Flying economy doesn’t have to be torture.

The flight attendant was polite and professional, the snacks and drinks were complimentary and the plane had a max capacity of 50 passengers seated in a 2+2 arrangement. I’m not reminiscing about a trip 20 years ago, this was my experience on board a Cimber CRJ200 from Billund to London Gatwick yesterday afternoon.

Perhaps I should have had my reservations flying with an airline that uses a Viking helmet as a logo, but the service offered on yesterday’s flight was a reminder that flying economy doesn’t have to be torture.

If yesterday is anything to go by, Cimber could very well be the decent-service airline I’ve been begging for on the Gatwick-Billund route ever since Mærsk Air stopped flying.

I give Cimber a gold star for the standard of yesterday’s flight, another gold star for free check-in luggage and the per-transaction-only credit card fee. My only gripe is their current per-person, per-flight booking fee. As we all have to book and the fee is unavoidable, it should be incorporated into the initial price or at least changed to one fee per booking.

Cimber only opened the route on 24 November, after Sterling Airlines had gone bust.  Interestingly, Cimber announced on 4 December to have “acquired essential assets from the Sterling bankruptcy estate” and “the new Sterling will be run following the same customer values as Cimber, where fair prices, the friendly atmosphere and respecting the customer’s time are the main principles [..],” said Cimber CEO Jørgen Nielsen (source: Cimber’s press release – PDF).

Well, Cimber, for as long as you keep up yesterday’s standard of service, you’ll have my custom.

TAGS: economy, travel