EUJet - New kid on the block. Use it or lose it!
Written: Oct 21 '04 (Updated Jun 24 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good value. Convenient for some. A most relaxed way to travel by air.
Cons: They may struggle to survive in this cut-throat market.
The Bottom Line: Great value for money, the travelling experience was comfortable and stress free. Support them, as it would be nice to see this venture succeed!
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| andymcf's Full Review: EUjet |
There's a new kid on the block in the British budget aviation market.
Flying out of Manston airport in Kent, EUJet is the latest player in this very competitive market and, since their main operating hub is about half-an-hour's drive from where I live, I decided to give them a try for my latest trip to Amsterdam. I'm very glad I did. It's exactly what I'd been waiting for. Since originally posting this review, I've flown with them, with five friends, a second time - to Edinburgh.
Manston is, I have to say, something of a schizophrenic airport. Sometimes it's just "Manston". Sometimes it's "London Manston" (and London is about 60 miles away, incidentally). And then sometimes it's "Kent International". Whatever it's calling itself on a particular day, however, this former Royal Air Force base is close to Ramsgate in Kent, and is located just about as far South East as you can get in the United Kingdom. Although this review is about an airline, the very existence of the airport in its current form is down to the introduction of EUJet's service, so I thought that it should form an integral part of the review. The airport and the airline are inextricably linked. I believe, in fact, that "Plane Station" - the owners of Manston airport - have already purchased the fledgling airline.
Getting to the airport is fine if you're driving and, at £5 per day, you almost certainly won't find cheaper car parking at any other UK airport. Public transportation is a little more tricky, although coaches and taxis can take you to or from Ramsgate, where there's a rail link to London. Notice that I didn't say a "decent" rail link, though!
Having parked your car, the terminal building, such as it is, is about a 100m walk away and check-in proved to be a breeze. One thing that sets EUJet apart from other UK budget airlines, in my humble opinion, is that when you book (on-line) you can actually select your seat allocation. There's absolutely no mad scramble for seats when you board the aircraft and if the seating allocation is important to you (as it certainly is for me), then this airline is an absolute winner. It's utterly civilised! You have to check-in by a minimum of 30 minutes before departure (40 minutes at other airports), and I found the whole process to be relaxed and efficient - especially as I was travelling with only hand luggage.
Security procedures were efficient and after "bleeping" the metal detector, getting frisked, and having a lighter and some matches confiscated, I was in the departure hall. There's a shop - although you can't buy most of the things if you're flying within the EU! There's a cafe / bar. There's a smoking room with some fruit machines. And there's clear passenger information regarding departures, arrivals and weather conditions. There's also decent viewing of the apron and the aircraft waiting to fly you to your destination.
EUJet were flying me to Amsterdam today, but their destinations are various and include: Jersey in the Channel Islands; Dublin and Shannon in Ireland; Girona, Madrid, Malaga and Murcia in Spain; Faro in Portugal; Toulose and Nice in France; Prague in the Czech Republic; Turin in Italy; Geneva and Zurich in Switzerland and Salzburg in Austria. All in all, a very tempting variety of European destinations. Domestic flights are also available to Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Comprehensive information about each destination is available on their web site, www.eujet.com.
The flight was called on time and we passed through the boarding gate and were led to the waiting aircraft by Angie, a friendly member of the cabin crew, who engaged me in pleasant conversation as we walked to the 'plane. I have to say that I was extremely impressed by both the outward and return crews. Efficient, friendly and professional are all adjectives that spring readily to mind!
The EUJet fleet comprises 107-seat, single-class Fokker-100 aircraft, with rear-mounted twin engines. I considered using some pun about these "Great Fokkers" but almost decided against it - so there you go! The cabin interiors are clean and feature comfortable leather seats in a 2-3 configuration. I had reserved emergency access seats on both flights, so legroom was ample.
There is not a lot of traffic at Manston, so it was not long before we were on our way. To quote a newly-learned expression from a new friend, "Hot diggity dog!" We set off, hell-for-leather, down the runway and entered a near vertical climb, as we commenced what was to be a 35 minute flight. Superb stuff for aviation freaks, but I think that they actually have a policy of trying to get the 'planes as high as possible, as soon as possible, in order to minimise the number of noise complaints from local residents.
We climbed and we climbed. We then appeared to do something of a nose dive, but I somehow felt in safe hands and, as I've said, arrived in Amsterdam 35 minutes later. There's one particular runway at Schiphol that is a somewhat tedious 15-minute taxi from the terminal. I landed there last time I flew there, with British Airways - and I landed there this time, too! Ah well - at least our arrival was in time.
My return journey was delayed slightly due to a fuelling problem that clearly got the captain sufficiently disgruntled as to actually name and shame the fueller concerned! We eventually took off and experienced one hell of a turbulent flight home. Nobody's fault, of course, but I dislike turbulence with a passion. However, I'd got chatting to some fellow passengers and managed to take my mind off the roller-coaster ride.
As I've said, EUJet is a budget airline and my return flight cost £49.50 including all taxes and charges - which is a very reasonable price. They also had an offer on, whereby 100,000 seats were available for £1 each way (plus taxes), but these prices were not available for my particular flight timings.
Being a budget airline, the in-flight catering comes at a price. For a short flight, you can't expect much but the sandwich I had on my second flight, from Edinburgh, was well worth the money.
All in all, I am very, very positive in my support for this new airline. How long they can last is another matter. Their location, whilst extraordinarily convenient for the likes of me, probably gives them a fairly limited catchment area - they are, after all, competing against the likes of London Gatwick, London Heathrow (to a lesser extent), London Stansted (probably their major rival) and London Luton, effectively ring-fencing them to Kent and parts of Sussex. This was a 107-seater aircraft. There were only 30 passengers outbound and 42 inbound. Worse still, the flight leaving simultaneously to Madrid had just 11 passengers. Low cost airlines surely cannot operate on those figures so, as they say, "Use it - or lose it!".
If they're still running, I shall definitely fly with them again when I have the chance.
I should add, I suppose, that they have had a few teething problems and the local papers report that a recent return flight from Jersey was cancelled, and that the passengers were told to make their own way home - at some expense. Had I been booked on that flight, I would not be so charitable in my review. Let's hope that - and the way it was dealt with by EUJet was a one-off problem.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
andymcf
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Member: Andrew McFall
Location: Canterbury, Kent, England
Reviews written: 74
Trusted by: 132 members
About Me:
Maths teacher. Father of young Josh. See below!
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