Worn interior, more susceptable to weather delays .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Aer Arann
Overview
Aer Arann is a growing Irish regional airline with a fleet of turboprop (propeller) driven aircraft which consist of ATR 42 and ATR 72 planes. The airline flies to many smaller airports across Europe which makes it an ideal choice if you want to avoid travelling to congested airports. As a lower cost airline, you can pick up good deals at their website but you should expect to pay extra for food and drink on board, which is consistent with most other low cost airlines.
Airline History
Aer Arann is a privately owned company so it is not listed on the stock exchanges at the moment. It was originally set up as an airline flying small propeller aircraft to the Arann Islands off the west coast of Ireland, but entered the scheduled airline market in the mid 1990's. In many respects, Aer Arann set itself up at the right time, serving almost as a niche carrier, serving small regional airports across Ireland that had been deserted by Aer Lingus in it's bid to control costs and by Ryanair which ditched it's turbo-prop aircraft in favour of all jet, ultra low cost service to airports with larger catchment areas.
The airline has grown quite rapidly in recent years, and has been recognised as one of the best regional airlines in Europe, having won the Palm D'ior award. Although the current fleet of aircraft are second hand, Aer Arann has signed a contract with ATR corporation to obtain a new fleet of ATR-72-500 aircraft for delivery in the coming years which will replace some of the existing fleet and enable overall expansion.
My Experience
I am relatively new to Ciao, and my review written in April 2007 is based on my experience in November 2006, so it is a few months old, but I feel that it is a worthy airline to review.
My experience of Aer Arann was in November 2006, when I had booked a holiday in Ireland which I had split up to spend 4 nights in Dublin on the east coast and 4 nights in Galway on the west coast. Ryanair was the airline that I took to get to Dublin, but Aer Arann was the airline I flew from Dublin to Galway. In total there were 4 people in my party.
Many people don't like the idea of flying on propeller planes, it's true that even the newest ones are quite noisy, and because they are smaller, and fly at lower altitudes they are more prone to weather conditions. However you can offset these minor things with the fact that if you like flying, then there is nothing better than a turboprop, you get a much better view of the country you are flying over, they are smaller planes so they have faster turn around times and they are able to fly to more convenient locations. These planes are modern, with all the latest navigation equipment that you'd expect to see on jet planes, and they are more fuel efficient in their service which can only be a good thing as far as the environment is concerned.
I confess to being a bit of a plane enthusiast, and I loved the idea of flying on an ATR-72, my last experience on an ATR-42 was on Ryanair in 1992 when they used to fly from Stansted to Galway directly, and I remember loving the flight then, and this one turned out to be no different.
Our flight was due to depart Dublin at 1:15pm and arrive in Galway at 2:00pm. Check In opened 2 hours before the flight and we arrived early because it coincided with our check out of the hotel. Interestingly for a low cost airline, Aer Arann actually assigns seat numbers, so you don't have the free for all that occurs on Ryanair and Easyjet flights. I think there are two reasons Aer Arann can do this, one is the relatively small size of the aircraft means that assignment does not interfere with turn around times and efficiency and secondly because of the configuration of the plane itself (see later).
The ATR-72-200 that we flew with Aer Arann was configured to 66 seats and the plane must have been at least 90-95% full. The flight consisted of 4 crew; the Captain, Co-Pilot and 2 Flight Attendants.
Ireland being Ireland and November being November meant that we did have a few light showers whilst we waiting at Dublin Airport and it was quite a blustery day. The plane was parked and loaded, and I was the very first person to board the plane! (EI-RED) which looked to have been painted relatively recently. There was a short uncovered walk from the terminal building out to the plane and we boarded at the rear via a staircase, and anyone familiar with flying larger jet aircraft with Ryanair etc will be familiar with the lack of jetways. The plane was boarded in about 10 mins and as we were pushed back, we were given the safety demonstration.
The seats were in a 2 - 2 configuration and I felt that they had about an inch more legroom than the 737-800 of Ryanair. I say that because at 6'2" I had to sit perfectly upright to get my legs in on the 737, but still had spare room on the ATR. The seats were fabric covered, although looked quite worn.
Another interesting point here is that Aer Arann, operating a smaller turboprop aircraft allowed more hold baggage at 20Kgs than Ryanair on a jet aircraft at a meagre 15Kgs.
The ATR powered at quite a rate round the various taxiways before reaching the runway. As the engines roared to their takeoff speed and the brakes were released we really thundered down the runway, an amazing feeling, I love that every time. But interestingly because of the relatively small size of the plane, and the gusty winds, it was possible to feel a very slight sway as we built up speed on the surface. It was certainly nothing to worry about, but obviously a smaller plane weighs less, so it was noticeable.
Takeoff was smooth and we quickly gained height, but we must have only gone up to about 10-15,000 ft because the flight itself was only scheduled at 45mins. Even on a short flight, the FA's brought around the inflight magazine and offered drinks - obviously this is part of the business strategy. Everyone was even offered a complimentary Irish Independent newspaper - something you don't get on Ryanair.
Our approach to Galway coincided with a heavy shower and again blustery winds, but the pilots were fantastic, there wasn't much communication from the cockpit, but with my aviation knowledge I could tell that they were flying the plane manually, and giving the smoothest possible ride in the conditions, and they did a fantastic job. There were a few bumps but nothing more than you get on any flight, and at one point we slowed right down only for the throttle to be increased for a short burst to get through some thickish cloud, you just got the feeling that customer comfort, speed and efficiency were at play.
Galway is a tiny airport, it's excellent. The ATR turned on the runway, taxied right up to the terminal building (which looks more like a shed) and engines were switched off.
When we disembarked the aircraft those of us sitting at the front of the plane were asked to remain in our seats until the luggage had been removed from the hold, although passengers at the rear of the plane were able to leave almost immediately. As I alluded to above, I think this is part of the reason why Aer Arann assigns seats; basically to ensure even weight distribution in the plane, to ensure as smooth ride and safety on the ground.
The luggage was unloaded onto a tractor and passed through a door onto a single, tiny conveyor belt. It's fast, efficient, but quite quaint. Galway only currently handles Aer Arann and FlyBe scheduled flights, but I'd rather travel through there than Heathrow anyday.
CONCLUSION
Keen pricing, fast, friendly and efficient service, good leg room and convenience of travelling to smaller regional airports but at the locations you want to travel to. Generous luggage allowance and free newspaper on board, this really was a great flight and I can only wish Aer Arran all the best and recommend their service.
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