Review: An astonishing flight on the British Airways (SUN-AIR) Dornier 328JET

SUN-AIR of Scandinavia is a small regional airline which operates scheduled flights as a British Airways franchisee. At present they operate between Billund in Denmark (home to LEGO) and London City Airport.

The Dornier 328JET has been out of production for 20 years and only a handful remain in commercial service. This piqued my interest, so I made a day trip especially to try it out.

King Amlet Lounge Billund

I booked this as a reward flight using British Airways Executive Club Avios. Since it is economy class only, this cost 4,750 Avios and €25.50 in taxes. An absolute bargain when you consider the standard price online is DKK2,605, which translates to €350 (£292/US$383).

Arriving from London Heathrow, I followed the signs, found myself landside and went back through security for the next flight. To my astonishment the King Amlet Lounge was really quite busy. It offered an array of hot and cold food and drink, with sweeping views over the tarmac. And here I was expecting some pokey windowless regional lounge!

Time To Board

After sitting around relaxing for a bit, it was time to board. You need to walk through some corridors and then I found myself at the top of some stairs, which had Ryanair passengers camped out on them. I navigated my way around them and found myself at my gate, with a few others who had arrived before me.

More people arrived and soon a staff member also appeared. Our aircraft was waiting outside, and when it was time we headed out across the tarmac to our little jet.

BA8211 – Billund to London City (BLL-LCY)
19 September 2024
Dornier 328JET – OY-NCO
Seat: Economy 8A
Departure: 17:50 Arrival: 18:30

I held off to get some pictures, which meant I was last on board. This wasn’t really much of a problem, since the plane seats just 32 passengers, in a one/two configuration you can see on the seat map here.

The Dornier 328JET Cabin

Seats are upholstered in a brown vinyl, which is sure to be easy to keep clean. I had a single seat on the left, in row 8, which meant there would be good views from the window.

The cabin was comfortable and on this flight it was relatively lightly loaded. For a one hour and 40 minute service, it would prove to be perfectly fine.

Time To Go!

We had a manual safety demonstration and then headed out to the runway. You can tell the Dornier 328JET is an older generation aircraft, as it’s more noisy inside. That being said, I was sat by the engine, but even so, it was very evident this was no Airbus or Boeing.

Our flight was staffed by a lovely and efficient lady called Louise, who had been flying for over 15 years. Once in the air, she began service without delay, with drinks being the first order of business.

A SUN-AIR Dinner Is Served

I must remind people at this point that this flight is economy class only. They do not operate a buy on board programme, which means everything you see is complimentary. Dinner was served after the drinks. This comprised of a salad featuring chicken, potato salad, a roll and cheese to finish… or so I thought!

As is my usual wont, I tucked in with gusto, finding everything to be very tasty. The quantity of food was also quite good and it looked like I was getting a decent meal. After the cheese, I was in for a surprise as Louise came around again, this time with a choice of ice cream! There was a choice between Baileys and something else, so I went for the home town option. By now I was really appreciative of this service as there was more to it than I expected. You can imagine just how agog I was when I saw Louise heading back down the aisle with a tray in her hands. To my astonishment the tray had digestifs, with a choice of Baileys or Cognac. Talk about unexpected! I hesitated with my choice, so I was given both options with a smile.

Toilet Time

One doesn’t try out a new aircraft type (for me, anyway!) without visiting the facilities. The toilet is located up the front of the cabin and again has a different look to the usual Airbus or Boeing.

This was clean and lovely and after that I sat back down and finished my drinks while the world passed by. We landed in London City Airport without further ado. I was last off, and got a selfie with the lovely Louise on the way out – she was busy the whole flight and provided a very polished service!

Overall Thoughts

I thoroughly recommend the SUN-AIR of Scandinavia service between Billund and London City. Might I remind you again, this was economy class on a short European flight. This is how flying economy class should be – and probably was once – and I am happy I got to experience it.

You can book flights on the British Airways website, but if you are an Executive Club member, using Avios makes this an unbeatable bargain. I booked it as a day trip as there is a flight from London Heathrow to Billund that gives you over two hours in Billund before heading back on the Dornier.

Who knows how long this service will remain, but it seems to be a cash cow. Most of the passengers seemed to be executives and some knew each other. I was told the flight was completely full for the return, so let’s hope that is an indicator that it will be around for a while yet.

What do you think of the SUN-AIR service for British Airways? Have you been on it before? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

Like planes? See my “Does anyone remember” series.
Flight reviews your thing? Mine are all indexed here.
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.