Review of easyJet flight London Isle of Man in Economy

Airline easyJet
Flight EZY853
Class Economy
Seat 1C
Aircraft Airbus A320
Flight time 00:50
Take-off 21 Mar 18, 08:30
Arrival at 21 Mar 18, 09:20
U2   #14 out of 22 Low-cost airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 775 reviews
bldavid
By GOLD 754
Published on 24th March 2018
Whenever I fly to/from Gatwick late in the evening or early in the morning I stay at Premier Inn Gatwick North. It's a huge hotel with hundreds of rooms but it's affordable and comfortable - and only a two minute walk from Terminal North. Note that there are several other Premier Inn hotels at Gatwick that are not within walking distance.

photo 20180321_063413

Terminal North has two floors for check-in. Easyjet is on the lower floor.

photo 02photo 03

Some other airlines have their check-in on the upper floor.

photo 04

I pre-booked premium security for 5 pounds only. Getting through security took me about 4 minutes.

photo 05

I was airside less than 20 minutes after leaving my hotel. There is a huge duty free area after security.

photo 06

There is a large central area in the terminal.

photo 07

Easyjet is obviously the largest airline at Gatwick North.

photo 08

I had to go through a boarding pass control with "look at the camera please" for gate 55 where newspapers and magazines were available for free.

photo 10

My plane. Boarding was through bridge.

photo 11

Boarding started at 7.35. Friendly welcome as I boarded and I was happy to see that there was no divider in front of seats 1ABC. There was another passenger who originally booked seat 1B but he moved to 1A, so we were seated a bit like on a domestic or intra-European business class. My seat was 1C with huge legroom - that would be good for a long-haul flight too, let alone for a short one hour hop.

photo 12

Load was light so almost all passengers boarded in a few minutes. Push-back was on time at 8.05 but we took off at 8.30 only. Service started as soon as the seatbelt sign was turned off. Interestingly enough the otherwise efficient crew preferred not to to go through the cabin with the trolley but just walked to each passengers to check if they wanted something and brought them their food or drink if they did. I didn't buy anything on-board. Here are some photos of the menu (photos taken on the flight back but the menu was the same)



The rest of the flight was comfortable and uneventful. Landing was at 9.20, so flight time was only 50 minutes. Deplaning was quick with a short walk to the terminal. Our aircraft after landing.

photo 23

The departure area of the Isle of Man airport.

photo 24

A West Atlantic cargo plane.

photo 25

The Isle of Man is a self-governing British Crown dependency. I spent the day sightseeing. There is an aviation (and military) museum right next to the airport with extremely nice staff and this old Manx aircraft on display.

photo 26

An old newspaper at the museum.

photo 27

The nearest town to the airport is Castletown.



Douglas, the capital.

photo 32photo 33

Peel is another nice town.



Thank you for reading my flight report.
See more

Verdict

easyJet

6.0/10
Cabin7.0
Cabin crew7.0
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Buy-on-board menu5.0

London - LGW

9.0/10
Efficiency9.0
Access9.0
Services9.0
Cleanliness9.0

Isle of Man - IOM

8.3/10
Efficiency9.0
Access9.0
Services6.0
Cleanliness9.0

Conclusion

I use Gatwick quite often and I always feel the same: despite the huge number of travellers it's almost always well organised and efficient. My general strategy with low-cost airlines is to book a low fare well in advance and add all extra services such as priority security, priority boarding and extra legroom (and occasionally lounge access and pre-bookable food) that make a flight more comfortable. Booking a low-cost flight with all these extras is still much cheaper than booking a domestic or intra-European business class with a legacy carrier, while the comfort, with the exception of the quality of the meal, can be quite similar.

Related

4 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 438475 by
    KL651 TEAM 4534 Comments
    Thanks for this FR.
    The BoB prices are decent, especially compared to IB.
    The Isle of Man looks like an interesting place to spend the week-end.
    • Comment 438489 by
      bldavid GOLD AUTHOR 308 Comments
      Hi, thank you for your comment. Yes, I agree that Easyjet's BoB prices are correct, I believe however that you can buy better quality food at the airport. And yes, the Isle of Man is an interesting place to visit.
  • Comment 438716 by
    Pilpintu TEAM 997 Comments
    Hi!

    Huge legroom and a sensible seatmate. How lucky you are!

    crew preferred not to to go through the cabin with the trolley but just walked to each passengers to check if they wanted something

    I think that is a very sensible thing to do, too. Pushing the trolley just in case? Nah.

    I love these less frequently reported routes to such picturesque places. Thank you very much for the report and especially for the photos of Isle of Man! :)
  • Comment 438743 by
    bldavid GOLD AUTHOR 308 Comments
    Hi Nechus, thank you for your comment. Lucky, yes, and I think that it always makes a difference to buy extra legroom for a small fee, and you less often have somebody sitting next to you than on the regular seats.

Login to post a comment.