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While
many airlines are clambering over themselves to produce the most
high tech of planes, with upgrades being conducted to not only
first and business but also economy class. A new style of flying
has recently taken to the skies and is proving to be quite a
success. |
Indeed a
recent survey conducted by Carlson Wagonlit Travel, which questioned
corporate travel managers and the travellers themselves found that fewer
than 30% of business travellers would never use such a no frills
service. However the survey did identify certain reservations about
using such services, which may stem from a lack of understanding of
these airlines. The main concern was the lack of leg room, which most
travellers seemed to believe comes with such a service, not surprisingly
the corporate travel managers were not interested in this preferring
cost over comfort. Those that had used the service stated they would
prefer a different choice of in-flight meal which is on a pay per eat
basis. They said they would like to see simpler food rather than have
the airline try to come up with a three course meal.
Especially
on short haul flights a number of 'new look' airlines have emerged on
the European scene offering flights at very low rates, but without the
frills which they say some passengers do not need nor want. These
airlines comprise of Virgin Express, Buzz, Go, Easy Jet to name but a
few, and to give you an idea of cost a return ticket with Buzz from
London to Berlin. cost in March only 70 pound sterling compared to
a whopping 170 pounds sterling with British Airways. The ideology behind
the airlines is that you pay to get from A to B and and optional extras
you may require such as food and drink, Fastrack at Stansted, or use of
lounges are all on a pay per use basis.
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So
what are these airlines all about ? and what exactly do they
mean by no frills ? Are you really crammed in like sheep ?
We
took a closer look at Buzz, to let you know how it works.
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Buzz, as
do most of the no frills airlines flies from Stanstead in London, which
is a 42 minute ride from the centre of London with a train that leaves
every 15 minutes. They fly to destinations in Europe such as Berlin,
Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Lyon, Milan, Paris and Vienna, and they are
looking to add to these destinations all the time. Each destination is
covered by three flights a day, one in the morning one the afternoon and
one in the evening with the exception of Milan which does not offer an
evening flight on Mondays.
They
offer two types of deals, the "Done deal" and the "Open
deal". The done deal is the cheaper option, but offers very little
flexibility. You need to buy a return flight and stay for at least two
nights, however you cannot change the schedule at all, and there are no
refunds. They stick to their word on this so make sure you plan the trip
wisely we tried to change the return section of a flight, by bringing it
forward two days, and true to their word this was not possible so we had
to buy a brand new ticket. The other ticket, the "'Open
deal" offers a little more flexibility and may ultimately be more
suitable for business travellers whose itineraries may change from one
minute to the next. You can buy either a one way or return ticket, and
you can change your schedule, you can even cancel the flight two hours
before departure, and they will give you credits of the value of the
price paid towards your next Buzz flight.
Buzz
operates 8 whispering jets known officially as the BAe-146 (British
Aerospace 146-300) which is supposed to be one of the quietest jets on
the market. Each carries a maximum of 110 flyers plus crew. With
six abreast seating, with each seat offering a pitch of 79cm and are
42cm wide. They also added in February two Boeing 737-300 which offer
142 seats each.
As we
have mentioned the price of your ticket includes only the seat, however
you can purchase in-flight food and beverage if you so desire before you
board the aircraft and during the flight. Freshly ground coffee in a
cafetiere costs 1.50 pounds, a beer 2 pounds, a 1/4 bottle of champagne
5 pounds, a sandwich 3.50 pounds. They also offer the traditional three
course meal with breakfast costing 5.50 pounds, lunch and dinner 7
pounds.
When we
flew with Buzz we were in one of the new Boeing aircraft and it has to
be said that it was very comfortable. The seats were well laid out with
adequate space, in fact no different really from any short haul European
carrier. The check in and boarding was painless, and the stewardess,
were all very polite not to mention young which makes a nice change from
a lot of today's carriers.
Although
skeptical as to what the flight would be like we were pleasantly
surprised and would not hesitate to recommend this type of flying to
anyone travelling short haul.
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