To Lyon and back

[airazurxtror]

Wednesday 29 May 2013
Hop! flight A5 4311
Embraer 135 F-GRGQ; Commandant Meunier.
Scheduled : BRU 06.35 - LYS 08.00
Actual : departure 06.40, take-off 06.50; landing 08.03
I had paid 45,38 euros on the 5 March.

So early a flight meant taking the first STIB bus to the airport (05.09 at Schuman, 05.35 at the apt bus station - 4 euros for the single trip); there was already a long queue at the security check; proceed to gate A35.
When checking online the day before (available from 30 hours before the flight), I had been allocated seat 12A; at the gate I was given another boarding pass with seat 9D (no explanation offered).
Boarding in the Aviapartner bus began at 06.10 (a few "Soir" and "Standaard" available at the gate); drive in front of the old "Expo 58" terminal, and past the circular one - both in a sorry state.
The Embraer 135 was awaiting us, marked as "Air France by Regional", not yet painted as "Hop !".
It seems that the passengers with a hand luggage can have it put in the hold before boarding.
We were greeted by the one flight attendant, an amiable experienced stewardess (a few French newspapers available at the door); she had a "Hop !" badge.
Small aircraft, rows of 3, A on the left, D and F on the right. Overhead bins only above D/F. Rather large windows.
Row 9 has the emergency exits - a short briefing by the stewardess as to how open them in case of evacuation, but not if there is fire visible through the window (hatch weight : 11,2 kg !).
During the flight, we were offered a croissant or a couque (with a second helping) and a small Nescafé - plus a sweet.
This aircraft is more like a Ce172 than an A380 ! I mean, rather lively when changing heading or altitude : quite enjoyable !
A nice flight, and a smooth landing at Lyon Saint Exupéry (formerly Satolas). Those with a hand luggage in the hold were given it back at once, and we proceeded through rather a long passage to the exit.
I had bought online a return ticket on the "Rhône Express" tram to Lyon center - not cheap at the price : 24,50 euros return, but still a bit cheaper than at the airport (26 euros) or on the tram (+ 1 euro).
Transit time to the Part Dieu railway station is around 30 minutes. From there, trams, buses and metro to all parts of the town.

Wednesday 29 May 2013
EasyJet flight EZY 4369
Airbus A319 G-EZGJ
Schedule : LYS 17.40 - BRU 19.05
Actual : push bach 17.43; take-off 17.51; landing 18.48; at gate A60 19.03
Cost me 39,45 euros on 5 march.

When arriving at Part Dieu to take the 15.30 tram to the airport (a departure is scheduled every 15 minutes), I saw on the screen that it would be delayed, and as a matter of fact, it departed only at 15.55. Advice : don't cut it too fine ! A frequent user told me that the Rhône Express is all right for 90% of the time, it being "un bordel" for the other 10% ...
From the airport station, there is a walk of at least 6 min to the terminals 1 and 2, and a further 8 minutes to the low-cost terminal (3), part of it without protection from the rain (there was a light thunderstrom at that moment). After the security check, a very long walk, part of it under the apron, to the "satellite 3" and the gates - I would say nearly as long as going to the Brussels Pier A !
Boarding is not a rushed affair with easyJet, as everybody has got beforehand an allocated seat - either bought or given when checking.
Most of the passengers were French-speaking; the cabin crew apparently was English-speaking. The safety speech before take-off was first given in French, without demonstration by the CC; it was then given in English, the CC then showing as usual the exits, how to use the life vest, etc - nobody paying attention any more.
I had been given 18C; after take-off, I moved to 18F which was free; I prefer to be near a window - although there were clouds almost the whole way and not much to see below.
Smooth landing also at Brussels, on runway 25L. and very slow transit to gate A60 (15 minutes). And i got the 19.27 to Schuman !

[cathay belgium]

Hi,

Normally this line is flown by the bit bigger embraer 145, you logged the Embraer 135,
this was probably the reason of change of seat.
Nice report on one of my upcomin' flights, thx!

CXB

[SilverJET]

Nice trip report .... just booked a rountrip ...

[shockcooling]

Nice report, didn't catch the name of the capt. for the return flight?

btw; may I suggest to use the term check-in instead of checking

[airtrainer]

Nice report, and thanks for reminding me about a possible daytrip for the next months

[SilverJET]

Is there a possibility to spot aircrafts from inside the terminals?

[SpottairBRU]

Hi SilverJet,

From what I remember of my very short transit (15 minutes) last year, yes, you can spot some planes from the terminals (airside), but the windows are tinted, with sometimes nasty reflections. See some pics on my blog: Trip to Florence and back via Lyon. Scroll down to around 60% to the short part in Lyon for two pics taken from inside the terminal: an ATR and an ERJ145

Other members can maybe give more details, as I did not have the time to "visit" the airport

Oh, and by the way, nice TR, airazurxtror, I'm now also tempted to hop there

[CRJ 900]

Hi,
If you walk inside terminal 1 in the direction of terminal 2, you find a corner with a very hughe window ideal to spot aircraft. You can see as well the runway's, the appron and the bridged aircrafts. As far as I remember I noticed no problems there with tainted windows. At the gates however you have tainted windows, not ideal for spotting. If you 're lucky you can see some nice birds there e.g. Air Transat. A lot of N-African flights (Air Algérie, RAM,...). This year the *alliance partners moved their operations to the new terminal 2. As I was in a hurry last time, I had no time to look for a spotting place there.
Rgds,
CRJ 900

[airazurxtror]

Is there a possibility to spot aircrafts from inside the terminals?

I am sorry, I didn't think about spotting - next time, I'll pay more attention to that.
As said above by CRJ, the windows are not tainted, and one can see the apron eg from the T1 extension (where I arrived) and from the T3 satellite (from where I departed).

[SpottairBRU]

Hi,
As far as I remember I noticed no problems there with tainted windows. At the gates however you have tainted windows, not ideal for spotting.

As said above by CRJ, the windows are not tainted, and one can see the apron eg from the T1 extension(...).

I stand corrected, as indeed I only rushed from one arrival gate to the departure one, explaining why I talked about tainted windows

[sn26567]

Is there a possibility to spot aircrafts from inside the terminals?

one can see the apron eg from the T1 extension (where I arrived) and from the T3 satellite (from where I departed).

Does it mean that Hop! is not considered as a low cost? (in which case you would have arrived at T3!)

[airazurxtror]

The airlines that are considered as low-cost by the Lyon airport are :
Air Arabia, easyJet, Jet4you (now Jetairfly, I guess), Transavia, Vueling, WOW and XL Airways
http://www.lyonaeroports.com/fre/Je-par ... s-low-cost

[cathay belgium]

Hop! is just Air France bLight I guess!
As you can book the same flight for more money on tha AF website,this said it all..

CXB

[sn26567]

Hop! is just Air France bLight I guess!

On b.light (contrarily to Hop!) you don't pay for check luggage. Hop! has most of the characteristics of a low-cost.

[brusselsairlinesfan]

In your opinion, is brussels airlines the best alternative on the BRU-LYS route?