British Airways using propeller aircraft between Gatwick and Glasgow this summer

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

• lcsneil says:

  14 Feb14 February 08:27

  Good Lord – if HFP readers havent flown these they need to get out more! They are the main stay of regional flights in places like Borneo and French Polynesia.
  For real fun try a Cessna Caravan (16 seats) flying into to Costa Rica (SJO) having given way to an America Airlines 777…. that was hard work trying to keep the camera steady!!

  • Jose Marques says:

    14 Feb14 February 09:00

    Those planes are in current use in the Azores Islands as well as between the Canaries and Madeira islands.

  • Alan says:

    14 Feb14 February 20:16

    Lots for regional UK flights too, I’m guessing a bit less common for those London!

• mef says:

  14 Feb14 February 08:32

  These are more fuel efficient than the equivalent internal fan jets. Think of the carbon emissions that’ll be saved!

  • BBbetter says:

    14 Feb14 February 08:35

    Miliband, Ed: Brilliant! Now let’s change all domestic flights to turbo props.

    • CamFlyer says:

      14 Feb14 February 15:20

      There is something to be said for increased frequency and greater fuel efficiency on the short UK domestics! For a flight of 60-90 min I don’t see much difference between the ATR72/Q400 and ERJ135/145 or CRJ. The larger (and now more prevalent) regional jets are more preferable, but the modern turboprops are adequate.

      In the days of FlyBe I flew their Q400s LCY-AMS, DUS-SOU and possibly more, with no complaints.

• MrK says:

  14 Feb14 February 08:36

  Goodness, I’m surprised by all these biased views based on outdated experiences lol !
  Emerald is flying the latest generation ATRs with bigger overhead bins and a larger cabin than the old Flybe Q400s and they are also a lot quieter. You can easily fit the biggest roller bags that BA will allow on a 320 and what is two hours on a flight, seriously ?

  • Stu_N says:

    14 Feb14 February 13:13

    The Glasgow/ Cork flight I took in November was on one of Emerald’s Belfast-based ATR72 and it definitely didn’t have the larger luggage bins.

• Dev says:

  14 Feb14 February 08:46

  Flew on the smaller ATR42 version from Kathmandu to Pokhara with wonderful views of the Himalayas. In hindsight, I should be glad that I did not fall out of the sky considering trinity of country, airline and terrain.

  • Chas says:

    14 Feb14 February 22:09

    I flew that route 30+ years ago, and was surprised when I got to the gate that we were actually flying via helicopter – passengers seated down both sides facing in towards the middle!

• Bob Patterson says:

  14 Feb14 February 08:47

  I used to operate a Shorts 330 from Humberside to, if I recall correctly, Aberdeen in the early 80s. We then did a service on behalf of BA, to Manchester and back. It was always amusing to see the passengrs faces as they walked out to the aircraft, which looked like a 30 seater shed with propellors. It wasn’t much fun for them in turbulance either, hence the crew nickname the “vomit comet”!

• TooPoorToBeHere says:

  14 Feb14 February 08:54

  Quite noisy onboard and they fly *through* the turbulence, not over it. Lower = bumpier.

  Second the comments about bags. Not sure how thought-through this is…

  I’ve flown the EI ATRs on MAN-DUB and have “fond” memories of the KL Fokker 50s. MAN-DUB is so short I doubt the performance (speed/altitude) differences are significant and for sure it saves an awful lot of fuel. It’s sometimes fun watching peoples’ reactions when they see they’re boarding something small…through the rear door…after watching the quite physical wrestling of bags onto the thing by the ground staff.

  • CJD says:

    14 Feb14 February 17:05

    ‘Not sure how thought-through this is…’

    Usual contempt from BA for the regions is what it is

• Phillip says:

  14 Feb14 February 08:56

  One bonus is that if needed they can push back on their own – no assistance needed! Finnair does it a lot at HEL.

  • Mark says:

    14 Feb14 February 09:00

    Binter and Canaryfly do it all over the Canaries too. Although somehow I doubt it will happen in the UK, any more.

    • Richie says:

      14 Feb14 February 09:08

      I did TFS-LPA in one operated by Binter, was a lovely sunny day, a great flight.

• buchanan101 says:

  14 Feb14 February 09:03

  Flew frequently on the Sun Air Dornier 328s between Cambridge and Gothenburg (Astra Zeneca chartered flight). They are a BA franchise, so I collected a shed load of Avios…

  Quite enjoyable

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.