I took this flight almost a year ago when I was in the UK, however I’ve only finally got round to posting this. I hope you enjoy!
This 138 mile intra-Wales flight began operation in 2007 and was the first civilian flight to operate to RAF Valley. In 2010, now defunct airline Manx2 began Dornier 228 services to the airport from the Isle of Man. Today only the twice daily weekday Cardiff flights remain. Links between the north and south of Wales are not great, alternatives to flying involve an involve a four hour plus train ride or drive making a daily land commute near impossible. The services are timed to suit those commuting from the north to Cardiff.
In recent times Links Air operated this flight with a Jetstream 31, however in October 2015 the airline had their operating certificate suspended by the CAA over safety concerns. Indeed, the airline’s Jetstreams had suffered two notable incidents both involving undercarriage issues. Following this the airline continued to sell tickets however the flights were operated by Dragonfly Air Charter, North Flying and Van Air with King Airs, Metroliners and LET 410s respectively.
According to the Links Air website, the flight prices seemed to be fixed at £19 from Anglesey to Cardiff and thirty something pounds in the other direction. The £19 flight seemed to be a bargain and thus I booked it straight away. The booking process was straight forward enough and a couple of minutes or so later I was scheduled to fly southwards on a North Flying Metroliner at the start of February.
As I was taking the flight simply for the pleasure of flying and not for the fact I needed to be in Cardiff, I needed to find a way back to the North of England that day. Surprisingly flights from Exeter to Manchester that evening appeared to be fairly cheap as did train tickets from Cardiff to Exeter, in fact the combined price was comparable to the train. And so I booked a seat with Flybe for one of their Exeter to Manchester services that evening.
All was looking good until just over two weeks until the trip when I received an email informing all the passengers (I know this because Links Air made an error revealing the email addresses of all the passengers set to fly on the route – they later sent a very apologetic email regarding their mistake) that due to the airline’s ‘unfortunate position with the Welsh Government’ all flights from 25/1 would be cancelled. Fortunately, Citywing had taken over the route at the last minute to avoid any disruption so I headed to their website to book flights only to discover that they only had a tender to operate the route until 5/2. After a couple of phone calls I was advised to contact the airline in a week’s time, in the week before the Monday I was scheduled to travel to find out what would happen to the flight.
Admittedly, the uncertainty of which aircraft I would get to fly on would add some last minute excitement. Would it be a Van Air LET 410 as operated by Citywing, a Metroliner or even a King Air (a type that flew the route several times immediately after Links Air stopped their Jetstream 31 operations). Only time would tell! Although I’d be happy with any of these ‘rare’ types operating my flight!
All was looking good until an hour before the flight when I was informed that due to the high winds battering Wales the flight was cancelled and I could request a refund or rebook. I decided upon the latter. There were several pieces of bad news, firstly that week was service’s last as a Metroliner service, future flights would be on a LET 410. Whilst I realise that this is a rare type, the opportunities to fly a LET in the UK are rather plentiful thanks to Citywing using Van Air LETs on all their Isle of Man services whilst the opportunities to fly Metroliners in Europe are rather non-existent.
FLIGHT
The last and only time I passed through Cardiff Airport was after having taken an Air Southwest Dash 8 Q300 there from Manchester back in March 2007. Times have changed and Air Southwest are no longer in existence and the aircraft I once flew was passed onto Skytrans and then stored. It’s a shame they are no longer flying as I seem to recall them being rather good. Plus my plans would’ve been simpler if I could’ve flow directly to Manchester from Cardiff.
I made the mistake of arriving at Cardiff Airport significantly earlier than the departure time for my flight and found that there was very little to do, to make matters worse the airport wifi didn’t seem to work at all. Originally check in for my flight was scheduled to open at 15:10, an hour before my flight’s departure time however it opened slightly earlier just before 15:00. After checking in I headed through security which was staffed by perhaps some of the friendliest security staff I’d ever encountered!
Past security there isn’t too much bar a restaurant/café and a newsagent. I drifted off for an hour or so before boarding was called for my flight at about 16:00. I was met at the gate with a crowd of passengers one can only imagine were regulars on this flying bus service. As soon as I arrived boarding commenced and we trundled out in a line to our LET 410. Perhaps to the typical traveller a scheduled flight on such a small aircraft would seem to be a bit of a novelty however my fellow passengers knew the drill. As soon as we climbed up the metal steps and into the cabin we handed our bag to the co-pilot who then placed it in the rear of the aircraft. Being one of the last to board there were no window seats left bar the one right behind the first officer. Good enough for me! The aircraft operating the flight was OK-TCA, which was at the time a 27 year old LET 410 in an all white livery bar a Czech flag on the tail and the aircraft’s name beneath the cockpit window (sorry, I can’t remember what this was).
The cabin of this 27-year-old turboprop definitely looked a little vintage although in a good, clean condition. Unlike other Citywing aircraft, this example seemed to lack the massive television at the front of the cabin. Shortly after I took my seat the FO came to the front of the cabin and conducted the safety briefing for the hop northwards before squeezing past me to climb into the cockpit. After several radio calls and checklists, the two crew in front of me began the engine start up procedures. The engines whined into life, drowning out any conversations amongst the passengers and making any further conversations near impossible. Shortly after we began our quick taxi to runway 12 passing gigantic 744s, 763s and 772s at the BA maintenance centre on the way.
Not your average view of the seat in front
In no time at all we were rocketing off south-eastwards down the runway and up into the cloudy South Wales sky. After passing over the caravans and cliffs at Rhoose we made a turn northwards up through the clouds. Unfortunately this meant we were unable to see any of the spectacular Welsh scenery beneath us. I don’t really have too much to report on regarding the flying part of the flight. As expected, the lack of cabin crew meant service was non-existent. The legroom was fantastic, although perhaps that was because I was at the front of the cabin.
I spent the rest of the hour flight happily soaking up the atmosphere of this legendary Czech aircraft. Our route took us over the Brecon Beacons and central Powys before we headed into Gwynedd, flying over southern Snowdonia before we headed over the water, leaving the coast at Barmouth making landfall again near Pwllhelli. Before I knew it we were heading downwards from our cruising altitude of 9000 feet. Eventually the interesting Angelsey coastline came into view. Our approach to runway 31 then took us along the railway from Holyhead. After passing over Llanfaelog we made a very smooth landing and decelerated past a sea of RAF Hawks. We arrived at the terminal a minute or so later and the engines were shut down immediately although we remained seated as the FO unloaded our bags onto the apron. A couple of minutes later we disembarked in an orderly fashion and made our way into the small, but pleasant and rapid wifi equipped terminal.
I was very pleased with the flight, but not really because of the service rather due to the aircraft type. The flight left me wanting to fly on another LET 410, however I certainly don’t think I’ll be able to do that in Korea any time soon!
Thank you for reading!
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