Aviation Discussion

[atillathehunn]

Luton (Airport!) is grossly underrated. I used it twice in the last few weeks and it was fantastic. I’m there again twice in the next couple fo weeks and expect the same. In my view better than Stansted too; and when the transit opens in 2 years time Luton will make big inroads on Stansted traffic for the routes they compete on.

I am - against my will - using it next week to come home from a conference. Last time I was not impressed. I shall go in with an open mind...

 

[atillathehunn]

Hit and miss crews, my last few long hauls have been pretty good though. Helps when the plane is quiet and on a recent flight back from Korea I was offered double drinks proactively without even asking every time. Even a double Tiger when asking for "a beer" with 40 minutes to run!

As someone else has said Silver status and above can select from booking in all cabins, and Golds and Silvers do tend to have their preferred/favourite seats (747 64A/K for example) and I do get why non status passengers are prevented from selecting them to keep the real high value passengers happy. When I was a Gold, I did once bag 1A Now it wouldn't do for the Muggles to get their hands on 1A now would it

I never have anything much to do with the short haul crews but they were fine. The long haul crews: one was just grumpy but not the end of the world. On others, very friendly and very free with the drinks. Always served a double and always dropped one off at my seat as they passed. I think I gained a reputation that flight...

I am humbly corrected on the seat assignment process. It is not my bailiwick (pleb class, no OW status worth talking about). Only second hand complaints. Indeed, the magic Maurauders seat map should remain in safe hands.

 

[atillathehunn]

Are you extracting the urine or 5'5" tall ?

Try Iceland if you have never been - awesome place but hideously expensive.

Agree on both points....

But I will add another vote for Iceland or the Faroe Islands

 

[atillathehunn]

Lord Kite has suggested Iceland too, and one of my norm mates went last year whose photos were awesome.

I'm 5'10" or so tall, but even on last night's flight on 12E I had no problem with legroom. When I was a chunky lad I had less legroom but I've never been uncomfortable on Ryanair. The same certainly could not be said on the cheap seats (ie, non-bulkhead) on Norwegian 787s...

I had EI-EVL with the old interior last night on FR2678 CPH-LTN which was a nice surprise as I liked the old interior. The new seats are OK but the older ones are more comfortable for me, I certainly wasn't getting a sore derriere or back on that seat last night! I had forgotten how small the old luggage bins are mind, how did we ever manage years ago?! The brighter interior on the newer 737-800s is welcome though, but the duller lights on a flight in the dark was not necessarily a bad thing.

I tried the chicken tikka masala and rice last night (food options at CPH T2 were no good to me) and while it looked a bit disappointing I was actually very impressed with the flavour. Portion size was pretty reasonable for in-flight catering and it tasted good so I would recommend it. That, a KitKat and a coffee came to €10 which is a lot better than what I'd have paid at CPH, so a double bonus. Next time I'm going to try either the lasagne or the bolognese I think, but that said the pizza and chips sounds interesting too.

Say what you will about Ryanair, but they serve food I like on board which is a bonus for me. My crew last night were pretty good too, and no rough landing this time. Oh, and we were at the terminal within 4 minutes of touching down, so that puts Luton way up my list of preferred airports now. I know it happens sometimes, but long taxi-ing moves is painfully dull and is one reason why I dislike Heathrow. Takes way too long to get from the gate into the air, hopefully when it's done the third runway will help with that sort of thing.

I'm now waiting for my coach back to Paddington, and to be fair to Luton the WiFi is pretty good here. Doesn't cut in and out anywhere near as much as it did in Copenhagen. Oh yeah, I must mention the seats on newer Ryanair planes, while not super comfortable in my eyes, are still far better than the uncomfortable things on the 800s with GWR!

Finally for now, I'm keen to try a new airline this year and I'm trying to decide which one. It's pretty much guaranteed when I go to Sydney, spoilt for choice on that one! More importantly, I'm determined to get East Midlands and Leeds-Bradford airports tried out this year, any views on them? Recommendations for getting to them from the far West Midlands?

For down under - try one of the Asian carriers with a stopover. Hong Kong is great, Singapore has amazing food. CX and SQ are good airline (dodgy food on CX though). The ME3 are cheap but solidly meh. I don't like transiting in the airports there. Air NZ via LAX and AKL is an outside choice but if you wanted a few days layover in new places it might work.

East Midlands is a nothing airport. I was there over Christmas. Cramped, busy, irritating to get to. By road is the only way. East Midlands Parkway has a shuttle bus but from, say, Hereford or Worcester its a pain. First Birmingham, then Derby, then Parkway then the bus. Its not an architectural beauty and doesn't have particularly useful flights.

LBA ditto but worse weather. Its a pain to get to and won't win any awards.
If you're gonna do airport scratching try Barra or Westray.

 

[Bald Rick]

I am - against my will - using it next week to come home from a conference. Last time I was not impressed. I shall go in with an open mind...

Arrivals is much bigger than it was, and the retail post customs is much improved. As I said above it’s still a building site outside, but then you don’t want to hang around there anyway.

I can’t remember the last time I had to queue for more than 2 mins at immigration or wait more than 5 minutes for hold bags.

 

[atillathehunn]

Arrivals is much bigger than it was, and the retail post customs is much improved. As I said above it’s still a building site outside, but then you don’t want to hang around there anyway.

I can’t remember the last time I had to queue for more than 2 mins at immigration or wait more than 5 minutes for hold bags.

Sadly I arrive at Stansted and depart from Luton, so I will have some hanging around.

 

[Bald Rick]

Finally for now, I'm keen to try a new airline this year and I'm trying to decide which one. It's pretty much guaranteed when I go to Sydney, spoilt for choice on that one! More importantly, I'm determined to get East Midlands and Leeds-Bradford airports tried out this year, any views on them? Recommendations for getting to them from the far West Midlands?

For a new airline - try Easyjet! Neither fly from EMA or LBA, but they do fly lots of routes from Bristol if you need to scratch that, or Southend / Newcastle / Liverpool / Manchester for rail connected airports. (I’m assuming you’ve got the main London set).

EMA / LBA - both difficult to get to without four wheels. I used EMA once, and for the life of me I have no idea how I got home.

For Oz, I agree that both CX and SQ are a superior experience (my Mrs used to swear by them); I’ve also heard goodish reports about Malaysian and Thai (both with A350s), albeit subject to variability. A good friend who goes down under twice a year often travels via one or other of the Chinese airlines for cheapness, usually via Shanghai (China Eastern) or Guangzhou (China Southern). The former is a bit of a long way round. I’ve used Qantas 3 times for the main haul and they are better than BA, but not much.

If you want to avoid Heathrow, and also avoid the ME3, you could use CX from Gatwick or Manchester, or SQ from the latter. If you’re happy with one of the ME3 then you can almost pick which airport you want in this country.

 

[Bald Rick]

Sadly I arrive at Stansted and depart from Luton, so I will have some hanging around.

The departing terminal experience is much, much improved compared to even 12 months ago; there is so much more space.

 

[Bletchleyite]

For a new airline - try Easyjet! Neither fly from EMA or LBA, but they do fly lots of routes from Bristol if you need to scratch that, or Southend / Newcastle / Liverpool / Manchester for rail connected airports. (I’m assuming you’ve got the main London set).

Sleasy really are very good - I definitely recommend them. Carolyn McCall was an excellent CEO and made many positive changes - the current one is a bit more of a caretaker but so far as I can see they've not done anything silly.

 

[atillathehunn]

Sleasy really are very good - I definitely recommend them. Carolyn McCall was an excellent CEO and made many positive changes - the current one is a bit more of a caretaker but so far as I can see they've not done anything silly.

I don't use them all that often anymore, for no particular reason other than they don't really fly from round here. However, their reputation is much better than their blue and yellow coloured kin. I'm actually using them from Luton.

 

[atillathehunn]

The departing terminal experience is much, much improved compared to even 12 months ago; there is so much more space.

Good to know. I'm not usually O&D at London by plane, so I can't say I'll be back in a hurry if it's good.

 

[fowler9]

For a new airline - try Easyjet! Neither fly from EMA or LBA, but they do fly lots of routes from Bristol if you need to scratch that, or Southend / Newcastle / Liverpool / Manchester for rail connected airports. (I’m assuming you’ve got the main London set).

EMA / LBA - both difficult to get to without four wheels. I used EMA once, and for the life of me I have no idea how I got home.

For Oz, I agree that both CX and SQ are a superior experience (my Mrs used to swear by them); I’ve also heard goodish reports about Malaysian and Thai (both with A350s), albeit subject to variability. A good friend who goes down under twice a year often travels via one or other of the Chinese airlines for cheapness, usually via Shanghai (China Eastern) or Guangzhou (China Southern). The former is a bit of a long way round. I’ve used Qantas 3 times for the main haul and they are better than BA, but not much.

If you want to avoid Heathrow, and also avoid the ME3, you could use CX from Gatwick or Manchester, or SQ from the latter. If you’re happy with one of the ME3 then you can almost pick which airport you want in this country.

I flew BA to Hong Kong and then Qantas Hong Kong to Melbourne and found Qantas were quite a lot better on that particular flight at least .

 

[atillathehunn]

For a new airline - try Easyjet! Neither fly from EMA or LBA, but they do fly lots of routes from Bristol if you need to scratch that, or Southend / Newcastle / Liverpool / Manchester for rail connected airports. (I’m assuming you’ve got the main London set).

EMA / LBA - both difficult to get to without four wheels. I used EMA once, and for the life of me I have no idea how I got home.

For Oz, I agree that both CX and SQ are a superior experience (my Mrs used to swear by them); I’ve also heard goodish reports about Malaysian and Thai (both with A350s), albeit subject to variability. A good friend who goes down under twice a year often travels via one or other of the Chinese airlines for cheapness, usually via Shanghai (China Eastern) or Guangzhou (China Southern). The former is a bit of a long way round. I’ve used Qantas 3 times for the main haul and they are better than BA, but not much.

If you want to avoid Heathrow, and also avoid the ME3, you could use CX from Gatwick or Manchester, or SQ from the latter. If you’re happy with one of the ME3 then you can almost pick which airport you want in this country.

EMA is impossible without rubber tyres. It's either bus or car, and the bus doesn't really take you anywhere useful. Or not useful for the deep West Midlands.

LBA is worse. I think the bus takes you into the centre of Bradford, but it also might go to Leeds. My sibling uses it for work every now and then and it's redeeming feature is 'small'.

If you wanted an airline scratched and an airport, you could do Qatar from Cardiff. Of the ME3, QR are not the worst and belong to a proper alliance for miles accrual.

Like CX and SQ, stopping over in a Chinese city could be another good option, with 144 hour TWOV option. Shanghai probably the city to aim for there.

 

[Techniquest]

For a new airline - try Easyjet! Neither fly from EMA or LBA, but they do fly lots of routes from Bristol if you need to scratch that, or Southend / Newcastle / Liverpool / Manchester for rail connected airports. (I’m assuming you’ve got the main London set).

EMA / LBA - both difficult to get to without four wheels. I used EMA once, and for the life of me I have no idea how I got home.

For Oz, I agree that both CX and SQ are a superior experience (my Mrs used to swear by them); I’ve also heard goodish reports about Malaysian and Thai (both with A350s), albeit subject to variability. A good friend who goes down under twice a year often travels via one or other of the Chinese airlines for cheapness, usually via Shanghai (China Eastern) or Guangzhou (China Southern). The former is a bit of a long way round. I’ve used Qantas 3 times for the main haul and they are better than BA, but not much.

If you want to avoid Heathrow, and also avoid the ME3, you could use CX from Gatwick or Manchester, or SQ from the latter. If you’re happy with one of the ME3 then you can almost pick which airport you want in this country.

Cheers, that was exceptionally helpful!

easyJet, not for me thanks. Remember, I prefer my Boeing craft, although I would make an exception for an A380 as they're a bit special. As long as I could find a seat on the top deck! easyJet love their A319s etc so I prefer to avoid them. Much like how I tend to avoid BA on short-haul around Europe, I just prefer my 737s!

Good advice on avoiding LHR, have I made it that obvious on here I'm not a fan of the place? Now I've done Luton I have indeed got the London lot (not departed SEN yet, only landed) in the book. I was looking at VA LHR-LAX and Virgin Australia LAX-SYD then return via Hong Kong, but to be honest it will depend what's affordable come April 2019 when I *should* have funds available to book it.

I'm a fussy eater so on-board catering is very hit and miss for me. Mind you it is at airports too sometimes!

Qantas is supposed to be better than Emirates according to one of my norm mates, and no matter how many trip report videos I watch I can't decide on any of the major lot yet. However, your advice on LGW or MAN is good thinking, MAN is far easier for me to get to/from than LHR and LGW but again we'll see. I might look at doing Ryanair to somewhere else in Europe then continue from there, it's a long way to go so I want to have a plane I'll like and go on an airline that has good service.

I'll re-read your advice later, nearly back in Hereford finally then it's off to work tonight so plenty to do!

 

[Bald Rick]

Good to know. I'm not usually O&D at London by plane, so I can't say I'll be back in a hurry if it's good.

If you are getting to the terminal by bus (either direct, or via the station or long stay car park), then you will be dropped off right outside the terminal.

If you are being dropped off by car or taxi, or using the multi storey short stay, expect a walk of 3-5 mins.

 

[fowler9]

Am flying Wizzair from Liverpool to Katowice at the end of the month. My rucksack is 45 litres but squishes down a lot. A Polish mate and a fellow Brit are expressing concern at the size of my bag for carry on luggage. I used it from Liverpool to Gdansk last July on Wizzair with absolutely no problems. Any opinions? Did I get lucky last time? It is 45 litres but certainly won't be crammed full, enough clothes for three nights (Just casual, one change per day. Same trousers the entire trip).

 

[atillathehunn]

If you are getting to the terminal by bus (either direct, or via the station or long stay car park), then you will be dropped off right outside the terminal.

If you are being dropped off by car or taxi, or using the multi storey short stay, expect a walk of 3-5 mins.

Train from St P, so I assume I need to take a bus from there to the terminal.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I don't use them all that often anymore, for no particular reason other than they don't really fly from round here. However, their reputation is much better than their blue and yellow coloured kin. I'm actually using them from Luton.

They aren't anything like Eireflop, they are more like a more efficient and less complex version of BA these days (indeed I'd choose them over BA any day). Not necessarily that budget, but they do use that operating model.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Am flying Wizzair from Liverpool to Katowice at the end of the month. My rucksack is 45 litres but squishes down a lot. A Polish mate and a fellow Brit are expressing concern at the size of my bag for carry on luggage. I used it from Liverpool to Gdansk last July on Wizzair with absolutely no problems. Any opinions? Did I get lucky last time? It is 45 litres but certainly won't be crammed full, enough clothes for three nights (Just casual, one change per day. Same trousers the entire trip).

Ensure it will fit in the sizer without squashing it in and you will most likely be fine. Airlines don't generally bother about rucksacks. However I'd suggest that 45 does risk being a bit big width wise (i.e. the 25cm dimension) unless you are careful how you pack it - I found 35 to be about the perfect size to be very safe.

 

[Bald Rick]

Train from St P, so I assume I need to take a bus from there to the terminal.

Yep, that’s the worst part of the whole thing. Happily, only for 2 more years; look out for the DART construction works immediately to the east of the station and tracks, and on the approach road by the multi-storey.

 

[fowler9]

Ensure it will fit in the sizer without squashing it in and you will most likely be fine. Airlines don't generally bother about rucksacks. However I'd suggest that 45 does risk being a bit big width wise (i.e. the 25cm dimension) unless you are careful how you pack it - I found 35 to be about the perfect size to be very safe.

Cheers mate. I think I'll risk it then. Width wise (across your back) it is about the same as the 35 litre I used to use. It is a bit taller and deeper but has straps to reduce the bulk. It will just have three t shirts plus socks and undies, my tablet and chargers in. I probably wouldn't try and get it in the cabin on Ryanair using their new rules. Ha ha.

 

[Bald Rick]

Cheers, that was exceptionally helpful!

easyJet, not for me thanks. Remember, I prefer my Boeing craft, although I would make an exception for an A380 as they're a bit special. As long as I could find a seat on the top deck! easyJet love their A319s etc so I prefer to avoid them. Much like how I tend to avoid BA on short-haul around Europe, I just prefer my 737s!

Good advice on avoiding LHR, have I made it that obvious on here I'm not a fan of the place? Now I've done Luton I have indeed got the London lot (not departed SEN yet, only landed) in the book. I was looking at VA LHR-LAX and Virgin Australia LAX-SYD then return via Hong Kong, but to be honest it will depend what's affordable come April 2019 when I *should* have funds available to book it.

I'm a fussy eater so on-board catering is very hit and miss for me. Mind you it is at airports too sometimes!

Qantas is supposed to be better than Emirates according to one of my norm mates, and no matter how many trip report videos I watch I can't decide on any of the major lot yet. However, your advice on LGW or MAN is good thinking, MAN is far easier for me to get to/from than LHR and LGW but again we'll see. I might look at doing Ryanair to somewhere else in Europe then continue from there, it's a long way to go so I want to have a plane I'll like and go on an airline that has good service.

I'll re-read your advice later, nearly back in Hereford finally then it's off to work tonight so plenty to do!

You should try an EZY A320 - they are slightly bigger than a 737, which makes the seats and aisle space just that little bit bigger. The overhead lockers are bigger too. You might even get an A320-Neo if you’re lucky, and there is no doubt they are quieter.

For Oz, if you want to stick to Boeing or A380s then you will need to pick your flight carefully. Going via LA is a long way round and likely to be more expensive; also by mid next year VS will have their first couple of A350-10s in service (first one is a few weeks away from being finished in Toulouse) and although I have no idea about their deployment plans, LA would be an obvious choice given flight length and frequency. Qatar also use A350s a fair bit from Heathrow, and many of the SE Asia and China airlines use A350s or A330s. (Which reminds me, you could go with Air Vietnam, I bet the food on that is something else!)

Flying with FR to Europe and then on from there will mean a 3 leg trip (at least); and most options will route you via Dubai / Abu Dhabi / Qatar. The man haul will be little different in price, so essentially you would be paying extra for the Ryanair leg, lining Mr O’Leary’s pockets and not getting any connection guarantee. I would avoid that if at all possible.

My recommendation would be Cathay or Virgin via HK (including a short break there, some amazing sights and world class transport); or SQ via Singapore. You could do Cathay or SQ from Manchester.

 

[Bald Rick]

Ensure it will fit in the sizer without squashing it in and you will most likely be fine. Airlines don't generally bother about rucksacks. However I'd suggest that 45 does risk being a bit big width wise (i.e. the 25cm dimension) unless you are careful how you pack it - I found 35 to be about the perfect size to be very safe.

I don’t know what the Wizzair rules are, but I’ve taken my 45litre rucksack with Easyjet more times than I care to remember. It just fits in the sizer if scrunched up - length is the key issue - but in the overhead lockers it slots in perfectly with a good 5-10 cm to spare.

 

[cactustwirly]

Cheers, that was exceptionally helpful!

easyJet, not for me thanks. Remember, I prefer my Boeing craft, although I would make an exception for an A380 as they're a bit special. As long as I could find a seat on the top deck! easyJet love their A319s etc so I prefer to avoid them. Much like how I tend to avoid BA on short-haul around Europe, I just prefer my 737s!

Good advice on avoiding LHR, have I made it that obvious on here I'm not a fan of the place? Now I've done Luton I have indeed got the London lot (not departed SEN yet, only landed) in the book. I was looking at VA LHR-LAX and Virgin Australia LAX-SYD then return via Hong Kong, but to be honest it will depend what's affordable come April 2019 when I *should* have funds available to book it.

I'm a fussy eater so on-board catering is very hit and miss for me. Mind you it is at airports too sometimes!

Qantas is supposed to be better than Emirates according to one of my norm mates, and no matter how many trip report videos I watch I can't decide on any of the major lot yet. However, your advice on LGW or MAN is good thinking, MAN is far easier for me to get to/from than LHR and LGW but again we'll see. I might look at doing Ryanair to somewhere else in Europe then continue from there, it's a long way to go so I want to have a plane I'll like and go on an airline that has good service.

I'll re-read your advice later, nearly back in Hereford finally then it's off to work tonight so plenty to do!

Have you consired flying with Norwegian?
Flown with easyJet a few times, and I'd rate them pretty highly, probably a lot better than Ryanair!
I don't see why you reject A320s, they're very similar to 737s IMO (probably better, unless it's a 737 with the sky interior)

 

[fowler9]

Have you consired flying with Norwegian?
Flown with easyJet a few times, and I'd rate them pretty highly, probably a lot better than Ryanair!
I don't see why you reject A320s, they're very similar to 737s IMO (probably better, unless it's a 737 with the sky interior)

I personally prefer Easyjet to Ryanair and the A320 to the 737. My sister works for Easyjet and that may make me a bit biased but they do treat their cabin crew a lot better than Ryanair in general and this is pretty much indisputable.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Cheers, that was exceptionally helpful!

easyJet, not for me thanks. Remember, I prefer my Boeing craft, although I would make an exception for an A380 as they're a bit special. As long as I could find a seat on the top deck! easyJet love their A319s etc so I prefer to avoid them. Much like how I tend to avoid BA on short-haul around Europe, I just prefer my 737s!

Good advice on avoiding LHR, have I made it that obvious on here I'm not a fan of the place? Now I've done Luton I have indeed got the London lot (not departed SEN yet, only landed) in the book. I was looking at VA LHR-LAX and Virgin Australia LAX-SYD then return via Hong Kong, but to be honest it will depend what's affordable come April 2019 when I *should* have funds available to book it.

I'm a fussy eater so on-board catering is very hit and miss for me. Mind you it is at airports too sometimes!

Qantas is supposed to be better than Emirates according to one of my norm mates, and no matter how many trip report videos I watch I can't decide on any of the major lot yet. However, your advice on LGW or MAN is good thinking, MAN is far easier for me to get to/from than LHR and LGW but again we'll see. I might look at doing Ryanair to somewhere else in Europe then continue from there, it's a long way to go so I want to have a plane I'll like and go on an airline that has good service.

I'll re-read your advice later, nearly back in Hereford finally then it's off to work tonight so plenty to do!

A possible wildcard from MAN is Finnair to HEL/HKG connecting to Cathay forwards. Geographically speaking it's actually the most direct route. From personal experience I would have to recommend Singapore, the on-board experience is just so unfussed and relaxing.

 

[VioletEclipse]

I personally prefer Easyjet to Ryanair and the A320 to the 737. My sister works for Easyjet and that may make me a bit biased but they do treat their cabin crew a lot better than Ryanair in general and this is pretty much indisputable.

I've flown both Easyjet and Ryanair, neither are perfect but I much prefer Easyjet, absolute luxury when compared to Ryanair IMO.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I am hearing whispers that four of the BA 747 fleet are to get retro liveries, and that the first is already being prepared to be done...

Presumably three of the liveries would be BOAC, the original BA livery and Landor. The 4th, at a guess, could be British Caledonian as they did have a 747 and they were absorbed into BA?

( It would be nice if we could have an A320 in BEA livery as well... )

 

[LOL The Irony]

I am hearing whispers that four of the BA 747 fleet are to get retro liveries, and that the first is already being prepared to be done...

Presumably three of the liveries would be BOAC, the original BA livery and Landor. The 4th, at a guess, could be British Caledonian as they did have a 747 and they were absorbed into BA?

So when are they being retired?

It would be nice if we could have an A320 in BEA livery as well...

We need the tri jet Airbus for that to happen That would be a brilliant idea.

 

[Techniquest]

Thanks for the input gang on my flights dilemma, Air Vietnam is an interesting one and not an airline I had heard of before! All advice will be taken into consideration, although I am still some weeks away from being able to shove the flights onto the magic plastic yet.