Scot Airways - not for the Canny! (ScotAirways)

Member Name: RotweilerC

Product:	ScotAirways
Date:	09/07/04 (780 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Local, small airports, Good safety record, New fleet

Disadvantages: Small airline, small footprint, Expensive, Expensive

Scot Airways are one of the relatively small airlines in the UK ? they fly from some of the smaller airports in the UK (Dundee, Southampton, Edinburgh, London City) and also Amsterdam.
The business model they operate is not the low-cost airline model ? you get reserved seats, they have two classes of travel (allegedly, but I?ll come back to that later) and they do provide refreshments (of a sort?I?ll come back to that too!), although they advertise low cost fares. As far as I m concerned, the jury has returned a verdict on that ? and it isn?t good news!
OK, flying with an airline, what?s important?safety, price, comfort, extras?.so I?ll focus on those key points. I?ve flown with Scot a few times, primarily because they fly from my local airport (Southampton) to Amsterdam, which is a major hub for world-wide flights.
Safety. They are as good as any airline, in that they don?t tend to fall out of the sky. The fleet is all relatively modern, comprising seven Fairchild Dornier 328-100 aircraft. To the uninitiated, that?s prop driven smallish planes, seating about 30 people. Usual drill inside, seat belts etc ? so they are OK on that score, don?t worry.
Price. Not good news here. Given the extras involved (or rather the lack of) the price is steep. My return flight to Amsterdam, fixed flights, economy, was £270. You can get a lot cheaper from Squeezy et al (see previous review on them) so these guys are certainly trading on the local airport card. As I mentioned earlier, there are two classes of ticket, economy and business. The business ticket weighs in at about £275 each way, giving you the advantage of the Business Lounge and?bigger seats? No, there is no difference in the seats in the cabin. Better service and crockery? Well, you do get a bottle of wine in the on
-flight service, but otherwise no difference. You do get flexibility in the ticket, you can change flights easily. I wanted to change my ticket and was told it would cost an extra £75, but there were no economy seats left ? so I would have to pay the full £275 to change the flight. THERE ARE NO DIFFERENT SEATS ANYWHERE!!! Scot Airways like to run with some seats set aside ?just in case?
Extras. Hard pushed on this one. You get a soft drink, a Kit-Kat and cup of tea in the service ? or in Business Class, you get a Kit-Kt, cup of tea AND a bottle of wine! At that price, I hope it was a Mouton Cadet!
Baggage & Handling. There is one desk to check in, in Amsterdam, and it doesn?t offer flexibility ? you turn up and wait for the Check-in staff to turn up. That?s it. There are two in Southampton. They are not well served with ground crew and be warned, their ticketing system does not allow them to check you in for onward flights. Your bags can be checked through, you can?t (not sure how that works either, but that is what happens, trust me!) You need to get to a transit desk in Amsterdam to do the rest.
Punctuality. Variable, so the above point should be noted. I have had some exercise in Schipol that would do credit to Linford (but his lunch box is more impressive still!)
So there you go?They are not great, not great value, but convenient. I hate Heathrow so this crowd are better than the drive around the M25 in the morning with the current roadworks. I?m lucky ? I?m not spending my money. If I was, I?d be on the motorway right now!

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