Hi, this is the second part of a trip around Europe, you can find the previous part over here http://flight-report.com/en/report-10686.html.
I realised this report is probably not the one with the most photos as the flight was very ordinary but I have included some bonus photos at the end of the report
U2 4093
NCE - BRU
STD: 10:30
ATD: 10:25
STA: 12:10
ATA: 12:10
HB-JYF A319
Take-off rwy: 04R
Landing rwy: 23R
Departure Airport:
I arrived at Terminal 2 of Nice d'Azur Airport about 1 hour and 45 minutes, and boy was it a mess at the check-in area. The queue for bag-drop was so long I didn't bother to find out where the end was, as I was on a FLEXI fare which would allow me free checked-in luggage, priority check-in, fast-track at the security (where available), free seat selection at booking (inculding up front seats but not the bulkhead or the exit row), Speedy boarding, and free cancellation or changes. But there was no sign as to where passengers on FLEXI fare are going to queue for priority check-in or bag drop, so i headed for the Easyjet Plus queue where there were about 10 of us but with 1 counter opened for that queue, it was not a very pleasant experience. Because the 'normal' queue was so long, they kept calling for passengers on flights close to the cut off time to come forward, so I was quite lucky that I was on a FLEXI fare since I would have probably queued for the rest of my life otherwise.
As I mentioned, I should be able to join the fast-track queue for security as fast track was available at NCE and Easyjet have emailed me few days ago reminding me of the benefits of FLEXI fare. However, the machine which would get me ahead of everyone at the security didn't seem to recognize the barcode on my boarding pass, but the queue was not long and I was through in 2-3 minutes, but it was quite disappointing. The departure area was packed with travelers as you would expect in the summer and the two coffee shops had the combined queue of the Great Wall of China, so I didn't or couldn't get some food before boarding
Boarding:
When I was through to the departure area, the inbound aircraft had not arrived yet but it did arrive ahead of schedule so with 45 minutes to spare until the scheduled time of departure, boarding was called. Queues or should I say a queue and me next to it was formed as I seemed to be the only passenger taking the opportunity to use the speedy boarding (I'm sure that many other passengers can also use speedy boarding as it comes with the up-front seat). To be fair, I didn't need speedy boarding anyway since I only had a small backpack with me, but for the review I decided to use it anyway. Soon after, I was sent through to the jet bridge followed by other passengers, and we had to wait half way down the jet bridge because apparently they were not ready to board yet. Now I can understand when the aircraft is not ready to board, but can they not just call for boarding a bit later? I'm sure that would be better than waiting half way down a jet bridge. Nevertheless, the actual boarding was efficient with a few seats empty.
The muscle to Brussels
Seat:
This particular aircraft features the old easyjet seat (not the new even slimmer and more orange seat) which was comfortable enough for a short flight. the seat pitch was good as well (I'm 5'9)
Legroom was decent even with airliner world and an iPad in the seat back pocket
back of the seat
Flight:
We pushed back on time but there were some ATC holds as we waited on a taxiway while a Delta 767-400, BA A320 landed, then we were held short of runway 04L for an incoming Turkish A321. After a rather lengthy taxi, we reached the threshold of runway 04R and Rocketed off towards the sky.
Business jets on the apron
Antibes while we climded
Soon we were on our descend into BRU, and after a smooth touch down with a United 777-200 holding short of the runway, we arrived at a remote gate just on time.
view on final approach
After touch down with interesting planes in the background
The United 777 heading back to the US (I think it was to ORD but I'm not sure)
IFE:
Nothing.
Apart from the mother nature
Food:
There is a buy-on-board menu but I didn't partake because I was not hungry and I thought the food on the ground at BRU will be better anyway.
Arrival Airport:
One nice thing about arriving from Schengen area is that upon disembarking, you will be at the departure area where you can find better food options. After a bit of a hike, I arrived at the baggage reclaim area and my bag was out within minutes, and I was out within 20 minutes of touching down. Then I took the train from the airport to Gare du Midi where my hotel is and there was a bit of a confusion as the monitor on the platform says Bruxelles Nord - Bruxelles Centraal - Bruxelles Zuid, as it turns out Bruxelles Zuid is Gare du Midi as one name is Dutch and the other is French, but that was not the airport's fault.
Bonus pictures from Nice and Monaco:
Gare de Nice Ville
Views from Gare de Monaco
The glittering Cote d'Azur
Promenades des Anglais
