Easyjet A319 Economy class

Published: 09/06/2010 - Filed under: Tried & Tested » Airlines » Tried & Tested » Tried & Tested » Airlines » Easyjet »

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BACKGROUND Easyjet flies from London Gatwick South Terminal to Barcelona T2 four times daily. My flight, EZY5133, is scheduled to leave at 1115 arriving in Barcelona at 1420 local, an official flight time of just over two hrs.

CHECK-IN I checked in online which can be done well in advance of your actual journey. I checked in the week before, something you can’t do with British Airways. BA by comparison, only allows you to check-in 24 hours before departure, but unlike Easyjet, BA allows passengers to change their allocated seats.

I arrived at LGW South at 0850, having travelled in from Victoria, a journey which took 35 minutes. As I’d printed out my boarding pass at home, and had hand luggage only, I made my way straight to security. Instead of using security on the lower level, I decided to try the one on the upper level which proved much quieter. I was through within minutes, there was really only one woman in front of me in the queue for the scanner.

I had about an hour to kill so I had a quick look around the shops, all pretty standard stuff. It’s certainly worth going airside if you have a while before your flight, there’s more to see and do there.

The screens said my gate would open 1115, so I settled down in the upstairs seating area to do some work. There is no free wifi which was hardly a surprise, but there are a few public providers to choose from if you have a subscription, BT Openzone and Boingo for example. There are also some free-to-use terminals on the upper concourse and also downstairs by the corridor leading to the departure gates.

BOARDING Gate 24 was called at 1030 and it took at least 15 minutes to walk there as it’s one of the very last gates, tucked away in a far off corner of the terminal. That said, it does mean it’s joined to the aircraft by an airbridge, so no tarmac dash from bus to aircraft necessary. I joined one of two queues at the gate, and here is where my ignorance paid off. As most know, there is a queue for speedy boarders and a queue for those unwilling to pay the extra. I joined the former, which proved a canny tactic. When the time came to board, I simply let all the speedy boarders behind me go first. I then followed after them, quite a reasonable thing to do and I was not the only one by any means. This rather overwhelmed the one Easyjet employee tasked with checking boarding passes and passports, but even so I was quickly on the plane having bypassed the main queue.

SEAT As seat 1C had been taken, I instead went for one of the exit row seats. It would seem that many still haven’t cottoned on to the concept of an exit row seat, happily walking past them in order to squeeze in somewhere else. Of course this may be because they’re in groups of two or more, and so would want to sit together.

I went for an aisle seat, 11D, which had more than enough legroom. I’d estimate at least a third more legroom than with the regular seating. As a tip for prospective Easyjet passengers, the exit rows are normally where the cabin crew stand when greeting those boarding.

Seat width was also fine, comparable to the newer BA Euro Traveller seats. The armrest was surprisingly quite wide, and could be shared with my neighbour with minimum elbow contact.

WHICH SEAT TO CHOOSE? 1D is without a doubt the best seat on the plane. It’s close to the toilet, there’s no row or bulkhead in front, and you’ll be the first off the plane. Otherwise rows ten and 11 are emergency exit rows, but you’ll have to stow everything away in the overhead lockers during take-off and landing. This includes and coats and jackets that aren’t worn, so that there is no risk of them getting in the way in case of an emergency.

THE FLIGHT We took off at 1150, 35 minutes late. A little into the flight the drinks and snacks trolley appeared. Soft drinks cost £2, and beers and spirits £3.50 and upwards. Warm sandwiches and snacks, such as cheese and ham toasties and pizzas, cost about £4. I bought food airside and brought it onto the plane with me, which saved me a bit of money. But for anyone paying for food in-flight (and there were a few) at least Easyjet offers choice which is more than can be said for full-service carriers, at least when travelling economy short haul. Magazines and papers also had to be bought, but they weren’t that much more expensive than if bought from the airport.

ARRIVAL We landed at Barcelona at 1430 local time, just ten minutes behind schedule meaning we’d made up 15 minutes on our late departure. Disembarking involved the normal scramble, but as I was on the aisle I could jump up and quickly get my bag down. There was an airbridge, and once off the plane the luggage carousel was about a ten minute walk away in T2 area B.

VERDICT It has to be said that Easyjet’s cabin crew is very friendly, and buying my own food, drink and newspaper at the airport before flying was no bother given how cheap the flight was.

PRICE A mid-week return in June from Easyjet’s website starts at £116.

CONTACT easyjet.com

Andrew Gough