Of the European low-cost carriers, easyJet seems to have a better reputation than its competitors.
More comfortable seats and better customer service are a few of the points mentioned
by travelers - particularly when making a comparison with Irish low-cost giant Ryanair.
At the very end of September, we took a very short flight with easyJet from Edinburgh to
Belfast and had the chance to experience the airline's offerings for ourselves. In
this case, our flight reviewer last traveled with the carrier in 2019.
So, this will be a review of the flight while also discussing the departures
experience at Edinburgh airport as well as the arrival at Belfast International.
So let’s get started!
Booking a flight with easyJet was somewhat easy,
although it wasn't without the standard annoyances that come with budget airlines.
Indeed, just like Ryanair, customers are bombarded with messages encouraging add-ons such as car
rental, travel insurance, food vouchers, and more. There’s also multiple warnings and encouragements
to purchase additional baggage. This warning about baggage might actually be helpful for anyone still
assuming that a 2nd carry-on bag was allowed- but for frequent travelers, it’s quite repetitive!
In our situation, we had two travelers flying for leisure purposes. They were traveling light and,
in addition to each having a backpack, they shared one larger bag between the
two of them. Thus, in terms of add-ons, all that was really needed was to purchase
a quote-unquote "large cabin bag" for storage in the overhead locker.
Prior to 2021, passengers were able to bring one bag free of charge onboard,
but this could be up to 56x45x25cm and fit into the overhead locker.
However, this quote-unquote generous policy was changed last year and is
more inline with the cabin bag policies of Ryanair and Wizzair.
The airfare came to a total of about £88 for two passengers, which breaks down as follows:
£56.98 for the "Standard Plus" airfare. This offers under-seat bag, and one large cabin bag
for overhead locker. This also included seat selection and priority boarding.
£30.99 for the basic "Standard" fare. This has
only personal item included (for storage under the seat in front).
According to the airline, all fares include free carbon offsetting as well, which is a nice touch!
All in all, the price of £88 for our two passengers in this flight review-
equivalent to about $93 at the time of production - seemed quite reasonable.
This price was the result of booking one month in advance,
as fares definitely go up when getting closer to the date of the flight.
One alternate idea was to take a bus to Scotland's west coast and take a ferry
to Belfast, just to get that maritime experience. However, in retrospect,
attempting this would have taken nearly a full day and would have
offered little benefit - particularly with the stormy Scottish/Irish weather.
While it's not often a part of flight reviews, we thought it was
worth mentioning the ground transportation experience of getting from Edinburgh's city
center to Edinburgh airport. The two most popular options are bus and tram. The tram
is slightly more expensive but doesn't really offer too much more than the bus.
Thus, our travelers opted for Edinburgh's Airlink 100 service, which cost £7.50 per passenger for
an open return ticket. In addition to Airlink buses having flight and airport security statuses
updating on screens, this bus service (like all other Lothian buses) offers free WiFi. The 100
service also has fantastic frequency, operating as often as every 10 minutes during the daytime.
You’ll see these buses running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Having lived in Edinburgh for about a year, one of our travelers was already familiar
with the airport and its relatively small size. Of course, since 2018, the airport
appears to have expanded with the addition of more gates and other passenger facilities.
Arriving at around 09:00 on a Friday morning, the airport was already quite busy.
Having checked-in online with no baggage to drop-off, we headed right to security screening.
The multiple stations that allow about five passengers to simultaneously prepare
themselves and their belongings for scanning (officially known as parallel divestment) is
fantastic and is definitely something that every airport needs to implement.
While the airport has grown over the past few years,
the one thing that has apparently remained is the fact that all passengers must take a long
and winding walk through an airport duty-free store. The most annoying part of this is that
it is indirect and forces passengers to take a circuitous route through the crowded shop,
which can be extra frustrating if you're running late (and have no need to buy anything).
The airport terminal itself is full of shops, cafes, and restaurants and
is well-equipped to help passengers pass the time with food and shopping.
Restaurant prices are quite in line with most airports around the world,
in that you're usually paying a bit more than what you would pay landside.
Another thing to note is that Edinburgh Airport has water fountains distributed
throughout the terminal, which are able to accommodate the refilling of water bottles.
Heading to the gate, another strike against the airport is that its series of moving
walkways (at least in one part of the airport) were out-of-service.
While it's not a massive and lengthy terminal,
there is a bit of distance to cover, and not having this feature functioning properly makes
things more congested and certainly more difficult for those with mobility issues.
Thankfully, however, the actual boarding process for our little easyJet service was smooth,
even if it was a little difficult to hear the boarding announcement.
Boarding was managed by a single gate agent, who did a great job and was friendly and courteous.
While no jetbridge was provided, we also avoided the need to step onto a
shuttle bus since we walked directly from the terminal to the aircraft.
The inflight experience is probably the least interesting part of the journey, since the
actual time in the air was only 30-40 minutes in duration. Additionally, easyJet tends to offer
a fairly consistent experience across its entire single-class-configured Airbus A320 family fleet.
However, here are some key things to note as part of flying with easyJet:
Seats are comfortable and have a pitch of 29 inches.
Unlike Ryanair, easyJet seats do include a seat back pocket.
Seat backs also include a tray table and a small nub to hang coats.
The space under the seat is large enough to fit a medium-large backpack underneath.
Prior to aircraft pushback, our aircraft did have one issue. Apparently, the A.P.U. or the auxiliary
power unit, was not functioning properly. Thus, no lighting or air conditioning was running
while our aircraft was parked at the gate for boarding. While the pilots apologized for this,
it wasn’t a huge deal considering the cold and rainy Scottish weather.
With the flight being so short, there's not much else to say. Neither of our two travelers ordered
any food or drink from the inflight menu, nor was there any need to use the lavatory.
However, it's worth mentioning that one of our reviewers had the pre-selected seat of 2A while
the other had the quote-unquote "randomly allocated" seat of 5D.
With the flight being about 60% full, and seats 2B and 2C empty, we asked the cabin crew if it
was possible to relocate and sit together in row 2. They had no problem with this, which was great.
Before our travelers had time to get comfortable in their seats,
it was time to prepare for landing at Belfast International airport. While easyJet appears
to operate out of both Belfast City Airport and Belfast International,
it seems that the airline has far more flights out of the latter facility.
Just like our flight departure, arriving at Belfast saw us exit
the aircraft via airstairs and walk directly into the terminal.
With both Scotland and Northern Ireland being part of the UK, this domestic flight had no
need for border control and thus passengers were able to exit the airport in a matter of minutes.
In the case of this particular flight, it's worth mentioning that the tourist
information booth our travelers encountered in the arrivals area, (near baggage reclaim),
allowed them to purchase bus and rail tickets for their onward journey using a bank card.
In addition to saving money, it was extremely helpful since there was
some uncertainty if the bus from the airport to Antrim accepted cash (which it didn't).
So, in conclusion, this late-September experience with easyJet went quite smoothly, with the
only few airline-related annoyances being the non-functioning auxiliary power unit, and booking
process - since there was only a requirement for one large bag between two passengers.
Despite the news of the past few months,
our travelers didn't encounter much quote-unquote "travel chaos" at all when flying through these
two smaller UK airports- even though it was a Friday morning in late-September.
While Edinburgh Airport was crowded and busy, the facility and its army of personnel
appeared to manage and move passengers through security screening quite well.
easyJet personnel, both at the airport gate and onboard the aircraft,
were courteous, professional, and friendly.
All in all, it was a great deal to fly from Edinburgh to Belfast for less than
£100 for two passengers (and an additional bag).
But what about you?
Have you flown with easyJet in recent times?
Or have you passed through Edinburgh or Belfast International Airports recently?
How do your own experiences compare to this flight review? Let us know by leaving a comment!