Naples to Manchester with Thomsonfly *Detailed*

(sorry for any typing errors, was very tired when I wrote this)

So, after a fantastic 2 weeks in Sorrento on Italys beautiful Neapolitan riviera, it was time to go home:(

The mini bus was scheduled to pick us up at 16:30 for thr 19:55 flight. The journey was very smooth, and we arived at Naples Airport at 17:45, and were greeted by a Thomson rep who showed us to the check in area-desks 8, 9, 10 in terminal 1, were being used for our flight. Tere were only a few people at check in, but we queued for about 20 mins as check in didnt open until 18:00. Once checked in, I saw that we were assigned seats 30 CDEF, meaning a 737-300 couldnt be operating the flight as scheduled. I wondered whether it would be a 752 or 738 instead.

We headed up to a large retail/catering area, and ordered some drinks anf sat and watched the apron movements. Runway 24 was in use today. At about 18:30, we headed through security and into the departure lounge, which was very airy and spacious, not the usual experience from oter italian airports I’ve used such as Verona and Bergamo, which are very cramped and squashed.

We did a bit of shopping in the duty free , and tehn found some seats to wait. At about 19:15 pm, I saw a blue Thomsonfly tail taxi towards us. I was quite excited to find out what aircraft it would be, the tail fin looked large so I guessed a 752. But as the plane emerged, I saw it was a 767-200, G-BYAA. I was very happy now, as I’ve only ever been on 1 widebody before- a Britannia 763 to Tenerife. And, it was probably my last chance to fly on a Thomsonfly 762 as they are being sold to Silverjet early 2008. However, I soon realised we were given a block of 4 seats in the 2-4-2 configuration ,no window:(

We then moved into non-schengen gate area, after anouth passport check point. Our gate was to be B15, and boarding should have commenced at 19:15. However, I highly doubted a 762 could be ready in only a 45 minute turn around slot used by the 733. As we enetered the gate area, tehre was some commotion with som eFrench and Italian passengers, who had been delayed 10 hours on a Alpi Eagles flight to Nice. Tehre was also some commotion over 2 unattened bags, and security was called in. We were eventully called for boarding at 20:00.

TOM3054
Napels Capodichino LIRN to Manchester Ringway International EGCC
Aircraft: Boeing 767-204ER, G-BYAA , “Sir Matt Busby C.B.E”

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1232274/L/
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1138617/L/

Scheduled/Actual Dep: 19:55/ 20:32
Scheduled/Actual Arr: 22:15/ 22:13
Scheduled/Actual flight time: 3 hours 20 minutes/ 2 hours 41 minutes
Load factor: 148/290 = 51%

So then, there was a very long queue at gate B15, so we decided to wait, and sat down at some seats for 10 mins. The queue died down, so a 20:15 we boarded the bus to the aircraft, which was parked at the other side of the terminal.

We arrived at the beautiful looking 767-200ER at 20:20, and quickly boarded up the rear air stairs. (I took a couple of snaps of the tail and a side view, which I will upload later.) At the top of the stairs, we were greeted by some very friendly cabin crew, who directed my down the right hand aisle to seat 30F. I settled into my seat, with my sister and parents next to me. It was avery comfy seat, the new leather style, and teh legroom was alright, but less than the outbound 733.

Boarding finished at 20:25, and doors were closed soon after. I noticed there were loads of spare seats, as there were only a 733 load of passengers. We all seemed to be concentrated to teh back of the plane. Some souples moved to some window seats, but the crew requested us to remain seated until after take off for balance reasons. Push back was at 20:28 during which a safety demo vidio was shown on the overhead screens. During the fast taxi to runway 24, teh Captain welcomed us and said Thomsonfly were having some technical problems with the 737 fleet, which is why we were on a 767. We would be flying at 40,000ft and the flight time woud be 2 hours 50 minutes as there were some moderate headwinds. He said take off should be very powerful as we were very light, and we would climb very steeply. He also said the flight crew loved the 762 due to their very poerful engines. He said there are 2 flight crew and 7 cabin crew onboard, and introduced them.

At 20:30, we taxied onto the runway, waited for a moment and then, we were off! It was a very powerful take off indeed. We were all thrown into our seat backs as ‘AA raced down the runway. We rotated after only 20 seconds.
We rocketed into teh sky, turning left, thenn right, over Naples city. After only 5 mins, the seatbelt signs were switched off, and we were at FL400 after only 10 mins of climbing! I quickly moved to window seat 28H, with my dad next to me.

The cabin crew began selling headsets, for the IFE. I had soem, so tuned in to see what was on: Two and a half men, “Numbers” ( an american drama), the Simpsons and a travel porgramme. The cabin crew commenced a bar service, so as we hadn’t booked meals, I had a cup o’ soup, and an orange juice, and my dads bag of cookies whcih came with his tea. The crew seemed very friendly, chatting to us and other passngers about our holiday.

The pilot once again updated us, and said we were now at 43,000ft! he said it was the highest altitude any current commercial airliner can fly at, and we probably would’nt be this high if the flight was full. We climbed to avoid turbulence below us.

After watching the Tv and listening to the radios, I looked out of the window for a while. After an hour we were over the alps, and the captain updated us once again that we were flying over Zurich. I then headed down to the toilets, located infron of the 2 over wing exits at row 16, and 17. There 4 toilets located here, 1 at each side and 2 in the middle section. There was also a toilet at the front, but the galleys were curatined off for the crew. I noticed the front half of the plane was almost empty, accept for about 20 people. Also, there were water fountains available in this little area, which I thought was a nice touch.

The meal service began soon, but only a handful of people had purchased them. With only an hour to go, we were over france, heading toward the channel over calais. We flew out over the channel and over kent, southende before heading inland. We began our descent, and the capatin informed us we would be landing soon, and said farewell etc. The aircarft shuddered slightly as speed brake was deployed to solw us down. We flew over England in the dark, but I could see East Midlands Airport all lit up. The crew made some final checks of the cabin, collecting litter, questionnaires etc. An announcement was made that cabin lights would be dimmed, but we could use the reading light above us.

Soon, flaps were selected and we made a left turn to align with Manchester’s runway 23R. About 6 miles out, I heard the thud of teh landing gear, as well as full flaps being deployed. We flew lower, over the airport boundry, past the pub at the end of the runway, and touched down with a littkle bump opposite terminal 1 at 22:13, 2 minutes early! A tiny amount of reverse thrust was used, but we rolled out along teh runway, vacating it opposite teh viewing park, where concorde was all lit up. The crew welcomed us to Manchester, and said farewell. We taxied past T1 to T2, where we parked at gate 206@ 20:20. The airbridge was quickly attached, and disembarkation began from door 1L. We got off at 20:25, into a very chilly airbridge. It took us 10 mins to get through passprt control, and into the arrivals hall. We waited at carousel 3, and at 20:40, bags began to appear. We had all of our 4 bags within 5 mins – a record at Manchester!

We walked into arrivals, across the deserted road and into T2 hort stay, where our car was parked. However, this is where it all goes wrong:mad:
My dad used his electronic key to open the car-no response. Oh Cr*p! The car battery had died:mad: we got into the car using the manual key, but nothing was working. My dad rang the RAC, who said a rescue vehicle would be dispatched with 30 mins. It was now 23:00, so me, my mum and sister decided to get drinks. In T2 departures, nothing was open! There was only 1 flight checking in, FCA to Palma. We headed to arrivals to find bar open. We bought 4 coffees, costing £9! And we thought Italy was expensive!

Anyway, the rescue guy called and said he’d brought a large van, which couldn’t fit into the short stay,as he thought we were long stay, even though we said short stay a million times to the operator.:mad: After 30 mins, he was back with a small car,a nd got the engine runnig. It was no 01:30!! 3hours since we arrived! We got home at 02:30, heading straight to bed!

So that was the flight! I enjoyed it immensly, the 767-200 being a big bonus. The crew were friendly and effient, the Captain extremely informative, and the aircraft was in great shape, to say it was 17 years old! I think, after travelling Thomsonfly on 5 flights, they are a good airline. Its a shame they are adopting the low cost thing, because everything apart from the seat costs extra. It is very different from the good old Britannia days with its 360 service. However, times have changed and more people travel D.I.Y so I see why tehy have changed. I wish FCA didn’t merge, because I have never travelled with them and would love to do so as they are supposed to be great, and I love their livery!

Thanks for reading!

(Look out for my next report in a few weeks when I travel on jet2.com from Leeds Bradford to Palma, on the 733 and the 752!)