VIKING AIRLINES  Passenger Reviews and Customer Trip Reports

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VIKING AIRLINES review :  31 July 2009 by Sue Scarfe   (UK)

Gatwick to Chania - outbound and inbound flights on time with check in at both ends efficient and polite. The plane was no more or less cramped than many I have flown. The cleanliness was a bit dubious - especially on the outward flight. Also outbound one of the toilets was out of order before we even took off. The biggest issue for me was the fact that the cabin staff seemed to be very poorly trained - not even knowing the time difference between UK and Crete! Coming back the food choice was very limited as we were near the back of the plane - not unusual in itself in my view, however the staff did not seem to know how to handle this and still offer their 'meal deal'. Perhaps we were just lucky as I would not rate Viking any worse than some of the other carriers.

VIKING AIRLINES review :  31 July 2009 by D Lampard   (UK)

Flew to Hurghada in June and experienced no problems. The staff were friendly and food we bought on board was nice - the seats weren't the most comfortable. Good value for money.

VIKING AIRLINES review :  28 July 2009 by Alicia Peters   (UK)

A nightmare, please beware. We were left stranded in Skiathos airport on 24th July. No plane. We assumed they'd gone bust again, don't forget who this airline who hides behind KISS actually are! We ended up buying tickets from a reputable airline at great expense. I wish I'd read up about Viking before booking. Hard because they hide behind the company who I bought ticket from, who hide behind Kiss. At bottom of pile in Viking who cannot be reached by phone or e-mail and can't be seen for dust when they don't show.

VIKING AIRLINES review :  28 July 2009 by Mark Lewis   (UK)

Gatwick to Skiathos, 2 hour delay on Gatwick runway due to technical problems with air con system. Return flight from Skiathos was cancelled due to operating problems at Gatwick and another technical problem with aircraft. Apparently the flight operated the following day with another 3 hours delay. We had to pay 300 Euro for Monarch flights home. Prior to flying I booked extra leg room seats at £120 for each of us both ways. The outbound booking could not be found when we checked in at Gatwick. We wont be flying with them next year to Skiathos!

VIKING AIRLINES review :  28 July 2009 by Alan Fouracre   (UK)

Gatwick - Rhodes return. Flight out okay. Delayed by an hour (we missed our slot), food okay, seats a bit tight. Flight back was troublesome. Flight coming in from Manchester and I had seen that this flight was going to be delayed by two hours so expected trouble. At check in was advised that flight would be 5 hours late but we had to check in and go to gate. Vouchers would be provided in half an hour for refreshments. Advised that Rhodes airport had catering and shops. After security found that Rhodes airport had two identical duty free shops and two identical cafes. Found seat and waited for voucher or information. After 3 hours still no information - flight had gone from information screens. Managed to get back through security and found handling agent who advised that they were seeking authorisation from Viking about refreshments but that would happen in next half hour. Checked arrivals information which showed Manchester flight arriving so that we could leave after the five hour delay. After an hour we were offered refreshments (a sandwich and a drink) but still no information. Then discovered that Gatwick were not expecting us to arrive as we expected, but another 4 hour delay (taking total delay to 9 hours). Still no information available. After another couple of hours we were then advised that flight had been delayed and that would now leave after 9 hour delay. Every couple of hours offered a sandwich and a drink but no information. Aircraft arrived a bit late, a white Boeing 757-200 from Slovakian Airlines who were also the crew. An old BA aircraft which was obviously in its second life. Crew offered breakfast and we had a relaxing flight back. Advised that delay caused by operational reason. Disappointed that we weren't advised and the approach seemed to be to avoid the airline needing to put us in a hotel overnight.

VIKING AIRLINES review :  27 July 2009 by S Briner   (UK)

Gatwick to Skiathos and back. Viking appear to have a lot of technical problems, going out sat for 2 hrs on plane. Coming back spent all day at Skiathos airport, flight did not arrive, flight details disappeared off screen at 8pm (should have left at 2pm) and passengers ended up buying new tickets with other airlines to get home. Information was non existant, so was help. Would not use again and do not recommend.

VIKING AIRLINES review :  27 July 2009 by M Chapman   (UK)

Flew to Rhodes 18th July, one hour delay no excuses. Return 4 hour delay due to shortage of staff. Very old aircraft no tv, basic food, cabin staff were wonderful considering one was ill and the other two were dumped on the plane from another flight. The aircrew were "out of hours" - whole company seemed very amateur. The rep hid at the airport so no info.

VIKING AIRLINES review :  27 July 2009 by P Peart   (UK)

Gatwick - Skiathos return. The flight leaving Gatwick was delayed by 2 hours. We were told that this was due to a technical difficulty and the lane had missed it's take off slot, however we didn't actually board the plane until just before the supposed take off time. Attempting to come home was even worse; our flight was due to leave Skiathos at 2pm local time, and all we heard was that there were delays at Gatwick, firstly due to the weather and then due to a technical fault. We were given no further information until we were told that the flight was cancelled at 4:30pm. At this point luckily, the local rep for the tour operator we booked with managed to get us on another flight free of charge, however other passengers on the same flight had to pay 300 Euros to get another flight home. Another sore point was that our hand luggage and cases were all weighed together, and we got charged an excess baggage fee. When the flight was cancelled, we asked for a refund and got told categorically no. Suffice to say, when re checking out baggage in with the carrier we actually got home with, only our cases were weighed and no excess baggage charged. I saw lots of bad reviews prior to flying and shrugged these off as one off experiences, however after this I would never fly this airline again and would recommend people give this carrier a very wide berth.

VIKING AIRLINES review :  27 July 2009 by T Saker   (UK)

Gatwick to Faro return. Outbound flight no problems. However return flight delayed by 9 hours then told we were to be flying home with Air Slovakia. We were taken to nearby hotel and given a meal so no complaints there. However I feel that this was not a one off occurance for this airline and that they are aware that these long delays occur (even plan for them). On our ticket we were told to phone to check time of return flight but the number was not connecting when I telephoned. If you want to know your flight time is as sold then this prob isn't the airline for you. One of the reasons I booked was the flight times so I won't be flying with them again. Having said that Air Slovakia staff coming home were lovely, very professional (plus free meal and drinks which weren't supplied with Viking)

VIKING AIRLINES review :  27 July 2009 by Marie Norfield   (UK)

Gatwick-Skiathos return. Do not travel this airline unless you are fit and well and have time to spare! They seem simply not big enough to deal with UK/European flying situations - with insufficient technical back-up if things go wrong. Our outbound flight had a minor technical problem leading us to lose our flight slot, with the Canadian captain apparently not understanding the need to meet the time slot, saying in astonishment: "and we only missed our slot by a few minutes." The staff were nice but instructions in French as well as English were actually a distraction and, I believe, a factor in our delay, and the captain spoke a kind of technical Canadian English we did not understand - worrying if there was an emergency! The return flight Skiathos to Gatwick was a non-starter. Although there were thunderstorms in Gatwick, we were told that a technical problem prevented Viking from getting the plane out to Skiathos. Eventually we were put onto a Monarch flight whose staff were highly professional in dealing with my husband's swollen ankles caused by 15 hours of sitting around. The last we heard was that Viking wouldn't be able to get the next lot of package holiday passengers out to Skiathos until the following Monday ie they could lose 2 days off their holiday.

VIKING AIRLINES review :  27 July 2009 by K Adams   (UK)

Gatwick to Lemnos return and both flights fine. Cabin crew came around with water, breakfast on the way out and lunch on the way back were good. No more squashed than on any other charter flight.

VIKING AIRLINES review :  22 July 2009 by M Lauritsen   (Denmark)

Antalya to Copenhagen, 3 hours delayed. The food was inedible, no cold drinks. Only lukewarm water. Speaker Installations partially defective. Seatbacks could not be locked in up position - more than 3 seats.

VIKING AIRLINES review :  20 July 2009 by C Christodoulou   (UK)

Gatwick to Hurgada flight was delayed by 6 hours. We were told that the plane was at Shannon waiting for the Irish CAA to sign off on the plane, as it was new ? Maybe it would have been a good idea if Viking had got the timing right - given that they presumably knew they were meant to be flying to Hurgada and not sitting at Shannon.

VIKING AIRLINES review :  20 July 2009 by L Williams   (UK)

Manchester to Tenerife. I would not recommend travelling this airline! As we arrived at Manchester airport 3.5 hours earlier than our flight time, we were told the flight was delayed 2 hours. As this was not a good start to our holiday, we decided to bite our tongues, only to then find out it had been further delayed by another hour just before we were suppose to board the plane - excuse being that they had a shortage of staff due to illness. A common excuse used that I have read from reviews prior to flying with them from many other unhappy customers. Onboard legroom was tiny and seats very uncomfortable as our seats didn't recline. The cabin crew ran out of most things to buy eg drinks etc, which didnt leave much choic. Even though it is a cheaper option, I would rather spend extra booking a better airline.

VIKING AIRLINES review :  18 July 2009 by Stephen Foster   (UK)

Manchester to Fuerteventura. I wasn't expecting anything special because of the price we paid. They got us and our luggage there and back in one piece without any delay. The legroom was the same as other flights I have been on.

VIKING AIRLINES review :  13 July 2009 by J Carey   (UK)

Appalling. The flight back from Heraklion to Gatwick was over eight hours late taking off. Some attempt was made to provide food, but not much else, and no useful information. Spooied the holiday. And it was impossible to find out how to contact Viking themselves because they hid behind the local operator Kiss. (If anyone knows, perhaps they could post the Viking phone number or email on this site)

VIKING AIRLINES review :  13 July 2009 by A Houghton   (UK)

Manchester to Kos return. Check in at Kos was a lottery. People were being told that the flight was overbooked and they were being put on the Gatwick flight! Fortunately we were lucky and checked in. Once boarded and doors had been closed we looked around and there were about 20 empty seats. Therefore do not understand why people were moved to another flight. Once in the air we were informed that they did not have any milk for hot drinks as everybody on inbound flight had used it. Ordered a sandwich which had seen better days, would advise that you buy your food before boarding. The crew were friendly enough and the flight was fine. Just do not understand why those poor people were offloaded onto Gatwick flight (which was also delayed, to add insult to injury) when it was obvious the Manchester flight was not full. Dont usually moan about things but feel very strongly that these people were lied to.

VIKING AIRLINES review :  13 July 2009 by T Garthwright   (UK)

Manchester- Crete. The outbound journey was on time with no problems, however the seats did seem very close together. However the return journey was below par. The flight was delayed for an hour initially (which I can accept), however it was over 2 hours before we got on the plane. After the safety demonstrations in English and French, we were told that we had missed our slot to take off so we waited on the plane for over another hour. We were then told to get off the plane until a technician could arrive to fix a broken toilet. Total delay time 6 hours. I accept that problems do happen, but to not be kept informed is not on. Also, I found the flight attendants very rude and unhelpful.

VIKING AIRLINES review :  8 July 2009 by R Maxwell   (UK)

Manchester - Sharm El Sheikh. Never ever use this airline, unless you are happy spending a lot of time in the airport! On our flight out it was delayed by about 2 hours, we were never told this up front, we were told it would be 45 mins delayed, then in the departure lounge we were sat there for about half an hour and they kept telling us we could board in 5 mins, just 5 more mins, 30 mins later we were still sat there. When we did finally board the plane we were sat there for about 45 mins because they had no fuel. As for our journey home, well we arrived at Sharm airport, to be told by staff that our flight had not even left Manchester yet! this went on for hours saying it had left, then it hadn't, then at one point we were told they could not even locate our plane! We were told by the airport staff the delay was due to a technical problem with the plane so they had to change planes (so this is not very reassuring for a start!) Anyway when we eventually got on the flight 9 hours after arriving at the airport there was no acknowledgement that we had even been delayed! People were asking the hostesses why we had been delayed and they said the captain would make an announcement shortly to explain all, again we kept being told the announcement will be in 5 more mins, 5 more mins, etc. Well, that announcement never arrived! Apart from when we landed in Manchester the captain said, "Thanks for flying with Viking and we apologise for any inconvenience!" That was it - that was our explanation supposedly. Not impressed, would never fly with them again.