Day to Malaga: 7th Nov

Took a jolly off to Malaga curtsy of Shamrock 😛
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Saturday 7th November 2009
Gatwick (LGW) – Malaga (AGP)
Aer Lingus
EI 902
ETD 06:40
ATD XXXX
ETA 10:30
ATA XXXX

Airbus A320-200
EI-DEE St.Ultan
Seat 29F

Introduction
After spending all summer on the ground and being a month into college studies mainly around aviation, i was eager to get myself on another one of my trips as soon as possible. First week of October, Aer Lingus had a sale where Malaga was £9.99 outbound and £19.99 in, and without hesitation i booked up a day trip return for the day. Total cost came to £38.98, including the £5 each sector booking fee. So I was all booked up, however nobody was willing to come along with me and it then dawned on me that this trip would be me on my own. Not really a big deal to some, but for me it was. Flying on my own i am very comfortable with, however knowing that it would be just me going around the city and finding the spotting places did worry me a little.

Check-In
Fast-forward a month and it was time to get ready to leave. After a very relaxed day at college i headed home to get some shut eye before going up to Gatwick the night before. I had decided with my mum that staying at Gatwick the night would be the easiest for everybody, as nobody would have to wake up a stupid o’clock to drive me to drop me off and i would already be there. At around 23:00 mum dropped me off at South Terminal departures and from there i headed straight to W.H. Smith’s to stock up on crisps and energy drink to keep me awake throughout the night. After Smiths i went to the special assistence seating area, next to the Zone B entrance, to sit down and wait for my flight. During the night this place is one of the last to get filled up with other passengers as it says no entry so as long as you get there early enough you will get a seat or two. The night continued on and around 03:00-03:30 a queue started to form around the Zone B door, i decided not to get up just yet, but within 5 minutes it was already past the lifts, a good 50 metres. So i jumped up and joined the queue. At 04:00 on the dot the doors were unlocked and the queue streamed in. What amazaed me was that none of the passengers ahead of me had gone to the self service check in, and had i waited in the queue it would have been at least another 15 minutes until i got to the desk and would not have got my desired seat. So i went ahead and checked in for my flight, choosing seat 29F. Boarding pass printed i strolled off towards security. For perhaps the first time in my life the metal detector did not go off, i thought “this is fantastic i can go straight away” only for the hope to be crushed when the staff member said that my bag had been selected for a security check. So the guy dismanteled my bag and was amazed to see the only thing in my bag was my camera, he had a little play around with it and took several swabs to ensure no harmful residue was deposited on it. Shortly after i was free to enter into the departure lounge.

Gatwick
The time at this point was around 04:30 and i still had 2 hours to kill until boarding on my flight commenced. First thing to do was to get some food in my stomach, so i marched off to McDonalds. I went for the Sausage & Egg McMuffin, however after finishing it i was still hungry so then went and bought a double McMuffin. After this i felt much better and decided that i would make some use of the time looking around the duty free shops. The usual stores were my main port of call, however i also strayed into World Duty Free, to see what after shave to ask for Christmas. With all my window shopping complete i took a seat to wait for my gate to be assigned and 10 minutes later it had, Gate 14. This stand did not have an airbridge so boarding would happen via air stairs, brilliant on a freezing cold morning. So i set off from the lounge to the gate on Pier 2 and within no time i was there and sat down waiting to board.

Boarding
Boarding commenced around 05:50. There was no real sequence to boarding, it was just like a free for all. All passengers hurded from their seats to the doors to go down the stairs and out onto the freezing cold ramp. We stood there shaking for what seemed like an eternity before we actually got onto the plane. When i got on the plane, the cabin crew informed me where my seat is, which even though i knew, was still nice that they help regardless. After a nice long walk down the cabin waiting for other passengers to put items in the over head bins i finally reached me seat. I was amazed, i thought i had shrunk or something, i had so much legroom. And as if that was not enough, i had 29E/D/F all to myself. After boarding was complete the crew carried out a headcount, of which the load must have been around 80-85% so rather high. We then pushed back from our stand to get ready to taxi.

Departure
Taxi took only a few minutes and we was holding at Alpha 2 behind two other Aer Lingus aircraft with an easyJet taxiing down Alpha South for runway 26L In sequence all three Aer Lingus aircraft took off behind one another, i believe they were off to Faro and Vienna. We then rocketed down the runway and was airbourne just before the fire trainer. The departure was fairly normal and i was able to talk through the movements as they happened, such as throttle back to climb and gear in etc.

In-Flight
We continued our climb to the west towards Southampton VOR on the SAM4M strandard instrument departure. This took us right over Dunsfold airfield, were TV Series Top Gear is filmed, on the ground visable was a business jet of some description as well as the resident 747. When we reached Southampton we turned left to head on the airway off to the Channel Islands as we continued our climb up to Flight Level 370, 37000ft. Shortly after passing Poole Habour the crew came around offering drinks and snacks. I decided i wasn’t too hungry or thursty at this stage, so kinly rejected. Tiredness was beginning to kick in, after having only 45 minutes sleep in two days. So i nodded off. Next thing i knew was flying around somewhere over the Bay of Biscay. However i woke up slightly hungry so turned into the galley and bought me a 7UP. The stewardess kindly offered me a cup with ice which i accepted. I turned back into my seat and began to sip on my drink. Five minutes passed of me casually every now and again taking a sip, then the seat belt sign came on. Immediatly a big grin was bought to my face, i just love turbulence. However i then thought about my drink, it was half full and would spill everywhere. I decided i would invent a game “The old balance of the drink”, so i sat there throughout the whole turbulence balancing my drink to ensure none fell out. After the turbulence died down i was so pleased, not one spillage and i continued on to finish my drink.

We then crossed over the the land into Spain. Once again the seat belt signs lit up and we entered into another period of bumpyness. However this time around not as violent as the last. The remainder of the flight was rather unieventful with only the Spanish scenery to keep me amused, we flew over a wind farm and i counted 40 turbines until i got bored. Makes me laugh people go crazy after one proposed in this country, there must have been at least 100 there, makes me wonder what they did! We routed towards the west of Madrid and onto Seville. We then began our decent into Malaga.

Approach
Having pre-checked the weather the previous day i knew that our arrival runway would be runway 31. This was fantastic for me as it ment my spotting location would be worthwhile. I am unsure of our arrival route, i can only presume we flew the VOR/DME into the airport, as we appeared to fly right over Malaga city out towards the sea then turned back towards the airport. The visibility was amazing, on the horizon i could make out the land formations of Morocco and Gibraltar Rock. We then continued in to runway 31, which was very low. So low I could see people on boats below as we flew overhead. We then captured the ILS and the gear dropped as well as the flaps. The approach was nice, it took us in low over a beach, golf course, shopping complex and motorway. The landing was also nice, we kissed the ground very gently and rolled out with the speed breaks and reverse thrusts deployed. Taxi to the gate was quick and we ended up on Pier C next to a flyglobespan 737 G-SAAW. On the ground also was a couple of Transavia, a few easyJet a Norweign Air Shuttle and an Andalus E135.

Conclusion
I was pleased with the whole flight, having the whole row to myself was a bonus. Like my other trips i cannot fault Aer Lingus on price either, at just under £40 return is very good and i would strongly recommend others take advantage of such sales. However, my day there was very long, the traffic is a little slow the spot i went to offered only backlit shots of arrivals and shots of departures had trees and other forground obstacles. In order to go to the best spots at the airport a car is required.

Josh Rice

http://ldn.mjk.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=73&Itemid=73

Pictorial (Images this size due to site publication)