Flybe by Proxy
So I had enjoyed a day in Manchester the day before. Thanks to a voucher for a free Flybe flight between SEN & MAN return.
I saved £87 on flight costs, only paying £13 to reserve seats. Having flown the Dash 8 earlier when i did Flybe's first LHR service to EDI, I thought it was time to try the ATR!
My friend/co-conspirator in Aveley decided to come to as he hadn't flown from SEN in a long time and he lived only 30 minutes away.
So we get to MAN the day before and enjoy a cloudy AVP, Concorde Tour
Also a visit to central Manchester for me to visit the Hard Rock & use a voucher I had!
The next day, it was time to fly home to London, via Southend. This trip mirroring our 2016 trip to MAN from LHR with BA.
After getting airside fairly easy as we didn't have a peek time flight meaning security was not too busy, we set up by a window to get some of the goodies MAN offers!
We got called to our gate shortly after seeing our plain white ATR 72-600 from the previous day land (EI-FSL).
Boarding was uneventful, it was busier than the outbound flight, however this plane was still pretty quiet at the rear of the plane.
We pushed back a few minutes behind, but with such a short flight once airborne, I knew it would easily be made up for.
We took off over a sunny & clear Manchester giving off some good views over England's unofficial "Capital of the North".
Cruising along at 20,000ft my mate bought the in-flight snacks for that day, we spoke to the two Irish cabin stewards about their jobs and what its like.
We had a bit of a delay and spin around Essex before we finally landed at London Southend. Unlike MAN- SEN was cloudy, dull and miserable…
After we parked in between two easyJet Airbus and a Flybe E-195. We left our final flight of 2017 and rounded things off with a visit to my first ATR Flight Deck!
I took some time after going through Domestic Arrivals to get some shots at London SEN, not knowing when my next flight from there would be.
And that concludes my 2017 Flights at 51 Flights. And I was pleased to be able to finish on a trip involving a new aircraft type, airline and Airport for my log!
Nice report! There aren't many reports out there in or out or Southend. SEN looks really nice compared to the other smaller LON airports. I guess BE has a pretty decent operation there. and definitely serve the domestic U.K. market better than big BA.
Too bad it was cloudy in MAN, but you still got some great shots! Thanks for sharing
Thank you, SEN is making a comeback finally after the fall of BAF/BWA in 2001. Flybe has operations via Stobart Air operating to Manchester & Edinburgh in the UK and some European ops to Cologne, Budapest, Vienna and Dublin. Where as easyJet offers Amsterdam, Alicante, Malaga, Malta, Barcelona. Trying to stand up to the hold on East London/Eastern England gained by London City & London Stansted.