London-Belfast, business class
FIRST IMPRESSIONS I arrived at Heathrow Terminal 1 at 1600 for my 1725 flight to Belfast City Airport. The Bmi check-in area is located immediately after the entrance to the terminal, and there are dozens of self-service kiosks for economy passengers. As I was travelling in business class, I checked in using the kiosks in the premium area (although to be honest it didn't make much difference as both areas had plenty of spare kiosks) – premium customers can also choose to check in at a counter if they want to. There was no fast-track security in the domestic section of departures, and the five long queues looked like they would take ages to get through, but they moved remarkably quickly and I was airside within 15 minutes of arriving at the terminal.
THE LOUNGE The Diamond Club lounge is located just past Gate 2 (where my flight BD90 was leaving from) – it is a large area with three snack counters (crisps, biscuits, soft and alcoholic drinks), plenty of seating space, several newspaper and magazine racks, a bank of internet connections and a business corner with fax and printer. The flight was called from the lounge at 1715.
BOARDING As we were boarding the captain advised that there would be a delay due to congestion at the airport. Coats were taken in a busy business class (economy was also nearly full), and we took off just before 1800.
THE FLIGHT I was sitting in seat 2A in a business class section consisting of three rows in a 2-2 configuration. Food and beverage orders were taken as soon as the seat belt sign was extinguished – main choices were broccoli and potato bake or chicken in black bean sauce, accompanied by a "Food on the go" box with vacuum-packed sliced fruit and a chocolate bar. There is no in-flight entertainment on such a short flight, except for Bmi's monthly Voyager magazine.
ARRIVAL We landed at 1900, having caught up most of our delay at Heathrow, and quickly disembarked into George Best Belfast City airport.
Belfast-London, economy class
FIRST IMPRESSIONS Located just a couple of miles from the city centre, the recently renamed George Best City airport is the closest of the two Belfast airports (the other being Belfast International airport – see "Getting there: other options" below). I arrived at 1610 for my 1740 flight, in hindsight far too early as within ten minutes I had checked in using a self-service machine and passed through a deserted security check. There is a café, bar, newsagent and duty free shop airside (and another couple of cafés landside), and just one departure lounge with four "doors" – my flight BD91 was leaving from Door B.
BOARDING The flight was called at 1720, which just happened to coincide with Chelsea scoring a last-minute goal in the FA Cup Final (which was showing in the airside bar) – as a result there was a certain amount of reluctance for passengers to board, but the stewardess at the door remained cheerful throughout and the flight was boarded and took off at 1750.
THE FLIGHT Food and beverage on Bmi short-haul flights is on a paid-for basis, with snacks such as sandwiches and paninis available from £3.50, and soft and alcoholic beverages also on sale (£1.75 for a cup of tea). The exception to this is Gold, Silver and Blue plus Diamond Club members, who are all entitled to a complimentary snack and drink.
ARRIVAL We landed on time at 1855, and swiftly disembarked. A mixture of having no checked luggage, and the fact that there was no passport control due to it being a domestic flight, meant I was standing on the Piccadilly underground platform by 1910. Bmi is the only airport plying the Belfast to London Heathrow route, important for onward connections for long-haul passengers.
VERDICT A good service in both cabins, and Belfast City is an extremely convenient airport to navigate and get to and from. Complimentary in-flight meals for premium cardholders is also a bonus, although most Gold and Silver members are probably going to be flying up front anyway. Bmi flies this route eight times daily on weekdays.
PRICE Typical return fares from £92 for economy class and from £364 for business class.
CONTACT flybmi.com.
GETTING THERE: OTHER OPTIONS
Belfast is served by all of the scheduled London airports. The International airport is around 30-40 minutes from the city centre (the Airport Express 300 bus service runs every ten minutes during peak times and costs £6 one way or £9 return), while City airport is just ten minutes from town (£1.30 single on the 600 service, or around £7 by taxi).
London City to Belfast City
Air France (branded as Citijet): three times daily on weekdays, typical return fare from £115;
airfrance.co.uk.
Gatwick to Belfast City
Flybe: five times daily on weekdays (four times on Tuesdays), return from £90; flybe.com.
Gatwick to Belfast International
Easyjet: five times daily on weekdays, return from £60; easyjet.co.uk.
Stansted to Belfast City
Air Berlin: twice daily on weekdays, return from £49; airberlin.com.
Stansted to Belfast International
Easyjet: five times daily on weekdays, typical return from £54.
Luton to Belfast International
Easyjet: five times daily on weekdays, return fares from £50.
Bmi, Easyjet and Flybe also ply routes between Belfast and various regional UK mainland airports including Southampton, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness. Other regional carriers include Manx2 from Blackpool (manx2.com) and Jet2 from Leeds Bradford (jet2.com).
