The GIRjet experience with SN from MAN to BRU on 3/10/2007

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sn26567
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The GIRjet experience with SN from MAN to BRU on 3/10/2007

Post by sn26567 »

Yesterday I made a day business trip to Manchester and my confirmed flights included the outbound flight on an SN Avro RJ85 and the return flight as a new experience on the wet-leased GIRjet F100. I had checked in by Internet for the outbound flight, but I could not do it for the inbound one, probably because the aircraft was not in the computer.

I arrived at the airport at 7:45 and immediately asked for a boarding pass for the return flight at the SN counter for passengers with hand baggage only. The queue was MUCH shorter than at the regular counters. But there was still a problem, as the lady at the desk had to call her supervisor for help. I finally got my boarding pass and proceeded to Terminal B, where I purchased a breakfast at the Wine & Seafood restaurant.

BRU-MAN

Flight: SN 2173, codeshared with BE and AA
Aircraft: Avro RJ85 OO-DJZ
Seat: 16A in the b.light section, blue leather in a 2-3 configuration (Good view and nice pitch)
Departure time scheduled/actual: 09:35/09:43
Arrival time scheduled/actual: 09:55/10:30
Load factor: 25% both in b.flex (8 rows) and b.light (8.5 rows)


Boarding was on-time from gate B93 (the tent!), hence we were bussed to the far end of Terminal A. Pushback was 8 minutes late, but then we were number 9 for take-off on 25R, due to the heavy fog. And in addition a Jet Airways B777 jumped in front of all other aircraft waiting in line. Privileged treatment? Finally take-off was 40 minutes late.

Our friendly crew was composed of captain Corthouts, an unnamed co-pilot, purser Patrick Van der Schappen and stewardess Ellen. They made the usual safety announcements in Dutch, French and English.

The flight itself was uneventful, with little to see under rainy skies. Only after landing on 23R (half an hour late) was there trouble with the operator of the air bridge who could not bring it to the right place. We had to wait 10 minutes before finally someone decided to let us out through the own stairs of the Avro.

RETURN

MAN-BRU

Flight: SN2178 codeshared with BE
Aircraft: GIRjet Fokker 100 EC-IVO
Seat: 13A in the b.light section (window, emergency exit, nice pitch) grey leather in a 2-3 configuration
Departure time scheduled/actual: 16:25/16:30
Arrival time scheduled/actual: 18:45/18:45
Load factor: 50%


Our plane had arrived at the same gate 49 where the problem with the air bridge had not yet been solved. I knew beforehand it would be a special plane, a Fokker 100 from a Spanish company specialised in short-term wet-leases, and I was eager to live that experience.

Photograph: http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1131868/M/

Boarding through the plane's own stairs started at 16:05. There were no less than 4 flight attendants (vs the usual 2 for the former Avro RJ100 flying that route), one stewardess and 2 stewards from GIRjet ,and one stewardess Véronique from Brussels Airlines. The uniforms looked very similar with navy-blue and red colours. The SN stewardess welcomed the passengers in French, Dutch and English. Most of the following announcements (including the safety demonstration) were in a bad, bearly understandable English by the Spanish stewardess.

The catering was the usual SN one (free in b.flex and the usual fare in b.light). I ordered a sandwich and a beer. It's already the third time in a row I cannot get the delicious tuna sandwich: I would suggest that SN management looks into that catering issue. The beer was still Maes Pils, but the can had been reduced from 33 cl to 25 cl, for the same price. When I complained to the stewardess, she said that there had been a mistake in the delivery and offered me a second can free of charge in compensation. Nice gesture.

Landing on Rwy 25R towards a gate at the far end of Terminal A (unusual for a non-Schengen flight) meant that we had to be bussed to terminal B and passport control.

Altogether, two nice flights and a nice experience.
André
ex Sabena #26567

regi
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Post by regi »

very strange end of the story André. You probably panicked already thinking to have to walk the long mile. But than again in a bus. Sounds a bit poor for a business flight of SN. Strange organisation by the airport.
What is your comparison in flight quality between the Avro and the Fokker? Seat pitch? Stability? Noise?

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sn26567
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Post by sn26567 »

regi wrote:What is your comparison in flight quality between the Avro and the Fokker? Seat pitch? Stability? Noise?
No doubt that te SN Avros are comfortable. The seats of OO-DJZ had recently got new leather seat covers and were spolt-clean.

But I was nicely surprised by the comfort of the F100 as well, maybe because I was on an emergency exit row. Indeed, they stuffed some 21 rows in the aircraft that normally should have only 20 rows. The grey leather was also comfortable.

The noise of the F100 is somewhat higher than the Avro: the engines are close to the body of the aircraft. The Avro har rightly earned its reputation of the silent aircraft.
André
ex Sabena #26567

regi
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Post by regi »

thanks

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Avro
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Post by Avro »

Thanks for the nice and very interesting comparison André !!

Chris

Stij
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Re: The GIRjet experience with SN from MAN to BRU on 3/10/20

Post by Stij »

sn26567 wrote:The beer was still Maes Pils, but the can had been reduced from 33 cl to 25 cl, for the same price. When I complained to the stewardess, she said that there had been a mistake in the delivery and offered me a second can free of charge in compensation.
It could be true, yesterday evening I got a 33cl can of ... Maes.

Cheers,

Stij

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sn26567
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Post by sn26567 »

Yesterday 17 Oct I flew MAN-BRU again on the same flight. It was still a GIRjet Fokker 100, but another one: EC-JDN (all white, except a small GIRjet sign next to the front entrance). This airctraft seems to be quite new in GIRjet's fleet!

Anybody knows why they changed from the previous one (EC-IVO)? The change was correctly mantiones in the spotters database: thanks SkyStef!

Nothing special to mention, except that there were still 4 flight attendants (3 GIRjet and one SN) for less than 50 passengers. Imprssive service!
André
ex Sabena #26567

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