Review of BA Cityflyer flight London → Isle of Man in Economy

So me and my friend decided to do another domestic avgeek day trip after the fun time we had in Manchester.

Eyeing up our options, I suggested going to the Isle of Man airport, one that neither of us had done.

We looked on-line and found some decent prices which included going with BA Cityflyer one way and the other on easyJet back to London Gatwick.

I left my mate to do the booking. However he booked the wrong out-bound flight and we were due to fly on an E-190 or E-170 depending on the demand instead of the Saab 2000 I was intending for. Small problem, but we decided to go forth with trying the BA E-Jet.

After checking the times, we knew we would have enough time to enjoy the IoM airport. I also enquired into visiting the MANX Aviation & Military Museum- the place was to be open on the day we went there which was fantastic news.

I stayed overnight at my friends house (he works and lives near LCY) and we got there 3 1/2 hours before our flight was due to leave in order to get some of the goodies LCY had to offer in terms of aircraft and airline traffic from the window area.



One of the BA Cityflyer Captains came up to me and my mate and had a conversation with us, turned out he was going to be our captain on this flight. Got to admit its not everyday you get to talk with the pilot that is about to fly you from A-B.
We saw our flight leave for ZRH and a few hours later it returned, I filmed it land just before we went airside to get our flight.

We were the first to arrive at Gate 6 and the first to board the E-190. We were moved from our booked seats as there were only 20 passengers on the flight (an E-190 carries 98 pax on a full load).



Me and my mate got on first and got to our Seats (19A for me and 18F for him). Once the aircraft was airborne we could move seats. 19 of the PAX sat in the middle of the aircraft, whilst one passenger sat up in Row 1 (unsure why exactly).

The plane pushed back and took off on-time and we had a nice clear departure over old London town. My filming camera died on me just after we took off, however I managed to save the take off and about 2 minutes of the climb out, so I wasn't too worried.


As soon as the seatbelt sign was turned off, I picked up my cameras (Yes, I carry 2 cameras) and my bag then moved to Row 11 Seat D.



The in-flight service began only a good 2-4 minutes later. I had a Ginger Ale, Tea with milk (no sugar, I am sweet enough) and a bag of Ready Salted Corkers Crisps. Don't sound like a lot but it was sufficient for such a short flight, plus I wanted to do something I hadn't done before. Sit in ROW 1.



I went up to 2C & 2D as that was the unoccupied front row on the Right Side and I got some pictures from that row. Row 1 is always at a premium or already taken- so this would probably be my only chance of having it. It was only for 5 minutes but it was enough for me.



We began our descent into the Isle of Man and we landed ahead of schedule. The flight overall was smooth apart from the expected steep(ish) take-off at LCY. All though having not been at the really back or front of the E-190, I didn't feel it as much.


I exited the Aircraft (via a short visit to the flight deck) and quickly grabbed a picture of a fellow incoming Flybe ATR-42 before leaving on the day trip to IoM.