Book it Danno! Dublin Airport, BA4467 Dublin Airport to London City Airport

Book it Danno! Dublin Airport, BA4467 Dublin Airport to London City Airport

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After arriving back at Dublin Airport aboard Dublin Bus 747 (whilst seemingly dozing off… I don’t do early starts), I was back in the old Terminal 1 complex at the airport.

A quick walk to departures, and I was in line for check in… and the poor check-in agent didn’t know what hit them. A few minutes tapping away, I asked them just to issue a boarding pass to London City Airport – and I’d pick the rest up on route.

The agent seemed relived about that. A swipe of the booked credit card, and the first boarding pass was released of the trip. I was directed to FastTrack security and the lounge.

With no luggage to check in, I was sent on my way.

Security was quick as usual, and soon I was into the building site that was Terminal 1. It seem Dublin Airport is going under constant changes, with the refurbishment of Terminal 1 a priority now. The fact is – it looks like a building site.

And that’s not a polite thing to say.

However, I had an escape from this… and that’s the lounge.

Entering the lounge, I was welcomed – and admitted to the facility. The lounge itself is the old British Midland and Anna Livra lounge – now combined into one facility and tidied up.

Being a tiny bit old-fashioned, I headed to the BMI side. There’s not much different in the sides – I just headed to familiar territory.

BMI side and business centre

Seating and power options.

There was plenty of seating in the lounge, but there was some food options too.

Food options.

The food options – whilst not extensive, were plentiful for snacks and such. Normal fare for a contract lounge. I took advantage of the facilities to catch up with the world and sort a few things out (and trying to force a check-in for the flight the next day).

If anything, whilst I couldn’t check in – I could seat swap still. Noting the plane was pretty empty at the back – I re-seated myself to the back row of the A318 on the next day.

That done, time as usual was running down, so I exited the lounge and headed to the gate… where my plane hadn’t even turned up yet. So, the information boards were accurate as usual.

5 minutes after I arrived at the gate, a little E-190 begun taxing towards the gate

Meanwhile next door, a big brother British Airways A319 was parked up, still it’s Dove livery

It’s a Dove from above… or rather a very familiar dove from above

Boarding was called and I made my way through the boarding pass check, and headed down to begin this 17681 mile tier point run.

In fact, as I type this, over the period of the next 7 days I’d be flying nearly 18,000 miles. That’s a lot of miles..

BA4467 Dublin Airport to London City Airport
British Airways (Operated by BA CityFlyer), Embraer E-190SR, Seat 1A, Club Europe
40 Tier Points Earned, 500 Avios + 500 Avios Cabin bonus + 250 Avios Tier Bonus

I was welcomed aboard the Embraer E-190SR and headed straight to my seat – well it is pretty darn impossible to miss as it’s the first row of the plane.

After finding a place for my bits, I settled in, overhearing passengers. Apparently, on this flight – I was not the only Tier Point runner aboard (in fact – there were three of us)…

Bulkhead legroom in 1A

Better legroom in 2F…

Boarding continued apace as people boarded the plane – and this being an E-190, it loaded pretty quickly.

Yup E-190SR – so it can handle the approach into London City Airport.

As the cabin was secured, people settled down quickly and the captain came on the loudspeaker indicating a quick time of 1 hour 20 to London due to the winds.

Whilst this would be a quick flight – I did some thinking in my head… this didn’t bode well for an on-time arrival on the next day…

Jetbridge away!

The safety demonstration was carried out, and our E-190SR was sent on its merry way around Dublin Airport – until we lined up for take off for a quick and powerful take off:

Climbing out of Dublin.

With such a minimal time in the air, the cabin crew sprung into action once it was safe to do so.

It’s still a lot of legroom

And a view into the galley.

And closed.

Dinner was offered – with a cold chicken salad with rice offered.

Tray

Chicken Breast with Rice.

Ham and cheese hot pastry

And of course, bubbles. Hey, I’m on a tier point run now 😉

The first impression of the food was impressive for a one-hour twenty flight. The chicken was fine and reasonably edible, however, the rice was still thawing out and very chilly to the swallow.

The hot cheese and ham pastry was an interesting savoury idea – which was better than having a scone I think.

The Monopole? It’s drinkable. That’s all I can ever say about Monopole bubbles.

The fight continued on its merry way, crossing the Irish sea, and down towards London.

Nice sunset on the other side…

Bit dark on my side.

Even with limited time in the air – there was still time for a cup of coffee.

With the coffee cleared down and the cabin secured, there was nothing else to do than watch the pretty lights of London and the South East come into view.

Our plane lined up for London City Airport over the Dartford Crossing, and the undercarriage was deployed in readiness for landing.

The Dartford Crossing. The main connection between Essex and Kent. For those of us of a certain age, crossing the Dartford crossing was a sign you were on the way to France and Europe…

Our plane made a fast and quick approach into London City Airport.

With a heavy dab of the brakes, our little Embraer came rolled off the runway and to the terminal complex, bringing an end to the short flight.

Traffic on the apron.

With a short taxi, our plane was on stand, and doors met our plane. It was time to get off and thank the crew.

Overall: An effective service for a short 1 hour 20 flight. Whilst the cabin crew could had been warmer – it did more than the job required, and positioned me where I needed to be for the night. Oh yes, and that rice could had been left to warm a tiny bit…

Next: The Travelodge London City Airport

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