Brussels Birmingham with Brussels Airlines DHC8

[liebensd]

Date: 2nd January
Flight: SN2045 Brussels(BRU) Birmingham(BHX)
Aircraft: OE-LGC a Bombardier DHC-8 400 operated by Tyrolean.

I arrived at the one hour prior to departure. Because the late afternoon it was very calm at the airport. Check inn and security check went very fast. After a coffee I went to gate B91, the tent in near the B-gates. A bus drove us to the remote parked aircraft.
The flight was operated by a DHC-8 400 of Tyrolean Airways OE-LGC. Only some labels outside and inside the cabin indicate that it is operated for Brussels Airlines. Cabin and cockpit crew were Tyrolean.
The flight was full in B.Flex and B.light, this was also the reason why I was travelling in business class. After takeoff a cold meal was served and as desert there were 2 chocolates! Arrival was normal in Birmingham. For Ryanair lovers Birmingham is the place to be these days. Ryanair uses the airport as parking area. I guess around 10-15 aircrafts are parked there.

Date: 5th January
Flight: SN2038 Birmingham(BHX) Brussels(BRU)
Aircraft: OO-DWF Avro 100
I arrived one and a half hour before departure, around 8 o'clock, but it was quite calm in the airport. Check inn and security check went also fast. After some coffee I went to the almost gate. As the late incoming aircraft the flight was delayed by 30 minutes. The boarding was fast, also because of the very low load factor, 16 adults and a baby.
Because of the turbulent weather it was a bumpy flight. A cold meal was served in B.Flex. We had a small sightseeing tour over London before landing at 25L in Brussels. The aircraft parked at the A-gates and we were brought by a bus to the B arrival area.


Regards,
Dave

[Comet]

BHX used to be a good place for spotting "exotic" carriers you didn't often find at other main airports - Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan carriers being two examples. I always thought BHX was one of the best regional airports in the UK.

[sn26567]

Hi Dave,

Were you upgraded to business, or did you buy business because nothing else was available?

What is the difference in seat layout between business and economy.

FYI, the Tyrolean DHC8 Q400 flies for SN to HAJ (Hannover) from Monday through Friday, and to LYS (Lyon) and BHX (Birmingham) during the weekends.

[cathay belgium]

Hi Dave,

THX for your report !

SN better changed airplane-type on these days I guess ...

Saw these amounts of pax also on my former flights,that's the reason why BMI stopped their cheap flights on F70 I guess.. and SN has now quite expensive fares on this route which is needed for business..
Bring on our prop I could say ! instead of some wetlease..

Service was nice on this short flight.
Did you get a stair to the tarmac at the A gate or through the gate,back stairs down outside to the bus..?
And then to the B gates by bus ..
Strange way, is this common , why didn't they parked outside and towed the plane afterwards to the A gate?
looks funny,first people happy oh no bus NICE ! and then oh no still a bus ... why ? haha

But thx.. hope that SN will have soon their own prop for these flights so they can lower their fares a bit,
will make my yearly visit to BHX quite nicer as I opted last and this year for an iternary from AMS with WW and KLM just because it saves me a lot of money incl. transfed by car..

CX-B

PS Andre,do you have any info about loadfactors on these Q400 flights to HAJ ?
PS Comet, indeed and also the PIA and EK B777 are a quite georgious sights looking up from walks through the Midlands


Besides @ BHX ,FR and Flybe uses their own terminals no? or has this changed.. ?
But indeed quite a lot LCC these days.. Flybe,FR,BMI BABY,... not one BA I guess..
still remember the quite nice BA blue/red carpetted terminal 10 years ago

[Comet]

PS Comet, indeed and also the PIA and EK B777 are a quite georgious sights looking up from walks through the Midlands
Besides @ BHX ,FR and Flybe uses their own terminals no? or has this changed.. ?
But indeed quite a lot LCC these days.. Flybe,FR,BMI BABY,... not one BA I guess..
still remember the quite nice BA blue/red carpetted terminal 10 years ago

I forgot about PIA, last time I was there I bagged their A310 on video (this was in 2005 - September), also got the Air India 777, the Emirates wasn't around when I had the video but I bagged it on photos on other visits. I was lucky enough to get the Turkmenistan 757 on my last visit, I had never been there on the right days before but on my first Sunday at BHX I got lucky I think they have closed the spotting area now, from what I read, which is a shame because there was a superb shop there.

[liebensd]

Hi Dave,

Were you upgraded to business, or did you buy business because nothing else was available?

What is the difference in seat layout between business and economy.

The flight was booked in business. I had to be on that flight and it was only booked 3 day's in advance.
There is no real difference between business and economy seats, at least what I could see. I guess in Business there will be 2 seats a person. Since I was the only one in business, there was space enough for me.

Hi Dave,

Did you get a stair to the tarmac at the A gate or through the gate,back stairs down outside to the bus..?
And then to the B gates by bus ..
Strange way, is this common , why didn't they parked outside and towed the plane afterwards to the A gate?
looks funny,first people happy oh no bus NICE ! and then oh no still a bus ... why ? haha

CX-B

At the A gates we disembarked by the gate bridge, but afterwards we needed to take the starts down to the bus.
I guess the reason for this is that the next flight of the aircraft was to a Schengen country.

Regards,
Dave

[azingrew]

That's weird, Just tried a fake booking on week ends in feb. and March to LYS ( out on sunday, back on sat) and it showed RJ 85 and RJ 100. When is the Q400 starting the route?

[andorra-airport]

That's weird, Just tried a fake booking on week ends in feb. and March to LYS ( out on sunday, back on sat) and it showed RJ 85 and RJ 100. When is the Q400 starting the route?

Saturday to LYS, Sunday to BHX.