The fifth flight of my trip to South Africa saw me fly from London Heathrow to Stuttgart on a Eurowings flight operated by an Avion Express Malta A320.
Continue reading this review to see what the flight was like.
Check-in, Lounge & Boarding at London Heathrow Airport
With the weather being cloudy, I decided to end my plane spotting session earlier than planned and headed to Heathrow’s Terminal 2 which is used by Eurowings, all Star Alliance members, and a number of other airlines.
I could not check in online so I was not sure if I’d be able to check in early and go airside. Luckily, with Eurowings having multiple flights out of the airport, the counters were open and a friendly agent at the priority desk (which I approached as there was no queue and it was the first one I saw) issued my boarding passes all the way to Vienna.
I then headed to security. Seeing quite a long line at the regular check, I headed to the Star Alliance Gold Track and tried my luck asking if I could use it as a Star Alliance Gold member flying on Eurowings. I am not sure if it’s an official perk or not but luckily, I was let through and so getting airside took me just five minutes.
Airside, I first had some tacos at Big Smoke Taphouse & Kitchen, a restaurant that is part of the Priority Pass network, and then headed to the Plaza Premium Lounge to wait for my departure.
I left the lounge about ten minutes ahead of the scheduled 2:05 p.m. boarding time and headed to gate A24.
Not long after I got to the gate, an announcement explaining the boarding order was made and exactly as scheduled, boarding begun with Star Alliance Gold members and BIZclass passengers were invited first.
Avion Express Malta A320 Cabin & Seat
As mentioned earlier, my flight was operated by Avion Express Malta. The A320 registered 9H-AMU was equipped with 180 economy class seats in a 3-3 layout.
Interestingly, even as a low-cost, BIZclass passengers are guaranteed an empty seat next to them like business class passengers on more or less any other full-fare European airline.
While the seats themselves were alright, the legroom was terrible. It’s also worth noting that the seats did not, for better or worse, recline.
The only positive thing about the cabin was the fact that there were individual air vents.
As you will see later, those came in extremely handy.
Eurowings Flight 2461 Departure
Boarding was completed around 2:30 p.m. and by that time, the aircraft was completely full.
Without the APU and thus air conditioning running for some reason, it was also unhealthily hot. While there were individual air vents, using the safety card as a fan was the real life saver for me, as well as some other passengers throughout the cabin.
Shortly after, the cabin crew closed the aircraft doors and did a manual safety demonstration.
At 2:47 p.m., the air conditioning finally started working.
A minute later (13 minutes behind schedule), we were pushed back, and started taxiing toward runway 27R.
We took off at 3:07 p.m. and as soon as we were in the air, amazing views of dozens and dozens of aircraft parked at Heathrow Terminals 3 and 5 could be had.
Later, we did a left turn, which offered an overview of the entire airport.
Eurowings Buy-on-Board Service
The seatbelt signs were switched off about five minutes after take-off and from there, it took another 20 minutes or so until the buy-on-board service started. There was no free drink or meal service.
The buy-on-board menu offered a variety of individual items as well as sets.
Avion Express Malta A320 In-Flight Entertainment System & Wi-Fi
The Avion Express Malta was not equipped with an in-flight entertainment system or onboard wi-fi.
Arrival at Stuttgart Airport
About 40 minutes into the flight, one of the pilots made an announcement that we started our descent and were expecting to land in approximately half an hour. He also mentioned that it was 16 degrees and partly cloudy in Stuttgart.
Seatbelt signs were switched on at 4:55 p.m.
We landed on Stuttgart’s runway 25 about ten minutes behind schedule, at 5:21 p.m.
Five minutes later, we parked at a remote spot in front of the terminal.
From there, it took just over 10 minutes until a bus dropped us off at the terminal building, bringing the flight to an end.
Eurowings (Avion Express Malta) A320 Economy Class Summary
While I am not sure what flying on actual Eurowings aircraft rather than on one wet-leased from Avion Express Malta is like, I can say with certainty that it does not get much more “low-cost” than what my experience on this flight was.
Not unexpectedly, the legroom was close to non-existent and there was no free onboard service.
All in all, there is nothing wrong with taking Eurowings if it is the cheapest or best timed option for the route you need to travel on. However, in other cases, I would avoid flying the airline, especially if the flight would be operated by Avion Express Malta.
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