Two snippets of information reach us today, neither of which is much good…
Firstly, after just six months, Aer Lingus is closing its Bucharest – London Gatwick route as part of a wider set of cutbacks in routes served from Gatwick (eleven routes in all are being cut).
No real surprise, as whenever we flew the route the plane was never more than two-thirds full. Romanians still seem to prefer Blue Air, though they fly from Europe’s Second Worst Airport to distant Stansted.
So that leaves those of use who need to get to London reasonably regularly with British Airways, Blue Air or Wizz Air. British Airways is still too expensive, and both Blue Air and Wizz are notorious for delays and – worst of all – both use Baneasa, not Otopeni. Aer Lingus was perfect: cheapo prices but they used Otopeni.
The second blow was the news that the Grigore Antipa Museum of Natural History (above), which we have long championed as being one of the most open minded, forward thinking and hands-on museums in Romania (a place where kids are actually encouraged to touch things and ask questions), will remain closed until at least July.
Undergoing a major refit, it was due to reopen at the end of this month.
We are told the finished article will be worth the wait. here’s hoping.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I am a frequent flyer of Wizzair. Most of the times I fly from Eindhoven, Weeze or Dortmund to Hungary or Romania, but I have also been to Poland with them. I must say that I am a great fan of Wizzair! Thanks to their low prices my romanian woman and me can afford it to visit each other almost every month. Lately I even flew with a brand new plane to Timisoara. The reason that they are are that cheap is that you have to pay extra for check-in bagage and the later you book, the more you pay. And of course no food on board. Lately I had a very bad flight and a big delay with British Airways and they are much more expensive…
Agree. I think Wizz Air are fine, no better or worse than any other airline.
A shame. I used Aer Lingus a couple of times from OTP, nice service, the flight times were good and Gatwick is better than Heathrow by a mile, with a proper train line.
African Cup of Nations? No. I don’t watch second-rate football.
Parmalat: yes, I heard that Blue Air has a terrible maintenance program. Also, you don’t get any food on the low cost airlines and there are baggage fees and the whole experience is awful. I really will pay for the major carriers always in the future. The bad experience is not worth the small savings.
Generally I’d agree, and sometimes BA can be competitive on price, but on certain routes in Europe their punctuality is shocking – probably because of LHR…
P.S.: are you watching the African Cup of Nations?
)
I don’t understand how cheap airlines can coexist with expensive airlines. If the ticket is expensive with British Airways it means there’s a reason for that. So either cheap airlines use old planes which are ready to fall anytime or they lack quality somewhere else, usually in regard to safety issues.
If it were possible to travel cheaply then Lufthansa would have lowered the prices to the level of Wizz Air.
Something is dubious about these low cost airlines…
Yes! anything to avoid Wizz Air and Baneasa! I have always liked Budapest. . . I used to fly in their from New York and take the train over to Baia Mare in 2002-2003 when I made my first series of trips to Maramures. Budapest was light years from Bucharest even then 7 years ago.
Malev certainly the cheapest airline using proper airports right now. Long layover in Budapest though, though of course you can see a bit of Budapest meantime: always worthwhile.
Craig,
I flew back from London to Baneasa on Wizz Air last August and it was the worst plane trip I have ever taken. Wizz Air of course was awful but then Baneasa at 1 AM was a terrible entry back into Romania after being in Italy and London for 10 days. It all felt like a bad dream. Since I refuse to fly Wizz Air again and I need to go to London this month, I started looking for the cheapest flights I could find on major carriers and found a roundtrip flight on Malev Hungarian through Budapest of course for just 322 RON. Yes, there are layovers but I will take them over Wizz Air any day.
Done that airlingus flight twice. On both occassions it wasnt even half full let alone two thirds full