Just before the whole world change, and flying was positively frowned upon, we flew Easyjet from London to Gran Canaria. It was a last minute birthday weekend getaway. At 4.5 hours, we’re perfectly happy sat in economy. Is Easyjet a good option on this route? We think so. In fact, we think they’re a good choice on most short- and medium-haul routes Europe. In this Easyjet London to Gran Canaria review, we cover the details of why you might want to consider them for your next short hop.
Flight Details
Flight No: EZY8691
From/To: London (LGW) to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (LPA)
Departure time: 07:25
Aircraft: A320
Ticket Class: Economy
Seat: 11F
Flight time: 4 hours 25 mins
In this review:
- Check-in & Fast Track
- Boarding
- Aircraft Configuration
- Amenity Kit & Washrooms
- Seat
- In-flight Entertainment
- Drinks Service
- Food Service
- Arrival
- BG1 Verdict
Check-In & Fast Track
- The Good
- Lots of automated kiosks
- Plenty of support staff
- The Bad
- The process with the baggage tags confused some passengers
Easyjet has a dedicated check-in area in Gatwick’s North Terminal. It was an early flight and we appeared to have beat the crowds. Check-in was very quiet and we were able to use an automated check-in terminal without queuing. After scanning our passports and attaching the printed labels to our bags, we head to security.
Score: 70%
Boarding
- The Good
- 186 people boarded fairly quickly
- Crew helping maximise space in overhead bins
- The Bad
- The usual mad dash and elbow-barging
- Space in the overhead lockers was tight
Like other low-cost carriers, you snooze and you lose during the boarding process. First on will get the overhead luggage space. The last to board usually fly with their bags by their feet or stowed in the hold. It can be hard to remain civil through this stressful and sometimes uncivilised dash for to the aircraft. We think the boarding process is where low-cost carriers have lots of opportunity to improve.
Score: 55%
Aircraft Configuration
Aircraft type: Airbus A320-251 (NEO)
Number of classes: 1
Number of seats in flying class: 186
Position: right hand side of the aircraft, 11 rows from the front
Amenity Kit & Washrooms
- The Good
- Nice new appearance
- The Bad
- Always a queue for them
- Passengers weren’t cleaning up after themselves
Washrooms
There was a washroom at the front of the aircraft and 2 washrooms at the rear. Being a fairly new A320Neo, the interior still looked new and was in good working order. All 3 had high amounts of traffic throughout the flight, but we’re kept reasonably clean. Passengers clearly weren’t helping matters.
Amenity Kit
As this was a low-cost flight, no amenity kits or in-flight care kits we’re provided.
Score: 75%
Seat
- The Good
- Slim design
- Legroom felt OK for a 4-hour journey
- The Bad
- No recline
- Lack of padding can make it uncomfortable
The seat on this 4-hour Easyjet London to Gran Canaria flight was actually alright. It was relatively new, the upholstery was tidy and the floor area had been vacuumed. The seat is one of the new lighter-weight, thinner, narrow seats being installed in economy cabins. For a low-cost flight, legroom was fairly good for someone of average height.
Access & Storage
All seats have access to overhead bin storage. With the exception of bulkhead seats and exit rows, you can also stow smaller bags under the seat in front, but you will lose legroom.
Sleeping
Not the easiest when you’re sat bolt-upright. Bring a neck pillow to support your head or expect your jaw to hit your chest repeatedly while dozing.
Cleanliness
The aircraft was spotlessly clean. Being a relatively new aircraft, that also help it appear tidy.
Power & Wi-Fi
There was no at seat charging or Wi-Fi available on the flight.
Score: 75%
What Is The Best Seat On Easyjet From London To Gran Canaria?
Nearer the front is best. That said, we found the price of seat bookings was higher for rows 1-10, so we just went for 11. You can pay up to £30/€33 per seat to sit on the front row and be first off.
Despite being seated on the row in front of an exit row, we weren’t bothered about not being able to recline our seat. That’s because no seats on the flight reclined! Easyjet has a no recline policy and purchases aircraft with the recline feature left out.
See the seating plan on SeatGuru – it shows our seat as yellow, but this is incorrect as the recline is no different to any other seat in the cabin – zero!
In-Flight Entertainment
We’d normally score a flight on its in-flight entertainment. We don’t think it’d be fair to do this for Easyjet, as they offer a low-cost product and don’t provide entertainment. Bring a book, newspaper, or download something to your phone.
Drinks Service
- The Good
- Lots of non-alcoholic hot and cold beverages
- Good selection of beers, wines and spirits
- The Bad
- The trolley service is slow – order enough to last you the flight
Drinks were sold from a trolley throughout the flight, though the speed they moved through the cabin required quite a bit of patience. We liked the selection and found most items to be available. Prices were reasonable for in-flight catering.
Score: 70%
Food Service
- The Good
- Served from the trolley at the same time as the drinks
- Some hot options
- The Bad
- Not much if you’re not a bread fan
- Quality wasn’t great for the price – better options found in the terminal before you board
You need to be really hungry to eat on one of these flights. The food is the kind of junk you’d find in a convenience store at the end of your street. We didn’t see much that was healthy or would fill you up for long. We splashed out on crisps to go with our drinks.
Score: 40%
Arrival
- The Good
- Ahead of time arrival
- Beautiful approach past Tenerife
- The Bad
- The usual unnecessary jostling for bags and bad tempers
With low-cost flights, you can always bet on being off the plane with your bag quickly. Their turnaround times are tight and they don’t want you sat in your seat longer than you need to be. We were in the airport and passing through passport control under 15 minutes after landing. That works for us!
Score: 80%
BG1 Verdict
- The Good
- Comfortable, modern aircraft
- Efficient A-to-B transportation without the fills
- The Bad
- Perhaps it was the route, but some of the passengers were rude and others clearly couldn’t pee straight.
When you take the price into account, Easyjet is an excellent choice for intra-European hops. We paid less for our seats on a 4-hour flight to Gran Canaria than we do on a 2-hour train journey in the UK. If you like your bells and whistles, you’re going to be disappointed. If, however, you like traveling on new aircraft, with efficient crew and no-fuss check-in processes, you should book Easyjet. You wouldn’t want to fly long-haul on the newer, thin economy seats, especially bolt upright for the whole journey. Anything up to 5 hours should be OK for us.
If they could find a way to improve the boarding process and sort out that awful food, they’d have a killer short-haul product. We’ll be flying them again really soon.
Total: 66%
BG1 Tip
Book into one of the lounges at London Gatwick to upgrade your preflight experience. Most serve food and have open bars, so you won’t want much on the plane.
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