Icelandair is gearing up to steal the world's 'worst flight' award from Lufthansa, by operating a Q400 turboprop aircraft to Manchester.Q400 Originally reported by Airline Routes via Twitter, the Dash-8 Q400 will be used twice weekly from the middle of next month until September, serving both Manchester and Dublin.

 

What are the details?

Icelandair is planning to use leased Bombardier Dash-8 Q400s to open up new routes to both Dublin and Manchester.

Icelandair
The two new routes that will be opened by Icelandair Q400s. Photo: GC Mapper

These routes will be operational twice a week, and are designed to increase capacity for the summer season. Running from 15th July until 14th September, the carrier is clearly targeting the holiday crowd.

They will specifically be using Air Iceland Connect aircraft, a subsidiary of the main Icelandic airline. The Q400 in service is normally used for routes to outlying islands, as well as to other areas in Iceland. They have three Q400s in their fleet currently.

Is it a bad flight?

Previously, we discussed how a Boeing 737 being used on a 17 hour flight is pretty bad. But a Q400 over this distance, how does it compare?

There are around 70 seats on a normally configured Q400, with two small bathrooms. They are in a 2 - 2 configuration, with no premium seating (and 32 inches of pitch on these economy seats). There is no entertainment, no in-seat power, no modern jet-aircraft humidity control and a very small tray table.

You can read our review of a Q400 only airline, Canada's Porter, here.

The flying time between Manchester Airport (MAN) and Keflavík International Airport (KEF) is around three hours, according to Google Flights. This is for both the current Boeing 767 service and the Q400. However, the Q400 is around 150 km/h slower than a normal jet aircraft, so in reality, it will probably take around 30 minutes longer.

The Bombardier is quite a small aircraft with very loud (and vibrating) turboprop engines, at least compared to a jet aircraft.

Plus, the journey will take place almost entirely over the deep North Sea and Atlantic Ocean, where frequent storms will shake the poor Q400 to its rivets. With a lower operating attitude than a normal jet aircraft (27,000 ft / 8229 m for the Q400 vs the 41,000 ft / 12,500 m of a 737) the aircraft will be more susceptible to weather and turbulence.

airBaltic
A airBaltic Q400. Photo: Wikimedia

What has been the internet's reaction?

The internet's reaction has been quite shocking, with many saying they would not even consider going anywhere near these flights.

Others questioned the point of these new flights.

The deployment of these small aircraft is related to the current grounding of the 737 MAX and of course is only temporary.

What do you think? Will you fly on these aircraft on these routes?