VLM Airlines

MAN-LCY-AMS-LCY-MAN. What flying should be about. Great staff at checkins and onboard good food and coffee without having to pay for it and real cups too. This airline that I had never previously heard of seems to believe in old fashioned good service at competitive prices and they make a profit so it can be done without penny pinching and charging extra for everything. Highly recommended.

LCY-MAN-LCY - Superb service in a recently refitted F50. On time both ways and good in flight catering for such a short flight. On the return to LCY I left a item of property on board. The effort to trace the item was outstanding and it was returned to me within days after making only one call to VLM in London. Forget the train to Manchester from London. Go with this airline at a third of the cost.

LCY-MAN-LCY Booking well in advance saved considerable time and money over the equivalent train journey. Cabin crew were pleasant but I do wonder why on such a short flight it's necessary to offer food albeit just a sandwich - I'd rather pay less on the ticket price. On the return journey the ground staff at MAN were extremely helpful to let me switch without charge to an earlier flight. Overall I found VLM efficient and helpful and would certainly use them again. After all flying in a Fokker 50 puddlejumper was actually fun!

LCY-BRU. VLM isn't a bad option but the comparison with Eurostar on the Brussels route isn't credible. I can get so much work done in comfort on Eurostar on both the outbound and return journeys using my phone when I need to. Give me that rather than a bumpy Fokker 50 often delayed/cancelled by fog any day!

LCY-BRU. I go to Brussels regularly on Eurostar but on this occasion tried VLM. The service was excellent given the very short flight. It was far cheaper than Eurostar and was also quicker even taking into account the time needed to get to the airport. The only problem with VLM is the frequency - 5-6 flights per day is not enough to compete with the train and the timings are not great for a business day trip from London. If they had an equivalent frequency to Eurostar I would always use them.

LCY-BRU and what a great little airline this is. OK plane was old cabin crew were not smiling all the time but apart from that I was very impressed. I read many nice comments here but it was better then I have expected. Check in easy and very fast boarding 10 minutes before departure and still left on time pre take off sweets drink in proper glass coffee in china nice (not particularly tasty) bacon baguette very tasty pre landing chocolate. Cabin crew were present in the cabin during all flight and were nice but didn't smile. I was sitting in the last row and being cabin crew myself I wasn't impressed by cabin crew reading newspaper during landing when she should be in her landing position but I have seen it many times on many different airlines. I didn't even mind that plane was one of the oldest in their fleet as I love turbo props and the noise they make. It's great to fly lower then on jet planes as you get nicer view. For 55 quid I paid for my flight I would give the whole experience 9/10.

Have nothing but praise this airline. A competitor cancelled by misstake our return leg out of Liverpool to Basle and the ground staff was not helpful at all (to say it in a polite manner). What a difference at the VLM ticket counter. The woman knew our situation and offered us a reasonably priced ticket to LCY from where we could continue our journey. As we booked last minute and security checks etc. took longer we got denied boarding at the gate as the flight would have left late if it waited for us to be bussed to the aircraft. Received free lounge acces in Liverpool (A special offer at the moment) and free rebooking to the next flight. Friendly FAs served candies upon boarding and free food and drinks during the short flight. Of course it was somewhat like a cold hamburger but more important is the way they treat you. You might pay a bit more but you get treated as a human being. Arrival in LCY was smooth and in the terminal within minutes. Called their London office a couple of days ago for a copy of the electronic ticket. We need that to reclaim the money from their orange competitor. This request was handled promptly and with no problems! Their Fokker 50s are ok for the routes they use. All in all reminds me of what Crossair used to be years ago. Friendly staff nice service etc.

Flown a few times from LCY-MAN in the last couple of months. Service has always been great - easy check in easy 'onto the plane' and great service once airborne. Only downside is the walk you then have through terminal 3 at MAN as the plane 'parks' in-front of T1. Flights always depart on time and usually a few minutes early into MAN. Prices invariably cheaper than travelling Virgin trains and on a Sunday the time comparison (1 hour as compared to 4+) makes it all worthwhile.

London City to Manchester. After reading other passengers comments I was expecting a great service. This is far from what I received. My original flight was cancelled with no reason or explanation given they managed to swap me to another flight but that was running late. My colleagues on the 7:20 flight didn’t take off until 10:30. Upon boarding the fokker 50 the cabin crew (just one person) may just have been wearing a sign saying “I’m having a bad day” the attitude was absolutely terrible. It would be unfair to name this person but she did not smile once during the flight and was stern and just so unfriendly. There were no pre take off sweets. I do not understand how anyone can say VLM’s food is good you get offered half a brown sandwich in a plastic wrapper or fruit not even both and no plate. Certainly no chocolates as others have mentioned. On a positive I had a problem with my e-ticket for my return trip and the lady at the VLM ticket office at Manchester airport was helpful friendly and smiled! Shame she isn’t working as cabin crew!

Manchester - London City. Very impressed. Flight was called for boarding 10 mins before departure and was greeted by 2 very friendly FA's seating fine for a 50 min flight offered pre take off sweets. Once we took off Crew offered Ham or cheese sandwiches complimentary drinks from the bar then tea or coffee finished off with Belgian chocolates. All drinks were served in china mugs and glass tumblers made it feel more like Business class. Arrived on time and as I arrived at the luggage belt my bag was already there within five minutes of Landing I was on my way into London. Excellent service Excellent Crew. No complaints