Flybe > Reviews > No Frills and a Friendly Face

Author's product rating:   

Food Quality	Satisfactory
Customer Service	Friendly and attentive
Punctuality	Good
Space	Comfortable
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Low Cost, seats allocated
Disadvantages:	smaller aircraft can be bumpy

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

To be a little different FlyBe as British European are now known (www.flybe.com)they have come up with a simple idea. Low Fares, Seats allocated, pay for inflight drinks and snacks and if you are transferring through any other airport they can usually check the luggage all the way to your final destination.
Anyway I flew from Belfast City Airport (2miles from the city centre)to Birmingham for a day trip so they checked us in for the return journey as well. The flight out was in a small Dash8 plane with 37 seats , it was a bit bumpy but fine. The flight was on time leaving and arriving, I had a coffee for £1.50 and my day return which was on a special offer cost only £67 including all taxes. The average seems to be about £97 return.
On the return flight it was late leaving due to a mix up on availablilty of a wheelchair assistance at Birmingham and we were kept informed but that delay was vastly reduced when we landed back at Belfast. This time it was the BAE146 and it was very smooth and comfortable I prefered it to the Dash8.The flight was only 45 mins.Overall a good flying experience.
On top of all that the staff were all very customer focussed so well done Flybe.

Changes
If that was not enough they also allow you to change the ticket, names, times etc up to 2 hours before the flight.Lowest fares are on the website.

Airports to fly from
Aberdeen (to Paris)
Belfast City
Birmingham
Blackpool
Bristol
Edinburgh
Exeter
Glasgow
Isle of Man
Leeds Bradford
London City, Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton
Newcastle
Southampton

They fly to France, Belgium, Channel Islands, Italy and Spain as well as within the UK.

Check In
Check in is as other airlines up to 30 mins except if you have hand luggage only you can check in as late as 20mins before the flight. If you are returning the same day they will check you in for the return flight.
Special help is available for the elderly and infirm.

Aircraft
Jets
BAE146
Is a 4 engined regional jets capable of carrying up to 110 passengers. A very quiet airplane , smooth with leather seating although they are getting a little older they are very reliable and safe.

CRJ200
Very New 50 seat regional jet mostly used on Belfast to Leeds however they will be dropping these as their routes dont suit this type of plane.

DHC Dash 8
These are very new twin engined turbo prop aircraft seating from 37 passengers up to 74 in the newest 400Q
of which they have ordered another 20.They are only a little slower than a jet EG Belfast to Birmingham 10 mins more. Comfortable but can be a little bumpy in bad weather but again very safe.

Inflight Service
As stated earlier you do have to pay for everything on board but at £1.5 for a coffee and £2.45 for a filled roll it is not too bad.
The captain gives you an update on the floight as to time weather expected etc, and the safety announcements are done in a professional manner.