Today marked the introduction of the new Virgin Blue E170's into commercial flights.
The first flights for the E170's today were BNE-CNS,CNS-BNE, with a later trip BNE-CBR-BNE planned I believe.
There were three AFF/FT'ers (including me) on the BNE-CNS-BNE flights who I know, but I'll leave their names out and let them identify themselves if they wish.
I booked this trip about six weeks ago when I heard that the first commercial flight was intended to be BNE-CNS, then CNS-BNE on the 23rd October. I was looking forward to flying this new plane type in the Australian flying market.
An 04:30am alarm wakeup eventually got me into a taxi to the airport in time to board DJ771 (departing 06:45am). I met up with the other 2 AFF'ers and chatted about various flying topics. Was great to meet them.
Boarding was done through the front door of the plane only, and a short walk was required from the gate. I believe the EMB's have the ability to be boarded through aerobridges, so other flights may be boarded by that method.
As this is a new Virgin Blue equipment flight, they were in festive mood (Brazillian festive of course). There were DJ staff onhand to welcome us onboard the plane wearing "Carnivale E-Jet Launch flight" t-shirts and appropriate Brazillian headwear.
The plane was VH-ZHA "Belissimo Blue" - DJ's first EMB that arrived around 3 weeks ago and has been on proving flights since. Sitting alongside was VH-ZHB "Brazilliant Blue" which is due to be introduced into service shortly.
Onboard were a host of Virgin Executive and marketing staff, three FAs, a pretty full contingent of passengers and a AFF'er or three
The plane has 20 rows of 2x2 seating, with 1A and 1C missing (The plane is marked ACxDF (I believe, can't fully recall).
I was seated in a D seat.
Upon entering, I had a fairly good impression of the plane. The new "leather" smell, a very clean plane and it actually feels quite roomy inside.
One thing to watch is to not stand up suddenly when seated, as the ceilings above your seat aren't as high as 737's in my opinion (but not unexpected of course for a smaller jet). The aisles are fine height wise.
The seats are leather, with a good width and have a good pitch. I would rate them better than a Q400 seat, and also better than a 737 widthwise (although I didn't have my tape measure with me to double check). There are a few good features about the seats - middle seat arm is liftable, the front brace for luggage is actually quite far in front and there is no middle brace under your feet between the seats. This should mean that baggage storage is good. The seats have a slightly limited recline I believe, so don't impinge too much on the passenger behind while still allowing a good recline. Laptop use should be ok when seats are forward, but like other planes may be problematic if you have a recliner infront.
The window shade is also present, which I believe is missing on Dash planes.
The window vs seat layout feels a bit weird. It appears the windows aren't always in identical spots on each side of the plane. So you should have a window on your side, but you may need to stretch your neck a bit to look out the other window in certain rows. I noticed this more towards the front/middle of the plane rather than the back of the plane.
The plane wasn't particularly noisy. I wouldn't rate it worse than a normal 737, and probably about the same as a Q4. There is no IFE at all, so bring your IPOD or similar.
Overhead lockers are fine, although I didn't test them for luggage capacity.
The staff were in party mood, and the flight was lively! The staff were happy to be there, and kept their DJ professionalism throught the flight. A round of sparkling wine (Dune - normally $7 on DJ menu) was complimentary to passengers, and there was a couple of competitions on each flight to give away a complimentary flight on the DJ network within Australia.
We were all given a red "Carnivale E-Jet Launch flight" tshirt to commemorate the event and encouraged to wear it when disembarking.
The standard DJ food service went through the cabin. The trolleys appear quite a bit smaller than 737's, so they may run out of your choice early if it's very popular.
In Cairns, we landed on time, then entered arrivals, where some media was present to document the event. Hopefully I avoided the media. Not a media fan at all
Turnaround was pretty quick, so only around 20 minutes until we were boarding again for the next flight and DJ772 left ontime at 09:50.
CNS-BNE was a very similar flight to the BNE-CNS flight. Same competitions, and same chatter about the new flight. Would have been nice to have been hinted where DJ were due to fly the E170's to as new routes, but it was kept a secret for the time being.
There is no overwing exits on these planes - just front and rear, so extended legroom seats would probably only be 2C and possibly 1D and 1F. Two toilets are onboard front and rear.
We arrived back in Brisbane ontime.
My general opinions of the plane are the following:
Compared to a Q4, I like the E170 more. The Jets give it a better feel, the seats and legroom are great, and there are little features that make it better than the Q4's I've been on. Not having to wait for the props to stop, then board the bus back to the terminal is great. I think Virgin have made a good choice in this aircraft, and can't wait till the E190's come onboard. The lack of IFE is a bit annoying, but I expect this from the smaller jets/props. I don't believe DJ is installing Live2Air into these planes.
Happy to answer questions, so if you have any --- let me know. Overall it was a good morning trip away.
The first flights for the E170's today were BNE-CNS,CNS-BNE, with a later trip BNE-CBR-BNE planned I believe.
There were three AFF/FT'ers (including me) on the BNE-CNS-BNE flights who I know, but I'll leave their names out and let them identify themselves if they wish.
I booked this trip about six weeks ago when I heard that the first commercial flight was intended to be BNE-CNS, then CNS-BNE on the 23rd October. I was looking forward to flying this new plane type in the Australian flying market.
An 04:30am alarm wakeup eventually got me into a taxi to the airport in time to board DJ771 (departing 06:45am). I met up with the other 2 AFF'ers and chatted about various flying topics. Was great to meet them.
Boarding was done through the front door of the plane only, and a short walk was required from the gate. I believe the EMB's have the ability to be boarded through aerobridges, so other flights may be boarded by that method.
As this is a new Virgin Blue equipment flight, they were in festive mood (Brazillian festive of course). There were DJ staff onhand to welcome us onboard the plane wearing "Carnivale E-Jet Launch flight" t-shirts and appropriate Brazillian headwear.
The plane was VH-ZHA "Belissimo Blue" - DJ's first EMB that arrived around 3 weeks ago and has been on proving flights since. Sitting alongside was VH-ZHB "Brazilliant Blue" which is due to be introduced into service shortly.
Onboard were a host of Virgin Executive and marketing staff, three FAs, a pretty full contingent of passengers and a AFF'er or three
The plane has 20 rows of 2x2 seating, with 1A and 1C missing (The plane is marked ACxDF (I believe, can't fully recall).
I was seated in a D seat.
Upon entering, I had a fairly good impression of the plane. The new "leather" smell, a very clean plane and it actually feels quite roomy inside.
One thing to watch is to not stand up suddenly when seated, as the ceilings above your seat aren't as high as 737's in my opinion (but not unexpected of course for a smaller jet). The aisles are fine height wise.
The seats are leather, with a good width and have a good pitch. I would rate them better than a Q400 seat, and also better than a 737 widthwise (although I didn't have my tape measure with me to double check). There are a few good features about the seats - middle seat arm is liftable, the front brace for luggage is actually quite far in front and there is no middle brace under your feet between the seats. This should mean that baggage storage is good. The seats have a slightly limited recline I believe, so don't impinge too much on the passenger behind while still allowing a good recline. Laptop use should be ok when seats are forward, but like other planes may be problematic if you have a recliner infront.
The window shade is also present, which I believe is missing on Dash planes.
The window vs seat layout feels a bit weird. It appears the windows aren't always in identical spots on each side of the plane. So you should have a window on your side, but you may need to stretch your neck a bit to look out the other window in certain rows. I noticed this more towards the front/middle of the plane rather than the back of the plane.
The plane wasn't particularly noisy. I wouldn't rate it worse than a normal 737, and probably about the same as a Q4. There is no IFE at all, so bring your IPOD or similar.
Overhead lockers are fine, although I didn't test them for luggage capacity.
The staff were in party mood, and the flight was lively! The staff were happy to be there, and kept their DJ professionalism throught the flight. A round of sparkling wine (Dune - normally $7 on DJ menu) was complimentary to passengers, and there was a couple of competitions on each flight to give away a complimentary flight on the DJ network within Australia.
We were all given a red "Carnivale E-Jet Launch flight" tshirt to commemorate the event and encouraged to wear it when disembarking.
The standard DJ food service went through the cabin. The trolleys appear quite a bit smaller than 737's, so they may run out of your choice early if it's very popular.
In Cairns, we landed on time, then entered arrivals, where some media was present to document the event. Hopefully I avoided the media. Not a media fan at all
Turnaround was pretty quick, so only around 20 minutes until we were boarding again for the next flight and DJ772 left ontime at 09:50.
CNS-BNE was a very similar flight to the BNE-CNS flight. Same competitions, and same chatter about the new flight. Would have been nice to have been hinted where DJ were due to fly the E170's to as new routes, but it was kept a secret for the time being.
There is no overwing exits on these planes - just front and rear, so extended legroom seats would probably only be 2C and possibly 1D and 1F. Two toilets are onboard front and rear.
We arrived back in Brisbane ontime.
My general opinions of the plane are the following:
Compared to a Q4, I like the E170 more. The Jets give it a better feel, the seats and legroom are great, and there are little features that make it better than the Q4's I've been on. Not having to wait for the props to stop, then board the bus back to the terminal is great. I think Virgin have made a good choice in this aircraft, and can't wait till the E190's come onboard. The lack of IFE is a bit annoying, but I expect this from the smaller jets/props. I don't believe DJ is installing Live2Air into these planes.
Happy to answer questions, so if you have any --- let me know. Overall it was a good morning trip away.
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