Airline: Flybe
Aircraft: ERJ-195LR (E190-200LR) G-FBEF (8 years old)
Flight: BE4413 Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA/EGCN) to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS/EHAM)
Date: 26/03/16
Flight time: 48 minutes
Departed: 11:42 (12 minutes late)
Arrival: 13:30 (On time)
Arriving at Doncaster Sheffield 2 and half hours before, the weather was fair for the trip to Amsterdam. The service by Flybe is a new one of many new routes (including Paris CDG, Berlin Tegel and Newquay) launched on Thursday 24th April when the airline opened a base with 2 E195s. I made my way into the terminal; having only hand luggage I passed the bag drop desks and headed through to security. There was a minor queue which only took about 5 minutes. Airside there are a few shops and restaurants - newsagents, duty free and a bar. There is plenty of seating which also provide a good view over the apron and runway. There are not many movements at Doncaster Sheffield - Flybe, Aer Lingus, Thomson Airways and Wizz Air plus One off cargo flights and Amazon cargo flights. My aircraft to Amsterdam - G-FBEF - arrived 10 minutes behind which did mean boarding was 10 minutes later than usual. Boarding was prompt, the flight looked busy.
Landside at Doncaster Sheffield
ASL Airlines France B737-4Y0SF F-GIXN loading
NetJets Dassault Falcon 2000 CS-DNR taxiing
Flybe E195 G-FBEJ 'Welcome to Yorkshire' special livery landing at Doncaster Sheffield
Flybe E195 G-FBEJ 'Welcome to Yorkshire' special livery taxiing at Doncaster Sheffield
My aircraft E195 G-FBEF taxiing at Doncaster Sheffield
Close up of G-FBEF
Both G-FBEF and G-FBEJ at Doncaster Sheffield
Seatiing at DSA
Seating at DSA
On the apron about to board G-FBEF
Boarding G-FBEF
My view from Seat 9A
Taxiing to Runway 20
We pushed back at 11:40 and began our taxi to Runway 20 shortly afterwards. Our estimated flight time was 50 minutes. We paused briefly at the threshold before taking off into a strong headwind. There was some minor turbulence as we ascended to our cruising altitude. We turned right heading east. We quickly reached our cruising altitude at 29,000ft. Most of the journey was through cloud cover. Our route took us straight across the North Sea. During the journey there was a short drinks and snacks service (Non-complimentary). It is quite reasonably priced. I bought a Kit Kat as the journey was short. The seats are relatively comfortable and seat pitch is quite good due to slim seats.
Cruising at 29,000ft over the North Sea
Seating onboard G-FBEF
I bought a Kit Kat from the drinks and snacks menu seen on the right
The inflight magazine
Seat pitch is reasonable
We soon reached the Dutch coastline and began our descent. We initially banked left heading north of Schiphol Airport. We banked 180 degrees lining up with Runway 18R 'Polderbaan'. Our final approach was slightly turbulent due to strong winds but we gently touched down and vacated the runway. The taxi from Polderbaan took at least 5 minutes. We arrived on time at our F-pier stand. Disembarking was relatively quick. From the F-pier there is a 5 minute walk to the nearest immigration control which was very smooth and within 15 minutes of leaving the plane I was landside at Schiphol Airport.
Arriving on our stand at Schiphol Airport
Disembarking G-FBEF
On the apron after leaving G-FBEF
Below is a video of the flight
