I had to go to Cork for the day and really wanted to try Aer Arann. I did look at Ryanair and they were €72 return incl taxes and Aer Arann was €120. I really didnt want to go Ryanair again so to me it was worth the extra . I checked in online the day before and it was so easy and fast.
I arrived at Dublin Airport at 7am after having taken the coach. I went to get some breakfast and then went through security. The airport was quite busy as it was the first week of the school holidays and everyone was heading away to the sun.
Security was cleared in 10 minutes and I decided to look at what AC were around. I headed to Pier A.
Aer Lingus's new A330 Reg: EI-DUZ
Anyone know whats going on at the tail???
DUZ meets JFK!!!
The flight was going to board from A14 . This is not a bad area and has lots of seating and internet stations. Much better than Ryanair's gate A600000!!!!LOL....
We boarded on time
As I boarded I was greeted by a friendly male crew . He was the only FA on this flight.
N272WA's private plane was parked by Pier D .
US Airways 757 parked at Pier C
Some DUB spotters
Time for take off.
A view of Dublin Port
After take off we were offered a choice of free Tea/Coffee/Sparkling water or still water. Also a copy of the Irish Indo. Other soft drinks and snacks were available for purchase. Alcohol is not allowed to be served on Irish flights over land (apparantly).
Some great views of Ireland .
Aer Lingus Smoke break
Time to head into the city centre.
The English Market.
After my meeting I took the bus back to Cork airport.
Time to hit my fav coffee house!!! Funny thing is they have a Starbucks at the airport but none in the city.
The old Cork Airport terminal
We boarded on time. The gate agent calls a main switch board to make all announcements.
As we boarded we were greeted by two female FA's who were very pleasant.
In no time we were on the runway . We had to wait for one plane to land before we could take off.
Then we zoomed down to the end of the runway to the ''turning circle'' and took off.
Cork City
We were offered the same as the outward flight but with a copy of the Evening Herald instead.
We landed on time and to my surprise EY was on the ground at the B gates.
Great to see Etihad on the boards. This is the best long haul airline in Dublin IMHO.
I loved RE and alot of my negative ideas about them have gone. They often have cancellations and delays but its mostly due to bad weather and their prop A/C in high winds. I would choose RE over FR on the ORK route in future even if it was more expensive. Cork airport is lovely and so stress free.
So thats it folks . Hope you liked it. Comments/suggestions/questions greatly received.
Rineanna From Ireland, joined Jan 2007, 872 posts, RR: 13 Reply 4, posted (2 years 5 months 2 days 18 hours ago) and read 1854 times:
Great report, the pictures are great too.
RE certainly have the best on board service of the Irish airlines bar WX.
I find that no alcohol over Ireland rule a bit strange. I wonder what the reason is behind it?
Quoting OA260 (Thread starter): Time to hit my fav coffee house!!! Funny thing is they have a Starbucks at the airport but none in the city.
AFAIK, that's the only Starbucks in Ireland south of Dublin!! There's certainly none in Limerick, Cork city and Waterford and I don't think Waterford has one!
Nickbbu From Romania, joined Jan 2007, 185 posts, RR: 5 Reply 8, posted (2 years 5 months 2 days 15 hours ago) and read 1710 times:
As always, great TR!
Nice to see a report about ATR 42, as I will be flying soon on this a/c, for the first time. Can you give me a word of advice about the best / worst seats?
You captured SkyEurope OM-NGF… I’ve been on it when it was only 2 weeks old, or should I say, new
BA319-131 From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 6188 posts, RR: 52 Reply 11, posted (2 years 5 months 2 days 13 hours ago) and read 1617 times:
Excellent TR as usual, many thanks.
Quoting OA260 (Thread starter): I did look at Ryanair and they were €72 return incl taxes and Aer Arann was €120. I really didnt want to go Ryanair again so to me it was worth the extra
- Anything is better than FR!
Quoting OA260 (Thread starter): Alcohol is not allowed to be served on Irish flights over land (apparantly).
OA260 From Greece, joined Nov 2006, 16861 posts, RR: 53 Reply 13, posted (2 years 5 months 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 1523 times:
Quoting FLIEGER67 (Reply 12): Anything more on schedule till WAW, a real interesting place to go, in August?.
No more flights planned until August. WAW is a favourite city of mine and LOT are cancelling all DUB to WAW flights after the summer and Im so sad!!! I will miss the E70's in Dublin. So this will be a last trip for me on that route. I will try to do a really good farewell TR.
True. I know they are very safe and some people love them but to me its just tacky , and I really dont feel relaxed on the FR A/C. Like I said there is no valid reason and is just in my head but I dont like FR. I dont like their product or their ads. Also alot of their crew have very bad English and I dont even understand all of the announcements. In an emergencey I dont think I would be confident in their ability to keep me safe.
Aerarann From Ireland, joined Jul 2009, 0 posts, RR: 0 Reply 14, posted (2 years 5 months 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 1495 times:
Brilliant trip report OA260
Quoting OA260 (Reply 1): I loved RE and alot of my negative ideas about them have gone. They often have cancellations and delays but its mostly due to bad weather and their prop A/C in high winds. I would choose RE over FR on the ORK route in future even if it was more expensive.
Im glad to hear that ... shame about the poor loads on the way home, However there was another RE ORK-DUB departure just 45 min. prior to your flight, which may suit business people better!!!
OA260 From Greece, joined Nov 2006, 16861 posts, RR: 53 Reply 16, posted (2 years 5 months 1 day 23 hours ago) and read 1350 times:
Quoting Aerarann (Reply 14): However there was another RE ORK-DUB departure just 45 min. prior to your flight, which may suit business people better!!!
Yes I noticed that and it was 100% full so thats good. It was an ATR-42
Yes and its called Expressit and is a very good read. Has alot of ads for regional tourism and also the Arann Islands mini plane service. Id love to go there one day.
Planemanofnz From New Zealand, joined Sep 2005, 1616 posts, RR: 0 Reply 17, posted (2 years 5 months 1 day 5 hours ago) and read 1219 times:
Quoting OA260 (Reply 16): Yes and its called Expressit and is a very good read. Has alot of ads for regional tourism and also the Arann Islands mini plane service.
Is it bilingual? As in gaelic/english? I also found it strange that on the saftey cards for Aer Arann, German was one of the languages! Do they even fly to Germany? I know they fly to BRU but isn't that mostly French speaking?
OA260 From Greece, joined Nov 2006, 16861 posts, RR: 53 Reply 19, posted (2 years 5 months 22 hours ago) and read 1174 times:
Quoting Planemanofnz (Reply 17): Is it bilingual? As in gaelic/english? I also found it strange that on the saftey cards for Aer Arann, German was one of the languages! Do they even fly to Germany? I know they fly to BRU but isn't that mostly French speaking?
No funny enough its not. There are a few ads with some Irish in them but its 99% English with no translations. Even EI have the Welcome on board and safety info in ''Cara'' magazine in both languages. They do the PA announcements with some basic Irish on take off and landing though. As for the German , maybe its for the tourists but if that was the case it should be in French/German/Spanish.
Quoting TUNisia (Reply 18): Thanks for putting in all the great cabin shots of the ATR. Loved it!
Your welcome. I thought it would be nice to have a detailed TR with the ATR and RE.
Diesel1 From United Kingdom (Wales), joined Mar 2001, 1567 posts, RR: 17 Reply 20, posted (2 years 4 months 4 weeks 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 1028 times:
Nice TR OA260 - and good to see another one for RE.
The cabin shots are great as I wasn't able to take any pics on my recent flights with them ( Aer Arann : CWL-DUB-CWL (by Diesel1 Jun 24 2007 in Trip Reports) )
That's news to me! I think they had planned to fly to Liege from Birmingham, Luton and Northern France (Lorient or somewhere) but they shelved those plans soon after. Other then that, I don't think they've served any Belgian airport.
I'd say the reason the safety cards were in German could have been because the ATR was owned by a German airline prior to its aquisition by RE. Not sure though.
Sponsor Message: 
From Greece, joined Nov 2006, 16861 posts, 
From Ireland, joined Mar 2005, 5307 posts, 
From United States, joined May 2007, 653 posts, 
From Romania, joined Jan 2007, 185 posts, 
From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 6188 posts, 
From Tunisia, joined Sep 2003, 2137 posts, 
From New Zealand, joined Sep 2005, 1616 posts, .gif){kind=small}
From United Kingdom (Wales), joined Mar 2001, 1567 posts, 
Sponsor Message: 
Printer friendly format
