Date : 29th June 2005
Origin: London Gatwick
Destination : Amsterdam
Airline : Easyjet
Departure time : 1300 Actual Dep time: 1500 (Grrr)
Arrival time: 1650
Schedule aircraft : Airbus A319-111
Actual Aircraft : Airbus A319-111
Rego : G-EZII
Seat: 8A (Free seating)
Load factor : 100%

This was my first European low cost carrier experience. Having flew on Jetstar Asia in march this year, its time to try out how Easyjet is like. Anyway, my flight was booked 2 months in advance to prevent disappointment as what I told the tickets sold out very quickly.


I left my sister's place at Tower hill at 1000 hrs, my plan was to go to Black Friar to catch the Gatwick Express. I took the district line to Black Friar where I purchased a one way ticket to Black Friar station. I bid my sister farewell before making my way to the train. I couldn't bear to leave to be honest, the airport, the football grounds ( I am a Liverpool supporter ), Oxford Circus and some other attractive areas. I told myself I will come back as soon as I can. The train took half an hr to reach to the airport , pretty fast if you ask me.


After 40 minutes of waiting , I checked in and then do some spotting at a restaurant .

Here is one example :

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Photo © Charles Ryan Teo

You can't see this in Singapore. I really love these TU-154s.

Anyway, I went to the departure screen a few times to check my flight and also ensure that I don't miss my flight. I was happy at first when they delayed the flight for an hour because I could do more spotting. The weather to be honest wasn't ideal and the window of the restaurant had a lot of reflection but managed to find a good spot to take clear pictures. I went back to the departure screen and to my dismay the flight was delayed for a furthur hour , 1500 instead of 1300 departure. I was wondering what could be wrong, so never I spotted for another half an hour before checking the screen again and to my relieve, my flight will definately be leaving at 1500 as there was a gate allocation to my flight. The gate was gate 1 , it wasn't a far walk from where I was plane spotting.


As there was no aerobridge connected to the aircraft, we have to walk out of the building to board the plane. I missed those days when the aerobridges were a seldom. Brings me back those memories. Anyway, boarding process was fast , the doors were closed and we were on our way. We waited at the holding point for 30 mins !! As you know Gatwick has only 1 runway, we have to wait for a numeous numbers of landing before we could take off. This Captain was very lively and talkative , he gave us a very detailed flight details and explained the delay to us. The reason why our flight was delayed because of a couple of non speaking english couple who boarded the wrong flight. (I was amazed how they got onto a wrong flight ! ) . They were supposed to fly to Paris but instead end up on the previous flight to London, as a result, the captain had to return to the airport and unload these 2 passengers before they flew to Gatwick . This explains the delay . Most of the passengers including myself were laughing .


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Photo © Charles Ryan Teo


This shot was taken while descending for AMS.


Even through this was a low cost carrier, service was good. The cabin crews were polite and professional unlike Jetstar Asia which was of a opposite. The 45 minutes flight was too short of a flight for my liking to be honest. Anyway, we landed smoothly on 18R before a long taxi to our gate.


Service: 7/10
Professional and polite .


Schedule: 6/10

Can't really blame them and besides I had more time to spot !


Conclusion:

I have no hesitation to fly Easyjet again.

Thank you for reading my report. Feel free to ask me any questions.