Normal week

3 flights this week - London to Dusseldorf on Monday, Brussels to Edinburgh on wednesday night and Edinburgh to Leeds on Thursday afternoon - unspectacular as they passed and on time (British airways were not involved) but really weird routings, particularly the last Leeds to Edinburgh leg.
Instead of flying due south south east, we head west flew over Dumfries, down the west side of the Lake District and then due south east to Bradford - you wonder how much fuel was used Co2 was emitted for such a circuitous route.

Embarrassment

0715 Dusseldorf to London on BA on Thursday morning - loaded in a timely fashion as ever (personally believe all Heathrow Ground Handling staff should spend time @ dusseldorf and learn a thing or two about brutal German efficiency!).
Doors on the point of closing, sitting in 9F minding my own business and chief lady purser strides down cabin with passenger printout and says "Mr S.... we have put you in the wrong seat - please move to 1F.
Now I am obeying company travelling policy (in economy) and checked in via the internet last night so I know I have put myself in the right seat - but the Pursar has obviously taken pity on a gold card holder sitting economy, so has upgraded me to business.
I have to admit for a micro-second I was elated (hot towels , cooked breakfast etc), which then turned to horroras I realised everyone on the plane was looking at me. I am forced to extract from the packed lockers my 2 bits of hand luggage (one of which is illegal in economy) and move right to front of the plane.
You feel people thinking in economy "lucky bas#@rd etc" and people in Business class thinking "he's not paid the fare". What makes it worse is that business class is 50% empty but the purser moves no one else ......

Manchester airport on a Monday morning

Arrived at Manchester airport at 0540 BA terminal 3 - complete chaos with queues a mile long @ the ticket office not check in. My flight to dusseldorf is Ok but the early flight to Gatwick is cancelled.....a killer for long haul passengers trying to catch one a day long hauls out of gatwick - no wonder there is such stress and at least one over-stressed passenger.
Loads of BA cabin crew in the lounge complaining about the cancellation - so it' s just not the passengers who suffer - you wonder what the consequential flight cancellations are because there are no crews at Gatwick......all from one flight cancellation in Manchester!

Southampton Airport (2)

I have just read that Southampton Airport had a nightmare yesterday when man with bulldozer dug up main BT telephone line so many flights were cancelled. Wonder whether it affected the PA system ? (see previous post)

Dusseldorf back to London

I reflected as I flew over the Thames estuary this morning how much of my life I have spent flying around Essex waiting to get into Heathrow.
I think the calc looks something like this:

• Been flitting around contintental Europe for 7 years for various companies.
• On avearge (particulary worse on BA) we spend 12 minutes circling Essex to get in Heathrow.
• On average I do the equivalent of say 1.5 flights a week into Heathrow
• Therefore I have spent 4.2 days in the last 7 years of my life circling Essex @ circa 10000 ft

sad really !

Heathrow Terminal 2

Travelled to Dusseldorf via Heathrow on Monday night - Terminal 2 @ Heathrow is probably the worst piece of airport in the UK. Fortunately there wasn't the 750m queue for security on Monday night but the intense heat of the building beyond makes you feel like you are in a sauna. All shops/and sitting areas have really cramped feel, all set at slightly different levels.
Evening crowned by Lufthansa sending an HS146, so it was pretty cramped. Key thing with RJ100 / HS146 if you are sitting in rows 6-11 is to get your hand luggage in rows 1-5, because the lockers in 6-11 are very narrow due to the "over wing design"

petrol prices

Chatting with a self-employed lorry driver today at my son C's Judo grading - he was complaining how petrol prices/oil companies wiere putting him out of business - he can't drive enough hours to make reasonable money.
I am surprised that people forget so easily that its UK Government duties that are approx 75p in every £1, added to which when oil does up on world markets, the Government just pocket more funds proportionally.
One other useless fact I learnt this week - BP once "British Petroleum" are now fufilling their new maxim "Beyond Petroleum" are selling their last oil refinery in the UK. Who would have thought of Britain without "British Petroleum"?

Southampton Airport

Can anyone tell me why the PA is so loud at Southampton Airport - its incredibly loud and with continual announcements of flight departures it really grates and makes you really grateful to get on a plane .

Actually was at Southampton to catch an Eastern Airlines plane:

14.50 Arrive Airport:
10.55 to Leeds due to depart 15:30
16:00 to Leeds due to depart 16.35
14:52: Check-in Eastern Airways use J41s so lose 1 handluggage to Hold. Check-in lady says my plane is late and when will take-off when the plane gets down from Leeds. mmmh that means my plane logically can't leave until 2.5 hours after it leave Southampton for the first time - 16:35 no chance - time for some lunch.
1500: try and make some calls sunk by the PA again.
15:10 Stag party to ?? has taken over the bar area so get a sandwich and pint and sit in the cafe.
15:15 10:55 Cancelled they are put on my flight due to the fact they can't fix their plane.
15:40 enjoying Pint and sandwich - it's been a long week Marseilles/edinburgh/southampton all in the same week
15:41 My flight is boarding eh - rush for security - another middle manager emerges from WH Smith and has the same realisation. Computers have to be removed @ security- (useless Traveller Fact that all UK BAA airports they insist on removing computers but at Humberside & Leeds (not owned BAA) they don't bother). Have never managed to purloin a better computer as part of this process!
15:54 Boarded on my plane - profuse apologies and boiled sweet for the 10:55 flight travellers.

ah well another friday afternoon at an airport