34 reviews
It's time to go back from wonderful Jersey. If you haven't read my previous report (U2, BRS-JER), make sure you have a look, and look out for some nice pics from this amazing place. But today, I will report my flight back to the mainland UK, first time with BA CityFlyer.
As the island is quite small, my hotel was around a 60-minute walk from the airport. So I had a crazy idea to, for the first time, walk to the airport. Was it a good one?
Well, at first not too bad, the weather was fine - not too hot, not cold either and not raining. But then it all started - can you see the road going uphill? That was just the beginning.
After 45 mins of walking up the hill, I was finally at the point where I could see the airport tower! And I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the walk - it was only slightly tiring (by the way, I only had a backpack).
As I approached the airport, I spotted some unique aircrafts, including this one: Jersey Airlines?!
And here is the departure terminal, bigger than what you might expect actually.
I arrived at the check in desk, all tired - quite late as well, only about an hour before departure, but that was the plan. Since I saw the flight was very busy, I was hoping it's overbooked and I can stay on Jersey for one more day (funded by BA of course). I didn't do OLCI and hoped for the best.
I even asked the guy at check in, whether maybe the flight is overbooked by any chance and I can volunteer to stay haha. But he said, "unfortunately" there are 2 empty seats, though 2 previous flights to LHR were indeed overbooked (due to the end of a long weekend).
With a printed boarding pass, assigned seat 23B and a sad face I proceeded to security which had one lane only, and no queue of course, as I was one of the last pax from our flight to cross it.
In the airside, there was a little duty free section, a cafe and another shop. There were also doors to the gates, saying something like "Once you've passed through these doors, you can't go back" ;)
Indeed, this was true. I crossed them and couldn't go back anymore, so I found myself as the only pax in the gate area with only echo accompanying me.
The BA lounge, which also accepts priority pass members, was open. From what I saw online, it's very small and has a rather modest selection of food and drinks.
There wasn't too much going on in terms of operations - though I spotted a Blue Island's ATR taxiing.
And soon, our E190 from BA CityFlyer has landed too. A 10-year old G-LCAD, taken over by BA in 2020, hence with all-new interior.
Here's our E90 taxiing to our gate.
Pre-boarding started smoothly and pretty much on time. Priorities were respected and passengers were directed to 2 rooms (front and back halves of the aircraft), where we waited for boarding which commenced no more than 5 mins after.
I was the last pax to board that day. I wanted to take some nice pics of the fuselage but the weather wasn't helpful. Anyway, here's our G-LCAD.
At the aircraft doors, I once again saw the guy who checked me in. He chatted to me again and said that for sure I will be back to Jersey soon, well I hope so!
Once inside, I got warm greetings from a young lady. And what a surprise that she was wearing a BA hat, I have never seen a BA crew member wearing the hat. Turns out, only long haul crew and BA CityFlyer crew wear them. She also gave me a disinfecting tissue and gel and a little bag for disposal.
What can I say, the cabin was very fresh (1-year old) and very clean as well. To be honest, the whole interior looked and smelled brand new. Although the aircraft was acquired in October 2020 (and that's when it had the new interior installed), it was grounded from 16th October 2020 till 4th June 2021 - which means that this interior was only used for 3 months before my flight!
As you can see, a nearly full house today. Although the seats used here are the same as LOT uses in their Embraers and I usually find them extremely comfortable, these today weren't quite as comfortable. They seemed a bit hard and the skin was "blunt" if you know what I mean - maybe it's because they are very fresh and haven't been used for too long yet.
Here's the legroom. With CY98 configuration, it's actually very good.
We took off only slightly delayed and made our way towards LCY. I managed to ask the lade next to me to allow me take a photo on departure. But the views weren't quite as nice as during landing in Jersey. Takeoff was quite steep and very powerful, as you'd expect from an E90 flying to LCY :P
Soon after take off I went to check out the lavatory, it was a standard E90 toilet, but was clean and tidy. Not too many people will use it on this short hop over to LCY.
Here is, again, an overview of the cabin.
Meanwhile, cabin crew commenced a complimentary service. And I really must say, it is a real challenge for them, especially on such a short flight (50 mins today but can be as little as 30 mins). There are only 2 crew members (one in club cabin, one in traveller cabin), and even in traveller, everyone was offered a choice of 3 snacks (salty and sweet) and a beverage (alcoholic or non-alcoholic, including drinks like Gin and Tonic!). The young lady was very efficient I must say, yet I could see her anger when passengers were hesitating for long time over drink and snack choices, therefore slowing down the service - this is understandable though!
Me, being seated towards the back of the cabin, was served seconds before we commenced our descent. I chose a shortbread biscuit and a can of coke. A decent service on such a short flight, I think.
Once we started descent, there was an announcement from captain, that we'll be taking a longer approach today, as there are 2 private jets in front of us. So if you look at our routing below, it's not the most direct path we could've taken ;) In fact the flight was twice longer than my BRS-JER one.
Landing into LCY was surprisingly smooth, as was the touchdown. People seated on the right hand side could experience the famous U-turn around The Shard. I, unfortunately had obstructed views during landing :( Once on the ground, disembarkation proceeded quickly. Yet I decided to stay until the end to take some pictures of the nice and fresh cabin.
I said to the young lady that I really respect her intensive work on that short sector, joking that I could've helped her! She said, they're used to that pace of service in BA CityFlyer.
Below, seats 2CD in club cabin - probably two best seats in the whole aircraft (maybe even entire BA short haul fleet!).
And an empty cabin from the front.
Finally, last shot of the fuselage and then I found myself in the LCY terminal.
In no more than 5 mins, I was already standing at DLR station and waiting for a train to Canary Wharf. I spend a very nice afternoon in London before going back to Bristol.
Thanks for reading travellers,
Hope you enjoyed this ride on BA CityFlyer,
As always - any questions - please get in touch!
Matthevv
With a flight price of 44 GBP, I consider this ride from JER to LCY a very good value for money! I cannot complain about anything on this flight - everything was as it should be. I guess, maybe the aircraft is missing power outlets, but they are not a necessity on such a short flight. I forgot to mention as well, as a BA pax, I had access to PressReader, as the only form of entertainment on this flight.
6 Comments
Nice report :-) Am very familiar with the Cityflyer service as I use(d) them regularly to get to London from my local airport. Which is also quite a short hop, so service is often scaled back (like: no hot drinks on breakfast flights). Hope to fly them again soon - have not been in London for too long...
And quite brave of you, to walk back to the airport. I usually stay in St Helier on Jersey, and always enjoy the comfort of bus no. 15 :-))
Well, best regards, Daniel
Thanks for your comment!
I hope so, hope you can go back to London soon :)
Haha was actually brave, there was a chance I wouldn't make it on time. I was in St. Aubin in the Old Court House (highly recommended!) so no. 15 was also my alternative ;)
Best,
Mateusz
There's obviously lots of business traffic on this route for there to be a BA lounge at tiny Jersey Airport. The cabin looks great, so fresh and new and the seats nice and plush--so rare these days on new aircraft.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for your comment! Haha, exotic indeed, for British standards :P
I wouldn't even ever consider to do Business Class on this flight from JER to LCY to be honest, unless going to LHR and then connecting somewhere. Anyway, the lounge seemed to be actually quite busy at that day (not surprising considering the fully booked flights).
Best,
Mateusz
LYSflyer
All the best,
Matthew
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