CityJet - London City to Belfast
by JFC AdminThe CityJet for Air France service to Belfast City Airport is operated by ScotAirways using their Dornier 328 aircraft, the flight is about an hour long.
With plenty of time to spare I decided to use an alternative method to get to London City Airport - walking. Going from Rotherhithe I headed towards Surrey Docks and followed the A200 to Greenwich, from this point I followed the signs to Woolwich, the plan was to take the Woolwich Free Ferry across the Thames. It took about two hours to reach the ferry terminal. There’s supposed to be two ferries operating on weekdays but there was only one operating at the time which meant the waiting time was longer than normal. Next time I’ll walk through the tunnel instead.
When arriving at the airport I didn’t notice any traffic restriction outside the terminal. I printed my boarding pass at one of the self service terminals, this is only the second time that I’ve had any success with the Air France terminals. The line at security was very small and within the space of five minutes I had passed through security and bought a beer and a pint of tap water (I’ve stopped buying bottled water at the airport out of principle since the liquids ban). The airport didn’t seem as busy as it usually is on a Friday evening so there were plenty of free seats.
The flight was due to depart at 20:05 but the aircraft arrived slightly late and so it didn’t depart until around 20:25, the gate was announced about 20:00 and it was gate 1 which was just a short walk from where I was sitting. The flight was about 75% full and the aircraft had a 1-2 seating configuration meaning that as I was in seat 7A I had both a window and an aisle. The seats were fairly comfortable and seem wider than those used on the CityJet Avro jets.
The aircraft is staffed by ScotAirways crew as opposed to Air France or CityJet crew but the catering is provided by Air France. There’s only one flight attendant on this service but this is adequate for an aircraft of this size. The flight attendant done a good job and was handing out drinks and snacks as soon as the seatbelt light was switched off. There was no sandwich on this flight, instead it was the usual packet of mixed snacks that Air France are fond of passing out on short flights. I’d have preferred a sandwich but the snacks did go well with a beer and the flight attendant was happy to pass out extra drinks on request. Overall it was a very enjoyable flight, I enjoy flying turboprop aircraft like the Fokker 50’s that KLM Cityhopper and VLM use, the smaller aircraft tends to make for a better service as the staff have less people to deal with. The Dornier 328 is even smaller with a capacity of just over 30 passengers, the ride also felt smoother than a Fokker 50 although this maybe just because of the weather conditions.
Upon landing at what is known now as George Best Belfast City Airport (formerly known as Belfast Harbour Dock hence its IATA code BHD), the aircraft landed at a remote stand so it was a short bus ride to the terminal. Most of the other flights from the airport were operated by Flybe and bmi. Unlike London City, Belfast City Airport can accommodate larger jets such as the A319. The baggage arrived within five minutes and then it was time to visit the cash machine and join the queue for taxis. The total waiting time was about ten minutes. The cost of a taxi to the hotel (Radisson SAS) was around £8.