Avion Express operating some British Airways flights

[PeteM]

Bervios wrote:

Worth noting that BA crew can buy miniatures for a discounted price at the end of a flight. One of the perks. Of course that’s not to say pilfering may occur at airlines but I know BA security do spot checks so not worth the risk.

Hence why doing it at a destination is probably a better idea…

[NorthernLass]

Indeed, I doubt very much there would be any checking going on at NAS, I did comment to my OH at the time that I bet they were going to have a massive party in their hotel with all that booze!

That flight then gets restocked when it returns to NAS from GCM later that night with a different crew, so no one’s going to be asking any questions at that point.

[hugol0ver]

Clearly the difference between mainline BA and the Lithuanian outfit are night and day in terms of service, comfort (and the fact it’s not a BA aircraft!) but the expert here concluded that legally you don’t have a leg to stand on, as it’s merely a contract of carriage from A to B? 🤡

[Peter K]

To a large extent it’s the attitude of the crew that serve the craft, not the company, that makes the difference.

My last trip from Gatwick to Dalaman was an example of this. BA crew both ways, but outbound they were exceptional. Constantly busy serving drinks, being helpful etc. On the way back they hid themselves behind a curtain in the galley for half the flight. An example of their tardiness was when Street I had nipped to the loo I mentioned I’d like a drink but that I had seen they were going down the aisle asking, which they agreed they were doing. But then they stopped at row 3, hid behind the curtain again and 30 minutes later I had to go down and again ask for a drink. It’s not because I’d drunk too much, I didn’t have any alcohol on the whole flight. There were only 6 rows of CE so it wasn’t a huge cabin either. The chief cabin crew member played least in sight, and then mostly chatted to her favourite 4 passengers.

On the flip side, I’ve had fantastic service on LCC more than once with helpful, smiling, friendly staff all the way.

[Hertsman]

LPA-LGW last night in CE on Avion Express A320. Plane was so old and noisy. It felt we had stepped back in time to a Monarch/Brittania charter flight from the 80’s! CE seating cramped. My partner and me both around 5 10 and our knees were touching the seats in front. The seats were hard and uncomfortable. The cracked leather (or faux leather?) trims were cracked and severe scuffing to all the trimming everywhere. General cabin decor drab and dreary throughout. We were in 2 A & C and we could not use overhead lockers as these were for crew use only..our bags ended up above row 6.
CC were efficient but could have been more proactive. Finer touches were just missing e.g. the warm bread rolls were offered after everyone had finished their meal.
One plus point is that the curtain was in place during this flight; however, this was not the case on the outbound flight.
We have travelled in BA CE/CW for many years alongside business on other carriers. This had to be the worst CE cabin we have experienced and does not meet the usual BA standard. We will certainly be sending a letter of complaint to BA.
If our next BA CE LGW flight is to be operated by Avion Express then we will be certainly be cancelling!

[Richie]

Hertsman wrote:

LPA-LGW last night in CE on Avion Express A320. Plane was so old and noisy. It felt we had stepped back in time to a Monarch/Brittania charter flight from the 80’s! CE seating cramped. My partner and me both around 5 10 and our knees were touching the seats in front. The seats were hard and uncomfortable. The cracked leather (or faux leather?) trims were cracked and severe scuffing to all the trimming everywhere. General cabin decor drab and dreary throughout. We were in 2 A & C and we could not use overhead lockers as these were for crew use only..our bags ended up above row 6.
CC were efficient but could have been more proactive. Finer touches were just missing e.g. the warm bread rolls were offered after everyone had finished their meal.
One plus point is that the curtain was in place during this flight; however, this was not the case on the outbound flight.
We have travelled in BA CE/CW for many years alongside business on other carriers. This had to be the worst CE cabin we have experienced and does not meet the usual BA standard. We will certainly be sending a letter of complaint to BA.
If our next BA CE LGW flight is to be operated by Avion Express then we will be certainly be cancelling!

BTW Your flight was operated by aircraft 9H-AMJ, which started flights for BAEF 30 May.

[andy66]

Flew on Avion today BA2732 LGW-ACE , managed to bag seats 1A 1C and Legroom was about the same as the usual 320s from Gatwick, but the other rows in CE did look quite tight . Seats were ok , not too comfortable bit hard and worn compared to the usual ones used for Gatwick flights .
Service was pretty good , polite , professional and competent. There was a BA crew member but they were in economy and had a tougher time in that cabin as 1 passenger had a severe nut allergy and NO food was served just drinks .
The curtain was present and no one from economy came into the CE cabin there were about 17 passengers in CE and no queue build up for the toilet.
At least the Avion crew knew what a Bucks Fizz was and served me a good one unlike my last BA flight where they thought it was a Brewdog beer ( they certainly were not old enough to know it was an 80s pop band too )
Overall I was happy with the flight , but my expectations were low based on recent feedback on forums, being in the front row was a bonus though regards legroom but other passengers in CE did seem contented with the service .
I fly back on Euroflyer in 11 days time and will report on that too to add some contrast . Also BA lounge at LGW was good too with good food and drink options , boarding too was very good .
Overall a solid 8 out of 10 , with 1 point deduction for uncomfortable seat and 1 point for solid functional service rather than friendly engaging service ( which we use to get a few years ago )

[phantomchickenz]

A tape of two journeys. Outbound to Malta on Avion was fine – couldn’t really tell it wasn’t BA. Today is the return on 9H-MLR, and the seats are thin, uncomfortable, and have no recline. Legroom is less than usual (I’m in economy and knees touch the seat in front at 6’ 2”), and to top things off we’ve been sitting on the apron for about 20 minutes due to ‘congestion in Europe’. Can’t really fault Avion for that one though.

So I guess it’s a bit of a lucky dip which aircraft you get.

[NICK N]

I had the misfortune to end up on an Avion plane, zero legroom coming back from Kos earlier this year

[ayearinmx]

just come back from Antalya on an Avion Express operated BA flight, with Club Europe…. zero legroom (i’m only 5ft8), no recline, tray tables are too small

the only somewhat impressive aspect was that there was no curtain, but they made damn sure that no economy passengers used the front toilet

it is disgraceful that BA can get away with offering a CE price for a flight operated by this plane

[SamG]

they actually have 5 of these aircraft in operation at the moment which is about 1/3 of the Gatwick operation

[marshy11]

Back from Kos this week with Avion. I am 5’10 and OH is 6’4. He literally could not sit without leaning his knees/legs towards the middle seat. The plane was filthy. It looked like someone had eaten croissants with a wind turbine on – flaky pastry everywhere. The tray tables are tiny, too small to take the meal tray and at such an angle that we had to hold them with one hand to stop them sliding on our laps (normally in CE you can do this with your knees but these were chest level) and as we were row 8 there was no meal choice, no champagne loaded at Gatwick but the crew were absolutely exemplary. The legroom on ours was 28 inch apropos the advertised 31 inch that CE offer. When you are tall it makes a massive difference and I would not chose to fly with Avion, I would actually avoid it. Our flight was showing as BA Euroflyer right up until check in.

[Michael C]

They actually sound like the BCN-MAD-BCN shuttle aircraft!

[BenM]

Hi there. My upcoming CE flight to Kos is Avion. I am fairly tall! Would anyone with experience of Avion recommend I definitely sit in row 1 (does anyone have any pics?) or would you say there is not much leg room difference between rows 1&2?
The reason I ask is I heard the CE seats have pretty much the same pitch as Economy

Thanks!

[marshy11]

Apologies, I think I hit report rather than quote.

Hi BenM I think you should have had my reply in the Avion thread.

No way is there anywhere near the 31 inches for Economy or CE on BA Euroflyer when using AVION. It is 28 inches.

Go for row 1. As I said previously, I don’t know what the legroom is because no one was sat down when we boarded but it was more than the poxy legroom we had, too little for a 5’10 and way to little for 6’4.

FWIW CE and Y have the same pitch on BA Euroflyer. The issue is that on Avion, they both have 3 inches less.

[marshy11]

An update for those who are assigned AVION. Despite the lovely crew I did complain about the lack of legroom, food and general state of the cabin, including my semi broken seat.

Today we’ve had a £200 e voucher emailed. I feel this is more than fair but in truth I would rather have flown on a flight that was as advertised ie 31 inch legroom and not 3 inches less.

[lataczuk]

Flew with Avion this week and eventhough I am not very tall I found the legroom hideous.

[executiveclubber]

marshy11 wrote:

An update for those who are assigned AVION. Despite the lovely crew I did complain about the lack of legroom, food and general state of the cabin, including my semi broken seat.

Today we’ve had a £200 e voucher emailed. I feel this is more than fair but in truth I would rather have flown on a flight that was as advertised ie 31 inch legroom and not 3 inches less.

Good result. Though I don’t get why some people get a laughably pathetic 5000 Avios and some people get £200 evouchers for very similar complaints. I wonder, could it be due to the CIV?

[ecc1965]

Flew both ways Avion LGW to Bordeaux. On the way out they had 6 kids of 13 in the exit rows seats D to F. I was shocked. Stewardess tried to explain what they would have to in an emergency … 15 minutes of (unsurprisingly) childish banter “ooo will we have to jump out, shall I pull it now etc etc” later and i have never felt so unsafe on a plane. How can it be acceptable for a child to be in an emergency exit row. Spanish crew as others have mentioned, good job i know the briefing off by heard as the accent was completely impossible to understand. Skeleton crew, service non existent. Not a good experience.

[Londonsteve]

It seems one can go lower than BA Euro Flyer based on recent experiences with Avion. I guess price was the overriding consideration for the wet lease as opposed to quality? Why is BA even operating these services to start with if they don’t have the available airframes and crew? Not so very long ago rumour was that BA weren’t even returning to LGW and now they’re sub contracting flights to these bozos.