Late on the evening of 29th December I flew back from Jersey to Gatwick on easyJet having arrived in Jersey about a week previously on British Airways. We arrived at the airport about an hour before our flight was due to depart, one of the many advantages of flying from smaller airports being that they are small and easy to navigate, meaning you need to leave less time between arriving and your departure time than at larger airports. After a short queue at bag drop we moved on through security. Here my bag unpacking became a bit hectic, with me requiring, 4 trays to put all my stuff in, luckily however security was very quiet at this time, allowing me to take my time with it.
 |
| easyJet A320 that I flew back to London on |
Straight after getting through security we were off to our gate, where in the queue, ground staff were trying to take bags off people due to them having too many cabin bags on this flight. For me this is currently one of the biggest issues with short haul flying. I understand that's there simply is not enough space on the plane for everyone to put a bag in the bins overhead, however the ways in which that airlines deal with this I find incredibly frustrating. The way easyJet do it I find the most frustrating, offering cabin space on a first come, first served basis, forcing passengers to surrender their bags at the gate with no warning until they get there. For me this system is impractical for passengers as different passengers may require to keep their bag with them. Furthermore in the past having had our bag taken off us, there were over passengers in the gate area with bags that are clearly over sized, which I found frustrating having made sure that our cabin bags are of the correct size. Personally I prefer the policies over airlines adopt, for example British Airways when I have flown on them in the past have operated a blanket policy, taking away large cabin bags from all passengers, which whilst still annoying does not leave you feeling that you have been discriminated against in any way. Even the Ryanair policy of charging passengers to take a bag on board I would find preferable, as at least it gives a warning that you're bag will not be staying with you for the flight.
 |
| Boarding by the ramp at the front of the aircraft |
However we got through into the gate area with our bags, where after standing around for about 10 minutes we were allowed to board our plane. Our plane back to the mainland UK was an easyJet Europe A320, painted in a special livery as it was easyJet's 250th Airbus aircraft. For boarding, as Jersey is a small regional airport, was done by steps at both the front and back of the aircraft. However what Jersey airport has introduced in recent years is ramps for the front of the aircraft, which is a beneficial and when getting on and off the aircraft, as these are easier to walk up and down than the steps. However as we were in the back half of the plane, we got on by the conventional steps at the back of the plane. Once onboard I was impressed by the interior, fitted with new skimmer seats with fabric that honestly reminded me of car seats. Also once in my seat I found that I had slightly less legroom than onboard the British Airways flight from a week earlier, giving little room to move around in the seat.
 |
| Interior on the easyJet A320 |
Soon however we were being pushed back for our flight back to Gatwick. After the short taxi to the runway we were taking off straight away, and we were soon up into the low lying clouds with the airport within a matter of seconds of leaving the ground. During the flight I read the inflight magazine, the highlight being for me a feature comparing easyJet's newest A321neo and Santa's Sleigh.
 |
| Article in easyJet's inflight magazine |
However soon we were approaching Gatwick. The landing itself was a bit hard but we were soon taxiing back to the domestic gates at Gatwick's north terminal. Here we were attached to a jet bridge at the front of the aircraft, but also usefully, an extra set of steps at the back of the plane, meaning that getting off the plane was greatly sped up, and with us sitting about dead in the centre of the plane, we were about the last to get off the plane from the back. Getting off at the back also came with the added benefit of meaning that we were able to walk on the tarmac for a little bit, seeing the aircraft around us, before walking back up the steps inside the terminal. Here we had to walk through a maze of white indistinguishable corridors to the baggage reclaim, where we had to wait about another 10 minutes or so for our bags to arrive. However once we got them we were soon out of the terminal going to the rail between the two terminals to pick up our car which had been left at the south terminal after we had flown out from there on British Airways.
 |
| easyJet A319 at Gatwick Airport |
So after experiencing both British Airways and easyJet on this route I can confidently say that there is virtually no difference between the two airlines. Both operate the same planes, flying from the same airport with effectively the same cabin service. The main difference on this route and indeed on most European routes where British Airways and easyJet fly in competition in from Gatwick was price. Our flight out on British Airways cost about £50 per person whereas our flight back on easyJet only cost about £10 each (Which is about as any flight I think it is possible to find). However this time British Airways would have been the cheapest option flying out to Jersey after paying for baggage on easyJet. However I would say that beyond this British Airways offers a slightly better product, flying out of the South Terminal at Gatwick which I much prefer to the North terminal and also which is more convenient if you are going to or from the airport by train, as the station is located in the South Terminal. Furthermore the slightly extra bit of legroom on British Airways could come in a bit useful when flying on flights that are a bit longer as it would allow you to move around a little bit more.
 |
| British Airways A319 |
Comments
Post a Comment