Flights you have been on

[ABB125]

I did Birmingham to Bucharest this morning on Ryanair. It was a 737 Max 8, first time I've been on one. Basically no different to the other 737s I've been on.
Very early departure from BHX (0555), and the first bus I could take arrived at the airport around 0440, so I paid for fast track security when I checked in online. It probably wasn't necessary, but I don't think I'd have been particularly happy being in the standard queue at that time in the morning.

OTP was quite nice, not much of an EES queue (no e-gates, just a line of manned booths, but with separate EU vs non-EU queues). Arrival was slightly early. Despite the walking route being somewhat convoluted and poorly signposted due to construction work, I was at the railway station in under 40 minutes from coming to a stand at the bus gate - and I could have easily shaved off 5+ minutes if trying to.
The station is relatively new, and rather nice. Costs just over £1 to get to Bucharest itself, which is say is rather good value.

 

[atillathehunn]

Friday 11th September

Herat - Kabul, KAM air Boeing 733

Check in at Herat is complete anarchy. You drop your passport at a wooden desk, go and weigh your luggage, come back for your boarding pass and bag tag, then find your bag, which has now moved, to be tagged and loaded onto a wooden trolley. A quick security check and you're in the single departure lounge. I spent a lot of time here 12 months ago while being evacuated during a mini crisis wondering whether our flight would leave.

This time a large group of colleagues from different agencies drank cardamom tea and ate fresh warm flat bread from a bakery on the way.

The usual ropey bus for the remote hard standing. The plane has been sitting in the baking sun for about an hour at this point without the APU running so it was very unpleasant. We eventually took off for a smooth flight to Kabul. The domestic arrivals hall is pandemonium. There's only one belt for our flight from Herat and another from Mazar. The belt is small and partially blocked by massive pillars. It was anarchy. This is a country gripped by strict social rules on men and women together. It does not apply here. It's a turban and abaya heavy rugby scrum.

Out into the car park for the run back to the compound.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Thursday at 15:43 ==

The final chapter in my 'around the world in A330s' comes to an end.

16th September

TK707 - Kabul - Istanbul A332.

The traditional saffron tea in the departure lounge was good as always. Reasonably busy on the international side with an Ariana flight to Urumqi, flyDubai to DXB and our Turkish flight to Istanbul. We boarded on time for the pretty well loaded but not full flight. A mostly smooth flight, with some occasional chop. We landed at a remote stand at Istanbul, though the bussing process was smooth. Transit security was very busy, but pretty quick (no more than quarter of an hour). A good breakfast served.

TK1953 Istanbul - Amsterdam A333.

A pretty ropey example of the fleet with the older IFE screens and pretty battered seats. A moderately well loaded flight. Quite choppy over the Balkans. Disappointing food, with the usual beef missing from the menu replaced by a sort of fried rice with breaded chicken, which resembled boot leather. On time arrival and passport control took seconds, as did baggage.

 

[flymo]

A little trip from Hong Kong to Clark again, this time with Hong Kong Express on one of their A320, B-LCR. Boarding was a pain as it 'left' from gate 229 at HKG which is a bus to a remote stand. So much for paying for priority boarding lol. Took 15 mins to get to the aircraft, then had to wait for the second bus to arrive, still took off relatively on time and arrived on time too as its only a 90 minute flight. Basic low cost service inside, pretty adequate for a shortish flight.
Heading to Singapore on Sunday with Cebu Pacific another low cost carrier from Clark, I do like Cebu Pacific, usually good crews and a slightly longer flight at about 3h30m. Looking forward to it, I think....

 

[AlterEgo]

Monday 7th KAM air Kabul - Herat on an aged 737-300.

The domestic terminal is much smaller than the international terminal, with a couple of check-in desks a wooden table security area and then a small gate area with a couple of small counters to buy snacks and the coffee equivalent of a pot noodle - just add water. We boarded the bus to the plane, and boarded the 1996-built 737-300 for the quick one-hour hop over to Herat. The flight was busy but not full. With the formalities done, we trundled off to the runway. There is a controller on duty at Kabul, but I am not sure how much they really do. Planes take off and land in opposite directions at their own discretion. We took off just after the late running TK flight left. Conditions were excellent, with a very smooth flight over the remote and mountainous heart lands. We were served a small chicken pastry, chocolate wafer, juice and bottle of water. Flights are relatively expensive - I paid about 230 USD return. However, when a hitch - undue interest in our activities by the secret police and PVPV - meant we had to delay departure, it was smooth, quick and free to change our flights. A smooth descent into Herat. For some reason, despite there being two flights a day, we parked far from the terminal and required a bus. The terminal is small and with a pretty dire lavatory situation. We are released into the green city of Herat, walking through the very pleasant airport gardens to the special car park for our vehicles and out onto the tree-lined boulevards.

The city of Herat is ancient, and a wondrous and lively place. It's much more liberal than other parts of the country, with far more women on the streets. Unfortunately, the de facto authorities are cracking down punitively on the residents of the ancient city, with deadly consequences.

We were very fortunate to be able to go on a bit of an explore of the ancient blue mosque, quite a spectacular site.

Amazing stuff! Thanks for sharing. I'd love to go to that part of the world if the wife didn't veto it.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Amazing stuff! Thanks for sharing. I'd love to go to that part of the world if the wife didn't veto it.

Me too. My wife used to gets cared when I travelled in Colombia - Bogota and Medellín for example. Afghanistan would be a whole different ballgame!