STN-CGN-LGW, GWI & EZY June 07

Thanks in advance for viewing!

A German Exchange trip to Bonn allowed me, philgatwick05 and another guy to travel by plane to Cologne/Bonn airport. Far better than by coach, which the other lot had to travel in. We chose Germanwings for the outbound journey from Stansted, and easyJet for the return back to Gatwick. Neither Phil or I had been on Germanwings, Phil had never been on easyJet and I had never been from Stansted.

4U0331
STD: 0805
ATD: 0825
STA: 1015
ATA: 1018
D-AKNS

The day began early at 3.30 for me as I ensured about 5 times that I had my passport, insurance stuff and E-ticket. Phil’s dad came round to pick me up at just before 4 and at just past 4 we all set off for Stansted, a one hour drive at this time of day.

The drop-off area at Stansted was exceptionally busy, as was the terminal. Our flight was not on the board at this time, so I went and got a ‘paper. Then, our check-in desk number appeared and we headed off to the desk, opposite the main easyJet check-in area. There were 2 Germanwings flights – one to Stuttgart & our one to Cologne. We checked in at about 5.45 and were issued with our boarding passes. My one was seq. number 5, I think.

Security control was not as horrific as usual for a BAA airport, however it did take about 20 minutes to pass through, including a scan of our shoes. Once on the other side, we did the usual stuff like visit the shops, grab something to eat/drink and sit around. I had to buy my exchange partner’s family something, so I went to ‘Glorious Britain’ shop and bought some fudge and some chocolate.

It was about 7.30 when we were called to Gate 1 instead of Gate 6 which was advertised on our boarding cards. Gate 1 meant we had to take the transit train thing which only took a minute or so. When we arrived at our satellite pier, it was quite full, with a fair number of flights going. A Globespan 737 was being tugged onto one stand. Our plane was already in early from Cologne. To my delight, it was a logo-jet!!
It was D-AKNS, ‘Spirit of T-Mobile’:
http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=5983961

D-AKNK arrived from Stuttgart as our flight began boarding in a rather chaotic manner, typical of a LCC. It was a short walk out to our ex-US Airways pink A319. We were welcomed aboard by one of the all German crew, who told us we could sit anywhere. We took a row of 3 just behind the wing on row 17.

Boarding was complete at 8.05, but the captain informed us of a ATC Slot restriction which meant we couldn’t go before 0825. The weather for the 50 minute flight was to be good, although the weather in Cologne was apparently very similar to that in Stansted – gloomy but mild.

We pushed back from stand at around 8.15 and started the engines. I love the sound that the Airbus series make. The flaps were set as we taxied towards runway 23. The Stuttgart flight, was landed after our one, took off as we queued for departure behind a Ryanair 738 and an Air Berlin 737. I saw that a CSA A319 arrived as well. We took off at 0825 from rwy 23 and climbed very quickly away into the clouds, heading south-east towards the Thames.

The inflight service was average, but the cabin crew seemed to spend an awful lot of time hiding behind the curtain at the front of the cabin. That said, there was nothing else to fault and the remainder of the flight passed smoothly before we descended at 0855 UK time, 30 minutes after takeoff. We estimated that load factor was about 60%

Very quickly we were in thick cloud and it was only about 30 seconds prior to landing that we saw the ground. 32R was in use so it was a very short taxi to the terminal. The Germanwings MD80 was being pushed back as we shut-down and a bus took us to the baggage reclaim area. The baggage came through exceptionally quickly but there were only a few items on the belt, since the flight was mostly full of business people with hand baggage.

A quick visit to the viewing area followed…

… before we had to take bus 670 to Bonn. 6€30 for a 30 minute journey was very reasonable value.

Overall, Germanwings appeared to be a good airline but nothing special. The logo-jet certainly made it far more interesting :).

EZY5344
STD: 1035
ATD: 1110
STA: 1050
ATA: 1111
G-EZEB

One week later it was time to fly back. The bus got us to the airport well ahead of the check-in opening time, but it was already open and we checked in and got group A for boarding. The terminal was quite quiet at this time, but it gradually became busier as the morning went on. Nothing much to comment on really except the sale of ridiculously overpriced bottles of water (3€30 !) and a Flightline service to Southend.

Our plane, scheduled for departure at 10.35, had a delay of 15 minutes due to the usual ‘reason’ of “due to a delay on the inbound aircraft”. It did make my smile when a few people charged up to the front of the queue at the gate when the gate staff arrived even thought the plane wasn’t even there!

G-EZEB landed at 1025 and arrived on stand at 1030. The airbridge was quickly attached and the passengers, predominantly businessmen, disembarked. It must have been only a minute after the last passenger had disembarked when the flight was made available for boarding for ‘Speedy Boarding’ passengers and those with infants.

Afterwards, the usual scrum took place but, to their credit, the gate staff strictly enforced the boarding system that easyJet have.

Hideously backlit and with numerous other faults, I took this snap of a Conty 757, which was preparing for departure to EWR.

There were 4 crew today, 2 male and 2 female. They were Darren, Billy, Charlotte & Karen. The flight was totally full. This time we got row 18. The doors were shut at 1058 and we pushed back at 1100. This was a fabulous turnaround by the crew – in and out again in 30 minutes.

Today runway 14L was in use, so it was a very short taxi, made even quicker by the high taxi speed. We had to wait for an Air Berlin Fokker to land and then we lined-up and took off, after a long takeoff run, at 1110 local.

It was a wonderfully clear day so excellent views of the Rhine area were available, as seen in the photos above.

The flight deck announcement came as we reached our cruise altitude of 32000 feet. Our captain was Maria (something) Dickens and we had a senior first officer with us. She apologised for the delay once again and for the fact that she didn’t speak to us on the ground at Cologne. She gave us an ETA of 1110, 15 minutes late, and told us that it was lovely day in Gatwick as well.

We could only have been cruising for about 5 minutes before the descent began, most probably following the TIMBA2E arrival route since I recognised the Medway towns. Looking at the radar pictures, we flew over Crowborough, Haywards Heath and Billingshurst before turning to establish on 08R. BA7952 was infront of us and GR602 was behind us. We slammed down on the runway at 1111 and taxied swiftly to the stand, where the passengers for the next flight to Palma were already assembling. It was refreshing to finally see the South Terminal baggage reclaim area finally complete after its re-fit, although the Passport Control area is still a dump.:(

So, hope you enjoyed reading this report. Please feel free to comment.:)