Doughnuts On The Mound – Aer Lingus EI263 Birmingham to Dublin

Doughnuts On The Mound – Aer Lingus EI263 Birmingham to Dublin

In this epic day trip (and it t’was epic)

• Spotting for the day? Why not?
• Morning Manoeuvres at Birmingham Airport
• EI263 Birmingham Airport to Dublin Airport
• Donughts on the Mound… and a LOT of planes
• Back to Dublin Airport
• EI3276 Dublin to Birmingham Airport
• Cheap ride home sir?
• Community

EI263 Birmingham Airport to Dublin Airport
Aer Lingus, Airbus A320, Seat 24A
200 Miles Flown, 0TP $deity knows if I’ll get any Avios.

Heading out on the stand, our Airbus A320 was waiting for us. With my seat allocate to the back of the plane, I headed for the rear air-stairs.

No… not the front… 

Back to the back.

I was welcomed aboard, and headed the few rows from the back of the plane to my seat.

The Cabin.

So let’s look at the seat – well, it’s the slimline blue leather seat that Aer Lingus loves to use. It isn’t that bad, with reasonable legroom. Not the greatest seat, but for this 1 hour hop – it will do.

Seatback and legroom – passable.

Whilst a lot of passengers had queued up, most of the were boarding from the front of the plane (rather than using the back), so boarding took a little time.

Eventually, boarding was declared complete, with the middle seat free on the plane.

I could handle that.

With boarding complete, our plane pushed back and begun taxing around Birmingham Airport, following a Qatar Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner as it taxied out.

The back of a little Helvetic Fokker flying for Swiss loading – looks like they couldn’t be bothered to pay for a jetbridge either.

Emirates Boeing 777-300ER – soon to be a thing of the past at Birmingham Airport when the airline moves to A380 operations exclusively.

The back of a Qatar Airways Boeing 787-8.

Qatar Airways 787 heading off on its own adventure back to Doha… via the far end of the runway.

With the Qatar Airways Boeing 787 going to the far end of the runway, our A320 turned to the shorter runway, and EI263 powered away.

With our A320 airborne and climbing, it was time to settle down and watch the sky. Well, there’s no IFE system on the short-haul Aer Lingus fleet, so your IFE is a choice of the window or the seat in front of you.

 Although the person in front of me decided to create his own entertainment – by reclining his seat. Yes – for a 1 hour flight or so, someone decided they would be the one to recline their seat.

I honestly have no words.

Meanwhile, the cabin crew were doing a roaring trade, with all four crew working two trolleys up and down the aisle on the buy-on-board service, with nearly someone at every row stopping the trolley to pick something up.

Buy everything!

With the passenger next to me asleep and me at the window, I just glued my face to the window to watch the sky unfold.

There’s no WiFi aboard – although Aer Lingus offers on their long haul flights to North America

No WiFi for you on short-haul services!

As such, it was back to the exterior IFE.

.

With the catering service completed, the crew made an announcement for Duty Free/In-flight shopping. And of course – someone had to take advantage of the in-flight shopping.

Yes – it was me.

Why? I needed another model aircraft

(Although if I realised it was a Premier Planes model, I would had skipped it in the end… I prefer Skymarks, Hogan Wings or if I’m feeling flush – Gemini Jets).

With the shopping service concluded, the crew were rushing around to secure the cabin for landing. Our A320 vectored in, and found an approach it liked – and begun to descend in the Dublin area.

First turn.

Dun Laoghaire in the distance.

More of Dublin appearing…

Greater Dublin

EI263 landed with a satisfying thump, and then the usual exit on the Echos, and a long taxi back to the terminal area

Our plane manoeuvred around Dublin Airport, with our plane turning away from Terminal 2, and instead heading for Terminal 1.

It seems my cunning plan of de-planing from the back of the plane was going splat fast. Instead, our plane was docking at the 300 gates – or the old International satellite at Dublin Airport.

Sigh. Head. Thump.

Turning for 316 past the old International Pier.

Emirate A330 parked next to us.

Our plane made it to Gate 316 and powered down.

Then begun the mass bundle off the plane. I waited until my row cleared, and headed off for a day of spotting planes.

C’mon people. There are planes to watch.

Overall: We’re back to friendly crews aboard EI263 and ones that want to give a great service on Aer Lingus – and that’s a darn good sight to see. It means the crew are motivated, and they’re happy. And a happy crew leads to a happy flight normally. The extra space was welcome too.

Next: Doughnuts on the Mound!

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