Aviation Discussion

[Bletchleyite]

Either he's got an iron bladder or is dehydrating himself to a potentially unhealthy level. Most people need to use the loo far more often than every 12 hours.

The latter is not a sensible thing to do on a flight as it significantly increases the risk of DVT, which I can confirm from experience that you do not want to get, it is insanely painful and the treatment to get rid of it goes on for ages (not to mention that if the clot detaches and goes to the lungs or brain you might literally just drop dead).

 

[Bald Rick]

Either he's got an iron bladder or is dehydrating himself to a potentially unhealthy level. Most people need to use the loo far more often than every 12 hours.

The latter is not a sensible thing to do on a flight as it significantly increases the risk of DVT, which I can confirm from experience that you do not want to get, it is insanely painful and the treatment to get rid of it goes on for ages (not to mention that if the clot detaches and goes to the lungs or brain you might literally just drop dead).

Back then it was an iron bladder.

I wouldn’t (and couldn’t do it now), and besides, as you say it’s not a particularly healthy thing to do, so don’t do it kids!

 

[Techniquest]

I have no idea how painful DVT must be, but given that cramp in the legs is really nasty I would never want DVT!

I power walk on a regular basis, so sitting around on a plane really isn't ideal for too long. Same at an airport!

 

[YorkshireBear]

Booked my first ever long haul flight for next year. Longest I've ever done previously is 4hours ish on a 757 from Manchester to Lanzarote, and it was when I was small so can't really remember it.

Flying from Leeds to Boston, then back from New York to Leeds. Was going to book with BA as wanted to experience an A380 and a 747. Unfortunately that meant flying from Manchester which seen as we live right next to Leeds was dissapointing. The Leeds flights to LHR didn't connect with those planes. Also the price was about £500 more than with Aer Lingus via Dublin which did sway me!! Looking forward to an ATR72 for first time into Dublin and also worth it for pre-clearence for US immigration. A330 both ways from Dublin which is good seating is 2+4+2 so me and Mrs get 2 seats to ourselves. Free seat selection and hold baggage on Aer Lingus too.

Looking forward to it!

 

[atillathehunn]

Booked my first ever long haul flight for next year. Longest I've ever done previously is 4hours ish on a 757 from Manchester to Lanzarote, and it was when I was small so can't really remember it.

Flying from Leeds to Boston, then back from New York to Leeds. Was going to book with BA as wanted to experience an A380 and a 747. Unfortunately that meant flying from Manchester which seen as we live right next to Leeds was dissapointing. The Leeds flights to LHR didn't connect with those planes. Also the price was about £500 more than with Aer Lingus via Dublin which did sway me!! Looking forward to an ATR72 for first time into Dublin and also worth it for pre-clearence for US immigration. A330 both ways from Dublin which is good seating is 2+4+2 so me and Mrs get 2 seats to ourselves. Free seat selection and hold baggage on Aer Lingus too.

Looking forward to it!

Sounds like a great trip for you and yours! You can do a lot worse than Dublin airport for a transfer. The U.S. pre-clearance process is a huge advantage that shouldn't be undervalued. It's perhaps not such a big problem at a smaller airport like Boston, but the queue at JFK can be astounding. Aer Fungus are a pretty solid airline.

The A380 has quite a few more years left in it yet, so don't worry about missing it on this trip.

 

[Techniquest]

Not to mention the A380 can be flown relatively easily around the world, especially so compared to the 747.

Pre-clearance must be really rather awesome, I was lucky to be off the Norwegian 787 quite quickly when I did JFK, so it wasn't a massive wait. It'll be interesting to compare that experience (fairly late in the evening) to an early afternoon arrival into LAX in January.

Not flown an ATR of any size myself yet, would be fun to do though! I watched Sanspotter's video on Dublin to the USA with Aer Lingus recently on an A330 and the experience looked quite decent. My AL experience has only been a couple of UK-Ireland flights some years back, so like with easyJet I need to fly them again and see how it compares to 2012's flights.

Certainly would consider them for a future trans-atlantic flight, that said now BA have almost got some 787-10s (first due in service in February on their Atlanta route I'm informed) and my liking of 787s that would probably be my choice

 

[Bald Rick]

Certainly would consider them for a future trans-atlantic flight, that said now BA have almost got some 787-10s (first due in service in February on their Atlanta route I'm informed) and my liking of 787s that would probably be my choice

Surely an A350 would be on the list for your next TA flight (after LA that is)?
BA to Toronto, VS to NY (with more destinations to come). Everything I’ve heard about the A350 is that it beats the Dreamliner hands down.

 

[Techniquest]

Surely an A350 would be on the list for your next TA flight (after LA that is)?
BA to Toronto, VS to NY (with more destinations to come). Everything I’ve heard about the A350 is that it beats the Dreamliner hands down.

Trying to scour the ol' memory banks for who VS are. It'll no doubt be obvious when someone tells me!

I've also heard lots of good things about the A350, one day I will sample it. I have Washington on my 'nice to do' list, and of course Vegas being a good choice for a trip to the Grand Canyon means I'll inevitably end up there eventually too.

 

[cactustwirly]

Trying to scour the ol' memory banks for who VS are. It'll no doubt be obvious when someone tells me!

Virgin Atlantic

 

[Techniquest]

Virgin Atlantic

Ahh, thanks! Must add that to the memory banks. I always abbreviate them to VA, must stop doing that.

 

[fowler9]

Booked my first ever long haul flight for next year. Longest I've ever done previously is 4hours ish on a 757 from Manchester to Lanzarote, and it was when I was small so can't really remember it.

Flying from Leeds to Boston, then back from New York to Leeds. Was going to book with BA as wanted to experience an A380 and a 747. Unfortunately that meant flying from Manchester which seen as we live right next to Leeds was dissapointing. The Leeds flights to LHR didn't connect with those planes. Also the price was about £500 more than with Aer Lingus via Dublin which did sway me!! Looking forward to an ATR72 for first time into Dublin and also worth it for pre-clearence for US immigration. A330 both ways from Dublin which is good seating is 2+4+2 so me and Mrs get 2 seats to ourselves. Free seat selection and hold baggage on Aer Lingus too.

Looking forward to it!

I've had the 2 seats by the window on an A340 which I imagine will be almost identical to the ones on your A330, I was also travelling with the other half. Best economy seats I have ever flown on, hope you enjoy.

 

[YorkshireBear]

I've had the 2 seats by the window on an A340 which I imagine will be almost identical to the ones on your A330, I was also travelling with the other half. Best economy seats I have ever flown on, hope you enjoy.

It was a big plus for us having that little bit of just personal space.

Definitely looking forward to it, got a while to wait though!

 

[Tetchytyke]

I've been on a Cathay Pacific A330 and A340 (20 years ago now...boo) and an Etihad A330. Nice pieces of kit, the 2-seats are great. Enjoy yourself!

 

[fowler9]

I've been on a Cathay Pacific A330 and A340 (20 years ago now...boo) and an Etihad A330. Nice pieces of kit, the 2-seats are great. Enjoy yourself!

My A340 was LAN from Auckland to Santiago. No flight will ever top it for me. Apart from perhaps a ride in an Su-37 ha ha.

 

[Bald Rick]

My A340 was JFK - LHR. Not great, but then I’ve never had a good eastbound trans Atlantic (3 x 747s, 2 of which were upstairs; A340; A330; 767).

Westbound has always been brilliant - 4 x 747s and a 767.

 

[darloscott]

I'd only had one A340 until last summer when I had two in two days. Flew a Plus Ultra A340-300 from Barcelona-Madrid a year or two ago, former Air France machine complete with their old interior! This summer I strung together a few wide bodies across Europe including Lufthansa's A340-300 and -600. The -300 from Frankfurt to Dublin and the day before I did the -600 from Frankfurt to Vienna. I even ended up in the premium economy seats, by accident on the first one! It was certainly an interesting experience on such short hops! Would recommend Plus Ultra too by the way.

 

[FQTV]

Ahh, thanks! Must add that to the memory banks. I always abbreviate them to VA, must stop doing that.

VA is Virgin Australia.

I've had the 2 seats by the window on an A340 which I imagine will be almost identical to the ones on your A330, I was also travelling with the other half. Best economy seats I have ever flown on, hope you enjoy.

I've been on a Cathay Pacific A330 and A340 (20 years ago now...boo) and an Etihad A330. Nice pieces of kit, the 2-seats are great. Enjoy yourself!

My A340 was LAN from Auckland to Santiago. No flight will ever top it for me. Apart from perhaps a ride in an Su-37 ha ha.

My A340 was JFK - LHR. Not great, but then I’ve never had a good eastbound trans Atlantic (3 x 747s, 2 of which were upstairs; A340; A330; 767).

Westbound has always been brilliant - 4 x 747s and a 767.

I'd only had one A340 until last summer when I had two in two days. Flew a Plus Ultra A340-300 from Barcelona-Madrid a year or two ago, former Air France machine complete with their old interior! This summer I strung together a few wide bodies across Europe including Lufthansa's A340-300 and -600. The -300 from Frankfurt to Dublin and the day before I did the -600 from Frankfurt to Vienna. I even ended up in the premium economy seats, by accident on the first one! It was certainly an interesting experience on such short hops! Would recommend Plus Ultra too by the way.

One thing to watch on certain airlines' A330s and A340s is a large box for the inflight entertainment systems under some of the seats.

On Qatar Airways, for example, it's under the A and K (window) seats and it can be very compromising. As it goes, the boxes are also under the D and G seats, which are the aisle seats in the centre block. Notwithstanding being tripped over, D and G seat occupants can at least slew their feet out into the aisle, which is something that A and K occupants can't.

Websites such as SeatGuru can help guide.

 

[[email protected].]

I'm looking at a day trip from Glasgow to Barra maybe end of May early June.
Looking at the timetable it seem strange to me the 2 flights out of Glasgow are timed quiet close together, 10:15 & 11:35 (01/06/20), But doing a little reading the beach is tidal which I appreciate, But would 1 off the flights out be cancelled or re timed? or do both usually run ?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'm looking at a day trip from Glasgow to Barra maybe end of May early June.
Looking at the timetable it seem strange to me the 2 flights out of Glasgow are timed quiet close together, 10:15 & 11:35 (01/06/20), But doing a little reading the beach is tidal which I appreciate, But would 1 off the flights out be cancelled or re timed? or do both usually run ?

I would guess that's basically for capacity reasons as there's only one (very small) type of aircraft that can be used, and so one might well get rolled into the other if it's quiet. The gap between them is probably purely so the same aircraft can be used for both.

I really need to do that one one day!

 

[FQTV]

It’s entirely driven by the tides and daylight, which does mean that on certain days the flights can get bunched.

Mail and time sensitive cargo still needs to go, as well as passengers, so even with low passenger numbers, the flights will still operate. It being a subsidised servive means that there’s also an obligation to operate.

Certain days of the week also have quite unidirectional flows, so the ‘other’ leg of the rotation must operate, even empty, to position the aircraft.

One other thing to note about Barra day trips is that Loganair quietly markets a special ticket during the low season, which is cheaper than a normal commercial booking.

It can only be booked through their call centre, but there’s more information online at:

https://www.loganair.co.uk/extras/adventure-days/landing-experiences

 

[Techniquest]

That Barra fare is a rather cool idea, something that needs looking into...

 

[158756]

Not good news for Cornwall and for Newquay airport: Flybe released their summer 2020 schedule a week or so ago. Heathrow to Newquay was not included, and is not on sale beyond March. It would appear that the four times daily Heathrow service is going to be replaced by flights to Southend four times weekly.

Flybe of course deny this, but according to the local press in Cornwall their staff are telling customers it's cancelled https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/c...eathrow-3562901.amp?__twitter_impression=true

 

[Bletchleyite]

Not good news for Cornwall and for Newquay airport: Flybe released their summer 2020 schedule a week or so ago. Heathrow to Newquay was not included, and is not on sale beyond March. It would appear that the four times daily Heathrow service is going to be replaced by flights to Southend four times weekly.

Flybe of course deny this, but according to the local press in Cornwall their staff are telling customers it's cancelled https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/c...eathrow-3562901.amp?__twitter_impression=true

I suspect that was being used to keep a slot warm and probably didn't make money. The new owners of Flymaybe are going to have to make some pretty tough decisions to keep it afloat.

 

[158756]

I suspect that was being used to keep a slot warm and probably didn't make money. The new owners of Flymaybe are going to have to make some pretty tough decisions to keep it afloat.

If Flybe can't make money on routes with government handouts they may as well shut down now.

 

[Techniquest]

Not good news for Cornwall and for Newquay airport: Flybe released their summer 2020 schedule a week or so ago. Heathrow to Newquay was not included, and is not on sale beyond March. It would appear that the four times daily Heathrow service is going to be replaced by flights to Southend four times weekly.

Flybe of course deny this, but according to the local press in Cornwall their staff are telling customers it's cancelled https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/c...eathrow-3562901.amp?__twitter_impression=true

Why Southend, I do wonder. I'm not seeing the appeal in that whatsoever.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Why Southend, I do wonder. I'm not seeing the appeal in that whatsoever.

Cheaper.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Flybe released their summer 2020 schedule a week or so ago. Heathrow to Newquay was not included, and is not on sale beyond March.

Not a surprise, the Isle of Man lost their Heathrow flight too.

Why Southend, I do wonder. I'm not seeing the appeal in that whatsoever.

It's where Stobart Air are based. Flybe's stuff out of the Isle of Man has formally transferred to Stobart Air ATR72s, I wonder if the Newquay stuff will do too?

(Flybe announced it saying the ATR72 was "more suited" and "cheaper" for short hop work than a Dash-8, which made me pull a HUH? face. Surely one mediocre turboprop is much like another?)

I wonder if the slots at Heathrow will end up with Virgin Atlantic, or if there's restrictions on them?

 

[Cloud Strife]

(Flybe announced it saying the ATR72 was "more suited" and "cheaper" for short hop work than a Dash-8, which made me pull a HUH? face. Surely one mediocre turboprop is much like another?)

There's some truth in it. The ATR72 is quite a bit more economical while being almost as fast. One figure I've seen suggests that the maximum time loss over a 300nm leg is about 15 minutes, but it will use about 300kg of fuel less. Another figure suggests that in exchange for the 15 minute gain, you'll pay about 8.8% more in operating costs over the same 300nm journey.

So, looking at NCY-SEN, it'll take about 20 minutes more for the 400nm journey, but it'll use around 400kg less fuel. There's also the weight issue: the ATR72 is much lighter and thus cheaper to fly into airports, but the payload capacity isn't that much different.

The Dash-8 is a much better plane from the passenger point of view, but Flybe need to cut their costs as much as possible, and the Dash-8 is a luxury that they don't need.

 

[Tetchytyke]

There's some truth in it. The ATR72 is quite a bit more economical while being almost as fast.

That's really interesting. I'm genuinely surprised the difference is that much; it's not like the Dash-8 is a bloater of a plane to begin with.

I assumed it was operational convenience that persuaded them to shift the Manx work to Stobart Air, but perhaps not. IOM-MAN/LPL/BHX are all short flights so that sort of fuel saving really is a no-brainer.

 

[Techniquest]

I never knew there was such a considerable difference either. I've learnt something today then.

Somehow this reminds me of a look-up that I did this morning of a London-Vancouver trip. Considering it's less than 2 months away, the deal at £491 was a bargain. If only I could have booked it...Anyway, one of the return flights was on American Airlines (AA) from Vancouver to Dallas Fort Worth aboard a 737, flying onwards to Heathrow on a 777.

The question that came to mind, following the return to the shift:

Would an ESTA be required for a transit through Dallas?

Technically I would imagine yes, but also as it's not leaving the airport I'd not be sure. Note this is NOT an indication of an upcoming trip, I was looking at the timeline function for my LA trip then got randomly looking at the low fares finder. As you do. Which reminds me of another task I had lined up for today, and YES I am in Trip Planning Process Mode...