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Taken 10 September 2006 from Arrecife, Canary Islands (Lanzarote) - ACE to Dublin - DUB

I have just read a review of a flight I was on and I have a vastly different opinion.

My outbound flight from Dublin to Lanzarote was on Sunday 10th September 2006. The aircraft was an Airbus 320 if I remember correctly which was I guess about 10 years old, but was otherwise in perfect nick. We left Dublin about 5 minutes late, but we arrived about 10 minutes early as there was a 'tailwind'. The crew were friendly and talkative to my young son who was fascinated by his first experience on a plane.

The return journey was expected to be normal until about 20 before departure time we were told of a delay although the plane had arrived early and was sitting on the tarmac. I could see the pilot and an engineer looking at one of the engines and they had it opened up. I thought that this didn't look too promising.

Eventually, we were told that the aircraft had hit a bird or some debris on the landing and that the engine was damaged. I was now told that we would all (about 150 people) be taken to a hotel for the night and a another aircraft would be sent from Ireland to collect us.

I was expecting to be staying in some slum, but it was a 5 star luxury hotel better than anything I had been in before. We were provided with meals and had an extra days holiday although not by choice, but hey it was sunny outside and the pool was great.

We were told that we were rescheduled to leave at 10PM and we were coached back to airport and everything went fine. We boarded a multi coloured Eirjet plane which was new enough possibly 3 or so years old and very comfortable. The crew were very apologetic and considerate towards us.

As we left we could see our original plane parked up at the airport so it was obviously still damaged. We were relieved to be on our way home. The flight itself was perfect and smooth and only took about 3hours 50 minutes.

Anyway, to some up my experience I was happy under the circumstances and treated extremely well. The engine was damaged so the pilot decided to ground the aircraft for our safety even though it must have cost an absolute fortune. Therefore, I commend Eirjet and their crew for noticing the problem and making all those arrangements at such short notice. I guess some people will whinge and moan about anything. Thank You.