Eastern Airways

Leeds-Bradford to Southampton plane was about half-full which seems fairly typical from the other reviews. Price was higher than Flybe but my employer paid . Everyone else also looked to be travelling on business - ie. no-one else would have been paying the fare themselves either. I suspect Eastern should be OK with the financial numbers if they can charge high amounts and half-fill the plane - this would be equivalent to quite a high loading (80%?) at Flybe prices. Flight itself was good helpful stewardess a very professional outfit. Excellent that they offer free Fast-Track at LBA - ideal for an early morning flight. Speaking of which they fly to Southampton earlier in the morning than Flybe which again is useful. It's also a really handy route Leeds to the south coast.

Have flown with Eastern several times now and found everybody friendly and helpful. At last an airline that cares about you - useful when a connection is missed owing to fog delays! It may cost a little more (although no hidden add-ons so not a lot of difference) but far better than the cattle trucks.

Southampton-Liverpool Saab 2000 very good product. The price you see is the price you pay no hidden charges. My concern is low passenger numbers this my third flight with Eastern all have been well below 50%.

Flew with Eastern NCL-SVG as they offered more suitable schedule over Widerøe who I would normally fly with. Tiny J41 with 18 passengers for the 1h30 flight. Hand baggage had to be surrendered at aircraft steps as limited space onboard (bag was laptop bag size) so keep hand baggage to a minimum if you really want it in the cabin. 2 cups of tea shortbread hot towel and sweets before take-off and landing all complimentary made such a difference to the flight. Flight attended very friendly and welcoming and flight deck kept you well updated on arrival time and weather. Would fly Eastern again however price can be very steep so book as soon as you know the dates of your holiday - it pays off to book early!

Have flown Eastern quite a few occasions now and always found them informative efficient and friendly. Prices are a bit high although I travel on business and do not pay myself.

SOU-NCL return. More expensive than Flybe but much better product. My concern is only 6 pax up 9 back on Jetstream 41might have been slack day but these load factors cannot be profitable. Hope they continue as all routes been competition.

Just booked a flight to Los Angeles return cheaper than an Aberdeen-Humberside return - which is now close to £400. Still only half filling the plane and a huge customer base of offshore workers waiting for them to lower the price.

IOM-NCLNCL-ABZ. Great little airline very personal service form the point of check-in to inflight service. Both flights only half full so made the experience very pleasant. Extremely efficient and takes the edge in levels of service.

First time on Eastern - Stansted to Manchester return. Excellent aircraft and service however only four passengers on board going up and twelve coming back in a 29 seater. Reason I suspect is cost - could have flown to Dubai and back cheaper. I hope they survive as they are something different but Eastern must look at their pricing structure.

IOM-BHX return. Comfortable for a small plane punctual friendly. And cheap: or at least as cheap as Flybe for the same route (taking into account the extra charges I would have paid to Flybe). At Birmingham the Eastern boarding card allowed me access to the fast-track security queue (not that it helped) and a business lounge. The flight back arrived 15 minutes early and from leaving my seat on the plane to leaving the airport was an amazing 5 minutes (including collecting baggage from the carousel).