Jet2 / AirTanker A330-200, G-VYGL
Background
I'm a big fan of Jet2 for the quality of service and the fact you can pre-order a hot meal of choice. They often fly me to the glorious Canary Islands and long time readers will know that I head to the Canaries' whenever I can. So, on my long list of things 'to do', and with a rare spare weekend, I set about trying the leased-in Airbus A330 of Jet2, to Tenerife.
Jet2 leases a number of wide-body Airbus A330 jets throughout the year to cater for high density routes, to places such as Tenerife, Lanzarote and Palma.
What started as a one-off Airbus A330 summer lease is now year round and in the peak summer months Jet2 has several leased in A330's of the -200 and -300 variants.
Today's particular aircraft, registration G-VYGL, is owned and operated by UK-based AirTanker Services Ltd, which is the primary supplier of 14 Airbus A330-200 aircraft to Britain's Royal Air Force, for military transport purposes. As such, AirTanker's primary bases are RAF Brize Norton, RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus and RAF Mount Pleasant in the Falkland Islands.
For the Jet2 leases, AirTanker commercial pilots fly the aircraft, but the crew's are provided on a varying ACMI damp and wet-lease basis (depending on the time of year). The current deal is signed up to November 2025. Needless to say, the aircraft committed to Jet2 are demilitarised versions.
So, back to today's flight and I have my boarding pass in hand.
My boarding pass and the aircraft being brought onto stand at Manchester Terminal 2
Check In
This is where I sigh. I entered the queue to check in my bag but for an unknown reason I was then passed to a queue across the other side of the check in area, in a different roped off section. Then was asked "why are you here..you need to be over there"..thus ensued a heated discussion between Jet2 staff.
Once I reached the hideously over engineered and overly complicated check in machines, a helpful chap did actually sort out my luggage label at the crazy machine. I fly at least 100 sectors a year and can attest that Jet2's automated luggage label system is truly terrible. It takes more staff to help passengers than it would if they just went back to checking in luggage with humans. Make sense of that!
Then, when I finally got to the bag drop I was scorned for not laying my bag on its side.
I have, over the years, been told that Manchester Airport staff are just demonstrating typical Lancashire hospitality. But I know that Jet2 can be better than this. Today it was ghastly.
To be honest though, a former Jet2 CEO himself had a pop at them a few years ago. Put this down to it being Manchester Airport. It's just a place where passengers and staff get angry.
The Lounge
Well that's simple..I tried to book one but they were all full. All part of the Manchester Airport experience sadly.
Boarding
This was exceptionally well managed. Jet2 boards by group number, similar to BA and others. Groups 1 and 4 were called forward and being a large aircraft I was dreading everyone just surging forward at the same time. Credit to the boarding agent though, he wasn't having any of it. Anyone not in Groups 1 and 4 were told to stand to the side. There's no point having boarding groups if they're not enforced. We did have to stand on the stairs ala Ryanair style for about 20 minutes - not sure why as the aircraft was brought onto stand over an hour before departure.
On entering the aircraft I cheerfully said hello to the flight attendant manning the door. I got a stony grimace faced response. Likewise the girl stood manning the jump seat opposite - I said hello, but again, just a grumpy sour look back. Very unlike Jet2 it has to be said and is it really that difficult to be nice?
All told though, I was sat in my exit row seat of 10H soon enough, with simply the best legroom you'll ever get on low cost (or indeed many business class cabins). The one pitfall though, you do get people congregating around the toilet cubicle, so you will get someone's backside in your face from time to time.
My seat 10H and the forward cabin of the A330-200, and the pitfalls of having an exit row seat!
Food and Drink
Soon after take off we were told that pre-booked meals would be served first, then a general run of the hot food available to order on board. Jet2 has a much different menu when pre-ordering as to what you can get onboard. I always order ahead as I like the meal deal - for £10.50 you get a tea, coffee or water, with a hot main and a dessert. Today I ordered the Beef Casserole which is one of my Jet2 favourites.
I waited..longingly..watching the hot food trolley pass by. After some time, when the drinks cart arrived I asked the man for my preordered meal. Eventually it arrived - again - unlike Jet2's normally excellent service
The Jet2 Beef Casserole..which turned up, eventually
The Flight
The Captain warned us that due to headwinds today's flight would take a lot longer than normal. It did take longer at a whopping 5 hours and 9 minutes - I've done it in just over 4 hours before and my average is 4 hours 32 minutes, but there's nothing Jet2 or the A330 can do about the weather. Anyway, I enjoy flying!
The rest of the flight passed by without incident and the lack of Jess Glynne was much appreciated. I presume AirTanker said no to that, and rightly so!
An oddly quirky rule, perhaps made up by Jet2 staff, is that they announced "we don't allow you to cross the aisle at row 1 or 10". It wasn't enforced as it happens but I thought what an odd thing to say. I've flown on many wide-bodies in my time and never heard this one. It's a bit like the odd rule I heard on the TUI 767 where they announced "please don't sleep on the floor". All rather odd!
Verdict
Make no mistake, having a spacious wide body on a short to medium haul route is a quirky bonus. But it's not without its flaws. This was far from Jet2's usual polished service which underlines my belief that low cost short haul airlines shouldn't fly wide-body aircraft, end of story. You just can't get the service right.
The Manchester Airport experience gets you off to a bad start to begin with and the Jet2 crew today, whilst most were very pleasant, this was the first time I've come across two really glum crew members and typically of course they were allocated to row 10 where my seat was.
Regarding the A330 itself, my experience with wide bodies on short/medium routes has always been less than stellar whether that be trying to fly Berlin to Athens on Scoot's 787, BA's former 777's from Heathrow to Madrid, or, as we saw more recently, my dire experience on the now retired TUI 767 from Gran Canaria to Manchester. Jet2 was no exception:
Roomy? Yes
Novelty value? 10/10
Up to the usual Jet2 standard? Definitely not
Sadly, long range airliners and shorter routes are not natural bedfellows in Europe. Japan Airlines does it well on domestic pan-Asia routes, but not here for some reason.
Airlines often see economies of scale with larger aircraft ie get 327 people onto a big plane, charge the same as a smaller airliner, but benefit from one set of crew, one aircraft to maintain and so forth. Jet2, like any other airlines with both short and long haul aircraft, would argue that the crew-to-passenger ratio is the same as any of their smaller A321 or 737 aircraft, in fact it's mandated by law. But it just isn't as simple as that.
For me, trying the A330 was something that had been on the 'to do' list for a while. I'm glad I tried it and I'd do it again - but set your expectations accordingly. This isn't the same polished Jet2 service you'll receive on their beautiful new A321's or their 737's.
Flight Facts
Aircraft Type: Airbus A330-200
Flight Duration: 5 hours and 9 minutes
Price: £176 inc meal, extra legroom seat and checked bag
Seat Configuration: 2 x 4 x 2
Add comment
Comments