Doughnuts On The Mound – Aer Lingus Regional EI3276 Dublin to Birmingham Airport
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
EI3276 Dublin Airport to Birmingham Airport
Aer Lingus Regional operated by Stobart Air, ATR72-600, Seat 7F
200 miles flown. 0TP earned, If the Avios ever turn up – I’ll be in shock.
I boarded the little ATR and headed to my seat. Unsurprisingly, on a short run and small plane like this, the aisle seat was already occupied.
Remember on an ATR, you board at the back of the plane.
The ATR72-600 cabin.
Cabin seats with the Acro Series 3.
I took my place and sat down on this seat.
Now, this is in an interesting seat… for a few different reasons. I’ve written about Acro seats and how they’ve been bought and deployed – but I’ve never actually seen one in the air until that day.
Acro Series 3 Seat (taken after landing)
So from what I can work out – these are Acro 3 seats – and if you’re flying Allegiant, these are the same sort of seats you’ll be flying.
This is as good as my guesswork goes. 😉
There’s no recline control (and anyone who wants to recline a seat in an ATR quite frankly needs to ask why they need recline on a 1 hour flight), but the seats are pre-reclined.
With the tray deployed (in flight).
In terms of leg room (with your author standing at 5ft 9 inches or 1 metre 75cm), I found there to be plenty of leg room – even on an ATR.
For reference – I’m about 5ft 9″ or 175cm.
The plane was one of the newer ATR’s I’ve been on – a 600 series (compared with the 500s I flew aboard when I went to Tallinn… twice) – so there’s an updated interior that doesn’t look far from an Airbus factory.
ATR Passenger service unit
For a regional turboprop, this isn’t a bad place to be.
My view was of the Turboprop blade. I could imagine worse places in the world.
I checked the safety card – in case I needed reminding what sort of aircraft I was on.
Yup – ATR Aircraft.
With the plane loading up quickly, EI-FAT was soon under way. And keeping in common with every ATR I’ve been on, the pilots seemed to be taxi like a madman.
Thankfully, there was a short taxi to the runway. After a short wait, our little ATR was granted access to the runway, and soon EI3276 spooled up and took off like a bolt.
With the plane in the sky, the plane settled down quickly for a smooth and gentle flight over their Irish sea, crossing over Holyhead, and then down to Birmingham.
See you again soon Ireland!
In-flight service began shortly after take off, with two cabin crew working the plane. As this is a little regional flight, there’s not a full galley – so an abbreviated Bia service is offered.
General offerings.
Snack Packs.
Again – there was a healthy uptake for the service (with the person sitting next to me going for a Vodka and Cola for a cool €7… rather their money than mine), with someone from almost every row picking something up.
Cabin in-flight. The seatbelt sign wasn’t extinguished for the flight.
Meanwhile outside, the cloud cover was building up again – nothing to bubbly, but still cloud cover the British countryside.
There’s something hypnotic about a TurboProp…
All too soon, decent began – with a few bumps through the cloud cover as the plane descended over Coventry before making the turn for Birmingham Airport.
City and Town sprawl.
Crossing out to countrywide.
Green and pleasant land – note the Virgin Trains Pendolino heading off to London.
With the landing gear deployed our plane made a gentle landing on the tarmac.
With the plane on the ground, the ATR went into high-speed taxi mode, turning into the International pier, and coming to hard stand.
FlyBe Embraer E-175
Coming onto stand, props slowing down….
Finally, the engines shut down and the seatbelt signs were extinguished, bringing the flying part of this day trip to an end.
There was a short wait, but soon the air-stairs were open and we were off onto the waiting air-side bus.
Everyone out!
The ATR72-600 at rest at Birmingham Airport.
Overall: A rather gentle flight on an ATR with friendly service from the crew. For those who travel on ATR aircraft – there is certainly a difference between the 500 and 600 series – with the 600 series being a little quieter and a lot more comfortable with modern seats. With new seats in the future for the type, the ATR becomes an attractive option for short-haul flying.
Next: Cheap ways of travelling in the evening… especially when going home.
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