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Small Planet Airlines Discussion
Flying to Kos in September with Small Planet, were due to go with Monarch, should I be worried? Most reviews I have seen on here and trip advisor are negative? Any info would be greatly appreciated, do they have good leg room, films on board, whats the food like?
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We are flying from manchester to kos in july with small planet airlines ! Should we have any concerns ?
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East Midlands to Malaga Sept 25th rtn Oct 8th Flight on time both ways aircraft clean, seat adjustment broken on 2F cabin crew outbound slow no visible reason much better on return.
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We have recently returned from a holiday in Kos using small planet airlines. We flew out with them from Manchester on the 07.15 flight on the 19th September returning on the 01.15 from Kos on the 4th October. Having heard some horror stories from fellow travellers, not just rumours but first hand experiences we were very apprehensive about our forth coming journeys. We needn’t have worried though, both flights were on time and the aircraft although old was clean and tidy and the crew were pleasant and efficient, especially on the return flight singling out a stewardess called Diane. Pat & Kenny Curwen
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East Midlands to Alicante and return, Sept/October. Aircraft interior clean and tidy, staff very smart and attentive. No problems at all.
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Just back from Oporta. Flew both ways with Small Planet. Excellent service. Yes, the aircraft is not brand new, but it was clean and the staff were attentive. I'm 6 foot and had enough room to sit comfortably. Instructions from the flightdeck were clear and informative. We departed and arrived on the outward journey on schedule, the return journey however departed on time but arrived back in the UK 30 minutes early thanks to tail winds. It's not BA or Virgin but it's small, reasonable and efficient. What more do you need?
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Small Planet to Crete Flights 355 &356 Booked through: Secret Escapes, travel company was Olympic Holidays. Flights out of London Gatwick and return had only short delays. Plane was very old guess about 1984 Boeing 737-300, looked like it had just come from Steptoe's junk yard, dents and patches on fuselarge. Inside was very dated, had not been cleaned properly, seat pockets were full of old crisps and crumbs, toilets looked awful seen better in third wold Africa. Stewardess were dressed neatly but could not understand any of their announcements as there accents were so strong and they read from their crib cards so fast it was impossible to know what was being said. They spent nearly all the flight behind the curtain plaiting each others hair and updating stuff on their phones. I will certainly noy fly again with Small Planet, as it was an experience I do not wish to repeat.
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Have just come back fr om Samos. Flew with Small Planet both ways. I was worried after reading the many bad reviews and was almost prepared for delays. However, I needn't have worried. The flight was punctual there and back, crew was friendly. We were given a meal and duty free items were available on board. Pilot kept us informed of our wh ereabouts, speed, temperature etc. The plane was old but clean and we felt perfectly safe. Would not hesitate to fly with them again.
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just flew back from malaga through monach , well what can i say about the plane it was old and more dents in it than a old car , my seat was broken on one side so i was sitting at a angle and as for my dinner tray in front of me well it fell off it to my lap. never again will i fly on small planet
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We only booked the hloliday about 3 weeks ago through first choice. We asked at the time what the airline was and were told it was a small airline but but no problems with it. When we received our tickets we checked the airline and were dismayed to see all the negative remarks about it, especially as they seemed to be regular negative remarks going back months. With this I went back to First Choice and they contacted Olympic Holidays to enquire. Olympic did agree that there has been 'some' issues but said that it was no more than any other airline??? I told First Choice at the time that I thought Olympic were lying to them. I contacted Olympic myself via email and they and their reply was much the same as the reply they gave First Choice. I also contacted Manchester Airport to ask if they had any insight into the negative comments regarding delays and condition of the planes, their reply was that they weren't aware of any issues (obviously don't read comments boards or monitor the flights, which is quite worrying in itself!!) It is impossible to contact Small Planet themselves unless you want to phone Lithuania!! Anyway I did check the flight that went out on 21st Sept and that was 'only' an hour late so it did give me some hope for our flight. Just woke up 3am, to head off to the airport for our 7.15am flight from Manchester and on checking flight departures I find it is now ESTIMATED to take off at 16.45 this afternoon!! UNBELIEVABLE, actually it isn't!! Not sure whether we need to still go for our check in, but absolutely no way of finding out, no info on Manchester Website, Small Planet website, pointless and all offices closed, so we are going to have to go there for 5,15am, knowing that the flight isn't for at leat another 12 hours, if we are lucky!!!
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We only booked the hloliday about 3 weeks ago through first choice. We asked at the time what the airline was and were told it was a small airline but but no problems with it. When we received our tickets we checked the airline and were dismayed to see all the negative remarks about it, especially as they seemed to be regular negative remarks going back months. With this I went back to First Choice and they contacted Olympic Holidays to enquire. Olympic did agree that there has been 'some' issues but said that it was no more than any other airline??? I told First Choice at the time that I thought Olympic were lying to them. I contacted Olympic myself via email and they and their reply was much the same as the reply they gave First Choice. I also contacted Manchester Airport to ask if they had any insight into the negative comments regarding delays and condition of the planes, their reply was that they weren't aware of any issues (obviously don't read comments boards or monitor the flights, which is quite worrying in itself!!) It is impossible to contact Small Planet themselves unless you want to phone Lithuania!! Anyway I did check the flight that went out on 21st Sept and that was 'only' an hour late so it did give me some hope for our flight. Just woke up 3am, to head off to the airport for our 7.15am flight from Manchester and on checking flight departures I find it is now ESTIMATED to take off at 16.45 this afternoon!! UNBELIEVABLE, actually it isn't!! Not sure whether we need to still go for our check in, but absolutely no way of finding out, no info on Manchester Website, Small Planet website, pointless and all offices closed, so we are going to have to go there for 5,15am, knowing that the flight isn't for at leat another 12 hours, if we are lucky!!! Will post again with update!! My main beef at the moment is actually with First Choice, but I suppose by the end of our holiday that might change??!!
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would never fly with them again! 12.5 hour delay wich caused us to miss almost 2 days of holiday. the plane looked like it had come from the scrap yard. the plane was filthy onboard, 1 of the toilets didnt work and the other stunk really bad. would not reccomend to any1 at all!
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Good morning. I am writing this letter to you as a big request. I'm Polish collector of old already, I have 58 years. I collect small models of airplanes and postcards, and banner with the image planes from airlines around the world. Would it be a big problem for you to send me these things to complete my collection ????? I will be very grateful and happy to have your model and postcards in your collection. Thank you for sending and greet - Marek Mirski. MAREK MIRSKI P.O. BOX 1383 54-137 WROCLAW -16 POLAND
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Never been so scared in all my life,I have flown many flights as we walked on plane you know your in trouble seats falling apart very noisy hot just avoid at all cost....
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Absolutely awful airline!!!!!! my wife did not have a seat belt the the plane was very grubby flight crew had to hand meals out without trolley as there was no room to push one along the aisle these planes are old bangers in the sky!!!!! they shoud be used for commuter flight ie 1 hour at the most the most uncomfortable flight we have ever had if possible AVOID
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July 2012 - Flew with Small Planet to Greece, never heard of them before, we were stuck on the runway for 2 hours, they said the a/c was not working due to a technical fault and did not even offer water. It was so hot that that the condensation was dripping off the inside cabin roof onto the floor. Everyone was struggling very badly. Staff were not really bothered, one stewardess actually told me "This is Small Planet Dear, not British Airways - have you only just realised?" If I had to sum them up I would say that they are shabby, unprofessional, very low down in the pecking order of take off's which means the flights are hardly ever on time. There is no customer service, efficiency is not within their strategy. No I would not use them again. I just hope everyone checks them out before booking their flight with this Company - don't do it - it will ruin your holiday! Sally & Grahame, Southampton
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Repeat of below flew outward Bournemouth to naples 1.9.12 with 10-11 hour delay and no information whatsoever other than passengers asking for explanations fr om newmarket and Bournemouth airport,a total shambles and still another 4 hour delay coming home.Plane on outward flight disgusting and i had my doubts about making there in one piece. it was filthy, noisy and uncomfortable and staff were scruffy and unprofessional. the plane was dragged out from goodness knows wh ere!!! Coming home however was much better with an actual small Planet Airline and a newer better plane and staff but still not wonderful. Will never ever travel on this airline again, Ryanair a luxury compaired to them and unfortunately it has also put me off Newmarket Holidays for this reason, cheapness was put above passenger safety when they chartered this airline, thats for certain, never again.
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Outward flight fr om Bournemouth to Naples on 1.9.12 delayed by more than 10 hours with no information other than "technical fault". Homebound flight also delayed by 4 hours. Plane on each flight dirty, seats hardly fit for purpose, one totally broken and therefore unusable. Cabin crew unattentive, scruffy, unprofessional, particularly on return flight wh ere the female member of cabin crew kept flicking her unkempt hair serving passengers whilst having a private joke/conversation with fellow cabin crew. No complimentary drink/food was offered as a result of our inconvenience. This is the worst airline I have ever had the experience of travelling on and one which I defintely will not be repeating. Should be avoided at all costs. Newmarket Holidays have done themselves a great dis-service by using such a "mickey mouse" airline especially in view of Small Planets previous history. You should be ashamed.
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Flew Preveza - Gatwick return September 2012 as part of Olympic holiday. Delayed by nearly an hour going as light bulb in wing out and they didn't have a spare ! However redeemed themselves a bit as more leg room than with Monarch and friendly, helpful crew. Really liked boiled sweet on descent, a great gesture - thought that had gone out of fashion. Return journey was fine - even made up time on flight so arrived early. Reading other reviews, perhaps Olympic more demanding about standards, but would have no reservations about flying with them again through Olympic.
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We flew with small planet to Preveza in july & back to the uk in August. We had the same crew both times & i cannot speak highly enough of them. Yes the plane was old & small , and yes we were delayed coming home . However the crew were in the hotel we stayed in over night & they were fantastic. Huge thanks to Alison , Ashleigh & the amazing Liam.....
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We were delayed by 10 hrs on the outward flight and were not given proper information as to when our plane would actually arrive. When plane arrived it was not a Small Planet plane, flight ok but no free food or drink offered which would have been good considering the delay and would have gone some way to making us think better of them. On return journey delayed 4 hrs and plane was a Small Planet plane (looked ok on outside but was an old Monarch plane I think, rebranded) Good flight, good information given by pilot, crew ok. Not a good experience and one I will not repeat, will not fly Small Planet again.
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so my husband and my self had a 24 and ahalf hour delay at manchester on the 31st of aug ,we were only having a weeks holiday too corfu. so realy missed 2 days of our holiday by the time we arrived.when we checked in we were advised we were flying at 8-40 that evening,so that would already be a 13 and a half hour delay.we were all taken to a premier in for breakie and lunch and told to be in reception at 6pm buses never came till 6-35.no rep to explain or help us out at all very poor.so went through security check and flight delayed again next update would be at 11 pm.arrrrgh.midnight came and told plane there for us but no crew for it !!!!customer desk hadnt any idea what was going on either.then told 6 am would be our time to go.guess what? no cleaners to clean it ,although sat there since midnight .what a sham.took off at 7-40 am. the plane wasnt even one of there planes was dismal.my story is so like mrs never.agains.it makes you wonder if this is just the regular thing for them.we all work hard for our holidays and dont expect them to be spoilt in this way.never again small planet your rubbish to say the least.
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Mrs Never. Again : I booked my holiday with Olympic and was flying out to Corfu on 10th August, at check in we were advised that the flight that should of departed at 7.15 A.M would be delayed by 10 HOURS and would now be departing at 5 P.M. after spending far to many hours in departures ( as we were told to check in and wait there) we were called to gate for take off at 4.45 P.M, ALTHOUGH WE DIDNT ACTUALLY TAKE OFF TILL 6 p.m AS THE CLEANING CREW DID NOT TURN UP. The plane was shabby and had one very rude flight attendant. ON returning two weeks later the flight was delayed again but only by 1 hour, it was a different plane and this one was in a much better condition and the crew were much nicer
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In more than 40 years of flying worldwide these SPA planes are the worst by far that I've ever travelled on. Seats in poor condition, one broken and un-usable, and the toilets were simply DISGUSTING. One has to wonder what the maintenance efficiency of the aircraft is like. Should be banned from the skies, and I will never again use a tour operator agin who flies Small Planet.
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Flew out on 2/9/12 from Gatwick to Kefalonia for our honeymoon. Fortunately i did not need to use the toilet facilities as everyone returned reporting how filthy they were. My new husband did use them and has been confined to our apartment since our arrival. Given that we ve eaten/ drunk the same since arrival & im ok, we can only conclude it was picked up from the plane. A real shame as we are only here a week.
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Terrible is putting it mildly. Due to leave 5pm...over 8.5 hour delay with no reasons given whatsoever. I am dreading the flight back as it is scheduled for midnight! Flying in the middle of the night is no fun on these planes..they fit so many seats in your feel like you are sitting forward. They should not be allowed to operate out of Gatwick.
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This airline has Air Operator Certificates in Lithuania, Poland and Italy only and some of the 737s are really very tired.
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Monarch should be ashamed that they sub-chartered the ALC-EMA route 3rd Sept '12 to Small Planet. Dreadful service late with no updates) twenty five year old aircraft that showed it, hot stuffy aircraft, cabin staff that didn't know their drinks products, pricing or currencies. It should be interesting to see feedback from Monarch on the complaints. Avoid.
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Should have flew back with these from Parga Greece on the 9th August with OLYMPIC Holidays. but had a 15 hour delay. Seems they have constant technical problems. Questions need to be asked on the safety of this fleet. Still haven't had a reply or even an acknowledgement from the airline up to now.
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Flown back from Naples on 1/9/12 due to take off 12.50 took off 23.12 due to technical problem from previous day and tight schedule was the excuse. The aircraft was old and scruffy seats with lumps out and even no seat back. Newmarket Holidays this attempt to save money has no doubt cost your company a huge loss in terrible reviews. WORST AIRLINE EVER HAD THE EXPERIENCE TO USE.
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Flown back from Naples on 1/9/12 due to take off 12.50 took off 23.12 due to technical problem from previous day and tight schedule was the excuse. The aircraft was old and scruffy seats with lumps out and even no seat back. Newmarket Holidays this attempt to save money has no doubt cost your company a huge loss in terrible reviews.
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Just flown with Lithuanian airline from KOS, it was a good experience on the way over, although a four hour delay on the way home possible due to technical faults. Planes are 21.6 years old and definitely due for replacement. you don't see many cars on the road at that age being used for business purposes. Crew were good, although a little language barrier was present. Plane was noisy throughout the flight, possible used to flying on planes no older than 3 years old, which are lot more quiet. Had Headphones in to reduce the engine noise throughout the flight. I think if they want to continue a service, I recommend renting/buying newer planes. Sounds of the brakes on landing didn't sound to good either. as it was a cheap flight I was not expecting much, really basic service, bit like easy jet as in the services you received i.e. no flight entertainment and pay as you eat and drink. Toilets could do with a refit too. you are definitely in gods hands on this one.
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We flew with this airline to Crete on 17th July this year. There was a five and a half delay going out - delayed at Manchester - crew were late arriving then half way through the flight had to make an emergency landing at Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Rome. No food or alcohol on the plane - just a bottle of water and a packet of maltesers! All we were told was that it was a small technical problem. On the return flight we had a 10 hour delay - again technical problems. So we ended up with a night flight! We will never fly with this airline ever again!!!
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I booked my holiday with Olympic and was flying out to Corfu on 10th August, at check in we were advised that the flight that should of departed at 7.15 A.M would be delayed by 10 HOURS and would now be departing at 5 P.M. after spending far to many hours in departures ( as we were told to check in and wait there) we were called to gate for take off at 4.45 P.M, ALTHOUGH WE DIDNT ACTUALLY TAKE OFF TILL 6 p.m AS THE CLEANING CREW DID NOT TURN UP. The plane was shabby and had one very rude flight attendant. ON returning two weeks later the flight was delayed again but only by 1 hour, it was a different plane and this one was in a much better condition and the crew were much nicer
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AVOID! Avoid these loonies at all costs. Flew from LGW to Geneva last week: 8 hour delay going, 1 hour coming back on ancient planes. Considering the flight is only 1.15, that represents over 3 times ratio of delays to flight time! Never again...
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We flew with Small Planet for our Olympic Holidays flight to Greece. This is the worst airline that I have ever flown with. The aircraft that we flew out on was old and scruffy, meal tables broken, toilet at the front of the aircraft was so bad it was closed by a flight attendant, the drinks cart was broken at the front so it took forever to receive a drink as the staff had to keep walking backwards and forwards with a tray of drinks and manually calculate how much to charge!! There was a 3 hour delay going out and a 17 hour delay coming back because of technical issues (unable to close door on aircraft) These aircraft need to be grounded and a serious refurb completed. Flying with Small Planet was the first time I have ever been concerned about getting on a plane and I will certainly not book any further holidays where they are the carrier.
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Please do not travel with this airline, my wife travelled to the UK from Portugal today and was delayed for 12hrs without any apologies from the airline, the CAA should question this company that it is fit to fly UK passengers.
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KOS 4th August and sadly back what a shocking ariline! Just had no idea, flight attendant to busy playing on IPAD. Food, well slop didnt eat just really really bad. Then had to come back with them
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July 2012,Belfast to Lake Garda.Firstly I would agree with a lot off prevoius reviews re. no hot food and general state of aircraft, but more seroiusly ,I would have major safety issues with this airline,on the way back waiting for take off the aircraft experienced a problem with one of the engines,we were taken off the aircraft, sat in dep. lounge for 5 hrs,then spent a night in a hotel.We found out that the week before the same flight had a similar probelm.Was it not fixed properly?Did it fly all week a ticking time bomb?Next day we were taken to another airport for flight home,different plane thank God,same airline made for uncomfortable journey. My advice,never fly with this airline.
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Guest : awful .......bad information..late arrival( two and a half hours late) then aborted landing at Bournemouth being redriected to Gatwick.Left at gatwick with no information for four and a half hours no staff on site preferring to subcontract to agents,would recommend trying any other airline first before this one.Worst I have experianced in 40 years of travel Have you contacted Newmarket if so any joy! would love to hear from you as I was a passenger on this flight (willisatpurewell@aol.com)
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awful .......bad information..late arrival( two and a half hours late) then aborted landing at Bournemouth being redriected to Gatwick.Left at gatwick with no information for four and a half hours no staff on site preferring to subcontract to agents,would recommend trying any other airline first before this one.Worst I have experianced in 40 years of travel
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Went on Small Planet to Naples with Newmarket Holidays return flight delayed two hours then 20 mins before due into Bournemouth flight diverted to Gatwick with very little explanation! all 150 passengers then stuck at Gatwick as no coaches available to take us back to Bournemouth not even given a coffee! eventually at 04.20 they argreed to provide taxis although many passengers had left and made their own way back, getting us back to the car park at Bournemouth @ 07.00am ! No reply from Small Planet as yet and also in touch with Newmarket but no answer as yet!
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New Market Holidays using Small Planet Airways. We were delayed 10 hours with no explanation!! The Holiday Reps could not explain where the plane was and our home airport had no idea why we were delayed either!!! If you look up their website, you can see the option to charter a flight- i think that they are flying in between bookings and they don't care if it makes people late. All very dodgy!! I would also agree with everything written below!!!
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OLYMPIC HOLIDAYS ARE USING THIS DREADFUL AIRLINE.11 AND A HALF HOURS DELAY WITH NO EXPLANATIONS,NO AUDIO POINTS,IN FLIGHT MAGAZINE OR TV.ONLY ONE OF THE THREE TOILETS WERE WORKING.BE WARNED,USE THIS AIRLINE AT YOUR PERIL
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Small Planet Airlines should be avoided, travelled June 2012. Old scruffy aircraft , inexperienced crew, on board facilities dismal. Stay at home ! .
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