind of surprised that the flight from Brisbane to Auckland was Jetstar since unless I am mistaken Qantas also do the route and are part of Oneworld.

Very technically, Qantas itself does not fly Brisbane - Auckland. It is flown by Jet Connect Pty Ltd on behalf of Qantas (its owner), based out of Auckland to take advantage of lower operating costs.

 

[atillathehunn]

Possibly due to slots for landing and at the gate too? No point getting to EDI 20 minutes early (for example) if you then go into a holding pattern while space to land becomes available! It has happened for me once though, 21 minutes early at the gate - note I time my actual departure times from the moment we get pushback, and actual arrival times once we reach the terminal building - on a GLA-BHX flight. Helped we had an E195 of course, but I also recall we had a fair amount of slack at the BHX end, so I'm not sure. We left late, although the amount I don't rememeber.

Edinburgh isn't a slot controlled airport. Nor is it particularly busy.

I've had aircraft on the Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Aberdeen routes be booked for the Dash-8 be late by 30 minutes, be subbed to an E175 or E195 and arrive early. They do open them up when they need to make up time, which given Flybe's reputation is pretty regular...
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Ha ha. Was thinking of visiting a mate in China using China Southern as they were really cheap. I was chatting to a girl in work about it from the Philippines and she was saying the reason they were cheap was that all of the food on the flights was insanely spicey hot and that none of the crew speak English. Now this is ony hearsay but to be honest it wouldn't put me off. What is the temp like on Turkish Airlines? I could put up with a bit of chill (You have to with BA anyway from my experience) but if it was dead hot I would feel ill for the entire flight.

China Southern... they're not polished, but they're not bad. The crew weren't native speakers, but they managed to communicate fine. About the same as any other international carrier. The food was fine though. I didn't notice the spice. And there's always a more bland option.

Turkish have their planes hot. I also thought I wouldn't like it, and indeed I annoyed the cabin crew so much on one Amman - Istanbul return sector by asking for so much water that they left me with the entire 2L bottle from the galley. It does mean that the horrible feeling in the nose from the air conditioning blasting is absent on landing. It, combined with an Ambien and a glass of wine, also helps with sleep!

 

[Butts]

Edinburgh isn't a slot controlled airport. Nor is it particularly busy.

I've had aircraft on the Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Aberdeen routes be booked for the Dash-8 be late by 30 minutes, be subbed to an E175 or E195 and arrive early. They do open them up when they need to make up time, which given Flybe's reputation is pretty regular...
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Is there anyone on here who prefers a Dash 8 to an Embraer 195 ?

The most annoying thing with Flybe is the number of occasions they are not allocated a gate on arrival and park up in a location that requires a bus to reach the terminal (this happens even on domestic flights within the UK).

 

[atillathehunn]

Is there anyone on here who prefers a Dash 8 to an Embraer 195 ?

The most annoying thing with Flybe is the number of occasions they are not allocated a gate on arrival and park up in a location that requires a bus to reach the terminal (this happens even on domestic flights within the UK).

No the E195s are cracking aircraft. Though to save money on theme parks, book a Dash-8 flight in a winter storm.

The majority of the time, the parking location is governed by the airport and not the airline. Though at Eindhoven I feel it's getting a little passive aggressive now. They seem to put you as far away as possible, and then make you walk past empty stands.

The other favourite game at Manchester is to park you at an international stand, walk you over to the domestic door only to find nobody has the keys to let you in.

 

[Butts]

No the E195s are cracking aircraft. Though to save money on theme parks, book a Dash-8 flight in a winter storm.

Been there got the t-shirt - one puff of wind and they are all over the place

Out of interest has Amsterdam Schipol still got the little glass smoking booths ?

 

[daikilo]

What really annoys me is the Embraer and Q400's often take almost the same time to fly from Edinburgh to Birmingham when the former can fly 200mph faster. Why can't they open up and hammer down !!!

I think the cruise speed difference is a lot less than that, especially as on such a short flight the EMB is probably way below its optimum altitude.

 

[stut]

ISTR that one of the benefits of the E195 is increase legroom on several airlines due to regulations on crew-to-passenger ratios. It can sit up to 122, but by pushing it down under 100, it requires fewer crew members. Could be wrong.

 

[Butts]

I think the cruise speed difference is a lot less than that, especially as on such a short flight the EMB is probably way below its optimum altitude.

I think it is designed to fly at 41,000 feet so you could be right.

Am I tight fisted to complain about having to pay just over £60 for a return flight from Glasgow to Birmingham flying out on Christmas Eve and returning on New Years Eve ? It used to be under £50 a couple of years back.

Still considering I will be arriving in Birmingham before the train has even crossed the border I should be grateful for small mercies

 

[Techniquest]

Out of interest has Amsterdam Schipol still got the little glass smoking booths ?

Vienna does, as does Vasteras. Not that you'll be visiting them because there's no E195s going there

 

[atillathehunn]

Vienna does, as does Vasteras. Not that you'll be visiting them because there's no E195s going there

Just nipping to Vienna for a fag in the airport seems a little OTT. And Vienna does have E195s serving it, from Austrian Airlines. Just not Flybe birds.

AMS does have smoking booths airside, Butts.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I time my actual departure times from the moment we get pushback, and actual arrival times once we reach the terminal building.

A different approach from me, then - I only log time actually spent in the air for my records.