Among the more than 100 airlines in Europe, Danish airline Sun-Air of Scandinavia is a small curiosity. This is evident on one hand from its very limited route network with just three connections. Additionally, it operates a very unusual aircraft: a Dornier 328JET, incidentally the last commercial aircraft developed solely in Germany.
But Sun-Air also has a lot to offer on board. Whether the airline can live up to its self-proclaimed motto “First Class for everyone” is the subject of this review.
But first, as always, let’s have a brief look at the flight details:
- Flight: BA 8211 (operated by Sun-Air of Scandinavia)
- Seat: 8A
- Plane: Dornier 328JET OY-NCO (delivered in 2003)
- Time of Departure: 16:50
- Time of Arrival: 17:30
- Flight duration: 1:40 h
- Month: June 2023
Table of contents
About Sun Air
Sun-Air is a small airline owned by a Danish family. However, it does not operate under the name Sun-Air, but rather as British Airways through a franchise agreement. As a result, you can fly with British Airways not only from Billund to the United Kingdom but also to Gothenburg in Sweden.
Until 2021, Sun-Air even had a subsidiary in Germany. However, it was liquidated during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of June 2023, there are no scheduled flights to and from Germany, not even from Billund.
Sun-Air uses the British Airways Executive Club as its frequent flyer program, and the planes bear British Airways livery, leaving almost no indication of the Danish Sun-Air. By the way, a similar franchise agreement existed between British Airways and South African airline Comair until 2022 (Wiki).
Booking
Normally, Sun-Air flights are of interest mainly to business travellers. The price for a one-way ticket to London City or Manchester is a hefty €300.
Of course, I did not pay this price. There are generally two ways to book Sun-Air flights at a lower cost:
- In conjunction with a British Airways long-haul flight: British Airways often sells tickets from Denmark to the USA for less than €400. Sometimes, it is also possible to choose the feeder flight to London City instead of London Heathrow. The drawback is that since long-haul flights depart from Heathrow, an independent airport transfer is required.
- As an award flight: The same award flight chart applies to flights operated by Sun-Air as with British Airways. This means that a one-way flight costs only about 5,000 Avios and approximately €25 in taxes and fees. This price is valid only if the BA account has had activity within the last 12 months.
Since I did not have a long-haul flight planned, but I had always wanted to fly with Sun-Air, I chose the latter option. I booked the flight relatively spontaneously, about one and a half weeks before departure. Since the flight falls within Zone 1 of the award chart, I was charged 4,750 Avios plus €25.50:
During peak season, it would cost 5,250 Avios and the same amount in fees.
Check-in
Online check-in was available 24 hours before departure (free of charge), and I was able to select a seat (I hadn’t tried earlier). I intentionally chose not to sit in the emergency exit row so that I could assess the seat pitch in one of the regular seats.
While getting to Billund by car is quick and easy, using public transportation is always an experience in itself. Unfortunately, the plans for a railway connection to the airport have been abandoned. In any case, I arrived at Billund Airport with plenty of buffer time, about three hours before departure.
This is usually not a problem. There are numerous check-in kiosks and a self-service baggage drop-off at Billund Airport. Unfortunately, British Airways or Sun-Air does not support these services or only partially. Although I received my boarding pass and baggage tag, I couldn’t drop off my luggage because the self-service baggage drop-off machine gave an error, and the airline counter was not yet open.
Unfortunately, this is where I have to deduct some points. Self-check-in and baggage drop-off at Billund Airport work smoothly, even for airlines like Ryanair and exotic ones like Air Greenland and Atlantic Airways. It is unclear to me why British Airways/Sun-Air, as seemingly the only airlines, do not pay for these services.
Fortunately, there are plenty of seating options at the airport, even with tables for working. The British Airways counter opened on time, two hours before departure:
The passengers in front of me seemed to have some issues, and there was no priority queue. I had to wait for about 10 minutes, but then I was able to drop off my luggage within seconds. Finally!
Billund Airport & Lounge
From my perspective, Billund Airport is one of the best in Europe. I have never waited more than 3 minutes at the security checkpoint. With around 4 million passengers per year, it has the ideal size: large enough for a decent selection of shops (and the lounge), but not so large that you have to walk 20 minutes to the gate. The airport even proudly advertises that every gate is reachable within a maximum of 5 minutes:
There is also a nice lounge on the upper floor of the airport. It is accessible either with a Priority Pass or, in my case, with Oneworld Sapphire status since it is a British Airways flight.
The King Amlet Lounge is divided into several areas. There is a main area with numerous seating options, a small buffet, a beverage dispenser, etc., and then a few individual rooms. My insider tip is the working and living room at the end of the hallway. It’s not really a secret, but the lounge is so big that hardly any guests venture there.
During my visit, there were options like meatballs, pasta with fish balls, and a salad bar (including chicken strips) for food. The selection of desserts was decent for a Priority Pass lounge:
I didn’t closely examine the alcoholic beverages, but at least there was a selection of beer and wine.
Since the lounge is not operated by Sun-Air (or BA) itself, it does not factor into the star rating. However, I still wanted to mention how pleasant Billund Airport is.
Boarding
According to the boarding pass, boarding was supposed to begin 25 minutes before departure. I completely forgot that there would be a passport control before the flight to London, so I arrived at the gate 5 minutes after the indicated boarding time. I hadn’t missed anything yet, as the boarding was only to a small waiting area, not directly onto the aircraft.
17 minutes before the scheduled departure time, the actual gate door opened. Luckily, there was no need for a bus ride. Instead, we went down the stairs onto the apron and walked from there to the aircraft.
I experienced the fastest boarding ever on this flight. In less than four minutes, all passengers were on board, and the door was closed. After starting the two engines, we taxied directly to the runway without pushback, and before we knew it, we were in the air. Remarkably, the takeoff was unusually fast and steep.
Cabin
The Dornier 328(jet) theoretically has the capacity to accommodate up to 39 passengers, but that would be in an uncomfortable 2-2 configuration. I’m not aware of any airline that makes use of that configuration. Even Sun-Air settles for a maximum of 32 passengers in the standard 1-2 arrangement for the aircraft.
There isn’t much space for luggage inside. Although I managed to fit my backpack, larger trolleys need to be checked in before boarding.
The cabin height is just under 1.90 m, so it was not possible to stand upright. Even when stooped, it was difficult to see the seat numbers, but that’s not always better even in larger commercial aircraft.
Seats
The best seats on the aircraft are 2A (the first single seat, with virtually unlimited legroom) and 9A (the single seat at the emergency exit). On the other hand, seats in rows 3 to 6 have obstructed views due to the wing and engine, so I opted against those seats.
My seat, 7A, was a regular economy seat. The comfort was acceptable for a one-and-a-half-hour flight, but nothing more. The noticeable feature was the wide, comfortable backrests. However, this comes at the expense of legroom, as the seat pitch is only average at 76 cm.
Since my single seat was both at the window and aisle, I had the option to stretch my legs into the aisle. Overall, the comfort was quite bearable.
Unlike other British Airways aircraft, there was no useful headrest. However, I was surprised by the large fold-out table. It seems to be from a time when weight-saving measures weren’t as prominent.
Essen & Trinken
Normally, I don’t expect anything on an economy flight within Europe any more. However, I came across a review of Sun-Air at some point and knew that the Danes don’t skimp on service.
According to the website, Sun-Air serves breakfast, a sandwich, a snack, or a full evening meal depending on the flight time. Since it was not yet time for dinner in the afternoon, I had already eaten some meatballs in the lounge, just to be on the safe side.
Shortly after takeoff, the flight attendant came around with a small bag of snacks and served drinks from the trolley, including juice, soft drinks, or beer.
After that… there was nothing for a while. After 10 minutes of silence, I thought that perhaps the anticipation was in vain and the service had reached the level of their franchise partner, British Airways. Would there even be a review in that case? Probably not.
Fortunately, the service continued. After the brief disappointment, a tray with salmon, whole-grain rolls, and potato salad landed on my table. The tray also included a packet of butter, a portion of Brie cheese, and a few crackers.
Food is subjective, of course. The potato salad didn’t appeal to me as it tasted mostly like horseradish, but the rest was excellent. I would even argue that Sun-Air surpasses Lufthansa’s business catering by a significant margin. All components of the dish were cold, but it didn’t detract from the taste.
After the meal, there was a small round of coffee and tea. It seems that the small galley accommodates at least a coffee machine and a kettle.
At this point, the section could end, and Sun-Air would have deservedly earned 5 stars for the onboard service. But no. Shortly after the pilots initiated the approach to London, dessert followed: a cup of ice cream, either chocolate or vanilla flavour. It came from a small dairy in southern Denmark (website) and was excellent. It was wonderfully creamy, and a glance at the ingredient list revealed 2.5% vanilla extract – no comparison to the typical supermarket industrial ice cream.
To conclude, the flight attendant went through the aisles with mini bottles of cognac, whiskey, or Bailey’s before storing everything back in the galley.
Overall, the catering on the 90-minute flight exceeded my already high expectations. The flight couldn’t have been much shorter with such service, or else the pilot would have had to make a few extra rounds over London.
Service
The crew consists of three members: two pilots in the cockpit and one flight attendant who took care of all passenger needs. There were approximately 20 passengers on my flight (estimated). As a result, the service was very personal and friendly.
From takeoff to landing, the flight attendant was consistently engaged in providing service; there was no hiding behind the curtain. Besides, there are no proper retreat spaces in the small aircraft anyway.
Extras
There isn’t much to report in this regard. The aircraft has a restroom, but I didn’t test it to avoid disturbing the flight attendant during her service.
The aircraft has remarkably large windows. I didn’t measure them, but they were at least as big as those in an Airbus A320. This allowed us passengers to enjoy the approach to London City even more.
There are no power outlets or Wi-Fi on the aircraft. For some, it might be a deal-breaker, but I consider it reasonable for a flight of up to 2 hours.
It’s worth noting that engine noise is quite noticeable in row 7. However, the noise is still more pleasant than in a turboprop.
- Check-in & Boarding
- Seat
- Food & Drinks
- Service
- Extras
Sun-Air is one of the few airlines in Europe where I feel genuinely valued as a customer. While other airlines even cut costs in their business class, the food on Sun-Air was of high quality and more than sufficient.
One could argue whether it can even be considered a proper economy class since not only is the service on a business class level but also the regular ticket price. However, my Avios account is sure: It was an economy class flight.