Flying Aeropelican

[bjm76]

Hi all

Hoping to call on the collective wisdom of the board.

I am flying Aeropelican from SYD to NTL on Friday morning - my first time with this airline. Got a decent enough fare - $187 one way.

I have never flown this airline before, can anyone let me know what I can expect in terms of check-in time, how full the flights usually are and what the planes are like - I have never flown in a non-jet aircraft before!

Thanks in advance
bjm76

 

[Princess Fiona]

Hi ,
OT fly BAE Jetstream 32 aircraft seats 19. 1-2 configuration about 6 rows from memory ie v.small plane. Have been on flights with 3 passengers, and also full flights. Would assume Friday will be busier. Get to it by mini-bus from T2 . If the weather is fine it is a spectacular journey past the central coast, and a great view of Stockton Dunes on landing . Pilot and co-pilot ( sorry not up with terminology) no FA's and no F & B. If you have anything bigger than a laptop bag it will be taken from you at the aircraft doors and stuffed in the back beside the toilet. Last check-in officially 45 mins but I have checked in at 30 mins with luggage. They have lately become v.strict with baggage weight and will charge if overweight.
Nearly forgot !! The seat backs have ash-trays :shock:
Happy Travels

 

[bjm76]

Thanks very much Fiona.

Was an interesting flight for me - you were spot on about all aspects - I only had carry-on (backpack) and it was taken off me and secured down the back. There were 7 people on the flight, including me. I found it amusing that there was a seat number assigned on the boarding pass but the co-pilot just told us all to sit wherever we liked. I chose an exit row and I got the standard "are you happy to assist in the event of an emergency?" so that was good, along with the instruction card on the seat.

Flight was on time, very cloudy day so unfortunately I didn't get to see much at all except cloud. The pilot seemed to be flying around heavy cloud just near Newcastle on the day though.

Really pleasant flight, was so happy with the time saving too - would take me 3 hours in the car to get from home to Williamtown, and my meeting was in Port Stephens, so it worked out well.

 

[albatross710]

Seeing the topic of this thread brought back memories.

"Back in the day" Aeropelican use to fly Twin Otters and also supplied them to the parachuting championships. The pilots enjoyed getting away from the RPT environment.