Your last plane journey

[orudge]

My last flight was from Aberdeen to London Gatwick on easyJet. A319, 6.05am flight. Delayed by about 10-15 minutes as the plane needed re-de-icing (in May…). Flight was fine enough though.

I have another easyJet flight booked later in the year (LIS-EDI) as flights from LIS to ABZ via LHR or AMS that didn’t involve leaving at 6am had 5+ hour waits at the respective hub airports. So even with the need to get from Edinburgh Airport to home, I’ll still be home quicker than if I flew with BA or KLM.

[orudge]

Another trip to the US, this time on Aer Lingus once again!

First up, ABZ - DUB on an Aer Lingus Regional (Emerald Airlines) ATR 72. Flight was fine, though no hot drinks available. Arrived at a bus gate, but the bus arrived at Terminal 2 and dropped me pretty much directly outside US precedence, which was fine. Though I still had an hour or so to wait before I could go through that way!

Then it was DUB - MSP, on an Aer Lingus A321XLR in business class. Long queue to go down to US preclearance, which was a bit frustrating, but once I got downstairs, there was no queue at the business class security line, and Global Entry meant I was just waved through by the immigration officer after scanning my face at the machine, which was super quick! The airport lounge was very pleasant, then the flight itself was very nice indeed - comfortable, good food and drink, WiFi that wasn’t brilliant but which worked well enough, and a great entertainment system. The flight also landed nearly an hour early, which is unusual in my experience for westbound flights. Had to wait a while (maybe half an hour) for my bag to come through, but was then able to get into a Lyft almost instantly to take me to my hotel. Pretty good travel day overall.

Then, after 4 days of meetings and suchlike, it was back to MSP for my flight home. Global Entry gave me TSA PreCheck, which meant a very short queue and quick security check. Into the Escape lounge at MSP, which was crowded, but gave me somewhere fairly peaceful to wait. The flight was slightly delayed due to the inbound flight being late, but was again comfortable on board (A321XLR business class again). Due to the relatively short length of the flight (about 6:30 hours) I skipped the meal and just tried to sleep, though did enjoy breakfast in the morning - the bacon roll was especially welcome. Ended up at a gate that took us along a very long walk through construction areas to the connections but, then quickly through back to the main terminal area.

My final flight was on Loganair, an ATR 72. Visited the Phoenix lounge, an airport-run lounge, and enjoyed a hot shower and a second breakfast, and watched YouTube and did a little work while waiting for my flight (and trying to stave off fatigue). Went down to the gate to find that the incoming flight was delayed around 45 minutes. Eventually boarded and took off about an hour late. Loganair service excellent as usual - cup of tea and a biscuit for free, which is more than Aer Lingus or indeed BA give you in economy! After arriving in Aberdeen, my bag then came out first onto the baggage belt, so back to the car and off home!

[Pilot]

Few more to add to the list.

Wednesday 26th August
SEN-AMS (U27551)
easyJet A320 (OE-IJD, operated by easyJet Europe)
Seat 18A

A quick hop over to the Netherlands for a railtour out there, based out of Rotterdam.

First time using Southend Airport; an easy experience, with no queue at security. Flight was on-time, and nice enough, barely enough time to notice it, which was a bonus with the people around me being on a lads trip to Amsterdam.

We landed on the Polderbaan at Schiphol, so we taxied to the gate for what felt almost as long as the flight itself!

Sunday 30th August
AMS-LCY (KL995)
KLM Cityhopper E190 (PH-EZP)
Seat 19C

And a nice quick hop back as well, using London City for the first time.

Whilst we approached City from the East, so wasn't quite as impressive an approach as it could have been, the approach was still one heck of an experience. I think it's the first time I've ever been on a plane that has the engines at high throttle setting at the same time as having the Spoilers deployed!

Landed before we took off, and after a smooth dart through City Airport, I was on the DLR and managed to make it to Marylebone for my train home within about an hour of landing.

Wednesday 9th September
LTN-SKP (W94702)
Wizzair A321neo (G-WUKP, operated by Wizzair UK)
Seat 11A

Myself and a couple lads from work decided to head to North Macedonia for a few days!

After a half day at work it was off to the Airport, and Luton was smooth sailing thankfully.

Also smooth sailing was Skopje Airport, where it took no time at all to pass through passport control as one of the last arrivals of the day. After this it was a sketchy 140km/h ride in a taxi to the city, with the driver weaving in and out of traffic and no working seatbelts in the back!

Skopje itself, as well as the surrounding area, was lovely to visit though. It's definitely a quirky place!

Sunday 13th September (well...)
SKP-LTN (W94701)
Wizzair A321neo (G-WUKW, operated by Wizzair UK)
Seat 23B

And so it was time to head back. We got a cab to the airport early as we were seeing a friend off on another flight, and thankfully this cab was much more sensible!

With 5.5 hours to kill in the airport, it wasn't appreciated when we got the email saying the flight was delayed by 30 minutes until midnight! Especially as we had to check-in in person, which wasn't done until 2 hours before scheduled departure. Thankfully, I managed to be one of the first people through the check-in, and thanks to being the only flight for around 2-3 hours, flew through passport control, security and into the lounge.

Eventually we boarded the flight, and finally took off at 00:04 on Monday, which considering I didn't have the day off work, wasn't appreciated! I did try and have some sleep on the plane, but being in the middle seat with restless people around didn't assist that, and I maybe managed a 10 minute nap. Landing at Luton was only about 10-15 minutes late, but with an 04:00 arrival home, it still left very little time to sleep before the start of my day!

[orudge]

We landed on the Polderbaan at Schiphol, so we taxied to the gate for what felt almost as long as the flight itself!

Ah, always a fun experience!

I had a couple of BA flights at the start of the month, ABZ - LHR and back again two days later, both on BA of course. Airbus A320 both ways, including my 4th time on G-EUYI on the way down!

Next up in 3½ weeks should be BA from EDI - LHR - my first time flying from EDI since 2015, then a stay at the Hilton Garden Inn Terminals 2 and 3, then a very early start to catch the 06:00 TAP Portugal departure to Lisbon, on an A321. That'll be my first time using Terminal 2 at Heathrow, though how much will be open at 4.30am remains to be seen. (Apparently security doesn't even open before then!) Then I'll be on easyJet direct from LIS to EDI for my return journey a few days later.