So after that episode, we soon started our descent into PIK. The weather was better but was far from great, still cloudy with some showers. Once we had broken through the cloud we got a better view of the Ayrshire countryside. 🙂

FR407 20th October
Boeing 737-800 EI-DAX
ETD: 08.45
ATD: 08.55
ETA: 09.45
ATA: 09.40

Checked-in about 1.5 hrs before and got sequence number 30. Headed straight to security, where there was hundreds of people piling through, luckily there was just about enough machines in use to keep the queues moving fairly quickly.
Waited at gate 81 for boarding to be called, but of course as soon as there is the slightest sign of action from the gate agent everyone runs for the gate, only to queue to 25 mins. :rolleyes:
Boarding commenced and I was one of the first dozen or so on the aircraft, the weather couldn’t get much worse, visibility was awful so got a bit wet walking across the tarmac. Took a seat in 10A just in front of the left engine.
This flight was also full, no more than a couple of empty seats. Pushed back slightly late at the same time as a Jet2 B733 G-CELZ next to us. A ‘boy-racer’ style taxi to r/w 23 followed! 😮 Typical of FR I guess.
Again a rolling take-off occurred, the next couple of pics highlight quite nicely the lovely weather at STN this morning. 😉 An NCA 747F! Had never seen one before. Don’t be fooled, STN isn’t all just EZY and FR! 😉
We were into the cloud before we had even left the airport boundries!

Quite a firm touchdown followed at STN on r/w 23 and some major braking. We then taxied in to the domestic pier at STN past the FLS hangers, where D-AVRA was present, presumably routine maintainance? and past the cargo ramp(I noticed the Fedex ramp was empty) with the ever impressive control tower STN has in the background, gives a fairly good impression of what EDI’s will look like when finished. We parked up next to an Aurigny Saab 340 with 2 or 3 EZY 737s on the left hand side. Then you here the clicking and unbuckling of the seat belts by what seemed like all the passengers(flight was 100% full) before the engines were off and before the seat belt sign was off. :rolleyes:
Then, as we were walking across the bridge joining the domestic pier with the main terminal building I saw what looked like something pretty big on approach, right anough it was a Fedex MD11, in a desperate attempt to get a pic I took it through dirty glass, it didn’t work! :rolleyes:

About 40mins or so after we left PIK, we commenced our descent into STN.
The big thing in the second pic was heading was heading East, presumably to the Far East? Clearly we were significantly lower by then, and I crave for a camera with better zoom! 😉

Good luck and be sure to take a camera, you just might be documenting history there? :p

Ok, ok, so it was a B738 both ways! :rolleyes: Trip report coming up later… 🙂