Archive - Autumn Travels Part 1: STN To PRG, Dresden, SXF



Background

For my birthday in September, my wife bought me a ticket to Prague on Easyjet to see a friend, who was also my best man (and I was his) and also godfather to my boy (ditto to his daughter). I would depart on a Tuesday and return the Thursday, during some days when I would be off-shift, and my wife would be at work, with our son in nursery. Then, whilst on holiday in South Africa visiting my wife’s parents (http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/trip_reports/read.main/178930/), I received a Facebook notification from Air France instructing me to look at my email – I had won a competition, winning flights, hotel and entrance to the Formula One Grand Prix season finale in Abu Dhabi! First up was deciding who to take – my wife being first choice, but as our son was too young, she suggested I take my sister, another F1 fan, which I did. Then I needed to ask for some time off work for the weekend, which was granted by my manager. Then I needed to arrange transport back to the UK from Prague, as the first flight, LHR-CDG, was due to depart at 1010, when I was only due to arrive at STN that evening. The cheapest option I found was a Ryanair flight from Berlin to Stansted the Wednesday evening for EUR12 (EUR17 including card fee), and a EUR29 train ticket from Prague to Berlin. Being that cheap, I decided to not spend stupid money on a hotel at short notice in London, opting to take a late bus from Stansted (£2.50 on Easybus), spend an hour or so in the 24 hour McDonalds before taking the night bus out to LHR.

STN-PRG
09/11/10
U23067
G-EZAB

View Large View Medium

Photo © Terence Li


I left home early that morning, taking a train to Stansted. I needed to change at Ely, but the rail system was working that day and so I made it to STN without a problem. As I had checked in online, I had no need to queue at a desk so proceeded directly to security. I bought a sandwich meal from the branch of Boots airside, then had to wait until the gate was published. Once the number appeared, I took the little train to the correct satellite, to find a massive scrum at the gate. As it turned out, there was also a Pegasus flight to Istanbul at the next gate, which shares the same desk and stairway down. Once these passengers had boarded, I could sit down and wait. A queue for Prague was arranged beside the desks, which I joined. Once the SAW flight had finished boarding, ours was ready and the few priority boarders were followed by the rest of us.


Our plane on the tarmac at STN.

I headed for the rear stairs, with a small group of others, and boarded. There were plenty of empty seats at the back, so I took a window and settled in. Eventually the door was closed, there were hardly any empty seats, and we were off. I noticed a 747 cargo flight take off in front of us, then we were off. Unfortunately, low cloud for pretty much the entire flight hindered visibility. I let the BOB service pass by without buying anything, there was no need for me as I’d just had lunch.


Inflight.

After a light doze, and listening to the guys behind me discuss how not to be ripped off by a taxi driver, we commenced our descent and landed. We taxied for some distance, pulling up to a jetbridge gate in the Schengen area – I wondered how this would be resolved.


At gate in PRG.

The door was opened, and everyone disembarked. Up the bridge, then down stairs, out of a door and into a waiting bus. Which then took us along the building to the non-schengen area, and we went up into the building, and followed the regular route out.

Prague / Germany

I bought a 24hour ticket for the city transport system, and waited outside for a bus. I arranged to meet my friend near his office, and we had a few rather tasty Czech beers before dinner, then headed back to his flat. During the course of conversation, it first transpired that he was driving to Dresden the next day, and that I could have a lift for the journey, halfway to Berlin. Later on, it turned out that another of his friends was booked on the same FR flight that I was on! She needed to leave Czech overland, as her visa had expired, being a US citizen, and was told that German border control would be less likely to notice! I was unsure, but she had an appointment at the Czech embassy in London to resolve the problem. Anyway, the following morning, my friend, his 2 year old daughter and I went for a walk, took the little suburban train to the Andel area, had Paul bakery items for breakfast and visited the model railway (his daughter loves trains, trams, busses, all transport really).


Suburban train.

After her curiosity had been satisfied, we took the bus back to the flat, had a quick lunch before we left in the car to pick up the American (I‘ll call her Mary, not her real name) and head for Germany. The motorway to the German border has still not yet been completed, but we made it to Dresden in plenty of time. After saying good bye to my friend, we found a café by the station to sample the German speciality, Currywurst, before the train to Berlin.


Dresden.

Mary had to buy a ticket, and I had an e-ticket issued by CD.cz, the Czech railways. These were both ok, and the train journey was uneventful, especially as it was dark by now. We arrived at the new Berlin Hauptbahnhof, and transferred to the Airport Express to Schoenefeld.

SXF-STN
10/11/10
FR8547
EI-DLS

View Large View Medium

Photo © Jan Rodewald


First thing I noticed was the huge, open air departure board outside the airport, when walking from the station.


The open air departure board.

Then we entered the terminal. As a US citizen, Mary had to have her document checked at the checkin desk. This was fine, and the guy even said that here, at SXF, this could be done at the gate, despite what Ryanair claim on their website. Then we went through security. There was an attendant on station, instructing everyone flying FR to test their carryon baggage in the metal frame size tester. My rucksack was fine, but Mary’s case was too big – not by much, so the attendant advised moving some items from her bag to mine. This done, and both re-tested, we were cleared to proceed. Security passed, she wanted to buy some water, but the cheapest option was for EUR3 for a 500ml bottle! As she was thirsty, this was the only option. I’m sure though that a beer would have been cheaper! Anyway, at SXF non-Schengen flights, the passport control booths are at each gate, and are only manned when there is a flight needing them. We joined the queue, and I made it through with barely a glance. Mary, however, had some issues, due to the fact that she had outstayed her Schengen visa issued in Czech by some days. She was trying to explain without letting slip that she was accidently an illegal immigrant, on her way to a different embassy to resolve her situation, with difficulty. I was waiting around the corner, and heard at one point “Show me the documents! Show me the documents!” coming from the Grenzpolizei somewhat harshly. Eventually she was allowed to pass, and our boarding passes were checked again, along with our hand luggage size (again). I had been chatting to the guy before my companion joined me, and after looking at our two bags, he explained that we should move some stuff across, again. With a smile… “Of course” we replied. We were in a holding room, with a small cordoned off area for priority boarding passengers. The flight arrived, disengorged its passengers, and we were ready. This really was a rugby scrum, or race, as the priority passengers were let out the door onto the tarmac, immediately followed by everyone else. I mentioned that I would aim for the back door, which I did, and we got seats near the back, me with the window, not that there was much to see at night. Doors closed and we were off. Load was around 80%, but then I had bought a ticket for EUR12 just 2 weeks before, and my companion had paid EUR30 just 3 days before, so that flight can’t have made FR much money. On takeoff, I pointed out the lights of the construction site of the new Berlin airport, on the SXF site. Compared to the previous day’s legroom, FR really seem to squeeze you in, and the hard plastic chairs are unforgiving of your knees, especially if you’re 6’2 (1.88m) like me. This flight, like the previous, was uneventful. I dozed for the most part, Mary reading her book. On landing, we exited the aircraft, and I spotted a 737 with winglets, in the livery of Ethiopian – not a usual visitor to Stansted. I assume it was a new machine, on delivery flight from Seattle?

London

I made my way to the electronic passport gates, as the queue was significantly lower than the regular, EU passport desks. After getting through, I waited for Mary, and we exited. We bought some water and biscuits from the Spar mini market in the terminal, and Mary bought a ticket for the Easybus that I was allowed to take – I’d booked the 2.30am bus (we arrived just after 11pm), but was allowed to move it forward by 1 hour, depending on space. As it turned out, there were just us two, plus 3 Japanese guys on the bus. Waiting for it, we sat in the Krispy Kreme seating area, as it was closed. The bus departed ontime, and took less than an hour from the terminal to central London – a record in a road vehicle, but the driver was certainly going a bit too fast on the local roads towards the centre. On descending, it was freezing, but we still decided to walk down to the Strand, to the McDonalds there. This took half an hour or so, past some of the famous London landmarks, and we warmed up with a Big Mac meal, with tea. At that time of night, the place was filled with drunk students, and police officers getting their night shift snacks. After eating, I left Mary to head off to the bus stop outside.

To be continued...

Archive - NWI-South Africa, On KL, SA, MN



This report is covering the trip we did at Christmas, NWI-AMS-JNB-CPT-DUR-JNB-AMS-NWI, on KL, SA and Kalula. This was also my first experience flying with a baby - he was 7 months old at the time. We went to spend Christmas with my wife's family in Durban, with a few days in Pretoria and Cape Town beforehand.

12.12.2009
NWI-AMS
KL1502
Fokker 70
PH-KZI
10C/Aisle


View Large View Medium

Photo © Mary Fraser


We arrived at NWI at 5am for our 6am flight, to find the check in desks deserted and a queue forming.



This is normal, for such a small airport, so we joined the queue to wait our turn. Eventually we arrived at the desk and checked in. We couldn't check in online, as I'd bought the baby's ticket separately, and he was issued with a paper ticket. It'd bought our tickets before he was born, and KL wouldn't accept a date of birth in the future! We picked up our boarding passes, said goodbye to our luggae and headed to the security desk. We had 3 pieces of (large) hand luggage (still within regulation size though), a pushchair, and the baby to carry through, as well as having a laptop in one of the bags. Needless to say, we seemed to hold up the queue for the single X-ray machine for a few minutes, for which we apologised, but then we were through into the departure lounge. At NWI it's just one large room with seats, a cafe and a shop, and the door to the business lounge (that was deserted). And loos of course. Anyway, it wasn't long before we boarded, first of course, and managed to make our way to the plane. We left the pushchair at the foot of the steps, and boarded. Eventually we managed to pack our things into the overhead bins, and the stewardess came up to give us the seatbelt extension and baby life jacket. My wife held the baby, whilst I had the lifejacket in the seat pocket. Those things really do limit legroom, which is not plentiful on the F70! The load was quite light, less than 50%, of which most of whom were connecting to elsewhere. Service consisted of a pack of biscuit bites and an orange juice - there is no choice. No sooner than all had been handed out that rubbish was collected again, and we started circling. Not long later, we flattened out and came in to land at AMS, on the famous Polderbaan, and spent the best part of 15 mins taxiing to the apron where the aircraft stopped. This area is used extensively by bus boarding, so we waited until last to grab all our stuff and baby, and descend. The pushchair was waiting for us, so I unfolded it and headed to the bus. However, the bus was packed, so I re-folded it and we just had to carry Matthew (the baby!). On arrival at the terminal, we were deposited at ground level, from where we rose in a lift to the main level, in the main departures area airside. I prefer this, no segregation between arriving and departing passengers. There is a security chech at each gate though. As we had an hour or two before our next flight, we sought out the baby lounge. AMS has a great lounge for parents with babies, with individual pods containing a wooden cot, some seats and space for bags, all surrounded by thick curtains and with mood lighting and soft music. In the corner of the lounge there are some bath-shaped sinks, and nappy changing mats. After a short rest for Matty to have a nap, during which I went off to find my wife some food (a pack of ham at the deli shop), we headed to the gate.

12.12.2009
AMS-JNB
KL591
Boeing 777
PH-BQY
10E/Middle


View Large View Medium

Photo © Co Van Den Heuvel


We made it to the security screening, where we were ushered through with the minimum of fuss. Much easier than at NWI! Boarding was about to start, so we went straight to the front just as boarding was called for people with children and those requiring assistence, and premium passengers. We headed down the jetway and left the pushchair by the aircraft door. On entering, we turned right and were seated at the first row, right by the bulkhead, as we'd requested the bassinet seats to that Matty could sleep (or at least try to).



We had the middle seats so unfortunately couldn't see out of the window The 3rd middle seat was taken by a Dutch lady who lived in Johannesburg - she had kids of her own so was ok about us having a potential screaming baby there! It also seemed like the first few rows had more legroom than the rest - are these sold as "premium economy" perhaps? The meals and service were identical though. There was a blanket and pillow on the seat, and the crew came around with earphones. Again, we were given the baby life jacket and a seatbelt extension. Also worth mentioning was the service by the stewardess of our section, Marlene. She went above and beyond what is necessary. She chatted with my wife, and even had a woolen finger puppet that she lent us to amuse Matty for a while! She gave us the children's activity kit, but it was aimed more at children slightly older, with games and puzzles, and Matty was at the age where he just wants to eat everything! So we kept it and gave it to the daughter of the friends in Cape Town that we visited. Takeoff was uneventful, the 777's engines giving a powerful takeoff. The cabin was almost full - I didn't see a single empty seat. Drinks and nuts were handed out, then after an hour or two lunch was served. I can't remember what exactly, but was probably chicken and rice. My wife's gluten free meal was meat and potatoes. All in all, quite tasty for an airline meal. Later on, ice creams were handed out, and there was a constant delivery of water and juice by the crew. After a while, I got up and went for a walk, down to the very back of the aircraft where I took some photos of the Sahara desert.



At the rear galley, a trolley was set up with drinks, snacks and sweets that you could take. I took a couple of cokes and some chewey sweets for myself and my wife. Around the Congo, Matty was starting to get agitated. It was his normal bedtime, so we'd "bathed" him in the bathroom sink (there really isn't much room to change a nappy there, and the one toilet's changing table was quite a bad design, with a ridge running where the back of his head should be). We then put him in a sling, a kind of material that straps him to the parent. It was my turn, so I "wore" him to try to get him to sleep whilst my wife watched Pelham 123 on the little TV. 2 hours of standing and swaying, and he still wouldn't sleep, still had his eyes open and gentle moaning - no screaming, thankfully! The pre-arrival snack was handed out, a warm sandwich (a cold salad for my GF wife), which I managed to eat whilst still standing up. By now it was dark, and we eventually started the descent. As JNB is quit ehigh up anyway, there wasn't much difference in air pressure, so Matty didn't cry so much. We had a bottle of water ready for him to such, but he was quite content with his dummy! We landed, and taxied in to the pier, and docked at the very far end, furthest from the main terminal. We passed through immigration, picked up our bags, and found my brother in law, who took us to his house in Pretoria for a couple of days.

15.12.2009
JNB-CPT
SA333
Airbus 340
ZS-SXF
47H/Aisle


View Large View Medium

Photo © Carlo - FZI Photography


After a pleasant few days with them, during which for our Chirstmas present they babysat Matthew (along with their own baby, Emma) so we could go out to the theatre (Cinderella on Ice, at the Montecasino Theatre in Johannesburg), it was time to head on. Tam's brother had to work, so his wife dropped off their baby at her mum's, and took us to the airport. I'd booked this flight specifically as it is the once daily A340 that SAA use to Cape Town - the rest of the day the hourly flights are mainly A319s or B737s. We checked in ok, and headed to the domestic departures. It was a bus boarding gate, which I was anticipating, with a huge crowd - after all, the capacity is double that of a "normal" flight. We eventually got onto the 3rd bus, there was no preboarding for people with children, and headed out. Anyone familiar with JNB will know the area to the left of the International terminal where the European airlines leave their aircraft resting for the day before the overnight return to Europe - the SAA 343 that was to take us to CPT was there amongst them. There was only one set of steps, and a huge crowd bunched around, all trying to get on first.





Eventually it thinned out into a queue and we boarded, after having left the pushchair at the bottom of the steps. We had row 47, which turned out to be only 2 rows behind business (I had thought it would be right at the back).



Eventually we filled up with passengers, and took off about 45 mins late. The captain said that we would make up some time, which we did, landing only 25 mins late overall. The big plane took off slowly, not so much power on lift off, I'm guessing as there was no need as the fuel load would be quite light for this short hop. There was some mild turbulance on takeoff and climb, but it fizzled out at cruise. Never having flown the JNB-CPT route before, I was pleasantly surprised when a meal was served - a hot meal at that. I cannot remember what it was, but as my wife's special meal arrived first, she ate it quickly whilst I held Matty. Then it was my turn. He was even given an infant meal - two jars of baby food and a carton of juice! Pity he's not ready yet for juice, and being lactose intolerant could not eat the baby custard, but the thought was nice. After a further drinks run, we settled into the flight. It passed pretty much uneventfully, and we started the descent into CPT. I saw Table Mountain from the window, along with the city and Robben Island. We only had 2 days there, so we were unable to visit most of the sights, so plenty of reason to return! On landing, we pulled up alongside a Turkish Airlines A330, so again a long walk to baggage reclaim. The main terminal is all very nice and new, except the domestic arrivals - clearly too small for the number of passengers. We got our baggage and headed to the car rental office, where we picked up a small car (Hyundai Atos - not a good car!) for the stay. Our time in CPT was very pleasant, we stayed with friends near Fishhoek and saw the penguins at Boulders, Camps Bay and the V&A Waterfront. Table Mountain was cloudy so there was no point in going up. All too soon our time was over and we headed to the airport for our next flight.

18.12.2009
CPT-DUR
SA612
Airbus 319
ZS-SFI
16E/Middle


View Large View Medium

Photo © Gary Shephard - LightSketch Photography


After leaving the car at the car rental returns office, we headed into the terminal. There was still building work going on outside, but inside it was all new and shiny. Matty needed changing, so my wife took him to the bathroom, and I used a roll of cling film to manually wrap the cases to deter thieves. We'd done this on the other flights, and it was much cheaper than the "official" wrappers, charging R50 per bag! It's more of a visual deterrant, but it seems to work. This done, we went and checked in. The banks of desks for domestic departures were arranged by destination, so all Durban and Port Elizabeth flights operated by SAA used the same desks - all JNB flights another bank of desks. We soon dropped off our luggage, including this time a baby car seat that we'd borrowed in Pretoria to use in the rental car (we had a spare that my wife had took out before, but it was in Durban and we needed one for the rental car in Cape Town, and the car rental firm would charge R400 to rent one - I'd seen online that you can buy one new for R350!) We headed to departures and passed through security easily - no worries about liquids here. Previously at NWI we'd had to taste most of the bottles of water that we'd brought for Matty, though they didn't ask us to open the sealed jars of baby food. We found the gate, and then I decided to buy a vuvuzela. I'd been looking out for one, but had only seen beaded ones at tourist shops. I guess it's the sort of thing you'd find being sold at traffic lights, but the sports shop in the airport was the first lace I saw that sold them. R40 later, it was mine! I used to play trumpet when at school, so actually it is easy to play. I then needed some food, as my wife had brought some snacks to eat, but it was a challenge finding a cafe or any food outlet in domestic departures. In the end, the only one was a Mugg and Bean cafe downstairs at the bus gates, where I bought a muffin and a juice. Again, when the flight was called for boarding, there was no preboarding for passengers with children, unfortunately. Also, we had been allocated seats that were separate from each other. We eventually boarded, and explained to the stewardess. She said that after takeoff, she would look to see if anything could be done. As it happened, once airborne, she came back and said that there was a pair of seats towards the front (we were on the last 3 rows) so we moved to sit together, to make it easier to share baby duty. Take off was quick, and
the load must have been close to 98%. This time, instead of a hot meal, we were given drinks and a chicken wrap, which was very tasty. My wife had a rice cracker with chicken and lettuce, but she couldn't eat it due to Matty's dairy intolerance. It seems that airline special meals allow you to choose "gluten free" and "dairy free" but not "gluten and dairy free". There must be some people with both? The flight passed quickly, and we soon came in to land. This time, on descent, nothing we could do would calm Matty, he cried the whole way down. We have him water, gripe water, dummy, made him suck our fingers, everything. Eventually on landing he relaxed, and we went to take our luggage and meet my wife's parents (who arrived late so we were waiting outside when they pulled up). We stayed with them in Pinetown, and had a lovely Christmas.

29.12.2009
DUR-JNB
Kulula
MN610
Boeing 737
ZS-OAP
8B/Middle


View Large View Medium

Photo © Gary Shephard - LightSketch Photography


We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare, checked in and had a traditional drink with the in-laws before passing through security. This will have been our last ever time at the old DUR, after the new airport opens later this year. The terminal was really crowded, so the extra space will be a bonus. We then had to rush through, saying our goodbyes very quickly, as the flight was boarding. We made it through, and went straight through the gate and walked out to the aircraft. This time, the crew did not offer a seatbelt extension for the baby - apparently they are unsafe, so we were advised how to hold him in case there was a brace situation. Apart from that, the flight was uneventful. Kulula operate a BOB system, but we didn't buy anything. We landed, took our baggage, and went for our traditional Spur meal before heading to the International terminal to check in. We met my wife's uncle who joined us for food, but no others of her friends could make it. One of the Gautrain trains was parked on the track a little way out from the station, but as it was dark we didn't really get to see much, other than the row of lights. This train system will be much beneficial to the people of Gauteng, giving a link from the airport to the main centres - even my brother in law's house will be near the station in Centurion, so they can use it to get to the airport.

30.12.2009
JNB-AMS
KL592
Boeing 777
PH-BQL
10E/Middle


View Large View Medium

Photo © Markus Adank


The flight was originally due to depart an hour earlier, at 23.45, but the times were pushed back to 0.45 the next day. However, we didn't notice for about a month after this that the computer had rebooked us onto the flight at 0.45 that same morning - as in, 23 hours earlier. A quick call to KLM reservations resolved this - a good job as we would have missed it otherwise. Then we were informed that our original AMS-NWI flight had been cancelled, so we had 6 hours
at AMS instead of 2. Anyway, checked in, passed security and passport control, and went to the gate. Before checkin, there was a checkpoint where our hold luggage was weighed. Apparently it was a few KGs too heavy, which it wasn't as we'd weighed it before leaving the house. After moving the luggage lable, the attendent said that it was ok. Hmm. So the label weighed about 6kg? I don't think so! Then thanks to Matty's paper ticket, we spent easily 20 minutes at the
desk whilst the CSA tried to work out how to do it, calling supervisors and everything. Eventually it was ok - or so we thought. She took the ticket and filed it at the desk somewhere. Before boarding commenced, everyone sitting in the gate area seats had to get up and leave, it was cordoned off, and they checked everyone's passports again. Perhaps checking for Schengen visas? My wife and baby are dual nationals, so had to show their British passports, despite having used their SA passports to pass immigration. Then, whilst waiting, some names were called, mine included. I wondered if we'd been given an upgrade, but I quickly discounted this as we had the baby! It turns out that they needed the paper ticket to be attached to the boarding pass - of course, it was still at checkin. I told the agent this, they phoned down, and somehow agreed what to do. We, meanwhile, waited with the others (U/Ms and another couple with
a baby).



Eventually we boarded, and we had the exact same seats as before. There was an American chap next to us, travelling onwards to Chicago, who asked the steward if it was possible to upgrade to business onboard. He was quoted EUR4000, so he declined, especially as the legroom in the front row of this cabin was fantastic. Maybe he wasn't worried about being next to the baby! The time of the flight wasn't ideal, as it was much later than his normal bedtime, we'd got him to sleep for an hour or so in the terminal but after all the passport commotion he soon woke up. We managed to get him to sleep again after takeoff, at which point a meal was served - Chinese chicken and noodles for me, I forget what the GF option was. Matty then slept quite well in the bassinet, and us in the normal seats. Again, the flight was almost full. Before landing, breakfast was served, but unfortunately I can't remember what it was - something with egg I think, for both of us. Again on landing, Matty cried and cried. Out of the 7 flights, this was the 2nd that he was upset for either takeoff or landing. We landed, and pulled in at the gate. (it turns out another A.netter was spotting on the terrace, and took a photo of the exact plane at the gate... Lufthansa Business: JFK-FRA/KL: AMS-JFK. Roadtrip! (by JFKMan Jan 10 2010 in Trip Reports) ).



We then had quite some time before our next flight. We went back to the baby lounge, where Matty slept and slept. My wife stayed with him and dozed as well, whilst I went to get her some food (McDonald's meal, without the bun. Everytime I have to explain that she's alllergic to bread!). I also bought some waffles for me (they turned out to be not as good as one I'd bought a couple of months before from a vending machine on Eindhoven station) and some Delft Christmas baubles.

30.12.2009
AMS-NWI
KL15
Fokker 70
PH-KZS
6B/Aisle


View Large View Medium

Photo © Ruud Brinks


Another A.netter has a report of another AMS-NWI flight, so take a look at his pictures
2010 Starts:- 2 New Aircraft Types (by BA319-131 Jan 29 2010 in Trip Reports)

We went downstairs, where the bus gates are, and I was asked if I minded using the new body scanner. I was fine with it, and to all those worrying that "it sees you naked", it's not you naked, more of a cartoon outline of a figure, with markings of where on your person the metal items are. The gate area filled up, but Matty started smelling - so it was my turn to change him, just as boarding started. Passengers with children were invited to preboard, but we couldn't as I was in the bathroom with a dirty baby! Eventually he was clean again, by this time the first bus had filled and deposited its passengers at the aircraft, and we got on the 2nd bus. We waited for a while, there were maybe 5 passengers and some flight crew who started chatting with us. They turned out to be crew based in NWI but going home as passengers on this flight - one of them was doing another return NWI-AMS-NWI that evening, the other was finished for the day. They also mentioned the cancelled midday flight, and that it was the one that used to be operated by the F50, which KLM no longer has. Anyway, we got to the F70 and boarded, it was another uneventful short flight, cramped because of the baby lifejacket. We landed smoothly, passed passport control easily, picked up our luggage and took a taxi from outside home.

There are some more pics of SA here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=150310&id=622281081&l=32519b31a0
Feel free to request my friendship to view them if you can't already!


One more picture, from a recent STN-MUC-STN work trip:



At STN on the return, a Windows fail

Archive - Round Europe in 4 1/2 days

5 flights, 5 countries, 4 airlines, 4 1/2 days

Background

As mentioned in some of my other reports, in October / November my wife took our baby back to South Africa to visit her parents. This left me some time between shifts, as I work 4 days on, 4 off, then 4 nights and 4 off. Between day shift and night shift I then had 4 1/2 days. I've wanted to visit Portugal for a while, and TAP had a bargain flight back to Gatwick which I booked. Ryanair also serve Porto, so I wanted to use them to be cheap, but the direct flight was too expensive, however if I flew FR to Dusseldorf Weeze, and then on to Porto the next day, I could get a ticket for £5 + €8, so that was booked. Some time later, I found an EI flight to Eindhoven from LGW for £9.99 taxes included, so booked it thinking if that was wise, and how I would get home. I've been looking at visiting Antwerp for a while, and found that VLM had a flight from there to LCY at a good price, so booked that for the afternoon of the day I was due to work the night shift. All planned! After speaking with a friend, he decided to come with me for the German sector, and return to STN with his 4 year old son the evening I continued to Porto.

28.10.2009
STN - NRN
FR3254 Boeing 737
EI-EBN

View Large View Medium

Photo © Jussi Seppala


We headed off to STN in my friend's car, him picking me up from my house in Norwich just 2 1/2 hours before takeoff - and usually it's a 1h45 journey. However, he's quite a quick driver and we arrived at the airport with 1h20 to go, and as we'd checked in online we proceeded straight through security. It wasn't busy at this time of day, so we were quickly through and to the gate, where priority boarders were already boarding. We joined the queue. Now, Chris had taught his son some German phrases, like "Wie heisst du?", "Ich heisse Toby" etc. There was a boy of a similar age to Toby there, and they started playing with each other - leaning round a pillar and waving. Chris told Toby to say one of the phrases, but his reply was amusing! "No, English is better". The other boy, unsurprisingly, didn't understand him. One thing I did notice about this flight was that there were a lot of Dutch people on it, unsurprising really as the border is only about 1km from the Weeze
runway. The flight itself was uneventful, normal Ryanair, and we landed ontime. We
took a bus to the local station, and bought a ticket to Dusseldorf.

Germany

We'd booked a hotel, at the bargain price of €20 per night per person, B&B, in a twin room (Chris and Toby) and a single (me). Hotel Haus Hillesheim. It was much cheaper to book though hostelworld.com than to book directly, bizarrely. They were not ensuite, though. The rooms were opposite sides of a small courtyard. The twin room had a shower in it, and the loo was immediately outside the room door to my single. The next day we bought a Shoenes-Tag-Ticket NRW, giving us all unlimited travel in the state of NRW for the day, for just €34 - €6 more than a single from the airport to the city. This ticket is valid for up to 5 people travelling together. We had decided to visit Wuppertal, to see the unique metro system, the Schwebebahn.


Schwebebahn - suspended monorail, the only one in Europe.

We took a ride, and went to the zoo, where Toby was fascinated by the penguins. We left the zoo and headed back to the town centre, and after looking round some of the shops headed back to Dusseldorf where we changed train for a local to Weeze, where we caught the bus to the airport.

29.10.2009
NRN - OPO
FR5489 Boeing 737
EI-EFD

View Large View Medium

Photo © Fride Jansson


We all went through security together, and Chris bought some chocolates for his wife. We then went to the cafe, I got an overpriced drink and sandwich, and Chris wanted the same, but they didn't accept cards, and neither of us had any more euros in cash. Their loss, he later bought food on board. Soon it was time for the STN flight to board, so Chris and Toby went through the passport control desk, and queued at the gate for their flight. Mine wasn't for another hour. Eventually my flight was ready to board, and like the previous one was a completely uneventful Rynanair flight. By now it was quite dark, and our route took us over Paris - I could see the lights of the city far below. It's interesting how English has become the world language - my two seatmates, a Portuguese guy working in Poland was speaking to his neighbor, a Dutch guy going to Porto on business, in English. We landed on time, and had to walk a mile through the airport to get to the exit, from where I caught the metro to the city and my hostel (Pedra Antiga), where I had a private ensuite single room for €21 per night.

Portugal

As I only had a day in Porto, I wanted to squeeze in as much as possible. I saw the city centre, the tiling in Sao Bento station, and headed down to the Ribeiro area by the river. I walked along to the classic tram stop and headed out towards the tram museum, which unfortunaetly was about to close for lunch.


Porto's classic tram

So I went back, crossed the river and found a port wine warehouse, where they do tastings - very nice! After that I took the metro to the Estadio Dragao, where Porto FC play home matches, and bought a ticket for that evening's match against FC Belenenses, then went back to the tram museum. It's full of old classic trams, but no mention of the new metro, which in the suburbs runs at street level as if it were a tram. I then found an internet cafe to check in for my 2nd flight of the next day, LGW-EIN, as it would be a tight connection. Finally, I went out to the stadium for the game, which finished 1-1.


Estadio Dragao, before the game.

A tiring day, and to bed. The next day I rose early and left on the metro for the airport, for my 09.55 flight.

31.10.2009
OPO - LGW
TP334 Airbus 320
CS-TNB

View Large View Medium

Photo © Rui Miguel


I checked in manually, and proceeded to security. The Porto airport is very modern, light and airy. The non-Schengen area had its passport control to one side, and next to the normal desks was a couple of automatic passport cabins - you insert your passport or ID card, step in, and it takes a picture of you and compares it to the one on your passport. However, the one I tried didn't work, and also wouldn't let me back out again. Eventually I exited the way I went in and used a normal passport desk. By this time the departure of the flight was approaching, but there was no sign of the incoming aircraft. I only had 1h20 between flights. Eventually our A320 arrived next to the A330 bound for Sao Paulo, and we boarded.


My A320 pulling up at the gate.


My aircraft, and the A330 in Star Alliance livery, bound for Sao Paulo.

The reason for the delay was the standard "delay to incoming flight". We eventually took off 50 minutes late. There was an onboard service, of drinks and a sandwich and fruit salad. Not great, not huge, but filled a little hole. As for load factor, the flight looked almost full. We eventually landed, and I ran out to find my connection. I literally ran all the way to the Flight Connections desk, where I explained to the guys on security there my connection. They looked at my printed boarding pass and said no, we don't have a scanner here, you'll have to go through immigration and back in through security upstairs. However, if I had an itinery, I could come through, and go to the Menzies desk - the handling agent for Aer Lingus. I went through the scanner, whilst one of the security guys went to the desk and phoned upstairs to the main desk. Apparently he was told that I had to go back anyway. Grr. I picked up my things and ran. Through passport control which seemed to take an age, through the baggage carousels and out, and upstairs to departures. I went straight to the security checkpoint (where they scanned my boarding pass) and through to the gate. The flight was due to depart in 5 minutes, but all the passengers were still there! Phew. The lady on the desk said that I must be Mr... and that I agreed.

31.10.2009
LGW - EIN
EI928 Airbus 320
EI-DEE

View Large View Medium

Photo © Javier Bravo Muñoz


We waited in the holding area for what seemed like ages, before boarding started. We were told that on the incoming flight, there was someone who needed a wheelchair, but one hadn't been provided, so we had to wait for that to come and get the passenger. Eventually they must have been picked up as we started boarding. Again, it was an almost full flight. We took off and headed for the Netherlands. Aer Lingus are copying their national rivals Ryanair in having a BOB service on board, but I didn't buy anything. Actually, I think that I've only ever bought anything from any BOB service twice, and once was a work trip that was expenseable. The short flight was quickly over, and we landed at Eindhoven airport. An interesting thing about EIN is that on exiting the runway, the parrallel taxiway is the opposite side of the runway to the terminal building, so we taxied the length of the runway before crossing it again. This isn't really a problem at the moment as there's not much traffic there, but could be if traffic levels increase.


Aer Lingus A320 behind Eindhoven's airport terminal

Netherlands

I took the airport bus to Eindhoven station. The city looks very modern, with high-rises and office blocks. I bought a ticket to Antwerp, that involved 2 changes of train. Strange that 2 major cities relatively near each other have no direct trains.

Belgium

I arrived into Antwerp central station, and found my hotel, the Etap. I was too tired to go out and eat, so I just drank some water and went to bed. The next moring I had intended to buy some breakfast from the Lidl next door, but it was closed as it was a Sunday. Never mind though as there were plenty of options in the main station. The station is an impressive building, designed by Eiffel, it now has several levels of train platforms - uppermost are terminating platforms, and below are through platforms.


Inside Antwerp central station

I headed into the city. I first tried to find a metro kiosk, to ask about the airport bus. There was someone on the platform, and I've never met a more helpful member of staff. They showed me how to use the machine to buy a ticket, and took me outside the station to where the bus stop was, and pointed out what times they left. I thanked her and went looking for the diamond museum, which turned out to be closed. I then went into the city centre, to the main square, which like Brussels has some impressive old buildings. I found the castle by the river, which is now the maritime museum, but this too was closed. I headed back to the station for the bus to the airport.

01.11.2009
ANR - LCY
VG0119 Fokker 50
OO-VLO

View Large View Medium

Photo © Vivion Mulcahy


Antwerp airport is very small, smaller even than Norwich. There is an art deco sign on the outside of the building, but has been altered since build. Originally it said "Aeroport Luchthavn" but the French has been removed.


Antwerp Airport, exterior.

The checkin desks only opened 1 hour before departure, and there are only 3 flights per day, so there were not many people around! I'd arrived 2h before, so went outside for a look. There is a small aviation museum next door, well worth half an hour of anyone's time, and it had great views over the apron. Again, pity about the lack of traffic to watch! I headed back to the terminal and checked in, and went immediately to security. Just after security non-schengen passengers (in fact all 3 daily flights are to the UK) go to passport control, then into the "Departure Lounge", one triangle shaped room with a door leading to the apron, a toilet and a vending machine. I sat down and waited for the aircraft to be ready. The Schengen area must be for the (rare) charter flights to the sun, Spain mainly I'd say. There were 2 Fokker 50s on the apron, one of which must have been ours.


Our F50 from the terminal. That is how far the bus drove us.

Eventually, the agent came and announced boarding. A bus pulled up by the door, and we boarded this bus. It had to reverse, then turn around before driving the 100m or so to the aircraft - it would have been quicker to walk! I boarded and took my window seat. Load on this flight must have been close to 60%. The captain started the engines, and we were off. The takeoff roll seemed rather slow, maybe I've been too used to jets! But we took off ok and bumped our way through the clouds.


In flight.

A service started - a sandwich and drinks. This was followed by hot drinks, then a bit later on by a chewy sweet. Very attentive crew, and well done by VLM. Whether this will continue after the merger into Cityjet is complete, I don't know. The descent into LCY was interesting, from the coast it seems like you're flying level, then at the last minute a dive down to the tarmac. We turned off the runway and pulled up by the terminal. The cousin of one of my friends is a ramper at LCY, but it didn't look like he was working that day. I went through immigration, and was on the DLR platform within 10 minutes of landing. I took the train to the city, where I'd booked a coach to go back to Stansted - Originally I'd thought we'd do the train to the airport with Chris and Toby. From there I took a train to Newmarket where I work, via Cambridge, and arrived with 1/2 to spare before I started a night shift at work.

Overall, a quick trip around Europe on planes and trains, very enjoyable. But it was then back to work, and looking forward to the return of my wife and baby! Next trip coming up - South Africa for Christmas with the in-laws.

A few more pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=130201&id=622281081&l=e67fb6fc40

Archive - Heathrow and UK domestics - LHR-MAN-NWI



Background

Some time ago, Travelodge were running a hotel sale, rooms for £9, so after discussion with my wife I'd arranged to spend a night at the Heathrow Central Travelodge, to go an see some planes. A friend had booked another room, for him and his 2 year old boy, to come as well, but it turns out that he'd double booked himself and so couldn't come. I'd looked into travel options, and thought that it would be fun to try and fly at least one way from my home in Norwich, and maybe notch up another couple of firsts. I found a bargain fare on BA from LHR to Manchester, which gave a few hours before the evening BE flight MAN - NWI (at £0 plus taxes). Getting to London proved trickier, as we'd planned to go in my friend's car, but given that it was a Sunday there was engineering work on the railway. This had the bonus of giving some relatively cheap fares booked only a few days in advance, as most rail websites directed traffic from Norwich to London via Cambridge, which doesn't offer any book-in-advance fares. Oddly, the standard class fare ended up at £14, whilst 1st class was £10.70! However, the journey took twice as long as it should, as there were two separate bus legs and an additional tube journey. Bus Norwich to Stowmarket, then join the train to Ingatestone, where another fleet of busses took us to Newbury Park tube for the train into London. After all this pfaff I eventually made it to Liverpool St, where I'd arranged to meet up with an old university friend for a few pints. He's working in London and a bit of a musician, and is part of a group with a free download EP out - http://www.invulnerable.co.uk/ Check it out After a good catch up, he headed on a bus back to Greenwich and I to the tube for Heathrow.

Heathrow

I got off the tube at Hounslow West and walked to the Travelodge along Bath Rd. It wasn't too far but would require the bus with luggage. Fortunately, I was given a room on the 5th floor at the back, with a view over the (distant) runway. As it was late, there wasn't much traffic at this time. I made a cup of tea and went to bed. The following morning, I checked out and headed along Bath Rd towards the airport. I stopped for breakfast at the McDonalds opposite the Rennaissance, and went over to the viewing terrace in front of the Academy. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten our big DSLR camera, so only had my old phone camera, but took a few pics of some heavies taking off just metres in front of me. Occasionally, 27R, which mostly had takeoffs, would halt to allow a BMI narrowbody to land - any idea why they didn't land on 27L like everyone else? After a while I headed to the bus stop on Bath Rd to take a bus to T5. The first bus that came was only going to the central bus station, so I took it and transferred to the Heathrow Express to T5. Up to departures to check in, I used a machine. The only details it asked for was my Executive Club card - after inserting this, I was checked in and advised to go through security. Bizarrely, it said that my ticket class was "C", even though it was a discount Y ticket - any ideas? (I did wonder if it was an upgrade, and asked at the entrance to the lounge, but alas no). I now had a couple of hours airside at T5, so wandered around, took some more pics and watched traffic.

LHR-MAN
British Airways
BA1394 Airbus 321
G-EUXK 6A/Window


View Large View Medium

Photo © Gareth Harvey


Eventually we were called for boarding 10 minutes later than scheduled departure time. I wasn't worried as I had allowed over 3 hours in Manchester. After loading, we pushed back, and started the long taxi to the other end of the airport to take off. It seemed like there were some queue jumpers just before our turn to take off! Captain warned us that there was likely to be some turbulance due to low cloud cover, but would be clear after that. We took off, and turned to the right. There wasn't really much turbulance at all. The cabin crew then started the service. I though that BA would offer a sandwich or something similar given that it was lunchtime, but no - we were offered a drink (I took apple juice) and either a sweet (cookie) or savoury (bag of dried friut and croutons) snack. I took the savoury. The video screens showed the map channel throughout the flight, so we could see our quick progress up the country. Looking out of the window on descent, I had a magnificent view of the Peak District, sorry no pictures as I only had my phone and of course it was switched off. It seemed that we were very low over the mountains, as the land dropped off and the airport was much lower. We touched down and came to a stop at a gate in T3.

Manchester

My next flight also departed from T3, so I decided to check in straight away, again from a machine. This one also gave me the option of picking a seat (I hadn't done this on booking, as it is chargeable on BE) and printed out a card boarding pass. I then went to look around. I remember from years ago that there was a landside food court area overlooking the apron, but it seems now that this has been shifted to airside, so there is nowhere warm and comfortable to view traffic I walked down to T1 and T2, but there was nothing noteworthy, except to note that both terminals seemed deserted. I went to the station as well, to check the price of a train ticket should there be a problem with the flight - £75 to Norwich one way, over double what the flight cost! As there was nothing doing anywhere, and I didn't have time to go to the viewing area with the Concorde (it was getting dark by now anyway) I headed for security. I was quickly airside and found a small selection of shops. I bought a sandwich meal from Boots (probably the best value food there is in airports these days) and sat by a window to eat. I read some of my book (Botswana Time by William Randall, highly recommended!) as they don't indicate which gate each flight is using until 30 mins before departure.

MAN-NWI
flyBE
BE446 Dash 8
G-ECOG 14D/Window


View Large View Medium

Photo © Brian Nicholas


The flight was called, and we boarded by stars. I was sitting under the wing, next to the engine. As it was dark, there wouldn't have been much of a view anyway. Unlike the Fokker 50 whose overhead lockers are tiny under the wing, the Dash 8's lockers remained full size the length of the cabin. The first officer came on the tannoy to report an ontime departure and arrival, that it was lightly raining in Norwich and to expect some turbulance (again). Takeoff was uneventful, the service onboard was BOB - I didn't buy anything, I'd be home in less than an hour! The flight was calm, until we started the descent (not much of one as the earlier announcement said we'd cruise at 12,000ft). Then you could feel the movement, and the buffeting from side to side. I was reminded of the SAS Dash 8 fleet, grounded after collapsing undercarriage, but we were ok. Landed and braked sharply on NWI's short runway, and taxied to the terminal. From deboarding to kerbside in 5 minutes, I then walked home, it only took 35 minutes which was quick for a journey on foot!

Overall, a good couple of days with planes and friends, but good to be back to my wife and baby!

There are a few pictures here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=133744&id=622281081&l=12104b6931