Aviation Discussion

[cactustwirly]

I've not had any super negative experiences with Stansted, so I can't really comment there. Until I fell out of love with Ryanair, it was a favourite airport!

Manchester, following my experience there earlier this year, I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it. I would potentially rate Gatwick higher though.

Bergamo, that's not the worst one I've done either, and I can't remember if I did pull-forward there or not. I've done so at Vilnius though as well as somewhere else. Apart from the famous London City of course.

Wow your mileage is incredible fair play! hock:

Stansted is a ****hole and is in desperate need of expansion, I've never queued so long for the bag drop or for security.
Give me Gatwick any day of the week!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Love the Polderbaan, first time I landed their the taxi took longer than the flight from Liverpool. Ha ha.

Should just call it "Vliegveld Hoofddorp" and be done with it

 

[Bletchleyite]

Stansted is a ****hole and is in desperate need of expansion, I've never queued so long for the bag drop or for security.
Give me Gatwick any day of the week!

Gatwick I find is fine but luggage delivery is too slow. Luton is usually quick for luggage as you just chuck it on a flatbed Transit and drive it over to the belt. Fancy belt systems don't appear to provide any significant benefit to passengers at least.

 

[Royston Vasey]

Now I've been on a 787 I'd do the same. It made the difference between feeling like death on arrival and feeling reasonably OK. And this was on a daytime flight, so the comparison wasn't affected by whether I slept better or worse.

It's also nice to see some passenger-friendly innovation rather than just the more usual cram-more-in with every new design.

Are you seriously saying the 787, which all but one airline has crammed in nine abreast 17.5" wide seats and many with 29-30" pitch (yes you British Airways), is a passenger-friendly design? I couldn't give two hoots about 2000 ft of cabin altitude if I have a seat in my face and an elbow in my ribs.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I've not been to Stansted for a little while, but the main issue was passport control. Not a bew problem, and not necessarily in the control of the airport, but goodness me. Never known anything like it (and I've been to Sri Lanka!).

 

[Tetchytyke]

Luton is usually quick for luggage as you just chuck it on a flatbed Transit and drive it over to the belt.

My 90 minute wait for a bag off Ryanair says different.

 

[Bletchleyite]

My 90 minute wait for a bag off Ryanair says different.

Never flown Ryanair into Luton. It is quite possible that they pay less for their handling than Sleasy, and so the handlers do several flights at once (or something).

I have had a couple of long waits from Sleasy, but mostly (based on something like 100-150 arrivals at Luton at various times) the bags are there before you even get past the (usually overlong) passport queue.

 

[radamfi]

There used to be a shuttle to the circular pier at Gatwick South Terminal. When and why was it removed?

 

[mark-h]

There used to be a shuttle to the circular pier at Gatwick South Terminal. When and why was it removed?

From Google Earth the replacement walkway was built between 2003 and 2005. It was a single car (per track) system that only went a short distance- a moving walkway was more capable of coping with the number of passengers from an arriving 747. The moving walkways also make it more easy to segregate arriving and departing passengers- something the shuttle did not.

Most of the track structure is still in place- it has never been fully removed. I don't know what happened to the trains.

Video of the Gatwick transit trains The first intra-terminal system is shown from 11:20.

 

[ainsworth74]

Thomas Cook going down is definitely a big enough topic to warrant it's own thread so I've split out the most recent discussion from this thread into a new one which can be found here.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Thomas Cook going down is definitely a big enough topic to warrant it's own thread so I've split out the most recent discussion from this thread into a new one which can be found here.

Should be some interesting plane-spotting opportunities coming up, which are probably best discussed here.

I wonder if rumours of A380s are true?

 

[ainsworth74]

Should be some interesting plane-spotting opportunities coming up, which are probably best discussed here.

Yes that seems a reasonable division of topics. There's plenty to talk about regarding Thomas Cook so any interesting "moves" would easily get swamped in the main Thomas Cook thread.

 

[YorkshireBear]

Should be some interesting plane-spotting opportunities coming up, which are probably best discussed here.

I wonder if rumours of A380s are true?

Definitely true I tracked it into Manchester last night.

Also on the CAA website if you look under the flights from palma de mallorca you will notice the mancheater and Newcastle flights now have Malaysian Airlines codes.

 

[TheEdge]

Spottery Thomas Cook question.

Are the CAA able to use the now ex Thomas Cook fleet to do the repatriation? Or are they impounded as assets of the bank?

 

[cactustwirly]

Spottery Thomas Cook question.

Are the CAA able to use the now ex Thomas Cook fleet to do the repatriation? Or are they impounded as assets of the bank?

I would imagine the TC planes have been impounded, but the ones that were leased might still be able to be used (ie the ones with Lithuanian tail numbers)

 

[Tetchytyke]

Newcastle flights now have Malaysian Airlines codes

Have MH sent a 777 too? We know a 777 can get into Newcastle, but I don't think an A380 can.

Edit: just seen Newcastle pax are being bussed from Manchester and Glasgow are being bussed from Birmingham (poor sods).

 

[Bletchleyite]

Have MH sent a 777 too? We know a 777 can get into Newcastle, but I don't think an A380 can.

Wouldn't complain if I got one of those, to be honest (the "super middle seat" of the block of 5 aside). 9 across and 34" seat pitch, one of the nicest things in the sky.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Are the CAA able to use the now ex Thomas Cook fleet to do the repatriation?

It depends, Condor are still trading as the German government have loaned them money.

 

[158756]

Have MH sent a 777 too? We know a 777 can get into Newcastle, but I don't think an A380 can.

Edit: just seen Newcastle pax are being bussed from Manchester and Glasgow are being bussed from Birmingham (poor sods).

It's operating as one flight to Manchester, with buses onwards for Newcastle. Tomorrow it looks like the A380 is doing two trips from Palma to Manchester, Manchester and Gatwick passengers in the morning, Birmingham and Newcastle in the evening but still landing at Manchester.

 

[WestCoast]

Spottery Thomas Cook question.

Are the CAA able to use the now ex Thomas Cook fleet to do the repatriation? Or are they impounded as assets of the bank?

Mentioned on the other thread that the Smartlynx leased in planes (that 99.9% of the general population would recognise as a Thomas Cook plane) are now being flown on behalf of the CAA and operating as Titan Airways flights. The original setup was Smartlynx pilots and Thomas Cook cabin staff so have no idea who is crewing them.

 

[Bald Rick]

My 90 minute wait for a bag off Ryanair says different.

Wow. That’s Ryanair for you.

I had to wait 5 minutes for my bag at Luton (ex Easyjet) few days ago, which is the longest wait I’ve had for a while. I was slightly concerned, but then realised I was domestic and had saved 3 minutes by avoiding immigration!

 

[atillathehunn]

Definitely true I tracked it into Manchester last night.

Also on the CAA website if you look under the flights from palma de mallorca you will notice the mancheater and Newcastle flights now have Malaysian Airlines codes.

It was on the ground yesterday in Manchester as I went through.

It did a jaunt to Palma in the middle of the night last night, departing somewhere in the region of 02.00. It's now southbound between Toulouse and Barcelona with no destination visible in Flightradar, but it's very clearly going to Palma.

There's also apparently an Atlas Air 747 doing some of the transatlantic runs - I think it started on the night of the bankruptcy by flying JFK passengers home. It then was, apparently, trying to go Orlando last night but ended up in Shannon with technical difficulties. No idea if it eventually made it to Florida.

 

[atillathehunn]

Mentioned on the other thread that the Smartlynx leased in planes (that 99.9% of the general population would recognise as a Thomas Cook plane) are now being flown on behalf of the CAA and operating as Titan Airways flights. The original setup was Smartlynx pilots and Thomas Cook cabin staff so have no idea who is crewing them.

Reported elsewhere that the crew are ex-TC given short term contracts with the respective leasing companies. Absolutely cannot verify this.

 

[telstarbox]

Will the current split of easyJet / easyJet Europe operations change if/when we leave the EU?

 

[Techniquest]

I haven't got the link to it, as it was on The Independent's website and I got bombarded with ads and all that trying to read it, but I've just read Adria Air in Slovenia are having 'temporary' money issues and grounded pretty much everything.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Will the current split of easyJet / easyJet Europe operations change if/when we leave the EU?

I have rather wondered if they would intend to move all the operation (including the Luton HQ) outside of the UK. But this will depend on what deal if any is done over aviation. The UK might require, for instance, domestic services only to be operated by a UK airline, in which case it might stay.

 

[radamfi]

Will the current split of easyJet / easyJet Europe operations change if/when we leave the EU?

They have already changed as a result of Brexit. There used to be just easyJet and easyJet Switzerland, but they set up easyJet Europe in Austria to continue operating to/from EU countries.

 

[Bald Rick]

Easyjet Europe is there to enable operation netweeen EU countries. Easyjet U.K. is for U.K. based flights (including those to EU countries)

 

[Spamcan81]

I've given up flying to European destinations and now go by train. A much more relaxing way to travel in my opinion.

 

[Tetchytyke]

A much more relaxing way to travel in my opinion.

If you're near a Eurostar station.

I wouldn't fancy Newcastle to Munich by train (well, I would, but only if I was in no rush)