There are things that I love & I hate about flying with EasyJet, so I'm always in two minds as to whether I should book a flight with them when I'm flying out to Spain to see friends & family that live out there.

I love the fact that the fares are cheap, I can fly from my local airport or a choice of nearby alternatives, the flights are well-timed & are almost always on-time or near on-time & that the cabin-crew are always cheerful & professional without being "matron-like" which occurs from time to time at British Airways.

I hate, however, the ground handling for EasyJet. The queues always seem long as flights aren't segregating, and I can't stand not having an assigned seat. As I like window seats, preferably with extra legroom or in the very last row of the aircraft, I find it very stressful being in a scrum, and at worst when I've still got boarding card number 100 despite checking in two hours before! EasyJet's choice of handling agents at EMA & AGP (Servisair & EuroHandling respectively) tend to have fairly rude & occasionally aggressive staff, which put to shame the rest of the EasyJet staff at times.

On my last flight to Malaga however, I didn't have this opinion at all. I got to the airport nice & early, and was plently surprised to have boarding card number 27, meaning I'd be in the first group of 30 to board the aircraft. I was asked by a ground handling staff member if I'd like help with the machines & the check-in staff were similarly chatty & friendly.

The security queue was fairly long, but I got away without even a beep or having a bag searched, which gave me more time to hit the shops & have a coffee. The flight was scheduled to leave at 16:40, and at about four o'clock I saw an EasyJet plane land. I didn't know if it was my flight, but noticed where it parked & where the staff seemed to be heading. A group of people showed up with barriers which they set up, and I asked one of them if this was for Malaga and she confirmed it was.

I was pleasantly surprised to note one member of the team was a Spanish speaker. There are never any Spanish speakers at EMA, and some Spanish friends have commented on how confusing an airport can seem with only directions in English. I don't know if he worked for EasyJet, but he didn't have the usual uniform, and proceeded to make all the calls for our Malaga flight in English & Spanish, and wished me a "buen viaje" when I went out towards the plane. I thought it was a nice touch!

I don't like at EMA how you have to walk across the tarmac to get on the plane. Sometimes it's nice because you really feel like you're travelling getting up close to the aircraft & open to the elements, but that's the exact problem, you're open to the elements! It was very blustery, so I was grabbing onto my bag!

Onboard the crew were welcoming us onboard, and I managed to bag seat an exit seat! I love these seats, and reccommend it to all EasyJet passengers because you get a lot more legspace, as EasyJet aircraft can be quite cramped. The crew member asked me various questions about the exit row, and also had a quick chat about Malaga. I like the crew at EMA, because they always seem very chatty.

Once the doors were closed, a cassette was played with the safety instructions in Spanish (on the way back it was also done in what sounded like Portuguese?) a nice touch for any Spanish people onboard.

Flicked through the in-flight magazine, and bought something from the "EasyKiosk". Things are fairly expensive, but I'd rather have that than expensive airfares! I would like more selection of snacks, especially on a long flight like to Malaga, but I was happy with a sandwich & Coke!

The crew made themselves visible at all times, but didn't make hundreds of announcements. When you fly Monarch they seem to be fighting to see who can get the most airtime, they never shut up. I appreciate they may be given an incentive to sell products, but EasyJet staff are too, yet you aren't bombarded with cabin announcements.

Flight passed with ease, especially with the extra legroom. EasyJet will always be graded highly on their service in my books, but with a bit more legroom, an assigned seat & maybe training some of their ground crews to be more courteous & friendly, I wouldn't even consider another airline!

Similar case on the way back, although whether we had a tight slot I don't know, as the staff seemed rushed & stressed on the ground. The gate staff were snappy with passengers, and the purser kept repeating "move to the back of the aircraft!" in a fairly aggressive tone to passengers shuffling through. Once the doors were closed however, everyone relaxed & the crew seemed very cheery, despite how late it was in the evening.