Aviation Discussion

[fowler9]

fowler9: It seemed OK at Bergamo, more up to date than Waterford was when I went there that's for sure. My illy Americano came with a 10% discount which helped a fair bit mind lol.

Butts, the B gates are right by the apron on the ground level, beyond passport control, so it probably can't be done. It's not signposted either, so you have to have your eyes peeled for the area in question. Nearish McDonalds is the easiest way to describe it, which I think was near gate A16.

Basically, you go through security and enter the shopping/eatery area, and around there you get the A gates. It's a long walk round all that lot to get to the B gates, when you go downstairs that's where passport control is. Once there, there really isn't much there. I didn't see beyond B22 though, as gates B23-B26 were up another corridor and I wasn't going up there to investigate, as I had a book in dire need of finishing.

2 months and 10 days until I fly again, this time with Jet2, to Alicante. I'm already getting ideas about where to go after that!

Big news today, though, is that before I went on holiday I got in touch with BA themselves, as the MSE Resolver thing was getting nowhere. They replied yesterday, they're going to send me my €250 by bank transfer, so hopefully that will arrive soon. I'm in two minds as to whether to rebuild my holiday fund for a long distance (ie, non-Europe) holiday next year or to halve my credit card debt. Very tough decision...

Well wherever you choose to go have a boss time.

 

[Techniquest]

Well wherever you choose to go have a boss time.

Cheers! I'm hoping to use it towards a 747 bash all being well, but we'll see what happens. Right now I've got to start the back to work preparations after a total of 10 days off, it's going to be hard to do that again

 

[gsnedders]

I saw the ad for that new route at Stansted the other day, it sounds interesting but I've yet to research it fully. All that way on an A321 sounds a bit too much.

I can't imagine it's any worse than doing it on a 757 which is what's typically operated such routes historically? (I mean, at the end of the day the 757 has the same cabin width as a 737 and is therefore narrower than an A321.)

 

[fowler9]

Cheers! I'm hoping to use it towards a 747 bash all being well, but we'll see what happens. Right now I've got to start the back to work preparations after a total of 10 days off, it's going to be hard to do that again

The 747 bash sounds amazing. You have any ideas? The two I flew on, Heathrow to Hong Kong and Hong Kong to Melbourne aren't 747's any more alas. I personally want to get a few more A340's under my belt before they all go.

 

[gsnedders]

The 747 bash sounds amazing. You have any ideas? The two I flew on, Heathrow to Hong Kong and Hong Kong to Melbourne aren't 747's any more alas. I personally want to get a few more A340's under my belt before they all go.

I'd try to get a 747-400 and a 747-8 if I were doing a bash, and Lufthansa is probably who you have to go to for that.

 

[atillathehunn]

Cheers! I'm hoping to use it towards a 747 bash all being well, but we'll see what happens. Right now I've got to start the back to work preparations after a total of 10 days off, it's going to be hard to do that again

I've got a 747 jaunt this weekend coming up, though the 747-4 as it's BA.

 

[Techniquest]

I've got a 747 jaunt this weekend coming up, though the 747-4 as it's BA.

What route?

 

[atillathehunn]

What route?

Nairobi

 

[fowler9]

Was made up getting VH-OEB from Hong Kong to Melbourne in the Melbourne Grand Prix colour scheme. Further to that it is called Phillip Island and two days after we flew on it we went to Phillip Island.

 

[fowler9]

I believe the Russians are going to start building the TU-160 again. That is a beast of an aircraft.

 

[atillathehunn]

Very interesting. I wonder how fast they will come on stream. A true legend air craft

 

[northwichcat]

Probably not to the same extent of the Air Berlin but wing waggles on a final service are far from unheard of. The last United departure from BHX to EWR did one recently

EasyJet are trying to secure Air Berlin slots, planes and crews, which if successful will make EasyJet the biggest operator in Berlin according to Simon Calder.

 

[atillathehunn]

EasyJet tried to secure Air Berlin slots, planes and crews, which if successful will make EasyJet the biggest operator in Berlin according to Simon Calder.

And would doubtless therefore attract the attention of the competition authorities.

There appears to have been no word on the carving up of assets or slots. I would think Lufthansa via Eurowings will be interested in snatching up some of the Dusseldorf slots and routes. In the mean time Lufthansa has been aggressive in its pricing strategy around here. Somehow I ended up on a mailing list because I've been sorting out some big travel budgets for our institute and they are offering very competitive fares from this region. There's a very small chance that I availed myself of their kind offer of some very cheap business class flights from Brussels back to the UK at the end of the year.

 

[northwichcat]

And would doubtless therefore attract the attention of the competition authorities.

As long as Lufthansa, Ryanair and others continue to operate at least as many routes to/from Berlin, I doubt the competition authorities will take any action even if they announce that they are examining it.

 

[WestCoast]

How is Bergamo airport these days? It was a bit of a dump eight years ago when I was last there but I believe it has improved.

Bergamo is quite nice for a 'low cost airport' now, spacious and airy with lots of seating and decent food options. Very nice views to the mountains too. Malpensa is far away from Milan so Bergamo is a decent option, plus Bergamo itself is a very pleasant city. It certainly beats Rome Ciampino which is far too small for 5+ planeloads of people.

I was delayed 7 hours there last Sunday though, coming back from Bergamo to Liverpool with Blue Air. They only have one aircraft based in the UK so ended up cancelling the outbound Liverpool - Bergamo and flying us on a Turin based plane that had finished its trips.

I'm pretty sure I'm owed my €250 on EU261, so we shall see how that goes...

 

[fowler9]

Bergamo is quite nice for a 'low cost airport' now, spacious and airy with lots of seating and decent food options. Very nice views to the mountains too. Malpensa is far away from Milan so Bergamo is a decent option, plus Bergamo itself is a very pleasant city. It certainly beats Rome Ciampino which is far too small for 5+ planeloads of people.

I was delayed 7 hours there last Sunday though, coming back from Bergamo to Liverpool with Blue Air. They only have one aircraft based in the UK so ended up cancelling the outbound Liverpool - Bergamo and flying us on a Turin based plane that had finished its trips.

I'm pretty sure I'm owed my €250 on EU261, so we shall see how that goes...

Rome Ciampino was also awful about nine years ago, certainly sounds like it hasn't improved. Ha ha. That said the worst I have been in was Split. It was actually really nice and if it wasn't chronically overcrowded would be amazing.

 

[AlterEgo]

Managed to book on VLM (who are reborn). London City to Antwerp.

They’re using old school Fokker 50s on the short flight.

If any of you want to bash a Fokker 50, now’s the time. But fares aren’t cheap, and I reckon this iteration of VLM will be dead by the spring.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Fokker 50s are *fun*. I did a weekly commute London City to Schiphol on those for a few months. Got me over the fear of flying by being far rougher than any "proper" aircraft I've ever been on. And one of them into London City I've long described as "the authentic plane crash experience without actually crashing" - over Canary Wharf, point the nose at the floor while being thrown all over the place, pull up at the last second and....phew.

Antwerp is also a very nice city to visit, I ended up staying there for a weekend break a couple of months ago as no accommodation was available in Brussels for a decent price, and I found it much nicer than Brussels itself.

 

[northwichcat]

Rome Ciampino was also awful about nine years ago, certainly sounds like it hasn't improved. Ha ha. That said the worst I have been in was Split. It was actually really nice and if it wasn't chronically overcrowded would be amazing.

It was alright when I arrived there in 2014. Only downside was the bus shuttles to the city centre running to a 'when we feel like it' timetable opposed to the advertised timetable. I departed from Fiumicino so can't comment on what it's like for departures.

Some airports can be inconsistent. Arriving at Dubrovnik earlier this year, the passport control queues were processed very slowly and the luggage wasn't returned quickly either. However, on departure I was 'airside' less than 10 minutes after arriving at the airport and that including queuing up at a check in desk, going through security and passport control.

 

[fowler9]

It was alright when I arrived there in 2014. Only downside was the bus shuttles to the city centre running to a 'when we feel like it' timetable opposed to the advertised timetable. I departed from Fiumicino so can't comment on what it's like for departures.

Some airports can be inconsistent. Arriving at Dubrovnik earlier this year, the passport control queues were processed very slowly and the luggage wasn't returned quickly either. However, on departure I was 'airside' less than 10 minutes after arriving at the airport and that including queuing up at a check in desk, going through security and passport control.

Had no problems arriving in Dubrovnik. Departing Split getting through security was quite quick, as soon as we got through there were people sat on the floor, then on the stairs up to the departure lounge. The departure lounge was absolutely rammed, roasting hot and with hardly any space left to sit on the floor even. There were a couple of flights slightly delayed but nothing major and we thought it would ease up when they left. It didn't. The size of the lounge was far too small for the number of flights it handles, the only place that comes close was Krakow about 11 years ago and I believe things have improved there. Thing is if Split Airport wasn't completely rammed it looked like it would be quite pleasant. Going back to the heat in there, people were sweating freely at ten at night, the air con just couldn't cope with the number of people.

 

[Jetlagged]

Here's a new one for Techniquest to add to the list. Air Mediterranean have started flying four times a week from Stansted to Athens with fares from £135 return including 23kgs baggage and complimentary in-flight meals. They will be using B737s and the flights are timed to feed into services to the Middle East and Africa.

 

[northwichcat]

Here's a new one for Techniques to add to the list. Air Mediterranean have started flying four times a week from Stanstead to Athens with fares from £135 return including 23kgs baggage and complimentary in-flight meals. They will be using B737s and the flights are timed to feed into services to the Middle East and Africa.

That sounds like excellent value for money. I've not been to Greece but when I've looked at holiday options I've found cheap flights to Greece are rare even with the likes of EasyJet. Although, I suppose you don't need many Euros for when you get there!

 

[Techniquest]

Here's a new one for Techniques to add to the list. Air Mediterranean have started flying four times a week from Stanstead to Athens with fares from £135 return including 23kgs baggage and complimentary in-flight meals. They will be using B737s and the flights are timed to feed into services to the Middle East and Africa.

I'm honoured you thought of me with that! I've not been to Greece for over 15 years so it would be nice to have it on my Flightdiary profile map. Same for Portugal actually, not been for 25 years! Wow that made me feel old...

Hoping BA have put the money in the bank soon as I need to get on and chuck it onto the magic plastic. Taken a long time but New York will finally nearly be paid off!

 

[atillathehunn]

The Jumbo is truly the Queen of the Skies.

I charmed my way into a free exit row seat with my terrible French at check in. Beautiful smooth ride down to Kenya tonight. The wings are just enormous, and the power!

We disembarked via stairs so got a good impression of the size of the beast.

As we circled Nairobi to come in to land we were watching huge lightening storms raging. Beautiful view.

 

[fowler9]

The Jumbo is truly the Queen of the Skies.

I charmed my way into a free exit row seat with my terrible French at check in. Beautiful smooth ride down to Kenya tonight. The wings are just enormous, and the power!

We disembarked via stairs so got a good impression of the size of the beast.

As we circled Nairobi to come in to land we were watching huge lightening storms raging. Beautiful view.

Not jealous at all so you can stop it. Ha ha. I remember being on VH-OEB as we taxied the wing filled the view sat at the back. Once we took off it curved up that much I could hardly see it.

 

[fowler9]

As an aside VH-OEB is now the oldest QANTAS 747 at a sprightly 24 years old.

 

[Jetlagged]

Not jealous at all so you can stop it. Ha ha. I remember being on VH-OEB as we taxied the wing filled the view sat at the back. Once we took off it curved up that much I could hardly see it.

Don't know how true it is, but a cabin crew once told me the tip flexed 10 feet.

 

[Hornet]

Don't know how true it is, but a cabin crew once told me the tip flexed 10 feet.

Aircraft wings are fairly flexible.

https://sploid.gizmodo.com/heres-the-crazy-wing-bending-airbus-does-to-stress-test-1750425092

 

[Jetlagged]

Aircraft wings are fairly flexible.

https://sploid.gizmodo.com/heres-the-crazy-wing-bending-airbus-does-to-stress-test-1750425092

Wow! That's impressive.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I personally want to get a few more A340's under my belt before they all go.

My longest on that plane is NRT-CPH this last Christmas on a RTW trip.