Flights you have been on

[telstarbox]

I thought it would be good to have a thread for short posts about flights which aren't full blown trip reports.

Yesterday I flew Wizz Air for the first time from Palma Mallorca (PMI) to London Luton (LTN). Apart from a 90 minute delay it was good on board and I think their livery looks good. As a bonus I managed to get an aerial view of Heathrow (photo attached).

 

[CC 72100]

A Wizz Air delay, shock horror.

Genuine question) why is their punctuality so bad?

I recently flew back from Bucharest with them; the plane had been there for 3 hours yet 15 minutes before departure there wasn't even any staff at the gate.

We took off 40 late which actually meant I got off pretty likely as 90 minute delays on that flight seemed to be the Flight radar average.

Once on board they were actually pretty good without too much PA bombardment and the lights were dimmed for most of the evening flight.

 

[telstarbox]

I've often been delayed on flights returning to the UK (using various carriers) and it's always been a knock on from the previous plane move. UK departures seem to be more punctual generally. Annoying when you've been ready at the airport for longer than the actual flight bus still no delay repay!

 

[jmh59]

Not been on a plane for ages but two previous trips stick in my mind. One returning from Canada - pre-web so no easy info etc. we rang up to see if it was on schedule and were told it would be 4 hours late. So we went 4 hours late and it was another 4 hours late! The delay was them trying to fix the PA and in the end they did the safety stuff via a loudhailer...

The other was a flight from Leeds/Bradford to Hong Kong via Heathrow. 5 hours delay leaving LBA, missed the HK flight and thus lost a day's holiday. The reason the LBA flight was delayed was explained simply as rain over London!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Here's a copy and paste from an Excel spreadsheet which is my log of flights.

Date	Registration	Type	c/n	From	To	Duration	Total
04/01/1986​	G-BGKE	BAe 1-11-539GL	263	Manchester	Manchester	1h04	1h04
25/01/1986​	G-LINK	S.61N	61806	Gatwick	Heathrow	0h19	1h23
30/04/1986​	G-BASE	B.206B	969	Brooklands	Brooklands	0h08	1h31
30/04/1986​	G-BASE	B.206B	969	Brooklands	Brooklands	0h22	1h53
25/04/1987​	G-LONG	B.206L	45227	Brooklands	Brooklands	0h28	2h21
14/02/1988​	G-BOAG	CON102	214	Heathrow	Heathrow	1h19	3h40
03/09/1988​	G-BHJW	Ce152	1732	Biggin Hill	Biggin Hill	0h25	4h05
29/04/1989​	G-OJCB	B.206B	8554	Blackbushe	Blackbushe	0h57	5h02
02/07/1989​	G-ROGR	B.206A	405	Mary Hare	Mary Hare	0h04	5h06
23/09/1990​	G-AMRA	C-47-B15-DK	26735	Coventry	Coventry	1h40	6h46
18/04/1992​	G-BTIA	BAe 146	E2148	Stansted	Stansted	0h42	7h28
04/07/1992​	G-BNWB	B767-236	24334/281	Heathrow	Paris CDG	0h44	8h12
11/07/1992​	G-BNWC	B767-236	24335/284	Paris CDG	Heathrow	0h38	8h50
08/07/1993​	G-BNWL	B767-236	25203/365	Heathrow	Paris CDG	0h43	9h33
08/07/1993​	G-BNWB	B767-236	24334/281	Paris CDG	Heathrow	0h39	10h12
09/09/1993​	G-BOAF	CON102	216	Manchester	Heathrow	0h34	10h46
29/01/1994​	G-BMCJ	PA31-350	31-8252040	Blackbushe	Blackbushe	0h45	11h31
05/03/1994​	G-BNWE	B767-236	24337/288	Heathrow	Paris CDG	0h37	12h08
05/03/1994​	G-BNWC	B767-236	24335/284	Paris CDG	Heathrow	0h38	12h46
10/06/1995​	G-WIRE	As355F1	5312	Redbridge Essex	Redbridge Essex	0h04	12h50
13/07/1996​	G-PUMB	As332L	2075	Aberdeen	Yardley Gobion	2h51	15h41
29/03/1997​	G-BNWA	B767-236	24333/265	Heathrow	Heathrow	1h32	17h13
12/07/1997​	G-PUMG	As332L	2018	Aberdeen	Yardley Gobion	2h44	19h57
04/10/1997​	n/a	Balloon		Vauxhall	( Tethered )	0h11	20h08
13/11/1997​	G-BIKY	B757-236	23533/93	Heathrow	Paris ORY	0h56	21h04
13/11/1997​	G-BMRI	B757-236	24267/211	Paris ORY	Heathrow	0h39	21h43
11/07/1998​	G-PUMA	As332L	2038	Aberdeen	Yardley Gobion	2h36	24h19
06/08/1998​	G-MIMA	BAe 146-200	E2079	Heathrow	Ronaldsway	0h51	25h10
09/08/1998​	G-MANU	BAe ATP	2008	Ronaldsway	Heathrow	1h16	26h26
15/08/1998​	n/a	Balloon		Vauxhall	( Tethered )	0h15	26h41
01/04/1999​	G-FLII	GA 7	GA7-0003	Elstree	Elstree	0h45	27h26
10/07/1999​	G-PUMH	As332L	2101	Aberdeen	Yardley Gobion	2h38	30h04
11/08/1999​	R-REBK	Be200	BB-1202	Biggin Hill	Biggin Hill	2h25	32h29
22/04/2000​	G-PUML	As332L	2073	Aberdeen	Bagby	1h47	34h16
22/04/2000​	G-PUML	As332L	2073	Bagby	Yardley Gobion	1h10	35h26
14/07/2001​	G-EZYL	B737-33V	29336/3102	Aberdeen	Luton	1h06	36h32
31/08/2001​	G-FLII	GA 7	GA7-0003	Elstree	Elstree	2h21	38h53
07/09/2002​	I-DEIL	B767-33AER	28147/611	Rome FCO	New York JFK	8h32	47h25
10/09/2002​	G-BOAF	CON102	216	New York JFK	Heathrow	3h23	50h48
02/12/2003​	G-BXTB	Ce152	152-82516	Old Sarum	Old Sarum	1h11	51h59
15/04/2004​	G-DOCN	B737-436	25848/2379	Gatwick	Krakow	2h04	54h03
18/04/2004​	G-DOCM	B737-436	25843/2244	Krakow	Gatwick	2h05	56h08
11/07/2005​	G-DOME	PA28-161	28-42062	Old Sarum	Old Sarum	0h55	57h03
08/09/2007​	G-LENI	As355F1	5311	Lee on Solent	Lee on Solent	0h09	57h12
27/05/2012​	G-OLFA	As350B3	3108	Redhill	Redhill	0h28	57h40
19/11/2016​	G-DBCB	A319-131	2188	Gatwick	Gatwick	0h28	58h08
20/01/2018​	G-EUPY	A319-131	1466	Heathrow	Manchester	0h38	58h46
20/01/2018​	G-EUUL	A320-232	1708	Manchester	Heathrow	0h39	59h25
29/10/2019​	G-MEDN	A321-231	3512	Heathrow	Hamburg	1h11	60h36
31/10/2019​	G-EUOE	A319-131	1574	Hamburg	Heathrow	1h23	61h59

 

[Gloster]

The last flight I made was in the summer of 1966 from Lulsgate to Dublin (Swords?) in an ‘Air Linctus’ Car carrier, possibly a Carvair. I remember little except the greenness, possibly blue-greenness, of the interior.

 

[Mojo]

A Wizz Air delay, shock horror.

Genuine question) why is their punctuality so bad?

I wonder if they currently have a shortage of planes, as when I flew with them a few weeks ago back from Budapest, I was watching on various online tracking services and they were running loads of empty services, and I can’t believe any airline, let alone an ultra low cost carrier, would do that.

My service back was from Budapest to Gatwick, and when I looked early afternoon the plane had been given a schedule that would have been impossible to meet, yet the airline said my plane (at about 8pm) was still on time. The schedule has the plane flying empty from Katowice to Budapest, then doing a round trip to London, before doing a second round trip to London which would have been mine.

The schedule put in for the empty flight would have meant the first passenger working of the day was late, but they were still saying it was on time, until 4 hours prior, when it was suddenly two hours late. The plane even ended up leaving over an hour late from Katowice.

After that, the delays just snowballed. They even ended up swapping our plane (which was 2 H 50 M late by that point) onto a flight to Luton which was even later than ours, meaning our delay was extended as they had to run a plane empty from somewhere else in Europe!

Despite saying “boarding” on the screens, they even announced a flight to Rome had been cancelled!

They seem to have 40 Minute turnarounds which seems fairly standard for Ryanair and EasyJet, but doesn’t allow for any time to be made up.

Almost every other customer in the food court was paying with WizzAir meal vouchers!

 

[jp4712]

Between 2011 and 2018 I was in a job that entailed me flying to all points of the compass in Europe; Israel; and much of the western seaboard of the United States. In those eight years I think I stepped on to a plane about 600 times, I never kept a log, and never want to see a plane again...

One flight stands out to me for a silly reason. It was a few years ago, before KLM's Fokkers were retired, and I was flying Birmingham - Amsterdam - Warsaw (I think). Both planes booked to be Fokker 70, both flights in my favourite seat 4F. The BHX - AMS flight landed and parked at the outer parking area; we were bussed to the terminal; I checked in for the connecting flight; bussed back to the parking area; where I boarded the same Fokker and sat in exactly the same seat that I'd vacated just over an hour before...

 

[Metro95]

My most recent flight was with easyJet from Lisbon back to Gatwick.

 

[306024]

Quite a few now Covid restrictions are eased. All BA short haul apart from a BA 787 to Montreal and back, and one Lufthansa. Nothing very exciting to report, although the ground transport out to the plane at Montreal was a bit weird. But a question for those who know….

A couple of times I have flown back to Heathrow with BA in the last four weeks, after landing we have been held on a taxiway waiting for someone to turn on the gate guidance system. Who (Heathrow staff or airline staff) is actually responsible for doing that.

 

[Royston Vasey]

Here's a copy and paste from an Excel spreadsheet which is my log of flights.

Date	Registration	Type	c/n	From	To	Duration	Total
04/01/1986​	G-BGKE	BAe 1-11-539GL	263	Manchester	Manchester	1h04	1h04
25/01/1986​	G-LINK	S.61N	61806	Gatwick	Heathrow	0h19	1h23
30/04/1986​	G-BASE	B.206B	969	Brooklands	Brooklands	0h08	1h31
30/04/1986​	G-BASE	B.206B	969	Brooklands	Brooklands	0h22	1h53
25/04/1987​	G-LONG	B.206L	45227	Brooklands	Brooklands	0h28	2h21
14/02/1988​	G-BOAG	CON102	214	Heathrow	Heathrow	1h19	3h40
03/09/1988​	G-BHJW	Ce152	1732	Biggin Hill	Biggin Hill	0h25	4h05
29/04/1989​	G-OJCB	B.206B	8554	Blackbushe	Blackbushe	0h57	5h02
02/07/1989​	G-ROGR	B.206A	405	Mary Hare	Mary Hare	0h04	5h06
23/09/1990​	G-AMRA	C-47-B15-DK	26735	Coventry	Coventry	1h40	6h46
18/04/1992​	G-BTIA	BAe 146	E2148	Stansted	Stansted	0h42	7h28
04/07/1992​	G-BNWB	B767-236	24334/281	Heathrow	Paris CDG	0h44	8h12
11/07/1992​	G-BNWC	B767-236	24335/284	Paris CDG	Heathrow	0h38	8h50
08/07/1993​	G-BNWL	B767-236	25203/365	Heathrow	Paris CDG	0h43	9h33
08/07/1993​	G-BNWB	B767-236	24334/281	Paris CDG	Heathrow	0h39	10h12
09/09/1993​	G-BOAF	CON102	216	Manchester	Heathrow	0h34	10h46
29/01/1994​	G-BMCJ	PA31-350	31-8252040	Blackbushe	Blackbushe	0h45	11h31
05/03/1994​	G-BNWE	B767-236	24337/288	Heathrow	Paris CDG	0h37	12h08
05/03/1994​	G-BNWC	B767-236	24335/284	Paris CDG	Heathrow	0h38	12h46
10/06/1995​	G-WIRE	As355F1	5312	Redbridge Essex	Redbridge Essex	0h04	12h50
13/07/1996​	G-PUMB	As332L	2075	Aberdeen	Yardley Gobion	2h51	15h41
29/03/1997​	G-BNWA	B767-236	24333/265	Heathrow	Heathrow	1h32	17h13
12/07/1997​	G-PUMG	As332L	2018	Aberdeen	Yardley Gobion	2h44	19h57
04/10/1997​	n/a	Balloon		Vauxhall	( Tethered )	0h11	20h08
13/11/1997​	G-BIKY	B757-236	23533/93	Heathrow	Paris ORY	0h56	21h04
13/11/1997​	G-BMRI	B757-236	24267/211	Paris ORY	Heathrow	0h39	21h43
11/07/1998​	G-PUMA	As332L	2038	Aberdeen	Yardley Gobion	2h36	24h19
06/08/1998​	G-MIMA	BAe 146-200	E2079	Heathrow	Ronaldsway	0h51	25h10
09/08/1998​	G-MANU	BAe ATP	2008	Ronaldsway	Heathrow	1h16	26h26
15/08/1998​	n/a	Balloon		Vauxhall	( Tethered )	0h15	26h41
01/04/1999​	G-FLII	GA 7	GA7-0003	Elstree	Elstree	0h45	27h26
10/07/1999​	G-PUMH	As332L	2101	Aberdeen	Yardley Gobion	2h38	30h04
11/08/1999​	R-REBK	Be200	BB-1202	Biggin Hill	Biggin Hill	2h25	32h29
22/04/2000​	G-PUML	As332L	2073	Aberdeen	Bagby	1h47	34h16
22/04/2000​	G-PUML	As332L	2073	Bagby	Yardley Gobion	1h10	35h26
14/07/2001​	G-EZYL	B737-33V	29336/3102	Aberdeen	Luton	1h06	36h32
31/08/2001​	G-FLII	GA 7	GA7-0003	Elstree	Elstree	2h21	38h53
07/09/2002​	I-DEIL	B767-33AER	28147/611	Rome FCO	New York JFK	8h32	47h25
10/09/2002​	G-BOAF	CON102	216	New York JFK	Heathrow	3h23	50h48
02/12/2003​	G-BXTB	Ce152	152-82516	Old Sarum	Old Sarum	1h11	51h59
15/04/2004​	G-DOCN	B737-436	25848/2379	Gatwick	Krakow	2h04	54h03
18/04/2004​	G-DOCM	B737-436	25843/2244	Krakow	Gatwick	2h05	56h08
11/07/2005​	G-DOME	PA28-161	28-42062	Old Sarum	Old Sarum	0h55	57h03
08/09/2007​	G-LENI	As355F1	5311	Lee on Solent	Lee on Solent	0h09	57h12
27/05/2012​	G-OLFA	As350B3	3108	Redhill	Redhill	0h28	57h40
19/11/2016​	G-DBCB	A319-131	2188	Gatwick	Gatwick	0h28	58h08
20/01/2018​	G-EUPY	A319-131	1466	Heathrow	Manchester	0h38	58h46
20/01/2018​	G-EUUL	A320-232	1708	Manchester	Heathrow	0h39	59h25
29/10/2019​	G-MEDN	A321-231	3512	Heathrow	Hamburg	1h11	60h36
31/10/2019​	G-EUOE	A319-131	1574	Hamburg	Heathrow	1h23	61h59

It seems pointless to start now but I really wish I had done this when I started flying. I'd love to know now what the 747 was on which I took my first long haul to South Africa, whether I've cleared all the BA G-EUxx 319/320s, my honeymoon A380 to Melbourne, my last 747, my first ever flight in 1994 (AirUK 737 Classic, I know that much)

For the record, my BA flightpath lists 272,000 miles flown with them over 543 hours, but that's just BA. For years most of my flying was on American and my long hauls eastbound are a mix of Qatar, Cathay, BA and soon to add Japan Airlines. I've also used Qantas, Iberia, Air France, Delta, Virgin Atlantic long haul and plenty of EasyJet, Eurowings, Virgin America, United and all sorts of other airlines shorthaul.

I think I'm probably somewhere in excess of 1500 hours by now.

My most recent flight VCE-LHR last week did hold one highlight which was a sighting of Pilot's Glory, a circular rainbow "halo" around the shadow of the plane itself projected on the clouds.

 

[CC 72100]

I wonder if they currently have a shortage of planes, as when I flew with them a few weeks ago back from Budapest, I was watching on various online tracking services and they were running loads of empty services, and I can’t believe any airline, let alone an ultra low cost carrier, would do that.

My service back was from Budapest to Gatwick, and when I looked early afternoon the plane had been given a schedule that would have been impossible to meet, yet the airline said my plane (at about 8pm) was still on time. The schedule has the plane flying empty from Katowice to Budapest, then doing a round trip to London, before doing a second round trip to London which would have been mine.

The schedule put in for the empty flight would have meant the first passenger working of the day was late, but they were still saying it was on time, until 4 hours prior, when it was suddenly two hours late. The plane even ended up leaving over an hour late from Katowice.

After that, the delays just snowballed. They even ended up swapping our plane (which was 2 H 50 M late by that point) onto a flight to Luton which was even later than ours, meaning our delay was extended as they had to run a plane empty from somewhere else in Europe!

Despite saying “boarding” on the screens, they even announced a flight to Rome had been cancelled!

They seem to have 40 Minute turnarounds which seems fairly standard for Ryanair and EasyJet, but doesn’t allow for any time to be made up.

Almost every other customer in the food court was paying with WizzAir meal vouchers!

You experience doesn't seem too rare unfortunately. Indeed can see how a plane that gets delayed on one leg then can't shake off the delay through the rest of the day, but that could also be true of Easyjet and Ryanair who in my experience (and the odd Flightradar browse) don't seem to suffer on the same scale.

My brother flew from Gatwick early morning last week. There was one flight already delayed on the boards at 6am.... you've guessed it, Wizz!

Going back to the thread, nothing too interesting or memorable for me. I'd give however an honorary mention to a Riga return last year with AirBaltic who were great on a 25% loaded A220 (lovely plane) with a row to myself both ways, and a flight to Marseille last year in September booked at 48 hours notice with Ryanair for 9.99 when at one point there were more toilet rolls (12) loaded onto the plane than passengers (10 of us queueing). Couldn't have had anymore than 30 people on the flight and once again a row to myself. Just before landing I thought to myself 'crikey I've got good legroom here' when I realised I was sat in an extra legroom row by mistake. Less said about the model (a 737, ahem, Max) the better of course...

Worst flight had to be delayed Flybe flight from Paris to Cardiff on Christmas Eve in storms almost 10 years ago. I felt very sorry for those carrying onto Glasgow who can't have landed much before midnight. I think they had to deplane at Cardiff to clear UK immigration there as Glasgow wouldn't be open when they landed or something like that, but my memory is pretty hazy so that could be complete BS.

 

[Bald Rick]

I’ve posted before about my most memorable flight by jet: a 747SP Cairns - Auckland with not many on board. Took off with a thunderstorm brewing, and eventually flew right through it. Turbulence rather understates it.

More recently I have, at last, sampled an A380 this year. Comfortable, smooth, quiet, what a machine.

 

[cactustwirly]

Flew to Vienna last night, was supposed to be on BA700 but that was cancelled, so I was put on BA706 departing 2 hours later at 1915.
I still got a window seat which I was happy about.
The flight was delayed by about 20 minutes because the pilots were late arriving at the plane.

Every flight I have taken from Heathrow has been delayed recently, but nowhere near as bad as Wizz.
I was genuinely considering flying Wizz from Gatwick, but after reading this thread I am glad I stuck to BA.

 

[nlogax]

Still have very happy memories of a Continental 737 flight from Phoenix to Newark one summer afternoon in the mid 2000s. Leaving PHX we had very stormy weather with the pilot swooping left and right to avoid various storm cells which looked extremely dramatic from the wide berth he was able to give them. Eventually he could only narrowly avoid a particularly large storm, the port wingtip briefly ‘scraping’ the anvil cloud. From my window seat I noticed the tip get struck by lightning..very cool to see and naturally not dangerous but I did have to stop myself from excitedly telling my partner what I’d just witnessed for fear of panicking other passengers.

Needless to say it was not the smoothest of flights all the way back to NJ. Thankfully I find turbulence to be good fun..not a feeling that most of my fellow passengers shared.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Easyjet and Ryanair who in my experience (and the odd Flightradar browse) don't seem to suffer on the same scale.

Easyjet tend to be a bit more pro-active in switching stuff round, there's been a couple of times recently where on a flight to the IOM the crew have said they were expecting to be going to Belfast. But the evening Gatwick-IOM-Gatwick rotation is hideously unreliable, not helped by Ronaldsway shutting at 2200, any late running affecting getting a landing slot back at Gatwick, and not being able to leave IOM without a landing slot in place.

Loganair don't seem a great deal more reliable from here at the moment; although they base an ATR72 here, their ATR72s keep breaking, and it's not uncommon for them to have to fly an empty ERJ-145 from Aberdeen to cover it- presumably flying spare parts over too.

 

[Lost property]

Here's a copy and paste from an Excel spreadsheet which is my log of flights.

Date	Registration	Type	c/n	From	To	Duration	Total
04/01/1986​	G-BGKE	BAe 1-11-539GL	263	Manchester	Manchester	1h04	1h04
25/01/1986​	G-LINK	S.61N	61806	Gatwick	Heathrow	0h19	1h23
30/04/1986​	G-BASE	B.206B	969	Brooklands	Brooklands	0h08	1h31
30/04/1986​	G-BASE	B.206B	969	Brooklands	Brooklands	0h22	1h53
25/04/1987​	G-LONG	B.206L	45227	Brooklands	Brooklands	0h28	2h21
14/02/1988​	G-BOAG	CON102	214	Heathrow	Heathrow	1h19	3h40
03/09/1988​	G-BHJW	Ce152	1732	Biggin Hill	Biggin Hill	0h25	4h05
29/04/1989​	G-OJCB	B.206B	8554	Blackbushe	Blackbushe	0h57	5h02
02/07/1989​	G-ROGR	B.206A	405	Mary Hare	Mary Hare	0h04	5h06
23/09/1990​	G-AMRA	C-47-B15-DK	26735	Coventry	Coventry	1h40	6h46
18/04/1992​	G-BTIA	BAe 146	E2148	Stansted	Stansted	0h42	7h28
04/07/1992​	G-BNWB	B767-236	24334/281	Heathrow	Paris CDG	0h44	8h12
11/07/1992​	G-BNWC	B767-236	24335/284	Paris CDG	Heathrow	0h38	8h50
08/07/1993​	G-BNWL	B767-236	25203/365	Heathrow	Paris CDG	0h43	9h33
08/07/1993​	G-BNWB	B767-236	24334/281	Paris CDG	Heathrow	0h39	10h12
09/09/1993​	G-BOAF	CON102	216	Manchester	Heathrow	0h34	10h46
29/01/1994​	G-BMCJ	PA31-350	31-8252040	Blackbushe	Blackbushe	0h45	11h31
05/03/1994​	G-BNWE	B767-236	24337/288	Heathrow	Paris CDG	0h37	12h08
05/03/1994​	G-BNWC	B767-236	24335/284	Paris CDG	Heathrow	0h38	12h46
10/06/1995​	G-WIRE	As355F1	5312	Redbridge Essex	Redbridge Essex	0h04	12h50
13/07/1996​	G-PUMB	As332L	2075	Aberdeen	Yardley Gobion	2h51	15h41
29/03/1997​	G-BNWA	B767-236	24333/265	Heathrow	Heathrow	1h32	17h13
12/07/1997​	G-PUMG	As332L	2018	Aberdeen	Yardley Gobion	2h44	19h57
04/10/1997​	n/a	Balloon		Vauxhall	( Tethered )	0h11	20h08
13/11/1997​	G-BIKY	B757-236	23533/93	Heathrow	Paris ORY	0h56	21h04
13/11/1997​	G-BMRI	B757-236	24267/211	Paris ORY	Heathrow	0h39	21h43
11/07/1998​	G-PUMA	As332L	2038	Aberdeen	Yardley Gobion	2h36	24h19
06/08/1998​	G-MIMA	BAe 146-200	E2079	Heathrow	Ronaldsway	0h51	25h10
09/08/1998​	G-MANU	BAe ATP	2008	Ronaldsway	Heathrow	1h16	26h26
15/08/1998​	n/a	Balloon		Vauxhall	( Tethered )	0h15	26h41
01/04/1999​	G-FLII	GA 7	GA7-0003	Elstree	Elstree	0h45	27h26
10/07/1999​	G-PUMH	As332L	2101	Aberdeen	Yardley Gobion	2h38	30h04
11/08/1999​	R-REBK	Be200	BB-1202	Biggin Hill	Biggin Hill	2h25	32h29
22/04/2000​	G-PUML	As332L	2073	Aberdeen	Bagby	1h47	34h16
22/04/2000​	G-PUML	As332L	2073	Bagby	Yardley Gobion	1h10	35h26
14/07/2001​	G-EZYL	B737-33V	29336/3102	Aberdeen	Luton	1h06	36h32
31/08/2001​	G-FLII	GA 7	GA7-0003	Elstree	Elstree	2h21	38h53
07/09/2002​	I-DEIL	B767-33AER	28147/611	Rome FCO	New York JFK	8h32	47h25
10/09/2002​	G-BOAF	CON102	216	New York JFK	Heathrow	3h23	50h48
02/12/2003​	G-BXTB	Ce152	152-82516	Old Sarum	Old Sarum	1h11	51h59
15/04/2004​	G-DOCN	B737-436	25848/2379	Gatwick	Krakow	2h04	54h03
18/04/2004​	G-DOCM	B737-436	25843/2244	Krakow	Gatwick	2h05	56h08
11/07/2005​	G-DOME	PA28-161	28-42062	Old Sarum	Old Sarum	0h55	57h03
08/09/2007​	G-LENI	As355F1	5311	Lee on Solent	Lee on Solent	0h09	57h12
27/05/2012​	G-OLFA	As350B3	3108	Redhill	Redhill	0h28	57h40
19/11/2016​	G-DBCB	A319-131	2188	Gatwick	Gatwick	0h28	58h08
20/01/2018​	G-EUPY	A319-131	1466	Heathrow	Manchester	0h38	58h46
20/01/2018​	G-EUUL	A320-232	1708	Manchester	Heathrow	0h39	59h25
29/10/2019​	G-MEDN	A321-231	3512	Heathrow	Hamburg	1h11	60h36
31/10/2019​	G-EUOE	A319-131	1574	Hamburg	Heathrow	1h23	61h59

That's an interesting list. My thumbprint appears on three you've flown on as a certifying engineer. Sorry you had to endure a flight in an ATP though. As for delays, sorry, it's not always the operators fault. Any delay can induce a cascade effect which, unfortunately, includes flights you may think wouldn't be affected.

 

[rg177]

I've flown quite a lot in the past few years. No interesting planes (lots of Ryanair 737s) but a highlight was 2019 flying with Singapore Airlines to Osaka. A380 and A330 out, 787 and A380 back.

Tromsø to Bergen on a Widerøe Embraer E190 was my most scenic flight...

 

[Peter Mugridge]

That's an interesting list. My thumbprint appears on three you've flown on as a certifying engineer. Sorry you had to endure a flight in an ATP though. As for delays, sorry, it's not always the operators fault. Any delay can induce a cascade effect which, unfortunately, includes flights you may think wouldn't be affected.

Errr... what was wrong with flying on an ATP? I don't recall having any problems with it?

I don't think I've ever had any noticeable delays either in all that lot, although you'll notice 01/04/99 was an extremely short flight for the Flying Eye; that was an emergency landing back at Elstree after the other passenger deposited the contents of her stomach all over back of the seat in front of her and the portable radio set ( which was placed between and slightly behind the two front seats ) used by Capital Radio to transmit the observations. A few inches higher and she would have caught Caroline Ferady on the back of the neck...

You'll see I had a replacement flight just over two years later which did run the full mission length; that was on condition that I did not bring the same person for the second passenger seat. I wonder why...

 

[Lost property]

Errr... what was wrong with flying on an ATP? I don't recall having any problems with it?

I don't think I've ever had any noticeable delays either in all that lot, although you'll notice 01/04/99 was an extremely short flight for the Flying Eye; that was an emergency landing back at Elstree after the other passenger deposited the contents of her stomach all over back of the seat in front of her and the portable radio set ( which was placed between and slightly behind the two front seats ) used by Capital Radio to transmit the observations. A few inches higher and she would have caught Caroline Ferady on the back of the neck...

You'll see I had a replacement flight just over two years later which did run the full mission length; that was on condition that I did not bring the same person for the second passenger seat. I wonder why...

I could, with all due respect, take a lot of bandwidth to comment on the ATP. In essence, BAe tried to upgrade from the 748, which was a success, in the form of the ATP...which was a disaster. Poorly designed and built, it was labour intensive and an engineering nightmare. The selling point was the low fuel burn and it only needed 24 ? pax to start making a profit. Some brief examples....the shoot bolts that lock the cabin doors routinely froze, so a slight problem should an evac be required on landing. An engine change took days, not hours. It holds the "record " for an inflight shut down...Loganair on a delivery flight from Woodford to Manchester. BAe were forced to host "hearts and minds " events for operators to convince them of the so called benefits of the aircraft. You may, if you sat at the rear, have noticed not only your meal vibrating across the cheap and nasty tray, but the horizontal stab also vibrating....a lot. This was an "issue" shall we say. There's a lot more I could add if you wish.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Ah, well... most of that I wouldn't notice as a passenger. Can't remember exactly where we were seated except that it wasn't over the wing - don't remember any vibration other than what I'd have expected on anything propellor driven. The most vibration I've ever felt on any flight would have been on the DC-3 ( which at the time of my flight also had an unlined plain interior with all the framework visible, the seats were wicker chairs and the cabin crew were using a megaphone for the PA... great fun actually... )

 

[WizCastro197]

Hmm I recently have gone on

Gatwick-Dubai
Then a few days later
Dubai-Kolkata
Then return straight to London

Easter managed to do

Gatwick Cancún


But that’s it. I don’t normally fly to many places since Covid so as a result haven’t gone on holiday too much.

 

[mlambeuk]

Recent: Leeds to Tenerife and back. Both with Jet2,
everytime i use them they seem to be about 15 minutes late departing and seem to run out of food (fortunately after i've been served).

 

[pitdiver]

My last flight was June 2021 Edinburgh to Kirkwall and back to Edinburgh a week or so later. Both with obviously Loganair

 

[Khxds]

Recently travelled on airBaltic's Airbus A220's Gatwick - Riga Vilnius and back, superb plane. Very comfortable in economy, 2+3 seating, decent legroom (rare for me as i'm 6'5) and large windows (dreamliner large, but without the dimming feature). Bombardier created an excellent plane, it's a shame they no longer get the credit.

Got very nervous about the Riga connection, 1hr15, with a 1hr delay before even boarding at Gatwick. The cabin crew were very nonchalant when I queried it with them, statting they usually hold the next flight. It turned out the second leg was even more delayed on arrival after 11pm, don't think i've ever been more relieved.

 

[william.martin]

I have only ever been on two flights as follows.

Jet2 LS1281 BHX- REU G-DTRU
Jet2 LS1282 REU- BHX G-DRTD

I have only ever been on two flights as follows.

Jet2 LS1281 BHX- REU G-DTRU
Jet2 LS1282 REU- BHX G-DRTD

I was on row 21 on the right hand window seat (according to the staff the best seat in the house!) however, by the time the cabin crew got to us with the food there was only salt and vinegar pringles left and not my well looked forward too Sausage sandwich, as another down side it was served 3/4 of the way through the flight and instead of bringing the duty free too us, they told us to use the service bell and they will come.
Other than that, we had a great flight, very smooth manual landings despite the heavy crosswind at BHX.

 

[AlterEgo]

I flew Newark to San Francisco today in United’s transcontinental business class. Very nice Polaris seats on the 777-200 but the food was pretty dire I’m afraid!

 

[Bungle158]

LOT. LHR-WAW 737 Max 8
WAW -BOM 788

Clean, efficient, stress free. Better than BA, though of course, not direct.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

My nightmare flight was Manchester-Zurich-Johannesburg on Swissair in 1999.
They subcontracted the MAN-ZRH legs to a firm called Flightline of Stansted, using BAe 146s.
Despite their plane being on stand at MAN, the crew were "out of hours", so we were rebooked on BA to Frankfurt, then SA on to Johannesburg.
Except Frankfurt had air traffic delays so we never made the SA flight and found ourselves stranded in Frankfurt as guests of BA, in November.
They found us an off-site hotel (same one the airline crews use), but the bar was shut, no room service, and only German cash (DM) accepted, of which we had none, and they had exceeded their foreign currency conversion limit for the day!
We were rebooked on Crossair to ZRH and then SR's day flight to Johannesburg, an itinerary I had to persuade them to use.
It snowed overnight, with us being largely in tropical gear for South Africa.
More delays having to de-ice the LX plane, but we then did make the ZRH connection, but having lost a day's holiday.
We have been rerouted several times since, but none as user-unfriendly as that.
All down to Flightine's crew problems at Manchester.
Oh and on the train to the airport (Crewe-Airport express 153 on Central), we were turfed out at Wilmslow as the Airport branch was shut for some emergency reason. Luckily the railway picked up the taxi bill, and we didn't lose significant time.
So on the whole a jinxed trip.
I would never fly Flightline again - maybe they have become Avia Blue Flightline, an aviation services company at Stansted.

Best flight ever was on an Air New Zealand Fokker F27 (big windows, flies low and slow) from Christchurch to Invercargill.
This has a high wing which nicely eclipsed the westering sun, allowing perfect views of the Southern Alps on the way down.
At Invercargill, they announce "Welcome to the Deep South".

In the past I have landed at Farnborough while a guest on the MoD's internal airline (Dove aircraft).

Latterly I've mostly flown easyJet on short haul from MAN/LPL.
I used to use KLM a lot for long haul, but as Australia is our main destination these days (family) we tend to go on Singapore (ex MAN).
I refuse to route via any of the London airports.

Next flight is on Jet2 to Kittila in Finnish Lapland in February - should be interesting.

 

[Cloud Strife]

Clean, efficient, stress free. Better than BA, though of course, not direct.

Are you sure this was LOT?!

A Wizz Air delay, shock horror.

Genuine question) why is their punctuality so bad?

They've got major problems with crew. They have a very strange operation that involves making plenty of empty flights just to save money on maintenance, while they also really mishandled their crew situation over the last two years. Ryanair threw money at recruitment too, unlike Wizzair.