Aer Lingus EI273 Birmingham Airport to Dublin Airport – Summer Tier Points
In this… epic.
- When will I learn to jump on a fare?
- Wednesday Afternoon.. off to the airport
- EI273 Birmingham to Dublin Airport
- Into Dublin for some Donuts. And Pokemon
- The Travelodge in Swords, Dublin Airport
- Pre-Clearance fun at Dublin airport, 51st and Green Lounge
- AA291 Dublin to New York JFK – Business Class
- A Manhattan Char Siu Adventure
- Back in the Secure Area, Flagship Lounge and AAdmirals Club
- AA2652 New York JFK to San Francisco International – Transcontinental Business Class
- The Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
- Do the BART into San Francisco, The Intercontinental Mark Hopkins, San Francisco
- Sausalito: Which ferry to take?
- Halfway across the Golden Gate Bridge
- Fooding around San Francisco
- The Crowne Plaza, San Francisco Airport
- Early start at San Francisco airport
- AA164 San Francisco International to New York JFK – Transcontinental Business Class
- The joy of terminal swaps, BA Pre-departure dining
- BA174 New York JFK to London Heathrow – Club World (Business Class)
- An Early Morning Change at Heathrow
- BA828 London Heathrow T5 to Dublin Airport – Club Europe
- Doughnuts and coffee shops – Exploring Dublin
- Once more with feeling at Dublin Airport
- FR666 Dublin Airport to Birmingham Airport
- 600 TP: Done
EI273 Birmingham to Dublin
Aer Lingus, Airbus A320 Seat 26A
200 Miles flown, 0 Tier Points, 0 Avios.
With a seat near the back of the plane, I chose my boarding to be at the back of the plane. Mainly, it’s a quicker boarding option, and if disembarking at Dublin – a very quick disembark too.
Once more unto the tarmac.
Up we go.
I was welcomed aboard, and headed to 26A. And I noticed something straight away – these weren’t the norms Aer Lingus Seats (which have winged headrests). Rather, it had Recaro BL3520 seats installed.
The seat
It’s a Recaro seat.
Seat back
In formation.
A few queries found that this was one of two originally destined for Iberia as opposed Aer Lingus.
The BL3520 has had many lines written about it – mainly due to its introduction as the Lufthansa’s NEK Seat, and Recaro commercialising the seat for other operators. It’s not bad per say, but pitched at 30”, it’s not as good as some current designs that are out there in terms of legroom or comfort.
30″ = Tight.
With a rather full cabin for the afternoon flight, the cabin crew performed its safety checks, and safety demonstration. Once the formalities complete, the A320 begun the short taxi around Birmingham Airport.
FlyBe Bomardier Q400s
Turning to the active.
Soon enough, the plane was directed to the keys, and EI273 took to the sky.
The City of Birmingham
Climbing through the cloud layer…
Cloudbusting.
With a climb out over Birmingham on the port side, the A320 climbed through the cloud layer, heading out towards Liverpool, then out to the Irish sea and Dublin.
In the meantime, the crew kicked off their “Bia” in-flight catering/buy on board service.
As seemingly the way, there were plenty of takes for beverages on this flight. There was also plenty of takers for on-board shopping (with an amazing amount of Aer Lingus bears being sold on board).
The flight itself was pretty smooth – until EI273 neared its home base of Dublin – where there were a fair amount of bumps as we headed to the ground.
Turning for Dublin
With the speed the crew did their service, they cleaned up the plane in preparation for landing. These 45 minute segments can be brutal like this.
None the less, the EI273 cleared the bumps, and with the plane secure, it began its final approach to du and made a gentle landing at Dublin Airport.
Closing in – the Mouth of the River Liffy coming into view.
Not the clearest day in Dublin.
With the plane landing away from the terminal, the plane begun a long taxi back from the Echo exit, past the Bravos and towards the Terminal 2 complex at Dublin Airport.
On the way, there was a few sights to keep an eye on – one being the Air Peace Boeing 777 that had been a long time resident of the airport, as well as the regular DHL A300.
Air Peace Boeing 777.
Aer Lingues tails at their home
With a 10 minute taxi, our EI273 pulled up at a gate at T2 attached to the main terminal
To Gate 408!
With the plane parked, the engines spooled down. The sea of humanity woke up and made its way to both the front and rear exits.
Parked.
I chose to join them, and headed to the the rear exit – mainly as it goes to the tarmac – but also as its closest to my seat.
With a breath, I thanked the crew, and headed off the plane.
Overall: Not a bad flight, with a friendly crew. It was a tiny bit bumpy on decent – but nothing major. As usual for a fourty five minute flight – there’s not a lot more you can ask for.
Next: Into Dublin for Donuts… and Pokemon
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