If you'd like to see photos of Devon and Cornwall, plus LOTS of Bryher and Tresco, please visit htt...
If you'd like to see photos of Devon and Cornwall, plus LOTS of Bryher and Tresco, please visit http://members.lycos.co.uk/dev onbelle19493 which is the page I have been building.
Member since:02.12.2002
Reviews:17
Members who trust:21
At the beginning of March, my husband and I had the pleasure of flying with the Spanish Airline….Air Europa. We had flown with Span Air once before, but not with this airline.
We drove to our local airport at Exeter…approximately 20 miles from our house.
Near the check in, was the arrivals screen, and our plane was expected to land 18 minutes later than it was due. Take off time was supposed to be 12 noon, but it was almost that time before we were called to the gate. Then after waiting at the gate for about 15 minutes, we boarded the plane.
We were greeted by a male attendant, who I thought did not really look that smart. He was wearing a sort of fleece jumper over a shirt with no tie. The female attendants however did look a little smarter. Mind you, none of them looked terribly happy.
I suppose the plane had about
180 passengers, as there were about 30 rows of seats, with 3 seats each side of the isle.
Leg room was a little cramped, that being quite usual on chartered holiday flights. BUT we were lucky on the return flight, to be in the exit window seats, where we could stretch out our legs in quite a bit of comfort. We could even stand up in front of our seats for a stretch.
The interior of the plane was quite smart and new looking, and seemed to be quite clean.
On taking off, (35 minutes late) the usual safety video was shown.
When it came to the female attendant making an announcement…..well, what she said……your guess is as good as mine!!!! She spoke in English, but gabbled away so fast, it really could not be fully understood. Any way, we guessed what she said, as we know the routine, having flown for so many years now.
The flight (to Gran Canaria) took just over 3 ½ hours. Soon after we were airborne, the drinks trolley came round. I had my own bottle of water in my bag, so didn’t buy any. Charges are 50 or 60p for a mini can of soft drink or juices. Also wines and spirits are available at about £1-50 a small glass(plastic cup!!) Soon after, our meal arrived. As it was lunch time, we were given a salad mix for starters, chicken pasta and bread roll, followed by an orange flavoured sponge. We were immediately offered more rolls. Then tea or coffee followed. It would have been nice to also have juice included. I quite enjoyed the meal, as it was good for an airline meal. Only thing about eating on a plane is that you need more elbow room!!
When the meal was finished, the Duty Free trolley passed down the isle. (Being a non EU flight).
Usually during a flight, the captain makes a little “speech”, telling you what route the flight is taking, but not on this one. Being a Spanish airline, I guess he did not speak English, so did not attempt it.
The fight itself was fine, but there were quite a lot of patches of turbulence, when the seat belt signs were turned on. I was sitting in the window seat(as usual) and had an absolutely beautiful view of the Alps on the outward journey. The landing was not too bumpey, and I was quite surprised how quiet it was, as usually you get the screaming noise of the engines.
AIR EUROPA INFO. The passenger airline “Air España” was founded in 1984, and in 1985, the name Air Europa was established. It was the first private Spanish airline to operate national scheduled flights. In 1995, it began its first International flights between London and New York. It is now owned by Global Corporation.
The current fleet (according to internet info found) comprises 30 planes. These being mainly 737’s. 2 x Boeing 737/300; 5 x Boeing 737/400; 3 x Boeing 737/600; 16 x Boeing 737/800. Also. 4 x Boeing 767/300.
In 1995, 4323000 passengers had been carried, and that figure rose to 7400000 by 1999.
Flying hours also increased from 77064 in 1995 to 145672 in 1999. Presumably, now in 2004, these figures and hours will have greatly increased again, but I cannot find any more up to date info on this.
MY VERDICT. I probably wouldn’t CHOOSE to fly with Air Europa if I had the choice. BUT, the flight and comfort was reasonable good, and the plane was clean. And the return flight was bang on time. Not sure why the attendants aren’t as pleasant as English ones though. I suppose they are doing a job……who feels like smiling when they are working?
Happy flying!!
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If it is part of the job to be friendly and smile, then I would expect them to do so. Maureen
Lexie001 25.05.2004 15:38
We are due to fly to Palma with Air Europa in mid June so good to read an informative review!
Main concern is to get there in one piece and hopefully on time - we are going from Gatwick so it will be interesting to see how it differs from Exeter - watch this space for a review on our return!
The-Operator 05.04.2004 03:41
Good review of your flight but of the airline it still left a few question marks. Where else does it fly from and to, is it purely charter or do they run scheduled flights? are all questions which could be addressed. Is it any relation to the short lived and cheap Air Europe of the '80s, I wonder? BTW, All airline pilots HAVE to speak English as it's the only language allowed for commercial flight communications and the last time I looked, the Canaries were part of Spain and Spain is most definitely in the EU!
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Mar 21st, 2004
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