This review is coming very late as I have been back in Hong Kong for some time now, just pondering on whether to post this or not. But here we go. I went for a short day trip to Belfast City so I can see the location that has been decided for my dear friends memorial bench in Bangor. I was in the UK and have no idea when I will next be in that part of the world again so I pulled the trigger and went. The flights were both operated for Aer Lingus by Emerald Air on their ATR72-600.
The first flight from Leeds Bradford to George Best Airport was EI3671 which departed Leeds at 8:30 am. If this was for a longer trip I would have booked the later flight but given I was landing at 9:40 am on the 16th of July and leaving Belfast at 6:50 am on the 17th of July the early flight was a necessity.
The aircraft in the picture is the one that took me from Leeds to Belfast, Emerald Air’s G-CMJL. It was a small yet powerful beast! Boarding for this flight was right on time and I think we actually ended up getting in the air early! The ground staff were very organised and split the boarding queue into 2 sections, the front of the plane and the back. Because the ATR72-600 board from the back, the front board first then the back.
I was sat in seat 9A, right next to the engine so I managed to get some nice shots of the engine in each of my pictures as we descended into Belfast. This specific shot was as we skirted round the coast past the city of Bangor. There was no meal on this flight hence the lack of picture of one, but on such a short flight that was not needed. I was happy with my breakfast at Greggs before takeoff.
This was a picture that I collected while on final approach. What I do find funny is that they really want to make it clear that it is not Aer Lingus operating the flight. On every single branded item from the safety card stickers, to the seat head rest, to the badge on the cabin crew and even the boarding passes. It all said “(operated by Emerald Air)” under Aer Lingus. And what I found most amusing was that at the end of every single announcement no matter what it was for “on this Aer Lingus Regional flight operated by Emerald Air”.
After a stay in Belfast of less than 24 hours I was back on the go with Emerald Air’s ATR72-600, G-CMJN, operating as EI3670 taking me back to Leeds at the crack of dawn for my brothers graduation. This flight could have used some food given it left the ground at 6:50. But fortunately because I only had a carry-on I could arrive at George Best airport only 1 hour before. My hotel were kind enough to give me a breakfast bap and a muffin so I was quite pleased with this.
Just thought a picture of us cloud surfing over the Irish Sea was a nice add on as I closed out this topic tbh.
Now to the important stuff, the rating!
Ratings
Seat Comfort: 2 out of 5
Now this might be seen as unfair because it is a smaller plane, but my knees were in the back of the plastic seat cover in front. This was without something under the seat in front decreasing space. This meant that I was actually quite uncomfortable but given the flight was short it did not matter an insane amount. But when I stood up I definitely had the seats design imprinted on my legs for a little.
Staff Service: 5 out of 5
I had to pick up my boarding pass in Leeds as I for some reason could not get my phone boarding pass to work. But the woman at the front desk was very lovely and printed it off and sent me on my way in a matter of seconds. I did not have to do this on the return as I got it to finally work. Every Aer Lingus/ Emerald Air staff member I met on my trip had a big grin and was extremely nice and patient. I did not have much interaction as there was no food and I had no check in bags, but definitely made me feel warm and welcome!
Efficiency 5 out of 5: The instructions from the crew and ground staff were extremely clear and easy, I was in out of the arrival airport on both flights within 10 mins as I had no check in bags, but even some of the passengers with bags were out before me. There was no long periods of unneeded waiting or delays on either end. All in all I was very impressed!
What do you think, would you give this airline a chance in the future?
- Yes
- No