I took this flight to get home for Christmas. I like to fly from LBA to ORK directly, but as the flight is so early in the morning, I usually have lectures, so taking the flight is not usually possible. However, on a Saturday the only thing stopping me taking the flight is the possibility of a hangover The service has competition from EI and WW to MAN, however the flight has been upgraded to daily since its introduction as a 4x Weekly service at the winter schedule on 2006/2007. GWY services were also introduces at the same time. They have since been discontinued, probably because of the new SNN-LBA FR service.
Departure Airport:
Leeds/Bradford is relatively easy to access by bus. It has two services an hour to the airport, typically the journey from Leeds City Centre takes 35-40 minutes. Today the journey was slightly less than that due to light traffic levels, but I was slightly concerned about the levels of fog at LBA this morning. RE donĆ„ĀÂÄÂÄ€šĀ¬ÄÂÄ€˛Ā¢t have a great history in foggy operations, seemingly because a lot of crew/aircraft combinations are not CATII approved. Both ORK and LBA are fog prone!
LBA has quite an odd layout, due to various extensions/additions over time. However it is relatively functional, and most gates are on the ground floor level. There are two check-in halls Ć„ĀÂÄÂÄ€šĀ¬Ä€ĀœHall AĆ„ĀÂÄÂÄ€šĀ¬Ä€Ć†, where most airlines are housed, including BD, FR, RE, while Ć„ĀÂÄÂÄ€šĀ¬Ä€ĀœHall BĆ„ĀÂÄÂÄ€šĀ¬Ä€Ć†caters for LS and BY only.
Check-In
Today my flight was to be checked-in at desk 10. My bag was weighed (16KG) and my boarding card was issued, today I was in 9F. RE still offers the Ć„ĀÂÄÂÄ€šĀ¬Ä€ĀœfrillĆ„ĀÂÄÂÄ€šĀ¬Ä€Ć†of an inclusive baggage allowance, in this case a relatively generous 20KG, so I did not have to fork out, my fare was 47GBP, so all-in-all RE from LBA is more Ć„ĀÂÄÂÄ€šĀ¬Ä€Āœlow-costĆ„ĀÂÄÂÄ€šĀ¬Ä€Ć†than taking EI or WW from MAN due to transport and baggage costs. I passed security quickly, despite the number of charters to Chanberry this morning security took less than 5 minutes. Flight
Today the flight was operated by ATR-42 EI-CBK.
The interior looked like this:
My boarding card:
The aircraft arrived from ORK on-time, and we closed the door and pushed back ahead of schedule. The cabin was very claen with no rubbish or grime visible and each seat has its own individual headrest. Once airborne, the flight itself was very pleasant, staffed by one cabin attendant. She was very friendly, and handed out a newspaper to each passenger prior to take off, once the safety briefing had been completed. There is a BIB programme, with Beer, Wine, soft drinks and light snacks. All announcements from the flight-deck and the cabin crew were clear and to the point. Welcome and good-bye were given in Irish as well as English.
Arrival
We arrived 5 minutes ahead of schedule at ORK. By the time I had sauntered to baggage claim my bag was already on the conveyor. No complaints there.
Overall
RE offer a good regional produce, with Newspapers and Baggage allowances included. The cabin staff are great, and the ground crews are outsourced, so they are typically hit-or-miss. I suppose the ATR fleet could be a little more luxurious, but they perform their function very well.
I hope you have enjoyed this TR, all comments are appreciated!
Brian,
Next flights: MAN-ORK-LHR(EI)-MAN(BD); MAN-LHR(BD)-ORK (EI); DUB-ZRH-LAX (LX) LAX-YYZ (AC) YYZ-YHZ-LHR(AC)-DUB(BD)
Sketty222 From United Kingdom, joined Mar 2006, 1772 posts, RR: 4 Reply 1, posted (5 years 5 months 1 week 2 days 15 hours ago) and read 3817 times:
Nice report. Id love to fly from LBA. My parents have done it a couple of times and my father really enjoyed the take-off and landing due to the crosswinds.
EireRock From Ireland, joined Nov 2007, 301 posts, RR: 5 Reply 2, posted (5 years 5 months 1 week 2 days 14 hours ago) and read 3788 times:
Great TR Brian, always nice to get home for Christmas.
Two things i noticed about LBA, the departures board tells you to "relax and shop" if your flight is not open for check in or boarding which is a nice touch and also i see that the 16.50 departure to AMS seems to be the last one of the day??
As for ORK, i find its a great airport and anytime i visit my brother down there i use the FR service which "does exactly what it says on the tin" but it really is great to visit compared to the rush and chaos of DUB.
Anyway congrats again on the TR and enjoy your time at home for Christmas.
B747forever From United States of America, joined May 2007, 16575 posts, RR: 11 Reply 4, posted (5 years 5 months 1 week 2 days ago) and read 3431 times:
Nice TR.
The pics are good.
Seems that you enjoyed your flight with RE.
Looking forward for your ATH run, hope you will do a TR.
BA319-131 From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 8267 posts, RR: 56 Reply 6, posted (5 years 5 months 4 days 18 hours ago) and read 3046 times:
Nice TR Brian, many thanks.
LBA looks a little more relaxed than last time I flew out of it, packed then, not a spare seat anywhere, people were sat in groups on the carpet, madness!
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From Ireland, joined Dec 2006, 3808 posts, 
The service has competition from EI and WW to MAN, however the flight has been upgraded to daily since its introduction as a 4x Weekly service at the winter schedule on 2006/2007. GWY services were also introduces at the same time. They have since been discontinued, probably because of the new SNN-LBA FR service. 
From United Kingdom, joined Mar 2006, 1772 posts, 
From United States of America, joined May 2007, 16575 posts, 
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