Helios Airways

Advantages: Great start to a holiday
Disadvantages: Not going on holiday this year

...weeks in Cyprus, travelling with Helios Airways. Obviously the first day of your holiday can set the tone of the experience. Therefore, if the flight is bad the holiday is tainted (don't even ask about Majorca!!) We arrived at Birmingham airport one hour before the flight, were checked in quickly by a friendly Australian lady and just had time for a cup of tea and a sandwich before the flight was called. After being herded in by some rather attractive ...
...I have never heard of Helios before. I checked out the Website and was comforted to find they their planes were indeed new and not second hand. There was sufficient leg room, although my 6ft 4" boyfriend was still a little bit squashed, but then that serves him right for being such a tall bugger. A pleasant colour scheme of blue and white, with leather (I dont know if it was real leather or not) seat. After take off, when we were all settled in ... Read review

Advantages: Cheap
Disadvantages: Small planes, bad food, no in flight entertainment.

...everything and not to worry. Helios were just being petty. We then went back to the check in desk. Some of our cases were slightly heavy and it cost £80 for that. Finally we decided that we would go and chance that we would get it sorted out at the other end. This made me very down as I was worrying about what sort of problems we would encounter. Then it was time to fly! We were placed at the very back of the plane. Yes I know someone has to sit ...
...of £80 cyprus pounds. As Helios still said that it was Olympics fault not theres and they wouldn't let her travel on my lap although she had done it already. How much does a child grow in two weeks? Going home the flight was delayed. The tv screens didn't say I had to walk right round to the boarding gate to find out. We were not given a reason. It was about an hour later when we finally took off. The engines roared then squealed then we went up, ... Read review

Advantages: Cheap flights
Disadvantages: Cold, uncomfortable

...to Paphos in Cyprus with Helios Airlines. I have never travelled on such an old aircraft. The first sign that things weren't what they should was when we were told, after a four hour delay, that the plane was late coming because it had to stop to refuel. (This was only from Cyprus, it hadn't flown long haul from Australia or anything like that.) Apparently there were strong head winds. As we boarded I noticed that the galley was nothing more than ...
...clean either. We found our seats and had to brush sweet papers off them before sitting down. The whole cabin was in a kind of half light. The staff were pleasant and friendly, though. The plane was so old that the seats were rock hard and didn't recline at all. There was no insulation in the cabin. I sat near the window and I was right up against the cold metal of the fusilage. We were served a very late supper which was virtually inedible. It ... Read review

Advantages: enjoyable flight
Disadvantages: nothing

...from Luton to Larnaca with Helios Airways...I was very sceptical and wary of this airline as i have never heard of them but i thought i would try them. Travel day came...As i boarded the aircraft i was greeted by the steward who was very cheerful and sat in my allocated seat.I noticed that the aircraft was really clean and well presented and surprisingly comfortable.There was an inflight movie,the food was good and the staff very friendly and spoke ... Read review

Advantages: cheap
Disadvantages: no choice in entertainment

Booked a flight with Helios as it was about £20 cheaper than Cyprus Airways & they are recently a newcomer to this route. Flight left 30 minutes late. Seats were made of leather & medium size/leg room. Business class is exactly the same size as economy, only difference is you get more choice of food and newspapers. We were given a drink & snack after take off & a Greek or English newspaper. 1 communal screen showing cheaper by the dozen movie. on ...
...had nothing to watch. meal was nice, had choice of pasta of chicken. planes are relatively old. overall a reasonably good experience & would go again if price is cheaper than the others. apparently they are extremely strict with their baggage allowance, but mine was under so did not experience this, but heard from others who have been. ... Read review

Advantages: easy access
Disadvantages: closed shops

...In January this year I flew to Cyprus from Manchester airport. Even before the plane took off we underwent a bit of an ordeal. The first problem was that when we got to Manchester airport I received a text message from my holiday company telling me that I had incorrect airline tickets and that I should go to information and ask them to sort it out. I couldn't find a kiosk that was open for Helios Airlines (see my op on this if you want to know more about Helios). Information at Manchester told me to go to Hurculean Airways. They said that they didn't know where that was and couldn't direct me. I attempted to ask for more information but was ignored by the person behimnd the desk who was more concerned with ordering what she wanted for her coffee break. There was no Herculean Airways. By this time I was frantic... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful