Easyjet Budget Airline - Flight Report
| Easyjet is one of Europe's major budget airlines with an extensive route network which covers Europe as well as destinations in North Africa. Dave Smith writes a trip report on a recent flight from Easyjet's hub at Luton to Amsterdam Schiphol in the Netherlands. |
Flight: London Luton to Amsterdam
Pre-flight: Arriving at London Luton airport at 1310 for the 1525 flight, check-in was quick and easy (less than 5 minutes waiting) with hardly any queues and plenty of desks open. I had paid an extra £3.99 during the online booking to check one piece of baggage. Going upstairs to departures, it was equally quick getting through the security screening.
It seems Luton was not too busy at that time of day - however I have been there when it is packed with travellers.
The departures side area contains a number of shops and places to eat / drink and some seats have views of the airfield. It is a pleasant enough spot to spend an hour waiting.
Around 35 minutes before departure the gate number came up onto the screens. Walk to the gate was about 5 minutes.
Passengers
were then segregated as follows:
Row 'SB' (Speedy Boarding) - passengers can
pay a supplement (£5.50) to get through the gate first and theoretically
be first to board the plane. (Although if a bus is taking you to the aircraft
you have paid to be first on the bus!) Passengers with small children also queue
here.
Remaining passengers are divided into rows A and B depending on your
check-in sequence number.
Flight: Boarding is from both front and back doors and is free seating. In my experience with easyjet this can be a bit of a scrum but today wasn't too bad. My seat was on one of the exit rows and seat pitch was very good. Standard easyjet pitch is around 29"-30" which can feel a little cramped for taller people, especially on the longer flights. Load factor on today's Amsterdam flight was about 85% and I had an empty seat next to me.
The safety briefing was done clearly including a pre-recorded audio version for Dutch speakers.
Push back was at 1535 and we were airborne (westerly direction) at 1543 with Canary Wharf tower in London easily visible shortly after take-off. We made a 180 degree turn north of Hemel Hempstead and started flying eastwards, passing over London Stansted airport and then out to the North Sea. Weather was fine but a little windy.
We soon began our descent into Amsterdam Schiphol and landed at 1728 local time (Amsterdam being 1 hour ahead of UK time). The plane reached the gate within 5 minutes.
Post Flight: Sitting at the exit seat meant being one of the last to leave the plane. There were some queues at passport control (5 minutes walk from the gate) as there was only one desk opened. However a second desk was opened after a few minutes which speeded things up.
Luggage was waiting as I arrived at the carousel (well done Menzies) and I was at the Schiphol train station a few minutes after that.
Verdict: All in all for a budget airline Easyjet does things in an efficient manner.
Budget Airline Rating 8/10.
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