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.