Flights you have been on

TravelDream said:

Just booked my third long-haul trip of the year.
Heading to Japan next month which is something to look forward to.
Going with Air China via Beijing one way and Shanghai the other.
The Chinese airlines are just so much dramatically cheaper than any other option.



Just one weekend left to go and we should be over the summer peak of travel.

Though I always arrive extra early for early morning flights from UK airports. Always the busiest time at security and the bigger regional airports tend to be the worst.
You'll have the same on return at Bristol though it isn't as bad as it used to be there.

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I was thinking of going to Japan too. The Chinese carrier are a lot cheaper usually. BA was over £1500 return.

I came back on train. The early flight to Bristol is a summer only timing on Saturday, useful for getting down early doors.

route101 said:

I was thinking of going to Japan too. The Chinese carrier are a lot cheaper usually. BA was over £1500 return.

I came back on train. The early flight to Bristol is a summer only timing on Saturday, useful for getting down early doors.

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Yes, BA, JAL and ANA were all about £1500 or more. Air China £500 (£420 if I'd been willing to fly from Singapore coming back - a £160 detour, but a chance at visiting two places). Amazingly, the Chinese airlines often have competitive flight times despite connections as they fly over Russia (a no-no for some I guess).
Air China was 1/3 of that so it's a real no-brainer for me.
If you are considering, Japan is an incredible place to visit and is really not as expensive as some say. The economy has been at death's door for 30 years and the yen is weak. Hotels, eating out and attractions are surprisingly cheap coming from the UK despite the reputation.

I actually found the bus more comfortable on that route (despite this being a train forum :P) and generally recommend it unless reliant on a train connection.

TravelDream said:

Yes, BA, JAL and ANA were all about £1500 or more. Air China £500 (£420 if I'd been willing to fly from Singapore coming back - a £160 detour, but a chance at visiting two places). Amazingly, the Chinese airlines often have competitive flight times despite connections as they fly over Russia (a no-no for some I guess).
Air China was 1/3 of that so it's a real no-brainer for me.
If you are considering, Japan is an incredible place to visit and is really not as expensive as some say. The economy has been at death's door for 30 years and the yen is weak. Hotels, eating out and attractions are surprisingly cheap coming from the UK despite the reputation.

I actually found the bus more comfortable on that route (despite this being a train forum :P) and generally recommend it unless reliant on a train connection.

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Yes, I have been to Japan a while back now. KLM for under £500 return. I only seen the Tokyo area.

Well yesterday (August 27th 2026) was a horrendous weather day in a good chunk of the UK. Luton Airport Air Traffic control tower got damaged by rain and lightning and LTN was closed. I was on flight EZY612 Glasgow to Luton. Horrendous delays and eventually diverted to East Midlands. Aircraft registration was G-EZUK an A320. At least 12 aircraft were diverted there with others going to other airports such as STN. I ended up getting a bus to Derby railway station then Cross Country to Tamworth then an Avanti to Preston. The captain took pity on us (took well over 1 hour to deplane) and let some of us into the cockpit. Photo attached

My around the world in Airbus A330s continues.

Edmonton - Amsterdam - KLM A332. Another smooth flight on a busy flight. The seats are pretty good, food not bad. Early landing at Schiphol, but immigration a mess.

Amsterdam - Istanbul- TK 332. Smooth flight on a busy flight. IFE not bad, and food good as usual. It was Turkish victory day, with many announcements about this. Long, long taxi in Istanbul.

Istanbul - Kabul - TK 332. I have done quite a number of connections at Istanbul, always involving long walks. For the first time ever, I arrived at the gate adjacent to my departure gate. Win-win. Empty flight on the retro liveried frame. Poor man's business class down the back and I slept most of the way. Lovely views in the morning on the way into Kabul. Immigration was smooth and the airport has in general got better over the years (painted over all the bullet holes from 2021). The new road from airport roundabout to Jalalabad road is a game changer. The usual 45 minute grind is now just 15 minutes.

atillathehunn said:

Istanbul - Kabul - TK 332.

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Impressive!

atillathehunn said:

Istanbul - Kabul - TK 332.

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Agree with @GRALISTAIR above. Incredibly impressive.
My flights are oh so vanilla in comparison. What's it like traveling to Afghanistan now?

Great flight today but interesting. First time I have flown Jet2. Manchester to Madeira. It was scheduled to be an A321 and I documented as such in flightmemory.com but captain told us the plane was stuck in Italy and to avoid incurring a very heavy delay used an available 737. This to me implies Jet2 crews are cross trained or they just used another crew. Anyway, new airport for me and thus new route (MAN-FNC) and new airline

Photo of the airport from the plane attached

GRALISTAIR said:

Great flight today but interesting. First time I have flown Jet2. Manchester to Madeira. It was scheduled to be an A321 and I documented as such in flightmemory.com but captain told us the plane was stuck in Italy and to avoid incurring a very heavy delay used an available 737. This to me implies Jet2 crews are cross trained or they just used another crew. Anyway, new airport for me and thus new route (MAN-FNC) and new airline.

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How was the landing at Funchal? Lively?

Bald Rick said:

How was the landing at Funchal? Lively?

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Westerly approach then banked around to south and landed on normal runway. I thought the landing was excellent. Not too windy and not a rough landing. I suggest it was manual and not autopilot.

GRALISTAIR said:

Westerly approach then banked around to south and landed on normal runway. I thought the landing was excellent. Not too windy and not a rough landing. I suggest it was manual and not autopilot.

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A good friend went with him Mrs last year, and she’s a nervous flyer. Got there ok, but whilst waiting for their return flight they saw their plane come in, and do a go-around from almost 0 feet. Didn’t fill her with confidence!

Bald Rick said:

A good friend went with him Mrs last year, and she’s a nervous flyer. Got there ok, but whilst waiting for their return flight they saw their plane come in, and do a go-around from almost 0 feet. Didn’t fill her with confidence!

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My daughter’s relatively new father in law (and he and I now share a granddaughter) was a captain for Monarch for 27 years and he said FNC was definitely a challenge!

20/08/2026 Heathrow T5 to Arlanda T2 with BA. Straightforward flight but a 90 minutes faff getting through immigration on arrival
24/08/2026 Arlanda T2 to Heathrow T5, again with BA. An excellent steak for lunch prior to another straightforward flight. Early arrival and through border control in a flash. Bit of a long wait for luggage though.

Bald Rick said:

A good friend went with him Mrs last year, and she’s a nervous flyer. Got there ok, but whilst waiting for their return flight they saw their plane come in, and do a go-around from almost 0 feet. Didn’t fill her with confidence!

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Only airport I have ever been on a plane that did an aborted take off. BA A321, lined up at the runway start, full power, and started accelerating but then just didn't get very fast and slowed down and pulled off at the far end. Captain said it was paperwork issue but I have a feeling that was something said to not worry passengers!

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Landings at Funchal are always manual, there are no facilities to conduct auto lands there. I doubt Jet2 have many (if any) crews trained on both Boeing and Airbus. It’s most likely the case that the standby aircraft available just happened to be a 737 at that time.

GRALISTAIR said:

Westerly approach then banked around to south and landed on normal runway. I thought the landing was excellent. Not too windy and not a rough landing. I suggest it was manual and not autopilot.

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Just to add from the above, it's not possible to do an autoland at Maderia so it would definitely have been manually flown.

Funchal's 05 has two options.
Two different RNP AR Approaches which sort of leave you close to the runway. They are approval required and require special training for crews and certification. I am not sure if Jet2 does this, but I doubt it.
Alternatively, an RNP approach or a VOR approach (the former a GPS type approach and the latter a more traditional navigational aid). They both leave you abeam the centre of the airport as a point called the missed approach point. They then require a visual maneuver to circle back around and land.

The autopilot could be left on for the two RNP AR approaches until quite late. For the traditional RNP and VOR approaches it would have to be disconnected prior to the missed approach point unless the crew 'downgraded' to more basic modes like heading select and perhaps vertical speed.

It is probably one of the most challenging approaches pilots to do in this part of the world - especially given how bad the weather can get and that most UK crews will very seldom do it.

Jet2 pilots are not rated on both the A320 and 737. It generally only happens on fleets which are very similar and have what's called a common type rating (e.g. A330/A340 and 787/777).

Cabin crew at Jet2 are generally rated on both though.

TravelDream said:

Two different RNP AR Approaches which sort of leave you close to the runway. They are approval required and require special training for crews and certification. I am not sure if Jet2 does this, but I doubt it.

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I would imagine Jet2's crews are RNP trained, but was the aeroplane?

RNP and RNP AR are two different approach types. RNP is also a navigational standard which differs depending on the airspace. RNP 1 is a flight path accurate to 1 mile, RNP 10 is a flightpath accurate to 10 miles and so on. An RNP approach can be flown by any modern airliner and pilot. RNP AR requires a much higher standard of navigational certainty (such as 0.1 of a mile of navigational certainty) along with alerting systems for flying the approach. RNP AR is the extra training but it also requires certification from several organisations such as national aviation authorities and operator approvals.

gabrielhj07 said:

I would imagine Jet2's crews are RNP trained, but was the aeroplane?

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@TerryTibbs has got there before me again, but, just to reiterate, an RNP and an RNP AR approach are two very different things.

For one, authorisiation is required for each approach. For example, an airline might have approval to fly the RNP AR approach into Salzburg's Runway 33, but not the RNP AR approaches into Madeira.
Dealing with regulators is costly and time consuming for airlines.
RNP AR approaches usually require specific training for crew members which makes it very time consuming and usually is only done if there is a real need. It also requires said crew to be available. Do you train all pilots at a small base for the weekly summer only flight to Madeira? Do you have a limited pool available and roster based off that?
There are a multitude of factors and it's very complex.

The 737 is more than capable of flying an RNP AR approach. However, that requires equipment to be operative which isn't always the case, and for its ANP (actual navigation performance) to meet the RNP (Required).

TravelDream said:

Do you train all pilots at a small base for the weekly summer only flight to Madeira?

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In RNP AR approaches? Or Madeira specifically? I would imagine Jet2 train all their pilots in RNP AR, but whether they can use it in Madeira depends on their qualification (or not) for that airfield.

gabrielhj07 said:

In RNP AR approaches? Or Madeira specifically? I would imagine Jet2 train all their pilots in RNP AR, but whether they can use it in Madeira depends on their qualification (or not) for that airfield.

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I don't think you get it.

To conduct the Madeira RNP AR approach, Jet2 would require approval from both the UK CAA to conduct RNP AR approaches and from the Portuguese CAA to conduct the specific RNP AR approach in Madeira.

The RNP AR into Madeira would need special authorization and training. The RNP AR into Salzburg would need separate and different training and authorization. The RNP AR into Innsbruck, again, separate authorization and training.

That training being required by the relevant authority.
The CAA might also add additional conditions. E.g. both crew have flown to the airport in the previous 12 months or pilots will both have at least 1000 hours on type. Which means even with all the approvals and with the training done, they still might be able to fly the AR approach.
It also might mean that they do have all the approvals to fly the approach, but there is one of a myriad of reasons why they can't do it on that day.

The approval and training is very costly for the airline and they would need to be able to operationally justify it.
And, as I said above, you have the question on whether you train everyone or just a small group of pilots to operate it.

TravelDream said:

The RNP AR into Madeira would need special authorization and training. The RNP AR into Salzburg would need separate and different training and authorization. The RNP AR into Innsbruck, again, separate authorization and training.

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I haven't disputed any of that. What I was saying in #471 was that airlines can train the use of RNP AR approaches without necessarily qualifying those individuals to operate into Cat C airfields that have them (Dubrovnik for example). I don't know if this is how Jet2 works, but it is possible. Whatever regulatory & training requirements exist at Madeira (for instance) would be addressed in airfield-specific training for the pilots. This would cover all approaches, including any RNP-AR ones that the airline might have been approved to use.

What I was saying in #468 was that provided both the crew & the airline can do RNP-AR approaches, the decision will likely be made for them by aircraft equipment.

All I know is that the flight was scheduled for an A321 and we flew in on a 737-800.

Most aircraft equipment required for an RNP AR approach are monitored by the aircraft itself before starting or engaging an RNP AR approach. There are checklists to work through which will detail what equipment onboard is needed and what can be lost (thereby degrading the approach but still maintaining legal navigational requirements). There are a handful of items not monitored by the aircraft which will need to be monitored by the operating crew.
Once a crew is trained for RNP AR approaches they are qualified to fly any RNP AR approach anywhere in the world into any airport provided the operator, relevant authorities etc have approved it. So the poster above is broadly correct in saying that the final hurdle is essentially what the aircraft can offer on the day. If the GPS has been affected by interference, if a key system has failed (terrain awareness as an example) then the plane cannot carry out an RNP AR approach to the legally required criteria.
I would assume that an operator who flies into a CAT C airfield which has an RNP AR approach would train their pilots in the use of RNP AR as it makes the chances of a successful approach and landing higher. They can then, as stated above, fly RNP AR anywhere else if it’s approved. However yes you can be trained to operate into Cat C airports with RNP AR approaches without being RNP AR approved. You’d just have to fly a more traditional approach so long as they are available. Each individual CAT C airfield requires separate approval and tailored training which may or may not include specific RNP AR approach training unique to that airfield.

TravelDream said:

Agree with @GRALISTAIR above. Incredibly impressive.
My flights are oh so vanilla in comparison. What's it like traveling to Afghanistan now?

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GRALISTAIR said:

Impressive!

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Well thanks, it's certainly a little bit off the beaten track. This is my fifth, I think, trip to Afghanistan in the last 18 months or so.

There are more and more carriers flying to Afghanistan, and Afghan airlines like KAM air are diversifying their route options regionally. Etihad have just started a (mostly) twice daily schedule, also being the only non-Afghan airline to offer flights after dark. They have a departure around 1600 and another around 1930. The 1600 appears to connect into their India/Asia bank, and the 1930 has a long-ish connection into their departure bank in the small hours of the morning.

TK stick with their once daily A332. The previous occasions I have used this TK service, the flight has been rammed. My flight last week was empty, though. Whether this corresponds with the end of the school holidays in much of the world, or bleeding off competition to Etihad I don't know.

FZ also fly in about thrice daily with their MAX. I have used this one, but the connection at Dubai is very poor between Terminal 2 and 3, and with a poor connection to the Brussels flight much of the time.

KAM air is the only domestic airline we are allowed to fly, which has a fleet of A340s and B737s of various vintages. They fly regionally to India, Pakistan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Iran, GCC countries with pilgrimage flights as well from regional airports. Service onboard is good, with great customer service.

In Afghanistan, travel is a lot smoother than it has been in the past. The de facto authorities are investing heavily in infrastructure. New roads are popping up regularly, and key trunk routes between cities are slowly improving. While there are a lot of roadblocks, they are generally free flowing. In general, security has improved across the country (not talking about individual civil liberties, especially those of women), but with respect to firefights, explosions and kidnappings it has much improved though this is showing signs of wobbling in places.

Trade is tough - Pakistan is no longer issuing visas for Afghans, and v.v.. and the border is more or less closed. I spend a lot of time on one of the key trunk routes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the number of lorries is now basically 0, and with those present mostly parked and dusty. While Afghanistan produces a lot of food, it's not self-sufficient and relies on trade. The currency is not tradeable abroad, and the government is not recognised and is subject to heavy international borrowing restrictions. This means it cannot do much to ameliorate the situation. Food and fuel is rapidly increasing in price and yet simultaneously the large-scale forced repatriation of Afghans from Pakistan and Iran has depressed the unskilled labour wage rate further hammering purchasing power.