Amigocharlie From Switzerland, joined Oct 2007, 94 posts, RR: 0 Posted (4 years 9 months 1 week 6 days 15 hours ago) and read 11296 times:
Hi
and welcome to my first trip report. After reading many great and exciting reports, it's about time to post one myself! Some of you guys really know how to spend a day off, but so do I!
After a busy summertime it was finally time to hit the skys! Being inspired by many day trips and since I had a day off on the 2. September, I consulted my computer (and sat in front of it for the next 3 hours). Well, many cups of coffee later, I knew what I wanted to do. I finally wanted to catch an E-Jet! Seeing those beautiful pictures of the brandnew jets of Baboo (GVA based airline), the decision was made. But how do you get to Geneva if you live in eastern Switzerland? That was the point where it all started. Combining a huge variety of connections, I suddenly had quite a routing set.
02. September 2008
My alarm clock got me out of bed at 3 am. Really not a time I enjoy getting up. Oh well, the purpose was worth it So I left home at 0330 am with a almost 2 hour drive ahead. I wasn't in a hurry, but somehow still asleep. Just as I reached downtown Zurich, I got awake immediately. Don't laugh, it was the flashlight of some **** speeding camera... great start. I reached BSL on time and passed security in about 10 minutes. I always check in online if possible, so no problems at all. Reached the gate only 5 minutes before boarding.
LEG NO. 1
Routing: BSL - NCE
operated by: Easy Jet A319 HB-JZQ
Time: 0640- 0750 (on time)
Seat: 7F
Load factor: around 70%
Easy Jet offers check in at the time you book the flight. Don't know any other airline doing that. Being in boarding group A, I didn't purchase "speedy boarding" just to get my beloved window seat . Boardingcall was on time with the usual "low cost run" to the aircraft. The first thing i noticed while boarding was how clean the A319 was. Clearly not an old aircraft. In fact it was still quite sparkling! Legroom was ok too. Thankfully the middle seat remained empty! 2 friendly male and 2 very nice female FA's on this morning service. After some detailed route information (flightlevel 330, routing passing Geneva and Monte Carlo) we were off in no time.
first rays of light touching the winglet as we reach cruising level
crossing the alps prior to landing in NCE
I didn't buy anything from the Buy on Board service this morning. Landing in NCE was smooth and even a few minutes early. Here some views while taxiing to the gate.
never seen this one before...
Nice new terminal in Nice. Deboarding occurred through a finger dock. I had about one and a half hours to my next flight I really was looking forward to. Baboo doesn't offer online check in (yet). So i searched the check in desk. But where on earth was it? No Baboo flights on the screen. Just at the moment i started getting nervous, i realized that there was a second terminal! There is a free shuttle bus connecting terminal 1 and 2. The ride takes only about 5 minutes. I was surprised to be the only one at check in in this old terminal. I requested a window seat. The friendly girl just laughed and told me, that due to a light load everybody will get a window seat on this service...
LEG NO. 2
Routing: NCE - GVA
operated by: Baboo E190 HB-JQF
Time: 0930 - 1030 (15 min. early)
Seat: 8A
Load factor: only 20 pax
I killed some time drinking coffee. Taking pictures through the window wasn't possible. They were dirtier then a AF aircraft...
The beauty arriving
We were bused to the aircraft even though it would have been a very short walk.
What a lovely E Jet! It was equipped with brown leather seats with red head covers. We were greeted by 2 of the most friendly FA's I've ever met! Take off was in no time.
Service on board (free) started quite soon due to the short flight time. First everybody was handed out a bottle of water. I opted for a cup of coffee and a croissant. They even offered a free refill just before landing!
some inflight views
Legroom, not bad at all
approching GVA
I have to admit, this was one of the most enjoyable flights i had for a long time. Who needs live TV on flights like these...?
Just before deboarding i was allowed to take this picture.
Thanks Baboo for this great ride! The "Junglejet" and Baboo got a new fan
Well, second leg done. Third one on the way! And no problems at all! Next flight to Gatwick was with Easyjet again. (just because of connection times) This was going to be the critical one. I had less than an hour between the flights in Gatwick.
Boarding was called a little late, but nothing to worry about yet. Again, i was able to join boarding group A and was one of the first to be on board.
Legroom (same on all Easy Jet flights today)
The first thing i noticed while sitting down was:
This time no route information, just a short appolicy for the delay. 2 girls and 2 boys on service this time.
Leaving the nice weather in central Europe behind us
just weird looking without the winglet
uneventful flight and landing in rainy (what else ) LGW
At this point, I was already getting a bit impatient. Even though we reached our stand quite fast, deboarding was further delayed, because there was no one available to drive the bridge. Well, after finally getting out, I ran through whole Gatwick, searching my next gate. Again, I had to switch the terminal by transferring with the monorail. I reached security just 5 minutes before the gate closed. A very helpful (and cute looking girl realized my problem and led me to the front of the whole queue! Thanks to her I made it! That one was really close. If I would have missed this leg, it wouldn't have been a to big problem. I could have transferred to Stansted to catch my Easy Jet flight back to BSL. But back to leg 3. I chose Aer Lingus because i never flew them before. All tough it was the most expensive leg, I would say it was worth it! Very friendly crew, nice and clean A320.
I was breathing ¨quite heavily as I finally reached that gate. It of course was A10, the one far away...
very quick shot before boarding as I was the last one
4 also very friendly ladies serving this flight today. No information about the route. I decided not to buy anything on board, cause I was gonna have enough time to eat something in DUB which airport I know quite well.
First and probably last time for me flying 1A
No weather change in Dublin...
...until deboarding!
Dublin is place i know because of many previous trips. So I finally went to crab something to eat and drink! I'm not the type of guy that leaves DUB without having had one of these
love it...
Well, already time for the next hop. This time back to the UK. With Ryanair. Not my favourite airline. But nothing to worry about. I fly with them every now and then and never had any problems. Nothing to complain about for the price of 7 Euros!
Seeing my aircraft arriving on time made me quite happy. There wasn't much to go wrong anymore!
FR 738 bound for STN arriving at the gate
there was one funny thing I noticed. The reg LX - my favourite airline
Not the usual run while boarding was called due to the light load. I boarded through the backdoor. Pushback was on time and we were up and away in no time! 2 not that friendly Russians and one nice girl from somewhere up north serving the flight.
limited legroom as you see...
nothing to take home...
Nothing special to report about this one. Just a normal FR flight. But still enjoyable
Landed in STN on time and was awaited by the usual mess there. Not an airport I really like. But who cares. I think I made it! No big delays, great day of flying! Till now. The last leg of today would also be on Easy Jet again. After eating and some drinking I made my way through security which took ages and arrived at an empty gate. The inbound aircraft arrived 30 minutes late. An announcement was made, that we will have to wait another 30 min due to technical problems. No idea what kind. So I finally had some time to just sit down and enjoy.
LEG NO. 6
Routing: STN - BSL
operated by: Easy Jet G-EZSM
Time: 1815 - 2100 (more than 60 min late)
Seat: 11F
Load factor: around 80%
This time, I didn't really care about the delay. Everybody else also stayed calm.
Some apron action
sweet, nothing we get to see every day here in central Europe
and finally boarding was called (more than an hour late) thank god this didn't happen earlier!!!
Again, a nice and clean aircraft. Not sure about the announcements anymore. Guess I was too tired. Slept almost the whole way to BSL as it was dark outside. Very smooth landing and quick taxi to the gate. I sat in my car less then 10 minutes later. Again a 2 hour drive back home. No speeding this time!!!
Conclusion
Well thats about it. Had a great day of flying. Just too bad there was no time to have a longer look around the different airports. Gotta make a weekend trip to Nice soon! Really looked like a very nice place. But after all, my goal was to catch the E Jet, which I loved and I made 6 flights in one day! All in all i spent only around 210 Euro for everything! Not that bad. Cheapest one was DUB - STN with FR, most expensive with Aer Lingus (55 Euro)
Easyjet: cheap, clean aircraft, not always on time
Baboo: Winner! great little airline, superb service and aircraft, spotless cabin, very compfy seats, free drinks and food, on time
Aer Lingus: on time, good selection of Buy on Board, friendly crew
Ryanair: cheap, on time, nothing to complain about
Would I do it again? Stupid question... Anyday!!!
Thank you very much for reading. Please be aware that English isn't my mother tongue and it's my first report.
BrusselsSouth From Belgium, joined Aug 2001, 598 posts, RR: 5 Reply 2, posted (4 years 9 months 1 week 6 days 11 hours ago) and read 10821 times:
Amazing : 6 flights in a day ! Now you've beaten me : I've done 5 in a day back in February (I've written a report on here) (CRL-BGY-PMI-BCN-GVA-BRU) and thought it was tight... Now I'll have to try 7
The Baboo service looks excellent for such a short sector.
I guess you must have been quite tired at the end of the day...
WideBodyroga From United States of America, joined Sep 2008, 494 posts, RR: 4 Reply 3, posted (4 years 9 months 1 week 6 days 11 hours ago) and read 10809 times:
Man, this may be just your first TR but you are a legend already! You gotta be a true A-nutcase to do something like what you did!
Thanks for this excellent TR.
Visit my aviation page: http://widebodyroga.weebly.com/
FLIEGER67 From Bulgaria, joined Sep 2003, 4423 posts, RR: 56 Reply 4, posted (4 years 9 months 1 week 6 days 10 hours ago) and read 10695 times:
Hey, Bobby,
no question, I think you know it, that´s what I like .
Congrats to that real interesting day of flying around and your report.
That Baboo E190, for sure something special.
Good looking cabin design.
Thanks for posting and forget that speeding flash,
think about further trips like this one, I´am interested to read more soon.
EICVD From Ireland, joined Mar 2008, 2076 posts, RR: 5 Reply 5, posted (4 years 9 months 1 week 6 days 9 hours ago) and read 10620 times:
Hi Bobby
Excellent trip report, really enjoyed it. Nice to see my local airport in another report.
Looking forward to reading anoter report from you in the future
Thanks for posting.
Dublin, where Sam Maguire will be coming home to in mid September
SKORD From United Kingdom, joined Apr 2008, 562 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (4 years 9 months 1 week 6 days 8 hours ago) and read 10491 times:
EXCELLENT REPORT!! Very well done... it looks like you have being doing them for years! I flew EI last week for the 1st time DUB-LGW and thought the service and comfort was excellent. Keep your reports coming, and thank you!
JRadier From Netherlands, joined Sep 2004, 4599 posts, RR: 51 Reply 7, posted (4 years 9 months 1 week 6 days 7 hours ago) and read 10462 times:
Quoting BrusselsSouth (Reply 2): Amazing : 6 flights in a day ! Now you've beaten me : I've done 5 in a day back in February (I've written a report on here) (CRL-BGY-PMI-BCN-GVA-BRU) and thought it was tight... Now I'll have to try 7 mischievous
Are we counting flights or sectors? If it's the latter I've done 5 in 1 day as well (AMS-BON-GYE-UIO-MEC-UIO)
For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and ther
PlaneHunter From Germany, joined Mar 2006, 6211 posts, RR: 79 Reply 10, posted (4 years 9 months 1 week 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 10002 times:
Very nice report, Bobby. No doubt, six legs in one day is quite a venture. Good to see the first report about Baboo's Embraer jets.
Quoting Amigocharlie (Thread starter): Clearly not an old aircraft. In fact it was still quite sparkling!
Built in early 2005, so it has been well-kept.
Quoting Amigocharlie (Thread starter): Service on board (free) started quite soon due to the short flight time. First everybody was handed out a bottle of water. I opted for a cup of coffee and a croissant. They even offered a free refill just before landing!
Thumbs up for that.
Quoting Amigocharlie (Thread starter): I have to admit, this was one of the most enjoyable flights i had for a long time. Who needs live TV on flights like these...?
They're not essential, but still nice to have.
Quoting Amigocharlie (Thread starter): All in all i spent only around 210 Euro for everything! Not that bad.
Definitely a good price.
Quoting Amigocharlie (Thread starter): Thanks Baboo for this great ride! The "Junglejet" and Baboo got a new fan
No surprise - I haven't heard a negative opinion about the spacious E-Jets yet.
DALCE From Netherlands, joined Feb 2007, 1596 posts, RR: 7 Reply 14, posted (4 years 9 months 1 week 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 9371 times:
Hi Bobby,
I have read about 4 sectors on one day, I have read about 5 flights a day, but you must be the first a.nutter who acommplished 6 legs on one single day. I have total respect for you!!!
Just great to see how you move through Europe to make this trip complete.
I also liked your routing, which has a lot af variation and really made the read very enjoyable.
The included pics gave a really good insight in your flights, thanks for sharing!
Cheers,
Joost ( D-ALCE )
flown on : F50,F70,CR1,CR2,CR9,E75,143,AR8,AR1,733,735,736,73G,738,753,744,319,320,321,333,AB6.
SandroZRH From Switzerland, joined Feb 2007, 3385 posts, RR: 51 Reply 16, posted (4 years 9 months 1 week 4 days 15 hours ago) and read 9338 times:
Hey Bobby!
Great report. I've heard a couple of good things about Baboo, and judging from your report they really seem to be a good airline. Just a shame that their business model seems to be pretty shaky, and the load factor looked terrible aswell. Will they be the first airline in Europe to offer liveTV? I certainly hope they'll be around for the years to come!
You made me wanna do another useless flying around europe day again, and 6 legs, woah, most i managed until now was 4
KstateinALB From United States of America, joined Dec 2006, 732 posts, RR: 0 Reply 17, posted (4 years 9 months 1 week 4 days 6 hours ago) and read 9201 times:
Great report...just a quick question though. On the second EZY trip, are you sure you were on an A319? I didn't see a wingtip there like all A319's usually have...
Amigocharlie From Switzerland, joined Oct 2007, 94 posts, RR: 0 Reply 19, posted (4 years 9 months 1 week 2 days 18 hours ago) and read 8832 times:
Quoting DALCE (Reply 14): I have read about 4 sectors on one day, I have read about 5 flights a day, but you must be the first a.nutter who acommplished 6 legs on one single day. I have total respect for you!!!
Just great to see how you move through Europe to make this trip complete.
I also liked your routing, which has a lot af variation and really made the read very enjoyable.
The included pics gave a really good insight in your flights, thanks for sharing!
Wow, thanks for your reply! Had to check quite some timetables to get this routing. But doing that is almost as fun as the trip itself!
Quoting GrahamHill (Reply 15): Nice trip report with excellent pictures!
Thank you!
Quoting SandroZRH (Reply 16): hope they'll be around for the years to come!
So do I. It really was one of the best experiences in a long time. Can't wait until LX gets their E Jets!
Useless flying? Thats what I enjoy most
100% sure. HB - JZG is a A319. The other side was winglet equipped! I don't know the reason why it was missing. I couldn't ask while deboarding, cause I was in such a hurry.
B747forever From United States of America, joined May 2007, 16598 posts, RR: 11 Reply 21, posted (4 years 7 months 1 week 4 days 7 hours ago) and read 7458 times:
Amazing TR.
I would love to get to fly 6legs in one day.
The pics are all nice.
Quoting Amigocharlie (Thread starter): Taking pictures through the window wasn't possible. They were dirtier then a AF aircraft...
LOL!! Then that window had to be extremly dirty
Seems you enjoyed your flight with Baboo most, and then EI.
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From Switzerland, joined Oct 2007, 94 posts, 
So I left home at 0330 am with a almost 2 hour drive ahead. I wasn't in a hurry, but somehow still asleep. Just as I reached downtown Zurich, I got awake immediately. Don't laugh, it was the flashlight of some **** speeding camera... great start. I reached BSL on time and passed security in about 10 minutes. I always check in online if possible, so no problems at all. Reached the gate only 5 minutes before boarding. 
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