Airline Review: Flybe (Manchester to Paris)

Posted on 22. Jan, 2012 by Dan Collins in Airlines, Reviews

The trip between the UK and Paris was the first ever time I’ve flown with Flybe. I chose to go with them simply because the flight times suited me the best out of all of the budget airline options.

Booking the flight was fairly straight forward – I used one of those price comparison sites to find the best deal. Obviously the original price quoted wasn’t what we actually had to pay because of the luggage we had to pay for, then the taxes, the fee for booking via a card (because there’s an easy way of paying with cash over the internet, isn’t there?!) and all of the other little amenities that were added on.

We had an option of choosing our seat before flying (with an extra cost for doing so) but I didn’t see the need as the European flights are never full so I knew my friend and I would be sitting next to each other. With the flight being around an hour long it didn’t matter if we weren’t next to each other anyway.

Checking in at the airport was very easy. There was a woman standing at the start of the queue entrance that would book you in on the screens if you only had carryon luggage which saved you waiting in the queue but I had to check a bag so I got in line. The line went fast and the checking went without a hitch. The check in assistant was pleasant and struck an actual conversation that wasn’t the usual mindless questions I get asked on other airline check-ins.

The staff that were waiting for us at the boarding gate were the same as those at the check-in desk so we were able to have a chat with them again while waiting to board the plane and the flight attendants on the aircraft were also exceptionally well mannered.

Flybe's Embraer (Picture property of Flybe)

We were flying on one of Flybe’s new Embraer class aircraft which to be fair looked very nice inside. The seats were some of the comfiest seats I’ve ever experienced on an economy class seat – leather with a lot more space than I’d anticipated! The seats were two abreast so I didn’t have any strangers sitting next to me but I did get a screaming child behind (not Flybe’s fault, obviously).

There was no in-flight entertainment but on a flight that’s around an hour long I didn’t expect any. With it being so early in the morning I didn’t feel like eating on board so didn’t purchase any of the food. The prices were the same you’d expect on any airline but it looked decent enough quality from what I could see of the people in the next seats.

With the flight being so short I can’t really give an in-depth review but overall I’d probably recommend Flybe to a friend. It was good value, a good flight and a nice aircraft. What more can you ask for from a budget airline?!

Tags: Airlines, Flybe, Reviews