Flight Review
I flew these routes with British Airways on Thursday 20th and Monday 24th February 2003.
I posted my original flight reviews with British Airways on Monday night (or at least, I tried to), my computer froze up and I lost my reviews and had to write them again.
Both reviews were uploaded onto CarSurvey.org on Tuesday morning and this is copied and pasted from there…
BA2560 London Gatwick to Bologna
British Airways flight BA2560 to Bologna was scheduled to depart at 08:15hrs from London Gatwick.
We were called to board the aircraft at gate 52 from 07:30hrs and had to walk onto the tarmac to board the Boeing 737 (G-DOCN) by a set of steps.
We departed from runway 8R on time and made a steady right turn after takeoff, heading towards our destination.
Within a few minutes of takeoff, we were served a breakfast. Being such a basic 737, it did not have the facilities to store/heat hot food. Our breakfast consisted of either a Cheese and Ham filled croissant or an egg salad wrap, both served with a four fruit salad and a raspberry flavoured yoghurt.
Drinks (which are included in the price) were served afterwards.
Once our meals had been eaten and the mess cleared away, we were rapidly approaching Bologna, flying over the Alps. Being such a clear day, the views were spectacular.
We arrived at Bologna, Italy, well within the 2 hours and 10 minutes of time assigned for the flight and had to board a bus at the airport which did not have jetways. The bus took just over 5 minutes to fill up and it then drove forward about 5 metres and made a right turn, then stopped! We had been driven all of 10 metres and were told we were not permitted to walk on the apron!
Passing through Bologna was stress-free and quick. Just a bit of confusion with luggage being taken by another passenger with the same case.
Great flight (again) with British Airways, just a very expensive one @ £138.00 return.
BA2563 Bologna to London Gatwick
British Airways flight BA2563 was scheduled for a departure of 17:40hrs from Bologna.
We checked in at about 16:00hrs and proceeded to the rather small departures area after passing through the extremely poor security. After failing the metal detector test, a security officer simply looked at the soles of my shoes and did not make any attempt to use his hands to search me.
The check-in staff had told us we would be going from Gate 1 and that boarding would commence at 17:00hrs.
The incoming aircraft (G-BVNN) did not arrive until 16:50hrs and the planned time for boarding had been abolished.
My boarding card said that the gate would close at 17:10hrs, but we hadn’t even started to board at this time.
After boarding the bus again, we were driven from Gate 2 to the aircraft where we boarded and departed a few minutes late, time which was not made up during the flight.
We were served an evening meal which was a choice of Cheese and Tomato OR Ham in a wholemeal bread roll, served with Coconut Pie and a kiwi and pineapple salad.
Drinks were served quickly and every passenger was offered a hot drink and a cold drink, not like the outbound flight. I had a tea and glass of apple juice.
I later on asked one of the crew members if they had any pretzels, he returned with two clear sacks of the things, each containing no less than 50 bags of Worcestershire Sauce flavoured snacks and told me to help myself and feed the rest of the party, and to put the remaining packets to one side once finished. As you can imagine, forty hungry kids and 100 packets of pretzels… there were none left!
The crew were very friendly and talkative and always more than happy to help.
We arrived at Gatwick about 5 to 10 minutes behind schedule and passed through the North Terminal in no more than 15 minutes.
Well done British Airways.
Other Information
Flying to Bologna, we had a female pilot and co-pilot and three male stewards and just one female. Flying home again was a male flight crew and 2 men and 2 women in the cabin.
At Bologna on both the 20th and 24th (the 2 days I was there) was a Channel Express A300 aircraft. There didn’t appear to be much going on with it.
The airport was having an aircraft movement every 10-15 minutes and used by easyJet/Go, British Airways (flying there twice daily), Meridiana, Alitalia, Lufthansa and KLM using a Fokker 100 to fly the route. There were also some smaller, local carriers flying in and out.
The airport does not have any jetways and a gate is simply a coach boarding point and you are driven to the aircraft.
By: A330Crazy - 1st March 2003 at 23:09
“Quite plain really in their Union Jack colour scheme…”
Ahh… plain they may be but their still in the best BA livery of all.
By: wysiwyg - 1st March 2003 at 16:48
A few short explanations:
According to my friend in BA product and service all BA 737’s have ovens but Bologna isn’t considered worthy of a hot meal unless you are in club.
About the 10 meter bus journey – no matter the distance involved rules is rules. This is governed by insurance as aprons and passengers wandering freely don’t mix. Passengers have a habit of wandering off (even on a 10 meter journey!) to take photos, etc.
The security people wanted to see your shoes as a direct consequence of Richard Wright, the shoe bomber. We amuse ourselves by calling it ‘ a bit of sole searching!’
The Channex A300 would have been busy at night with the crew resting in a hotel by day.
Regards
wys
By: EGNM - 1st March 2003 at 01:39
and some sadacts like mysen r just off to bed after landing in GCTS!
By: T5 - 1st March 2003 at 01:30
It’s almost 1:30am and I’m not tired – I must have something wrong with me!
Anyway, thought I’d take this opportunity to post two pics of BA 737-400s, G-DOCN and G-BVNN, the aircraft I flew on to and from Italy. Quite plain really in their Union Jack colour scheme…
By: Saab 2000 - 28th February 2003 at 19:34
I think Florence itself has an airport T5, I can remember Meridiana operating Gatwick flights with a BAe 146.
By: A330Crazy - 28th February 2003 at 19:12
A very good read T5. Im glad that you enjoyed your flights. BA don’t sound too bad from your report.
Thanks. 🙂
By: T5 - 28th February 2003 at 18:40
Saab,
It was indeed Florence we travelled to. We spent 4 nights in the most awful hotel you could imagine. The trip was a Sixth Form one so it was 40 boys aged 17 or 18.
It’s a very scenic city with plenty to see and do. But being part of a school trip, you can probably imagine, your life is run by others and you have little choice in what you do.
The trip cost £290 for flights plus 4 nights accommodation in what was supposedly a 2* hotel. I always stay in 3* or above when travelling (I don’t mean to sound snobby), but I would have preferred and would recommend to anyone to pay the extra and get better for your money.
The city itself is (again, in my opinion) a very overpriced one. If you want food on a shoestring, order a takeaway pizza every night! Absolutely huge Margharita pizzas with extras on top can cost as little as £3 and these feed 3 or 4, but with an appetite like mine, it feeds just one!
Bologna Airport wasn’t the nearest airport for us to fly into. Within 5 minutes of leaving our Hotel in the centre of it all, I noticed an ATR72 of Alitalia turning above us, approaching another airport.
The airport was approximately 90 minutes by coach from the airport.
At the airport, I noticed a group of passengers boarding a Go-Fly flight to Stansted. However, the aircraft aren’t parked at the terminal, they can be parked quite far away. All I could see parked out on the airfield was an easyJet 737, would this easyJet aircraft be flying for Go in it’s own colour scheme?
By: Saab 2000 - 28th February 2003 at 16:41
Yes very interesting and informative. Was It Florence you were going to? Did you enjoy Italy?
By: EGNM - 28th February 2003 at 16:33
Yep saw the review on carsurvey – like the notes at the bottom!
By: KabirT - 28th February 2003 at 15:44
very well written…a great read! 🙂
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February 28, 2003 at 2:38 pm