bmiFriday: Welcome to Sunny Norway (LHR-BGO)



At the beginning of the Summer season, bmi British Midland launched a load of new routes from LHR – to Bergen and Stavanger in Norway, Casablanca and Marrakech in Morocco and Basel in Switzerland (also from MAN). They’ve be using the newly found slots after BD dropped their flagship route (well, the route featuring BD 1) to Glasgow, leaving the route to BA.

In order to boost the initial numbers on the route, BD offered all of these route during a special bmiFriday sale. Their special offer for Bergen was GBP89 including tax, quite a lot less than their regular fares. To sweeten the bmiFriday deal, BD were offering lounge access in LHR (and MAN), which was pretty good.

Not long after I booked the flight for a weekend in early May I realised that the weekend would clash with a friends stag-do in Liverpool. Erugh. What to do? I decided to compromise, and spent Friday up in Liverpool (great city btw, with some awesome bars, although some memories are a bit hazy…), before getting a devastatingly early train (0748 IIRC) down to Euston, then the tube to LHR. Thankfully, First Class was the same price as Standard, so I had some space to sleep on the train. I arrived at LHR around 11am, so I had plenty of time to use the lounge.

I had checked in online, but needed to print my boarding pass. Unfortunately, BDs IT doesn’t extend to this possibility, so I had to queue to the bag drop desk (the SSCI machines couldn’t deal with it) to get my boarding card – not impressive. Secutiy was fast, and before too long I was in the lounge. Despite my kip on the train, I was feeling really quite unwell thanks to the cheap Liverpudlian lager, so made a beeline for the shower.


The shower attendant was very friendly, asking if I needed any amenities, then asking me after my shower if the water pressure was ok. Thumbs up! I was feeling a bit more alive now, so I decided to raid the “buffet”. There was a good selection of sandwiches, along with nuts, crisps, fruit and salad.


To my delight, my usual chaise-longue hidden in the corner of the lounge (with fantastic views of the runway) was unoccupied. I managed to get a few shots, although not as many as I could have, as I was still feeling rather under the weather.





May 2011
London Heathrow (LHR) – Bergen Flesland (BGO)
bmi British Midland BD 551
Scheduled: 1425-1715 (1h50m)
Actual: 1441-1711 (1h30m)
A320 G-BDCE

After a very pleasant and relaxing time in the lounge, I headed down to gate 21 where boarding was soon announced.


I was happy to see that we were in the unusual situation of not having a jet-bridge, but not being bussed either.


I was sort of surprised to see the cabin resembling that of Bas. I’d managed to get one of the window seat just behind the Business Class cabin, which were the same size as in front of the cabin. The load was around 60%, mostly consisting of Norwegian, and what looked like a lot of Filipinos whom had connected from a TK flight.

The cabin crew (well, the cabin supervisor) were friendly and joking with the passengers. We took off a little late (can’t remember if there was a reason given) a quarter of an hour late into a cloudy sky. BAA seem to be making good progress on LHR East (or whatever they’re calling it).




Wembley Stadium


Unfortunately, I was feeling a bit peaky not long after we departed, so didn’t take many photos in flights. I was curious about what would be offered aboard. The only times I’d flown with BD in Y before (to DUB and CDG), there was only BOB. LH seems to be wearing off on them, however, as service was almost identical to their older brother (and BA). Free unlimited drinks and snacks. A very tasty tomato and pesto sandwich was served. I took a G&T and a water with the sandwich, after which I fell asleep.

Approach to Bergen. I was very fortunate to have hit a warm (+25C) weekend. Not long after I left, the temperature dropped to their usual 13C and rain.


Central Bergen


BGO terminal




The plane as viewed from the airport bus


A local cyclist as pointed out by the driver


I was trying to Bergen on a budget… I know, anything to do with Norway and ‘budget’ don’t fit in the same sentence, unless budget is proceeded by ‘enormous’. As such, I was staying in the Montana Youth Hostel. At GBP 35 for a dorm bed, it wa pretty pricey. On the plus side, it might have had the best shower I’ve ever had.


View from the hostel


On the Sunday morning, I took the cable car up Mt. Fløyen, which has some fantastic views over Bergen. The views of the top of the mountain itself were also amazing. Don’t miss it if you’re in town.





Bergen City Centre


A fascinating (far more so than the main part of the museum) temporary exhibit on the use of animal bones in the Bryggen Musuem


UNESCO Bruggen


Local people in local outfits


Welcome to Norway, home of the World’s most expensive beer. 400ml, €10. Eeek! On the plus side, the weather was gorgeous, and the views were lovely.


Some nice sea food


The SAS bus back to the airport


Departures was very busy when I arrived at the airport. as is so often the case, there was no queue for the SSCI machines, so I got my boarding pass very quickly. After some other people saw me using them, they defected from the long lines for the desks.






This evening’s departures. As you can see, there are three London departures pretty close together.


The departures area was packed, and the queue for security took a good twenty minutes, by far the longest I’ve taken anywhere in quite a while. Thankfully, the international departures area was far less busy. I had a browse though the duty free shop, and bought a litre of Norwegian vodka for €13 – not bad.

G-BDCG on stand



The nice departure lounge


May 2011
Bergen Flesland (BGO) – London Heathrow (LHR)
bmi British Midland BD 552
Scheduled: 1915-2020 (2h05m)
Actual: 1917-2002 (1h45m)
A320 G-BDCG



The load on this evening’s flight was low, at around 40%. Bizarrely, a lot of passengers were travelling in couples, and yet none (as far as I could see) moved from their allocated seats (either aisle and middle or middle and window) to have the middle seat empty. This time, the aircraft was more BD style, with no separate business class. The seats felt a but more comfortable though.


Norwegian to CPH next to us



BGO terminal


Lots of helicopters in Norway


You don’t even need to leave the plane to enjoy the Norwegian scenery






Unlike the previous day, I was feeling much more fortified and ready to enjoy the free bar.



In-flight






There were some beautiful cloud formations on approach. The views over London were brilliant – shame the light quality wasn’t great





Kings Cross


Fitzrovia and Regent’s Park


Central London


Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery


Buckingham Palace


Piccadilly and the lights of Piccadilly Circus


Knightsbridge, Chelsea and Hyde Park


Royal Albert Hall


And we’re back at Wembley


We touched down nearly twenty minutes early to a relatively empty Terminal 1








So, bmi did pretty well. The good value fare, combined with lounge access made for some pretty good flights. Bergen was brilliant, thanks in no small part, to the beautiful and uncharacteristic weather. Pricey, yes, but a great place to be.

Questions and comments welcome

Good report! Nice to see a report on your trip to Bergen. Good photos of the city; looks like an interesting place to visit!

Thanks for sharing!

Matthew (767747)

Hey Gabriel, great report!

It's interesting to see how BD have gone from being a LCC'ish airline, to a proper quality airline. The free lounge access was a nice touch in my opinion. Nice that they let you use the showers, despite flying short haul. IIRC, do BA only allow long haul pax to use their shower facilities?

Service onboard looked very generous, free booze in Y is great. Not many airlines offer that these days.

Your pics of Bergen looked lovely! I've been these myself a couple of times, but I haven't really had a chance to explore the city, since I've mostly stayed in the outskirts. I really want to go back there now, after reading your report  

Thanks for sharing!

//Jonas

Thanks for the great pics of Bergen. I always wanted to go to Norway. Stavenger also seems to be a great place to visit for a few days.

Hi gabrielchew,

A good introduction to a new bmi service. Bergen looks to be a very attractive city, set in some stunning scenery, well captured in your photos. Another place to add to my "todo" list.

Thanks for sharing,
Quokka

Great trip report, thanks for sharing. Gotta love travelling with a hangover  

I had the e-mails about the bmiFriday offers and contemplated trying out this route at the time, but didn't in the end. Bergen looks like a fantastic place to visit, so I may have to try it out some time soon.

Prices are crazy tho! I've just been to Sweden and found it similar.


Matt

Hi Gab,

A very nice report on your short trip to Bergen. Bergen is a very nice city, very beautiful and cosy, but then again many towns in Norway are like that. BMI looks to be heading into the right direction with their news masters, but I still find their overall lack of strategy very discomforting.

I have two trips to Norway coming up within the next couple of months, to Trondheim and Bodö (to visit the Norwegian Aviation Museum), maybe some more as well if I find something nice (gotta love the 50% off summer Eurobonus campaign!).

Quoting gabrielchew (Thread starter): At the beginning of the Summer season, bmi British Midland launched a load of new routes from LHR – to Bergen and Stavanger in Norway, Casablanca and Marrakech in Morocco and Basel in Switzerland (also from MAN).

Don't forget TIP! They operated maybe two rotations on that route before all hell broke loose at Libya and the route had to be suspended...  

Quoting gabrielchew (Thread starter): In order to boost the initial numbers on the route, BD offered all of these route during a special bmiFriday sale. Their special offer for Bergen was GBP89 including tax, quite a lot less than their regular fares. To sweeten the bmiFriday deal, BD were offering lounge access in LHR (and MAN), which was pretty good.

That's a very nice deal, although I think you could score a cheap DY r/t for the same price, but that doesn't come with any lounge access nor free booze. I really need to schedule a flight on BMI ex-LHR now that I'm *G, I really want to check out that lounge.

Quoting gabrielchew (Thread starter): Despite my kip on the train, I was feeling really quite unwell thanks to the cheap Liverpudlian lager, so made a beeline for the shower.

Liverpudlian? Is that a real word?   Anyway nothing quite like having a nasty hangover while traveling...

Quoting gabrielchew (Thread starter): I managed to get a few shots,

Nice to see a Contact Air Fokker not throwing a mech!

Quoting gabrielchew (Thread starter): Approach to Bergen. I was very fortunate to have hit a warm (+25C) weekend.

You were very lucky, as the Norwegian weather, especially on these coastal cities is really a hit and miss.

Heading to POZ in Poland tomorrow, weather forecast shows sunny and 28 degrees through the weekend, me like  .

Quoting gabrielchew (Thread starter): A local cyclist as pointed out by the driver

LOL! Borat must have influenced this guy a lot!

Quoting gabrielchew (Thread starter): I was trying to Bergen on a budget… I know, anything to do with Norway and ‘budget’ don’t fit in the same sentence, unless budget is proceeded by ‘enormous’. As such, I was staying in the Montana Youth Hostel. At GBP 35 for a dorm bed, it wa pretty pricey.

Yes, exactly that. Norway is horribly expensive, I can't think of anything that would be affordable there. Maybe the hot dogs at convenience stores...

Quoting gabrielchew (Thread starter): The views of the top of the mountain itself were also amazing. Don’t miss it if you’re in town.

Yep, I went up there some years ago. Very pretty. Did you see the flames from the offshore oil platforms over the horizon? That was an amazing sight!

Quoting gabrielchew (Thread starter): Welcome to Norway, home of the World’s most expensive beer. 400ml, €10. Eeek! On the plus side, the weather was gorgeous, and the views were lovely.

That's Norway for you. But I was once charged 16 EUR for half a liter of beer in Paris, that remains the most expensive beer I've ever had!

Quoting gabrielchew (Thread starter): Some nice sea food

Looks good, but I dare not to even think about the cost. Did they have the fish merchants with the fresh catch of the day (including crabs in aquarium) at the marketplace near the Bryggen?

Quoting gabrielchew (Thread starter): Lots of helicopters in Norway

The operation to supply the offshore platforms is quite impressive. It's even heavier in Stavanger which is the real oil capital, they even have a dedicated FIDS at the airport for the platform departures.

Quoting gabrielchew (Thread starter): There were some beautiful cloud formations on approach. The views over London were brilliant – shame the light quality wasn’t great

Some very pretty, eerie shots there. Beautiful!

Quoting flywrite (Reply 5): Prices are crazy tho! I've just been to Sweden and found it similar.

Norway is about 50% more expensive than Sweden.

Great report with fantastic images of a route I didn't realise BMA operated!

Cheers,
Sam

Quoting lh4116 (Reply 2): Hey Gabriel, great report!

Quoting 767747 (Reply 1): Good report! Nice to see a report on your trip to Bergen.

Thanks!

Quoting 767747 (Reply 1): Good photos of the city; looks like an interesting place to visit!

yeah， Bergen is nice, but you need to hit it on a sunny weekend - not easy to do.

Quoting lh4116 (Reply 2): It's interesting to see how BD have gone from being a LCC'ish airline, to a proper quality airline. The free lounge access was a nice touch in my opinion. Nice that they let you use the showers, despite flying short haul. IIRC, do BA only allow long haul pax to use their shower facilities?

Shower access for both BA and BD is for everyone （with a silver of Gold card) irrespective of destination.

Quoting lychemsa (Reply 3): Thanks for the great pics of Bergen

Quoting Quokka (Reply 4): Bergen looks to be a very attractive city, set in some stunning scenery, well captured in your photos.

No problem! Glad you liked them

Quoting flywrite (Reply 5): Great trip report, thanks for sharing. Gotta love travelling with a hangover

Oh, it's awful travelling hungover!

Quoting flywrite (Reply 5): I had the e-mails about the bmiFriday offers and contemplated trying out this route at the time, but didn't in the end. Bergen looks like a fantastic place to visit, so I may have to try it out some time soon.

Give it a go before loads pick up and it gets busy, or loads don't materialise and it gets cancelled.

Quoting flywrite (Reply 5): Prices are crazy tho! I've just been to Sweden and found it similar.

I know, so expensive, but Norway is even pricier the SE.

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 6): BMI looks to be heading into the right direction with their news masters,

Eventually, after decades of struggle!

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 6): Don't forget TIP! They operated maybe two rotations on that route before all hell broke loose at Libya and the route had to be suspended...

I'd forgotten about TIP!

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 6): That's a very nice deal, although I think you could score a cheap DY r/t for the same price, but that doesn't come with any lounge access nor free booze. I really need to schedule a flight on BMI ex-LHR now that I'm *G, I really want to check out that lounge.

I like my free booze and lounge access! The BD lounge in LHR is very nice, better than the Star Gold lounge.

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 6): Liverpudlian? Is that a real word? Anyway nothing quite like having a nasty hangover while traveling...

Yes, it is a real word!

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 6): You were very lucky, as the Norwegian weather, especially on these coastal cities is really a hit and miss.

I know, I was so lucky

Quoting FlyingFinn76 (Reply 6): Quoting gabrielchew (Thread starter): Welcome to Norway, home of the World’s most expensive beer. 400ml, €10. Eeek! On the plus side, the weather was gorgeous, and the views were lovely. That's Norway for you. But I was once charged 16 EUR for half a liter of beer in Paris, that remains the most expensive beer I've ever had!

16EUR - ouch! Hope it tasted good!

Quoting elevate (Reply 7): Great report with fantastic images of a route I didn't realise BMA operated!

Yup, lots of new routes for BD!

Hi Gabriel

nice report! Interesting routing, that's for sure. When I read the title I expected the Emb145 on this route, not the Airbus.

Quoting gabrielchew (Thread starter): A320 G-BDCE

Quoting gabrielchew (Thread starter): A320 G-BDCG

Both are A319's.
Plus the regs are G-DBCE and -DBCG.

The citypics from Bergen look great, especially with this kind of weather. Can you imagine how dull it would be with rain and wind, a totally different view. I recently noticed that BGO (and SVG) have rather interesting airlinks with the UK, so I might look into this to fly on one of these routes also myself later this year.

Btw, that bicycle driver,... could've been in Amsterdam also:

Some naked people on a bicycle in Amsterdam picture

(it's a picture from the World Naked Bike Ride on June 10, 2011 in Amsterdam. The want to demonstrate this way and tell us the bike is a cheap, healthy and most importatant environmentally friendly way of transportation)

Regards
Eric

Quoting airbuseric (Reply 9): nice report!

Thanks Eric!

Quoting airbuseric (Reply 9): When I read the title I expected the Emb145 on this route, not the Airbus.

An E145 wold have been great, but alas, no!

Quoting airbuseric (Reply 9): Quoting gabrielchew (Thread starter): A320 G-BDCE Quoting gabrielchew (Thread starter): A320 G-BDCG Both are A319's. Plus the regs are G-DBCE and -DBCG.

Yes, you're quite right. Not sure why I put A320!

Quoting airbuseric (Reply 9): The citypics from Bergen look great, especially with this kind of weather. Can you imagine how dull it would be with rain and wind, a totally different view.

I think if it had been cold and raining, I wouldn't have enjoyed it much at all. TOo expensive to sit in a bar and drink!

Quoting airbuseric (Reply 9): Btw, that bicycle driver,... could've been in Amsterdam also: Some naked people on a bicycle in Amsterdam picture (it's a picture from the World Naked Bike Ride on June 10, 2011 in Amsterdam. The want to demonstrate this way and tell us the bike is a cheap, healthy and most importatant environmentally friendly way of transportation)

Nice photos!

Hi Gabriel!

Great tripreport with lots of great photos.
bmi is an airline i wish to try out rather sooner than later.
I'm visiting BGO in august, really looking forward to it after reading your TR!

Martin

great trip report , I was with my partner in Bergin last year during the winter and that was fantastic, but have to go in the ''summer'' time now looks just as great but prices from MAN are very expensive at the moment. I did one the other day £540.00 one way with BD! ..

Sorry, only just saw these replies

Quoting deltamartin (Reply 11): Great tripreport with lots of great photos.

Thanks!

Quoting deltamartin (Reply 11): bmi is an airline i wish to try out rather sooner than later.

Well, be sure to fly on one of the 'proper' routes with catering, not a domestic from LHR, or to Hanover or DUB, where it's BOB.

Quoting deltamartin (Reply 11): I'm visiting BGO in august, really looking forward to it after reading your TR!

Hope the weather is nice for you

Quoting zkojh (Reply 12): great trip report

Thanks!

Quoting zkojh (Reply 12): I was with my partner in Bergin last year during the winter and that was fantastic, but have to go in the ''summer'' time

Well, I think hitting 'summer' time is pretty hard. Lots of luck needed!

Nice trip report, thanks for sharing it with us. Glad you enjoyed BGO.

Quoting MSS658 (Reply 14): Nice trip report, thanks for sharing it with us.

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed reading it

Quoting MSS658 (Reply 14): Glad you enjoyed BGO.

Yup, Bergen was great - pricey, but beautifully situated