It's quite embarrassing really to finish the "LIVE" report 5 months after my trip commenced... but as we say in Poland: better late then never!
I had a nice long sleep at the Holiday Inn Express hotel - it was very quiet despite being between runaways! Breakfast at the hotel was nothing special - typical cardboard croissants and snacks and disgusting coffee.
I've left hotel around 10am to allow enough time for some proper breakfast at the airport and maybe some spotting through the windows. Weather was good!
Went to the check-in to collect printed boarding pass - sadly, check-in was provided by Iberia staff and I got Iberia branded boarding pass - was hoping for a green one with Aer Lingus logo, as it was going to be my first ever flight with that airline. Security was smooth and few minutes later I was airside. Once airside I've spotted my today's ride taxing to the gate as it arrived early from Dublin:
Aer Lingus Airbus A330-300
Quick look at the departures board to check which gate I would be departing from:
Sala VIP
Lounge was located on the mezzanine level above the main departure area. Hard to miss, as big writing on the wall indicated the way:
Inside there was quite a long queue of people paying to get access. It's a third party lounge so Priority Pass and other lounge programs are accepted.
Lounge itself is quite spacious.
There was not much to eat though - salad bar was rather poor:
Maybe because it was still before noon, so breakfast time in Spain?
Spirits selection:
Wines selection:
And beer fridge:
View from the lounge:
EI585: Málaga to Dublin
Airline: Aer Lingus
Flight: EI585 AGP ✈ DUB
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300 EI-FNG
Gate: C38
Around 11:30 I decided to head for the gate. As it was non-Schengen departure I still had to pass the passport control, so I was expecting a small queue... the queue turned out to be massive! There was a number of departures from concourse C at around same time - took me half an hour to get through!
Immigration queue:
As soon as I reached the gate, boarding started with priority boarding strictly enforced. Good, there was a huge group of Spanish teenagers screaming of excitement for their first ever flight!
My flight was operated by Aer Lingus long haul aircraft Airbus A330-300 - and this specific one (EI-FNG) was delivered on 31 Aug 2016 - so it's less than a year old! It was operated as all-economy class service, business class seat were free to select for flex tickets holders or at the fee of €69 for other tickets. I've selected 3A hoping to have a seat by the windows - unfortunately, on this particular one seats were "other way round" than
the seat map shows on seatguru. Not a big deal!
On the way to the take off I've caught a couple of planes.
Jet2Holidays Boeing 737-800
TUI Boeing 737-800
TUI Boeing 757-200
SAS Boeing 737-800
easyJet Airbus A320
Vueling Airbus A320
Málaga
Snowy peaks of Sierra Nevada in the distance
As I mentioned earlier - it was all economy service which means Buy on Board. Crew did announce they had headphones on sale for 1€ but they were handing them out for free in business class cabin. There were no pillows and no blankets, but IFE was enabled for anyone to use. I've decided to try out the buy on board service - crew was very efficient with two crew members taking orders and payments - I think British Airways crew could learn a lot from them!
Breakfast - cheese and ham melt with coffee
Gin & Tonic - I've asked which gin they had on sale and the reply was "we've got two bottles left"
so I said why not?
Business class cabin overview
The seat was great - I really like the table on the side of the seat! So handy if you want to move in & out!
IFE was surprisingly good - good selection of movies and my favourite - moving map!
As it was my first ever flight with the airline, I've taken a few more shots of seat's features.
In seat power - weird location and very difficult to access once seated!
Detailed seat control panel
There was also handy shortcuts panel - though it was way to sensitive!
And a handy storage space:
After a movie (Star Was Rogue One) I've spotted some French coast:
And some time later we've reached Ireland:
After landing I headed straight to exit as we've landed at T2 while my BA flight was departing from T1. Once landside I've realised that terminals are indeed interconnected so I could have transited airside as I've already gotten my boarding pass for the later flight.
Landside footbridge connecting T2 to T1:
At T1 I've collected my boarding pass from a friendly check-in agent and headed straight into security:
Fast track security was empty, so in 2 minutes I was inside looking at the departure board for my next flight's gate
At this stage I had around 2.5h to my next flight, I've decided to explore the terminals.
First window I've found wasn't promising...
Airside footpath connecting T1 to T2
Few minutes later I was back above my arrival gate and above the US pre-clearance concourse. It's quite clever design - airport can use those gates for both European and the US flights.
And in around 30 minutes I was back overlooking the plane I flew in from Málaga!
Aer Lingus Airbus A330-300
More spotting photos from Dublin
Aer Lingus Boeing 757-200
Aer Lingus Airbus A321
Aer Lingus Airbus A330-300
Etihad Airbus A330-200
Aer Lingus Airbus A320 retro was hiding behind the jetty
Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-900
CityJet Avro RJ85
DAA Lounge
After sightseeing at the terminals and some plane spotting, I headed back to T1 to get some snacks in the lounge. Since my previous visit lounge shrunk - right hand side got closed off and only left hand side remained open. This made the lounge feel very overcrowded with almost no spare seats available.
DAA lounge overview
Snacks (improved since my last visit)
Drinks (not improved since my last visit)
BA4469: Dublin to London City
Airline: BA CityFlyer
Flight: BA4469 DUB ✈ LCY
Aircraft: Embraer E190 G-LCYT
Gate: 207
I've arrived at the gate to find out that we were going to be delayed by around 30 minutes as crew was running late. Not a big deal. When boarding eventually commenced, business class passengers and BA Golds were called to board first - though not strictly enforced!
Boarding from the tarmac - my favourite one!
On this occasion
the theoretical seating didn't work - I was flying in economy and the seat next to me was occupied. Although my neighbour was BA Gold as well so maybe he selected that seat in advance?
Before departure I've snapped a couple of more planes.
Finnair Embraer E190
Aer Lingus Airbus A320
Stobart Air ATR 72-600 incognito
Obligatory runaway shot!
Dublin T2 on departure
Malahide town
Once airborne the service commenced -
BA has gone buy on board in January 2017, though BA CityFlyer still does free drinks and snacks. I must admit I'm not a fan of the way BA has done their BoB - they should have kept drinks free (some or all) with a snack, but offer sandwiches and hot food (on lounger route) to buy.
Gin & tonic with shortbread biscuits
On approach to London we've flown past London Heathrow what allowed me to take this stunning photo:
London itself was getting overcast
Approach in low clouds is always spectacular
Some photos taken from the plane after landing.
BA CityFlyer Embraer E-170
Helvetic Airways Embraer E190
BA CityFlyer Embraer E190
Alitalia Embraer E190
Apron overview
FlyBE De Havilland Canada DHC-8-400
As we've arrived from Dublin, there was no passport control - just walked out straight to the DLR station. Love LCY for that - 5 minutes from aircraft door to the train station. On the way home I've stopped to take a photo of the sunset:
30 minutes later I've arrived at home completing my epic plane spotting tour.
Thank you for reading - hope you liked my story and photos!