Airline review: EasyJet economy, Paris to Barcelona

Cabin crew service on EasyJet is both functional and helpful.Credit: Bloomberg

THE ROUTE

Paris (Charles de Gaulle) to Barcelona (El Prat).

THE PLANE

Airbus A319.

THE LOYALTY SCHEME

None, although it is trialling one with its most frequent passengers.

CLASS

Economy, seat 6F

DURATION

1 hour, 45 minutes

FREQUENCY

Three flights daily.

SEAT

29-inch pitch, 18-inch width, with the exception of three rows of emergency exit seats with extra legroom that can be bought at extra cost. It's a 3-3 layout for the 156 economy-class seats, which do not recline. There is no business class, but those on flexible tickets can select a seat up towards the front of the plane for no fee. For everyone else, it costs a minimum of €3.49 to reserve a seat, depending on the location.

BAGGAGE

No checked baggage is included. It costs €19 to check a bag of up to 20 kilograms. One carry-on item is allowed with maximum dimensions of 56cm x 45cm x 25cm including handles and wheels and no weight limit. But beware: no extra personal item like a handbag or laptop is allowed in addition to the carry-on bag unless you are on a more expensive flexible ticket, so you will likely need to consolidate your carry-on baggage into a single bag.

COMFORT

The comfort is perfectly adequate for a flight of less than three hours, assuming you don't have giant neighbours, but for longer flights you might prefer a full-service carrier.

ENTERTAINMENT

None, apart from an inflight magazine, so bring your own.

SERVICE

Functional and helpful, if a bit rushed. The cabin crew speak multiple languages and are adept at quickly processing on-board purchases.

FOOD

None included but a surprisingly large list of food and beverage options is available to buy, including several types of hot and cold sandwiches (with vegetarian options) snacks, water, soft drinks, hot drinks and alcoholic beverages. Hot sandwiches require a 10-minute wait if not enough were loaded in the on-board oven initially.

ONE MORE THING

The flight was filled with families on holiday. If you don't like the sound of screaming babies, you might want to bring your noise-cancelling headphones along.

THE VERDICT

A high-speed train between Paris and Barcelona takes about 6.5 hours and often costs more than an EasyJet flight (including the cost of a checked bag and reserved seat), so this was a good alternative.

Tested by Jamie Freed who travelled at her own expense.