Our next flight was BA394, a 12:40 departure to Brussels from terminal four. This was the first time we had flown from that terminal. We went through the fast track security check, located gate 3 and headed for it. Terminal four has lots of shops but it is a weird building, with ugly pipes and things on the ceiling.
I had read about BA scheduling larger aircraft on the European routes to clear the backlog caused by the recent fog, so when I saw this at gate three I was happy…
But it wasn’t ours.
The lack of proper audible announcements in T4 is a problem, it’s no good someone sitting behind a desk muttering about priority boarding when there is alot of noise and people can’t hear above it! The flight was never called over the address system at the gate so we were rather haphazard at boarding.
We boarded outside via steps, and our flight was to be operated by A319 G-EUPK. We had seats 20A and 20B, which was a back wing view and quite good.
The cluttered apron of terminal four.
The Scottish captain introduced himself and told us the flight would last 40 minutes. The cabin crew consisted of two stewards and three stewardesses. The announcements were made in French and Dutch from a tape and English from the crew. The safety demo consisted of a video.
At 12:50 we were pushed back and at 13:09 we took off.
LHR after take off.
The airshow moving map display shortly after leaving LHR.
As we queued to boad flight BA1387, I was pleased to see it was a 757, G-BPEE. I had photographed that plane at MAN last June.
We had been given seats 18A and 18B, window and aisle. We were greeted by the male purser, there was a cabin crew of six – two stewards and four stewardesses.
We had a wing view, which was a pity but there was alot of cloud about so there wouldn’t be much to see.
View from my seat.
We weren’t allowed to fasten our seatbelts because the aircraft was not yet fuelled, and we had to wait for ages for a fuel truck to come and fill up the tanks for the flight. Thanks to the crew for keeping everyone informed in such an interesting way!
Eventually the tanks were filled and we could fasten our seatbelts.
BA’s inflight magazine.
The 757’s safety card.
We were pushed back at 10:23 and the safety demonstration took place. We taxied to runway 24R and took off at 10:34 after a very short run.
We climbed through cloud and soon we were above the low clouds. The Captain was very informative and told us that the flight would last 35 minutes, we would approach over Windsor with two right turns and one left turn into Heathrow. I like to hear an informative pilot.
Cloud viewed from the 757.
Very soon the cabin crew started serving the inflight snack – a very pleasant hot panini filled with egg, tomato and sausage. I had orange juice to drink.
The panini.
There was very slight turbulence inflight but nothing too bad.
We descended through the cloud and landed at 11:10. Many passengers had to get to terminal four quickly to catch imminent departing flights (Lagos, Sydney and Copenhagen) so a special bus was provided for them. The rest of the passengers were bussed to the domestic arrivals area of terminal one because we had parked on an international stand.
Passengers leaving the 757 at LHR, taken from the bus.
We dashed through the arrivals area trying to follow the badly-signed route to flight connections, we ended up on the Heathrow Express to terminal four.
The flight had been very good, seated in the middle cabin of this three-cabin aircraft was very comfortable with leather seating. The crews had been very pleasant and professional and we had thoroughly enjoyed our first ride in a 757.
Our flight – SN2191 – was to depart from B27. There were alot waiting in the gate area, and at 19:10 the boarding call was made.
Our aircraft was RJ100 OO-DWD.
We were greeted by the female purser and settled into our seats.
My beloved back engine view.
The other flight attendant was a stewardess (surprise, surprise – we never get stewards on our flights any more).
This time there was no Connect handed out.
The aircraft was pushed back at 19:29 and taxied to 25R. We waited ages to take off, as loads of aircraft were leaving at that time. The pilot used the wait to explain the conditions along the way.
There was a possibility of light turbulence because of thunderstorms over the North Sea, and it was misty in Newcastle. The flight would last 1 hour 10 minutes. He finished his speech by saying we could take advantage of the delay in take off to enjoy the SNBA in flight service. How do you do that when everyone is strapped in their seats at the end of the runway?
At 19:49 we took off. The initial climb was smooth, but as we reached higher altitude we encountered some slight turbulence. Above the cloud it was calm.
The snack was a change from fruit tart – pasta salad (which I didn’t eat because of the beans), a cheese sandwich, a biscuit and a carton of water.
The snack.
I had one milk chocolate when the chocolate basket was passed round.
We saw a nice sunset as we headed towards England.
As we descended to Newcastle, the turbulence increased, as we expected, and it was dark as we approached along the coast.
The lights of Newcastle.
At 19:49 we landed in NCL. It was raining a bit, but not too heavy. We left the aircraft and went to baggage reclaim.
Then the fun started. We waited and waited for our luggage. One of the airport staff told us there would be a small delay with our luggage, but as we waited longer, people began to think that our luggage had gone on the wrong plane, as we could not see any signs of anything leaving the aircraft. Finally, we all breathed a sigh of relief when the luggage started to appear, then the carousel jammed and stopped, which did not please people whose luggage had not come through.
Eventually, our bags arrived, and we caught the Metro to Newcastle Central and walked to our hotel – the Jurys Inn (very nice and new).
We had two great flights, fantastic weather, great food and beer, visited gorgeous places and I am back again at Christmas, though not with SNBA.
Next year we are having a change from Brugge but going somewhere I am just as fond of.
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