Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)

Travel test

- BY JANE MEMMLER

WHAT: Flights from Bodrum to Stansted via Istanbul on low-cost Turkish airline Pegasus. From £64.99 at flypgs.com EXPERIENCE: What’s extraordin­ary for regular British flyers is that both flights took off exactly on time.

Check-in staff were absolutely delightful as were the cabin crew who were all Turkish.

There were two in-flight services on the Istanbul–stansted leg (around 4 hours).

On offer were coffee, tea, wines and soft drinks alongside a limited snack service such as paninis and crisps, as well as compliment­ary antiseptic wipes.

The service began minutes after takeoff.

On the shorter Bodrum-istanbul leg (just over an hour), there was one service. Both planes were spotless with plenty of legroom.

I loved the fact that big carry-on cases are banned (due to Covid restrictio­ns) which meant plenty of space in overhead lockers.

You can take either a handbag or small backpack on board with you.

Because of the limit on cabin baggage, the hold allowance has been upped to 28 kilos.

There was a two-and-a-half hour layover in Istanbul but the airport there is lovely with great shopping.

Covid precaution­s meant all crew and passengers wore masks.

QUIBBLES: There were none.

VERDICT: A very up-market, sophistica­ted low-cost airline.

10/10

Get a festive present from the past from Beamish, The Living Museum of the North. The Co Durham attraction has gifts with a historical flavour ranging from biscuits and bath salts to chocolate and cold creams. Order at beamish.org.uk

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