CHECK IT OUT – I flew from Dundee to London.
Living and working in Fife I don't give it a second thought - if I am flying to London then I will always go via Edinburgh. Whilst I am not a frequent flyer in recent times I have flown to Gatwick, Heathrow and London City all with varying degrees of timely and late arrivals.
A brief dialogue with an executive of CityJet, who operate flights from both Edinburgh and Dundee to London City Airport, persuaded me to give Dundee a try on a recent trip to London (An important meeting with Lord Mandelson to raise a number of business related issues). My experience was one of pleasant surprise and I certainly would recommend the Dundee to London City route if you want to avoid the crowds and the queues.
Dundee Airport is small and pretty quiet and is never going to be able to compete with Edinburgh in terms of choice of destination and choice of airline. However it does offer a good alternative on specific routes. Parking is easy and a very short walk to the terminal. Check in and security procedures are much the same as you would expect elsewhere expect that there were no queues - that was a big plus for me. You can even check in up to 15 minutes before take off.
The CityJet service in my view was excellent, online check in, no queues for bag drop, no extra charges for baggage and a pleasant and personal service which was low key. It seems like CityJet doesn't charges for extras - not even credit card fees.
Flight service was as good as it gets and on a relatively small aircraft (Dornian 328-100 which seats 30 passengers). We were served hot and cold drinks and offered a snack of a sandwich or a muffin - these were complimentary as part of the CityJet service and very enjoyable. I am not a great fan of aircraft fare at the best of times but this was pretty OK and just about right for the time of day - my flight left Dundee at 11.10am and was on time. Arrival at London City was 15 minutes early and it was a pleasant and comfortable journey. Seat pitch on the flight was good and as I am a big chap this is always important to me.
London City Airport offers many advantages for travel into the UK capital as it lies to the east of the city and is very handy for the Excel centre, the O2, Canary Wharf and "The City" but, as you have a direct link to The Docklands Light Railway, you open up all of the underground network without stepping outside. In my experience London City is not as busy as the other main airports and as a result has a more relaxed ambience.
My return journey was interrupted by the fact that London City Airport had been closed for a time to clear a small amount of snow. As a result my flight was delayed by almost 3 hours. That however was not the fault of CityJet who again provided good service on the flight. Of particular note was the onboard staff who were very attentive on both journeys and the 30 seater plane was no more than half full.
CityJet from Dundee to London City has a reputation for being expensive but if you book in advance you will be pleasantly surprised - fares can be below £50 one way. Based on the good level of service and the "no hassle experience" I would say good value.
So in summary my first experience of using CityJet from Dundee to London was very good and a pretty relaxed journey both ways. Try it for yourself and see.
Check it out at www.cityjet.com or contact Kathryn Townley at CityJet on Te: 02032032585 or by e-mail kathryn.townley@cityjet.com
Alan Russell
Chief Executive, Fife Chamber of Commerce
