Hello everybody!
September being a busy flying month,
welcome to my new trip report, destination Belfast!
Background
Having caught interest in the Titanic
during the last months, thanks to all documentaries and publications around the
100th Anniversary of this tragedy, I wanted to visit the museum that
recently opened: Titanic Belfast. I came up with the following itinerary:
- 08/09/2012: Charleroi à Manchester à
Belfast City Airport (respectively with Ryanair and FlyBe)
- 09/09/2012: Belfast City
Airport à Manchester à Charleroi (FlyBe and Ryanair)
The cost for the 4 flights was around 117
€, not that bad.
This would allow several first entries in
my flight log:
- First flights with FlyBe
- First time in a Bombardier
Dash-8 series
- First time in Manchester
- First time in Belfast City
And also the first time in Northern
Ireland!
This would also allow me to fly on a
Boeing, something that did not happen since November 2010...
A final note before going further on: this
trip report will be split in three different parts, due to the big number of
pictures:
-
1) The flights (that you can
read below)
-
2) The spotting at Manchester
T3: available here
-
3) The visit of Belfast: will be published soon
CRL-MAN
Flight number: FR3223
Scheduled time of departure / Arrival:
09:55 – 10:55 local time (on time)
Plane: Boeing 737-800 (EI-EKM)
Seat: 24 F (window)
Load Factor: Y: 65%
After a drive without any issue, I arrived
at Charleroi “Brussels South” airport around 08:30, and managed to find a
parking spot in the rather full parking lot. Minutes later, I entered in the
crowded terminal and directly proceeded through security, and after the ID
check, went at my gate in the non-Schengen area. Few people where there, so it
was very quiet, and therefore appreciated! There was not much to do but
waiting, as there was not that much traffic to watch.
Finally, some movement went through the
people, as the ground staff was approaching our gate. Everybody rushed in the
queue (that is what I do not like with non allocated seating), while our plane
was still taxiing to the gate.
 |
| Ryanair
– Boeing 737-800 – EI-EKM |
Call for boarding was made, and I soon went
through the stairs, to be stopped by the door leading to the apron, as
passengers were still disembarking.
 |
| Boarding
now... well not immediately! |
Finally, ten minutes later, the door
opened, and so started the race towards the airplane, with a queue forming at
the front stair, while the rear one was empty, as usual. So I walked down
around the plane, and waited at the rear door for the young Spanish F.A. to
finish preparing the rear galley before boarding.
 |
| EI-EKM
– walking under the wing |
 |
| EI-EKM
– at the rear door, waiting to board |
 |
| EI-EKM
– tail logo |
Enrico having finished his task, he
apologized for the wait (no problem), and after a last check on my boarding
pass, let me enter. I had all the time to choose a window seat with the window
aligned with the row, and eventually picked-up 24F. And for those who read my trip report on the leg Firenze – Lyon with Airlinair’s ATR42, here is the answer: yes, the
legroom was indeed worse than Ryanair’s. Here are two comparative shots:
 |
| Airlinair’s
very uncomfortable legroom |
 |
| Ryanair’s
less uncomfortobale legroom |
Load factor was approximately 65%, and I
could enjoy a full row for myself. With such a load factor, boarding was soon
completed, which did not prevent for pushing back 15 minutes later than
scheduled. The safety demo was done, and soon after we lined up on runway 25
and performed a rolling take-off.
 |
| Lining
up |
Visibility was perfect that day, so I knew
I would enjoy the IFE offered by Mother Nature.
 |
| Perfect
visibility today |
 |
| Port
of Zeebrugge |
 |
| Windmills
farm in the Channel |
 |
| Busy
maritime traffic |
 |
| Since
Bleriot’s famous flight, UK is not an island anymore! |
 |
| An
airport in England, but which one? Answer given by some members of Luchtzak.be forum: London Stansted. Thank you! |
 |
| Window
shot: visibility still perfect |
 |
| We
are not alone in the sky |
 |
| Another
airport |
 |
| Visibility
is not perfect anymore ;-) |
Like our Boeing, time had been flying,
and after a last round to sell the
scratch cards (that followed, in order: the newspapers, the BoB food &
drink, the duty free, and the electronic cigarettes... one has to acknowledge
that Ryanair F/A have not the time to breathe with all these trips along the
aisle! Respect!), the cabin crew prepared the cabin for the descent towards
Manchester.
 |
| About
to touch down... our shadow already on the ground ;-) |
 |
| Taratadaaaaaa ! “Yet
another Ryanair flight on time” blah blah! |
Moments later, we reached our gate, and
could disembark, 5 minutes ahead of schedule.
 |
| Bye
bye EI-EKM! |
At
Manchester Airport T3
This was my first time in Manchester
Airport, and I had 90 minutes before my next flight, both being in the same
terminal, so I had all the time! I was happy to follow the “transfer” sign, and
not to have to pass immigration, as there was a huuuuge queue! So, here I was,
going trough corridor and stairs, to finally arrive in a waiting room to wait
for a bus to go to the transfer zone... wait, what? Yes, even though I was already in T3, I had to take that bus.
Ok, then. Minutes later, I was offered a private (only passenger) tour of the
T3 apron, while chatting with a very friendly driver. At the transfer zone, I
had to pass security, and the ID control, to be allowed to go back to T3.
Then, it happened: the immigration officer
looked at my ID card, and after several questions on my trip, said, most
seriously: “So Sir, you’ll have to go back to where you come from!” I was a bit
puzzled, and surely got a worried look... I replied: “You mean, fly back to
Belgium?” Then he had a big smile: “no Sir, going back toTerminal 3!” Ok, in
the nervous context of ID control, I got a bit confused, I admit it! So, I
passed immigration, and started a walk back to where I was indeed coming from,
doing by foot what I did by bus shortly before! Strange setup, they could just
have done an immigration desk for transferring pax in T3 itself!
But so is designed Manchester T3. Another
thing is the typical UK airport waiting area, where the gates are announced on
FIDS minutes before boarding. This area was very crowded, so I just grabbed a
sandwich, then looked for a quieter place to eat, and also to spot some planes.
I ended in the area of gates 46-49, where I was alone, and had a good (but
backlit) view on all the traffic. The traffic was quite interesting, as you can
see in the second part of this trip report.
There was even a screen with the info on
all flights in this area, so I could monitor the announcement of my gate
without having to go to the waiting lounge, which was very practical.
 |
| My
personal FIDS... with, at that moment, my flight delayed to 12:45! |
MAN
– BHD
Flight number: BE476
Scheduled time of departure / Arrival:
12:25 – 13:20 (delayed by 40 minutes, landed at 14:00)
Plane: Bombardier
Dash8 Q400 (G-JEDN)
Seat: 6C (aisle)
Load Factor: Y: 95%
When the gate was announced, I knew there
would be some delay, as it was already 13:00 when my plane finally arrived.
 |
| FlyBe – Bombardier Dash8 Q400 – G-JEDN |
 |
| Crop
of the previous pic for the Thomson 767 with the new livery |
 |
| G-JEDN
– Engines just stopped |
Deboarding took some time, I was impressed
to see how many people could fit in this turboprop! The last passenger having
left the airplane, the F/O immediately began the pre-flight check.
 |
| 1,2,3,4,5,6...
ok, all blades are still there. |
 |
| G-JEDN |
Finally, boarding started
 |
| Sorry
for the quality, difficult to take a decent pic of a CRT |
 |
| Queuing
to board |
 |
| Pointy
nose. Note the “ecology graph” on the right: I’ve the same on my wash machine
;-) |
 |
| Huge
prop, wider than the fuselage... |
When entering the plane, the first
impression looked good, sober grey seats... But then I noticed that
advertisement was well present!
 |
| Do
they rent their planes at Avis? |
 |
| Legroom
was ok... but that ad was intrusive |
Unfortunately, with a load factor of 95%,
no window seat to be switched with mine, so no possibility to really enjoy the
view outside. However, the glimpses I could get from behind my neighbour
shoulder revealed nice landscapes. The flight was uneventful, and at 14:00, we touched
down on Belfast City’s airport single runway. Ten minutes after deplaning, I
was at the tourist info desk to receive all the necessary info for my Titatnic
trip in Belfast. I just needed to hop in the bus toward Titanic quarter, and 20
minutes later I was standing next to her dry dock. Everything on the discovery
of Belfast and Titanic exhibitions is described in the third part of this report (will be soon published).
BHD
– MAN
Flight number: BE483
Scheduled time of departure / Arrival:
16:05 – 17:05 (on time)
Plane: Embraer E195 (G-FBEH)
Seat: 2A (window)
Load Factor: Y: 80%
After a wonderful week-end, it was time to
fly back to Belgium. I got out of the bus (note that on Sundays, the buses run
every 40 minutes, instead of 20) around 15:15, 50 minutes before scheduled
take-off. It was more than enough for such a small airport, although there were
several flights departing at that time.
 |
| On
time this time! |
Passing through security was fast, in a
good atmosphere (very friendly agent), although the metal detector was very
sensitive (still wondering what made it beep when I passed). The waiting area
was quite crowded, and there was not much to do, except have a look at the
traffic, consisting in FlyBe flights, and a private Pilatus.
 |
| FlyBe
– Embraer 195 – G-FBEH (my ride) |
 |
| FlyBe – Bombardier Dash8 Q400 – G-JEDT |
 |
| FlyBe – Bombardier Dash8 Q400 – G-FLBE |
 |
| G-FBEH |
 |
| G-FBEH |
 |
| G-FLBE |
 |
| G-JEDT airborne |
 |
| Private
(Wells Fargo Bank) – Pilatus PC12 – N234RG |
 |
| About
to proceed through door C |
After a last boarding pass check, I was
allowed to walk to the E195 and climb the very steep stairs... the Dash 8 was
close to the ground... but the E195 surely is not! I was met by a F/A with a
commercial but not warm smile, like all FlyBe’s cabin crew I met that week-end.
My seat 2A was not far, and I was soon installed.
 |
| Legroom
is ok, and no ad this time. |
Once boarding was completed (lots of people
panting after the climb of the stairs... well, this is what happens when you
bring a heavy suitcase as hand baggage ;-) ), pushback followed almost
immediately, and we lined up on runway 22.
 |
| All
clear ahead |
 |
Belfast
City Airport
|
This time I had a window seat... but
unfortunately, the weather was not as nice as the day before, and lots of
clouds were present.
 |
| A
sea of clouds |
The flight went uneventful, and the more we
were approaching Manchester, the less clouds there were.
 |
| Approaching
Manchester area |
 |
| On
final |
 |
| For the second time of the week-end I
landed in Manchester, without trumpet this time, but with some people watching
us. |
 |
| Being
on the good side of the plane, I could spot this decorated Thomson B757 |
 |
| ...
and this Aer Lingus Regional ATR72 (EI-REI)... the tail is missing something...
a clover maybe? |
We reached our gate, and I was quickly out
of the plane, via a jetbridge this time. Fortunately, this flight being
domestic, no need to play the transfer circus again, and I could directly
proceed to the overcrowded waiting area, to yet again grab a sandwich, and go
to the same quieter gates to do some spotting.
