This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
A while ago, some silly sod thought it would be fun to be on the first VS flight from Manchester down to Heathrow and in due course, I booked my tickets. My trip started on the Saturday morning and I'll cover that below as a kind of Pearl and Dean before the main feature.
Having decided to skip the undoubted joys of taking the train up to Manchester on a Easter weekend with major engineering works, I drove up to Heathrow and took the BA flight instead. Leaving my car with Purple Parking Business on the A4 (old QPARK) the shuttle bus took me over to T5, or as I prefer now, Perry Oaks Terminal in memory of what use to be on that site. Some would say not much has changed...
Now, I'm not sure if it's just me or I'm unlucky, but every time I go through T5 everything seems to take twice as long as it needs to. OK, while T3 is no Chek Lap Kok or Narita for efficiency, everything does seem to move. T5 seems to take an age to get from the dark drop-off zone downstairs (come on guys, turn the lights up) right up to the departures area on the 3rd floor, to get through security, even getting a sandwich from Pret seems to take longer due to everything seemingly squeezed in, but I digress. I'd checked in on-line and used the mobile boarding card so just scanned the barcode, had my photo taken and was through. I still cannot get over how there is no checking of ID. Security was slow despite being quiet and as usual, I was behind someone with the worst BO, practically chewy. Once through, Pret for a sarnie for later and Starbucks for something immediate before sitting down at gate A11, which was conveniently announced as the gate I was leaving from.
A slight delay as the plane was late from Istanbul but boarding was swift and I was settled in seat 11A with no-one in 11B so a bit more room. Once up, the service was quick with a colourless liquid supplied and a small packet of 'Uncle Albert' crisps.
Flying time from wheels up to wheels down was 37 minutes and without any checked bags, it took about 15 minutes from gate by foot in some northern sunshine to the Hilton hotel as one of the bases for the night.
Skipping the night as what happens on V-Flyer socials, stays on V-Flyer socials although I can confirm that my rule of, where possible, avoid eating in airport hotels is a sound one...
Alarm went at 4.00 and setting it was made more challenging by the clock change 2 hours earlier and a nagging doubt whether iOS would play silly beggars. A quick wipe with a wet flannel and I was abusing the all-you-can-manage breakfast buffet. At 5am, a weary band wandered off through the chill to T3 to start todays adventure.
Most had checked in on-line, although the owner of SEQ1 was still a mystery, and had used the Passbook option for their boarding card. We walked past the check-in desks 19-22 although there was little sign of life apart from a couple of suggestively assembled balloon columns. Long queue to clear security but going by the amount of calls of passengers on certain flights to make themselves known, mostly down to the amount of flight leaving. Scanning was same as everywhere else and a couple of the group were chosen for additional checks such as the long-forgotten shoe circus.
Down the gate and with a little fleet footed action from me, I was first to the gate. There is the Escape lounge right by the gate for those AU members and those transferring to Upper but does not seem to accept guests at the moment. At the gate there were a couple of the MAN based long-haul crew meeting and greeting, along with handing out mini chocolate balls. There was also a table with orange juice, bubbles and pastries. The bubbles weren't Dom Perignon '53 but still a nice touch. I partook of a few nibble out of politeness and the travellers mantra of never turn down food. The gate area slowly filled up and while there were a few passengers clearly transferring to long-haul flights, I got the distinct impression that many were just doing the trip down and then straight back again.
For those wondering, not much in the way of hoopla, no SRB, no celebs being drafted in but some of the higher-ups from VS and a few hangers-on. I suspect there will be more fuss for either EDI or ABZ. Boarding was rapid enough and I was in 4D so no problems with overhead storage. The rest of the row stayed empty so no elbows to worry about.
The aircraft has no screens fitted so the safety demonstration was manual. fairly quick push-back and taxi with no water arches and a swift take-off. As others have mention, the service was a hot bacon ciabatta with was very hot for me, but the back bacon rather salty. The vegi option was a little pot of cornflakes. Drinks were the usual, tea, coffee, juice and for some, a miniature of something a little stronger. I stuck with tea. The actual service was swift for food but the drinks clearly take longer, combined with the crew trying to engage a bit with passengers meant they had to secure before everyone got a drink. A tweak is needed so you have 2 carts doing both rather than doing a food/drink split. I also think the crew underestimated just how short the flight actually is.
Flying time down as 46 minutes, but being LHR in the morning, we spent about 10 minutes or so in a holding over Chesham. Swift landing and on gate. When exiting, there are ground staff directing connecting AS long-haul passengers off the airbridge to the waiting bus. Everyone else heads to the terminal.
Overall the flight was a pleasant experience but apart from the bacon roll, no unique selling point to separate from any other internal flight and I have doubts about how long the bacon will last...
Summary and thoughts.
It's a brave move for VS going into the internal flight market but clearly there is need for some competition out there now and I do hope they can make a go of it and even expand to include places like Inverness and Newcastle and link to Gatwick too. shortfalls in the service can be put down to teething and I have no doubt will be rectified. Yes, it is a wet lease from Are Lingus, but apart from a few little signs, the livery and uniforms are pure VS so only the really geeky will notice or frankly, care.
For the Entertainment and Food & Drink ratings I have put a neutral 3* (while Pete comes up with a solution) as there is no N/A option for IFE and the food is more take it or leave' it' than a meal service.
Having said all the above, it was still a V-Flyer social so great to meet some new people along with the regulars. A shame some couldn't make it but we were thinking of them and a a few drinks had in their honour.
Thanks
Darren
Darren
