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).
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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