British Airways using propeller aircraft between Gatwick and Glasgow this summer

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• 1958 says:

  14 Feb14 February 05:34

  I flew on one of these aircraft a couple of years ago: Air New Zealand, from Auckland to Nelson (a distance of 316 miles).
  These aircraft allow AirNZ to run a direct service on routes that would not support a larger plane – or to maximise profit on a route.
  The journey was OK – a bit slow, but the direct flight was quicker than an indirect / stopover. We flew on a calm day – might be different if windy.

  • phantomchickenz says:

    14 Feb14 February 07:32

    They’re the mainstay of AirNZ domestic. All their routes that aren’t between the main centres use props. I remember learning all about it during summer work experience helping to fix the runway at CHC whilst the main staff pointed out the (relatively new) ATR’s, the metro liner (aka pencil dick), and the Dash 8 (aka Crash 8 after a number of unfortunate incidents).

    • Alan says:

      14 Feb14 February 20:07

      No security for domestic prop flights either in NZ, was a very pleasant experience.

  • _aDifferentSimon_ says:

    14 Feb14 February 17:29

    Wellington to Nelson was one of my favourite ever flights. On the way out the pilot fancied a low altitude flight and we just clipped the the top of the Marlborough sounds. Beautiful.
    Boring on the way back when they flew the sensible way.

• TimM says:

  14 Feb14 February 05:37

  I seem to remember the old BA Newcastle-Birmingham service was a propeller plane. Such inter-regional services, and fee-free ‘Air Miles’ redemptions are a thing of the past.

  • Sandgrounder says:

    14 Feb14 February 06:05

    You could still fly this for £17.50 and a big pile of shopping from Sainsbury’s, if your heart desires.

  • The real Swiss Tony says:

    14 Feb14 February 07:00

    BA BHX-NCL was a J41 I think which is even smaller. Only flew Eastern on this route – they took over from BA at the start of 2023 and memorably had the plane to myself one morning (well, with 1 FA and 2 pilots, obvs…)

    • Mark says:

      14 Feb14 February 08:51

      NCL-BHX…..
      Started with Birmingham European on Jetstream 31s G-CBEA/OBEA. These were replaced by a single Short SD360, G-BPFS, which also went from Birmingham to Cork at lunchtime
      Then they got a Jetstream 41 for it, G-MSKJ. All it was Newcastle, four times a day. CRJ200s would appear at Christmas, I certainly flew it at least one on a jet. Operation as then subbed out to Gill Aviation using an ATR42, before returning to BA Regional in their much larger fleet of Jetstream 41s, many of which went to Eastern Airways who also took over the route.

• ukpolak says:

  14 Feb14 February 06:10

  I take these out of SOU and either Aer L or the ground staff have become militant on cabin bag size because of the tiny bins which cannot really accommodate regular cabin baggage.

  American tourister did one, available at JL which just squeezes in: 45 x 35 x 20

  IIRC all boarding from the back btw in case this influences where you wish to sit 🙂

  • Martin says:

    14 Feb14 February 06:46

    All boarding from the back on these flights caught us out when we first flew BHX-BHD on the ATR72!

    • Throwawayname says:

      14 Feb14 February 09:04

      That’s why 2-class ATRs have the business seats behind the curtain.

  • BlairWaldorfSalad says:

    14 Feb14 February 11:31

    The Emerald cabin bag size limit is set at 48 x 33 x 20. My usual 4-wheel underseater is 40.5 x 35.5 x 20.5 and fits fine. Any bigger though would potentially be a problem

  • GM says:

    14 Feb14 February 16:26

    I’ve used the Eastpak Tranverz XXS too – 45 cm x 32 cm x 20 cm. Have seen people let through with bigger, but it might come back to bite you when you try to fit it into the overhead. This at least fits easily.

• Gordon says:

  14 Feb14 February 06:16

  I flew on a Bombardier Q400NG KGL-NBO, very similar, last year, first time on a prop, it was surprising quiet & smooth.

  • Pat says:

    14 Feb14 February 06:26

    Q400 is much faster, has a better range, nice legroom when in 78 config and can accommodate regular cabin bags when so configured. It’s a much better aircraft.

• david says:

  14 Feb14 February 06:24

  Propeller/Sea Plane combo from St Croix to St Thomas was a great experience even though due to the swaying before departure I would pass it up next time.

• Jords says:

  14 Feb14 February 06:43

  The only way to get to GCI

• numpty says:

  14 Feb14 February 06:47

  Flew on an ATR72 just last week between KL and SIN (actually Subang to Seletar airports – Seletar is a great 1 gate airport btw!).

  What caught me out on the ATR was that you can only board from the back of the plane – no passenger door at the front, and the ‘preferred’ seating was at the back of the plane, although service was from the front (everyone got a bottle of water, peanuts and Famos Amos cookies). Not sure if same set up for Aer Lingus boarding.

  Also it is indeed a slow plane, you will be staring at the same cloud for a while.

  • Mark says:

    14 Feb14 February 08:53

    There were some early ATR72s built with a front door: Kar Air (Finland) and American Eagle had them.

• TimM says:

  14 Feb14 February 06:52

  You should try the service from Panama City to the islet of Contadora (where the runway is the entire width of the island). I believe it was a 24-seater. The passengers each had to be weighed holding their luggage at check-in. The women made the men stand far back so they couldn’t see.

  The captain got on at the back, checked our seatbelts then climbed over row 1 into his seat. My Catholic relation was crossing herself the entire journey.

  Even for a small propeller plane it was a very short runway and the propellers roared in reverse to save us going into the sea. That this was a daily service was somewhat incredulous.

  I recommend trying it!

  • Bagoly says:

    14 Feb14 February 08:40

    I read that first that she was crossing herself because the captain touched her when cliimbing over. 🙂

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