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I was one of the passengers who should have left with the plane that was delayed due to the strike of the French air traffic controllers (see Mr Roosemont's 15 May below). Although the delay was not Virgin Express' fault, the passengers who stayed at the airport were offered refreshments in a reception area of Lisbon Airport. When it was clear that we couldn't leave Lisbon in time, I decided to collect my luggage and to check in at a hotel. Nobody, including the crew, could tell anybody at that time what would happen with the flight as the French air traffic controllers blocked every possible passage. Anyway, I noticed that Mr Paneels helped organizing the reception of the stranded passengers and even offering some passengers the possibility to use his mobile phone to warn their family members in Belgium. He left the airport with a group of journalists he was accompanying only after everything was taken care of the reception of the stranded passengers. When I travelled to Brussels the next day I heard that the crew of the delayed flight had stayed aboard waiting for further instructions to make sure that the flight could leave Lisbon in the early morning. Many other airlines simply cancelled their flights or their crews claimed that they were going beyond their duty time.
Virgin Expres
I had another good roundtrip ATH-BRU-ATH. I found a fantastic price at the internet and the service was nothing less than that promised. ! Crew was polite.
chep flights
VirginExpress
As a low-cost airline, Virgin Express is doing quite good. I travel frequently to Brussels from Barcelona with them. While I like the comfort of SN Brussels Airlines on the same route, I must admit that I often choose Virgin Express for its very attractive prices. And for about half the price (sometimes much less) I think their service is very good. The reservation on internet is quick and easy, the check-in very is quick due to the absence of ticket, the planes are ok (nothing out of the ordinary), the paying bar service not bad (very good coffee, and good sandwiches), and generally the planes are very much on time. Of course I don't earn miles on Virgin Express, but since I can't accrue miles on SN Brussels Airlines' cheap fares (that are in any case higher than on Virgin), I choose for the "red planes". Concerning the crew, I think most of the times they are friendly and helpful. But of course, sometimes they look a bit tired... But for a short flight I think it's a very good value for money.
lwo fawer
Virgin Expres
low cost carrier virgin expres
Our group European holiday this year resulted in booking of
8 flights with Virgin Express to various desti air traffic controllers our Virgin
Express flight from Lisbon to Brussels was delayed. While all passengers withut any information or assistance - were waiting in the transit hall not knowing if the flight was leaving that night, Mr Y Paneels, Virgin Express PR Manager (and passenger on this flight) booked himself and his guests of honour a room in the Sheraton and left "as a thief in the night". The entire crew stayed in the aircraft hiding from the passengers. Nobody blames Virgin Express for the delay - but the way the crew handled this situation is below zero. It is not because you are not paid for the overtime you cannot stick to your responsibility.
nations such as Milan to Copenhagen, Copenhagen to Nice, Geneva to Rome, Madrid to Brussels and Brussels to Athens. These were our very first flights with Virgin Express. Very impressed with their good service from the check in counter to the flight itself. Check in was a breeze. Flight attendants were very friendly, cheerful and attentive and spoke trilingual in the announcements before takeoff, on flight and during the landing. Good legroom space on the seats... and leather too! A pleasant surprise for a low cost. For a minimal cost, their coffee being sold was of good quality. There was only one incident involving our leg from Geneva to Brussels when the elevated walkway got stuck onto the plane and had to be detached manually resulting in over an hour delay and causing the agitations and anxieties of passengers. Except for this flight and incident, all other flights were smooth and even arrived ahead of schedule. Their only drawback is that Virgin Express have to stop at their Brussels base before any connections can be made and
results sometimes to additional flight time and hassles, a disavantage for Virgin Express because this can result to more costly overall flights to a particular destination. A plus side is that they land on major airports and not in the middle of nowere as Ryanair does. I would recommend this airline only for point to point flights to and from Brussels.
virgin express low cost flights budget airline no-frills
Yesterday, due to the strike of the French
Virgin Exxpres
I flew Virgin from Heathrow to Brussels to Rme in August. The fre was fatastic a The food was what was proised (pretty much nothing). The seating was nice (exit rows on both flights). But both flights were very very late. If you fly Virgin expect delays. But as far as value goes, its a great deal.
Virgin Express
Flew a short flight between London Gatwick and Brussels. Have no complaints. Was on time, seats were lean leather. My first trip on a no-frills airline. Was impressed because I've had worse trips flying in business class. Got to the airport early on my return trip. The customer service at the airport was very helpful, allowing me to check in to the flight before that had seats available. Overall very impressed.
I was very pleasd with Virgin Express! I flew wth them on a flight MAD-BRU return. They offered a "snack pack" which for US passengers is a pleasant replacement to the peanuts we so often get on comparable length flights in the US. The drinks however were not free with exception of the water, coffee, and tea. The FA's were very well dressed, pleasant, and at least tri-lingual. There is something nice stepping aboard a flight with the well dressed flight attendants greeting you. I am a big fan of "traditional" full service airlines, but when the price is right, sometimes you have go with the low-fare carriers. Virgin Express seems to properly balance the low fare carrier prices, with service and "feel" somewhat comparable a full service carrier. I am hard pressed to find many other airlines that can manage this.
I flew from Heathrow to Rome via Brussels in the summer, and bar the cheak in staff not arriving until an hour and a quarter before the flight (the 6.45 am flight), it was a pleasant experience. We got a drink and a sandwich, and the seat were comfortable leather. Brussels airport was a very nice airport to transit through, though there were big walks from the Non-Shenghen area to the Shenghen area. It only cost 106 rtn mid summer, some 70 less than BA/Alitalia
Virgin Express
During the flight I studied the Safety Instructions. In an emegency situation the passengers are supposed to lean forward in the position that the head rests on the knees. In my seat there was not enough room even to lean a bit forward, let alone to put my head on my knees. The 'overwing exits' on both sides were blocked by 4 seats (2x2) on row 11. The Safety Instructions show under "B" nr 1 through nr 5 how to open the emergency overwing exit. Picture 4 clearly shows plenty of room in front of the passenger. Picture nr. 4 does not show seats, does not show row 11 as was the case during my flight TV-859. The seats were quite uncomfortable because the seats (the place on which your bottom rests) are not level but leaning forward slightly thus pushing your body and knees slowly forward against the chair in front of you. A little adjustment of the inclination of the seat could help a lot so that you are pushed INTO the chair (toward the back of the chair) instead of being pushed forward.
Virgi
I bought a cheap ticket BRU-LON-BRU on Virgin Express. When I arrived at BR airport my flight was posted as having a two hours delay, so I went to the ticket counter and asked if I could change to the 'later' one which was in fact leaving earlier. I would have thought that a decent airline would have offered this change free of change, but this outfit charged me GBP30 to change. I paid in the hope of arriving earlier, then the flight I was rebooked on suffered an equivalent delay, although they'd assured me it would leave on time. My request for a refund, need I say, has been ignored, and I will not be travelling on this low cost, low quality carrier again. They do not do credit to the 'Virgin' brand.
Virgin Express
Several flights with Virgin Express recently have sown that thee is some improvement beginning to show - go back about 18 months and I thought they were terrible. Why do I fly them - it's cheap, and so I suppose you can't expect much of a service. But that doesn't mean staff can be rude to you which I found - the worst staff were any British cabin crew who didn't give a damn for customer care. Best places for good service are actually away from Brussels - like Madrid Barajas where surprisingly the service is great! Pity that the airline has not gone the way of Virgin Express or Easyjet with its route expansion and they seem to have missed out sligh
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