Flybe to fly LHR-Scotland?

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Viewing 14 posts - 31 through 44 (of 44 total)

  • HighlandTraveller
    Participant

    Has anyone else travelling EDI or ABZ-LHR noticed that the new FlyBe routes are timed around 2 Hours or 2 Hours 15! This must be because of the Q400? Suspect I would rather pay a little extra and be there half an hour beforehand with BA, but others may feel differently. I would have thought a turbo prop will struggle on the route?


    FDOS_UK
    Participant

    It seems odd that a Q400 (which is a relatively swift beast, similar to a Avro RJ) would take so much longer than a jet on a short sector.

    I wonder if there is some schedule padding going on?


    TominScotland
    Participant

    Interesting that BT’s report features a picture of an Embraer aircraft rather than the Q400 that will operate these routes – subtly misleading or casual journalism?


    AMcWhirter
    Participant

    There definitely is schedule padding. Check the schedules and you’ll more time is allowed for the flights to, rather than from, LHR.

    But these long timings show just how much airline schedules have been padded over the years.

    When I first started flying LHR-EDI with BEA back in the late 1960s the airline allowed 80 mins for a Vickes Vanguard (a noisy 4-engined turbo-prop) whereas today with the 2-engined Q400 (which is supposed to be one of the faster turbo-props) Flybe is allowing as much as 120 mins.

    BEA may have allowed a little longer for its Vanguard flights into LHR but I am sure it wasn’t more than 5 mins.

    Incidentally, when BEA introduce jets on the route (initially with Comet 4Bs) the flight times fell to 50/55 mins.

    What a change to today’s padding.


    JohnHarper
    Participant

    Oh yes, flight times of yesteryear!

    When I first flew between LHR-MME on a British Midland BAC1-11 the time was 40 minutes with about thirty in the air. The nearest comparison now is LHR-NCL with an average time of 1hr 20 or double!


    canucklad
    Participant

    I’ve just booked flights for next week on this route, so will report back on the padding,service and overall experience.
    God to competition back on the route too.
    FlyBe was a full £100+ cheaper than BA’s HBO fares,including a supplement for a checked bag .


    AMcWhirter
    Participant

    canucklad – It’ll be good to have some feedback. I wonder how many passengers will be making connections at LHR ?

    I see that Emirates has now secured permission to place its code on Flybe’s service to both Edinburgh and Aberdeen … two destinations which it does not serve non-stop from Dubai.


    openfly
    Participant

    Does Flybe still charge a horrendous £5.50 per person per sector for credit card payment?!


    AMcWhirter
    Participant

    A traveller who took the inaugural EDI-LHR service yesterday reported that the full two hours was needed for the flight.

    There was a 30 mins ATC hold (later reduced to 20 mins) over LHR.

    Eventually the lightly-loaded Q-400 landed more or less on time. Passengers then had to disembark down stairs followed by a 5 mins bus transfer from the apron into T2.


    canucklad
    Participant

    That’s annoying, I was scheduled to be on that flight, but business dictated that I spend the weekend in London. Would have been my first inaugural flight experience, I wonder if the passengers got any goodies or memento’s.
    Looking forward to T2 and the flight home on Wednesday night though.

    Incidentally I also missed the inaugural flight of the 777 from Frankfurt to Chicago too, taking the d flight the day after.


    Window-seat
    Participant

    Just watched a FlyBe Q400 take off after taxing long side a 773 – a very strange site at LHR.


    AMcWhirter
    Participant

    canucklad – In fact my posting was somewhat confusing.

    The official inaugural flight took place this morning from Edinburgh. It was attended mainly by Scottish media and was reported to be 100 per cent full.

    But Flybe’s first flight on the route was on Sunday morning and that was lightly loaded.

    In other news, I see that Flybe has been fined £70,000 for sending millions of junk emails.

    http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2017-03-27/flybe-fined-for-sending-millions-of-unwanted-emails/


    canucklad
    Participant

    Morning Alex
    Well that news makes me feel even worse, how many times can you say you’ve flown on a service before it’s officially started.
    Then again, I wonder how much of that 100% were made up of champagne swilling journalists on a Monday morning junket, no offence intended BT crew : )


    canucklad
    Participant

    My FlyBe LHR-EDI experience (BE2108 18.20- 20.00)

    Checking In
    Not a great start as I gave up trying to find and download my boarding pass on to the normally reliable app. Oh well, I had to drop my bag off anyway.

    T2
    First time I’d been in T2 and was both impressed and disappointed at the same time. Not sure what I expected, but to me, it’s just another “anywhere in the world” airport experience.
    Due to its compactness I found the 2 FlyBe desks easy enough, didn’t have a wait and although the lass was clearly learning the ropes I was processed quickly, and was issued with my boarding pass.
    Be warned that photo ID is required, unlike BA and I didn’t have my passport with me as I hadn’t made it up the road at the weekend. Fortunately my works security pass was enough and noticing the lanyard, she even commented on how much she enjoyed my company and how lucky I must be, working for whom I work for. Exchanging smiles I was on my way to security.

    Security
    Why bother with Fast Track, through in less than 5 minutes, including having a chuckle at the security officer chasing down an errant toddler who wasn’t too enamoured at having to navigate the x-ray machine and then the full body machine. He did this with humour and patience as he herded his own equivalent of an unhappy feline. Who says they don’t have a sense of humour or lack personality : )

    Passport Control
    Passing security I was then asked for my passport, stating I was only flying to EDI, the officer, loudly remembered and reminded his colleague that FlyBe where now in residence at T2, and so I was ushered on my way.

    No lounge access to a lounge, so slummed it in the “Gorgeous Kitchen Bar”. £10 for the equivalent of a pint of cider and part of the bargain, Heathrow want to charge me for Wi-Fi too. Ahhh, the joys of luxury travel.

    Departing
    Left for the gate 10 minutes before gate closure time (17.50) , heading downstairs I found myself in that depressing place, where there’s no facilities, and one could assume you were at Milton Keynes bus station, if wasn’t for the jetliners nose scratching at the window. Anyway bus boarding happened quite quickly thereafter and after my face was scanned I and my works id checked (no comments this time) I was on my way aboard the aircraft spotter’s bus.

    On-board the aircraft ,I’d say it was about 75% full and after the 2nd bus appeared with the last of the passengers the person sitting in 5C moved into the empty row in front leaving me ample room for the flight ahead . having flown BA a couple of weeks before I must say that the seat pitch and the 2X2 seating are a luxury in comparison. We left 5 minutes early, taxied past the Concorde at BA’s base. Comment to follow!! . And our little plane was airborne 10 minutes later.
    The flight was smooth, and the 2 for 8 quid perfectly acceptable bottles of white wine was just as smooth.

    Arrival & Padding
    We landed in EDI at 19.35 and after along taxi deplaned with thank you chocolate in hand nearer quarter to 8 . Now my real only grumble We were then bussed to the terminal, this usually means getting dropped off in the vicinity of baggage re-claim, but our driver must reckoned on us needing some exercise, because he backtracked on himself and dropped us ½ down the new pier, a real trek back to the reclaim. Why, only the EDI authorities will know!!

    In summary
    I truly hope Fly Be give this a better go than a bearded man patronizingly appearing in a kilt and then disappearing just as fast. I found the service had a bit of a LCC feel to it, but then that’s what FlyBe are. As for the incumbent airline on the route, I’m afraid they sum themselves up nicely with the Concorde outside their maintenance base. It’s now become a sad metaphor for BA, desperate to hang onto its glory days by flaunting a once great but now redundant piece of kit!

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