Wys, I could’nt agree with you more. 2 buddies of mine at Buzz describe the mood there as very angry. Both have long careers stretching back to Air UK. Funnily enough, they have told me that most there feel that it would’nt have been so bad had it been Easyjet doing the take over! There seems real antipathy towards Ryanair. I fear we shall see more of this until the LoCo bubble finally burst as it most surely will. Dark days indeed.

I’m sure that some of my friends at Buzz will be made up!

Still learning my way round…but so far impressed.

I’m no racist but I have to say my view of the asylum situation “is not what it was”! Nice one wys.

I think that the Tridents that went to Zaire were all 3Bs, the information that I have suggests that they never operated there and some are reduced to scrap.

The Trident at Duxford is painted up in the “Red Square” livery and looks really good, I think this actual aircraft was stranded in Cyprus for some time whilst operating for Cyprus Airways. It was rescued by BEA/BA and returned to service based at LHR after extensive engineering. As far as I know the wings are in original config, I think that it is the Trident 3 that is preserved at LHR that has had the wings “clipped” As far as I know the final operator of the Trident in P.R.China was the airforce on transport duties.

I heard the same story……the increases are to cover the costs of the expansion of the airports/infrastructure according to the BBC. I’m sure it said that the new charges were worked out between the BAA and Civil Aviation Authority…..Anyone know more?

Back in the mid 80s a few of us Traffic staff from STN hitched a lift for the day on a BA 747-200 which should have been local circuits. However due to wx probs at STN we ended up doing the circuits at PIK! Atrocious weather, air sickness and many awful landings followed, the final one being so hard as to bring down ceiling panels as well as overhead locker doors. On return to STN some 6 hours later the cabin resembled the set of a disaster movie! However I learned nothing from this and repeated the same experience on a BA L1011 some weeks later in SNN – Happy days.