As Vic said to me during the last MIA meet - a bad day at the airport still beats a good day at work so the rating is unlikely to drop below 'Meh' - but it is probably the first time I've ever returned from an aviation trip wondering why I bothered.
Following a bad nights sleep due to the temperature and a lack of breeze into my room, the day started badly when my taxi didn't turn up - I finally got hold of the company which sent a replacement, which turned up 20 minutes after the booked time and also hadn't noted that I should have been 'fixed fare' to the airport rather than metered - which cost me an extra £8
. Unlike the taxi I booked he also didn't accept card payments so I had to make a dash into the terminal at Manchester to get some cash.
The queue at security was massive though didn't take too long to progress; though as usual people were still finding the scanners and liquid rules a huge surprise resulting in a 45 minute backlog for extra bag screening (allegedly). As ever, being a prepared traveller, I had no issues and managed to have a laugh with two of the guys assisting passengers who were taking the mick out of everyone and everything (United supporters, Liverpool supporters, and my Canon equipment
) which was appreciated. Queue time was about 20 minutes, not too bad for that time.
30 minute delay on the flight, no big deal - I got to sit and watch a load of Ryanair passengers miss their flight as I suspect they had been caught out by the liquid ban - one group claimed to have been at the airport since 4.30am which I couldn't quite fathom seeing as I'd beaten them through security, got a coffee and got a seat near their gate despite arriving just after 6.
BE1271 MAN-AMS
DH8D G-ECOI
10A
To my surprise, I saw one of the Brussels Airlines liveried Dash 8s on stand - it appears to have returned from lease on the 1st June so hasn't yet been repainted.
- Brussels Airlines no more!
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A bit of a queue for departure simply due to the time. We took a routing directly over Manchester City Centre which meant I saw my home and workplace as well as the usual sights; always nice to be seeing them from a few thousand feet compared to about 3!
- Salford Quays
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- Manchester
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Flight was pleasant enough - I got a coffee from the inflight service and enjoyed my first DH8D experience.
We landed on the Kaagbaan which meant the taxi to the gate wasn't too onerous though we were shoved to the 'H' pier which is mostly easyJet and Ryanair though flyBE seem to use it sporadically.
One advantage to this was it allowed me to see my first A350 in the flesh. The runway operations today prevented me seeing it depart so I was quite pleased - not least because it now earns me the 'Allbus' achievement
However this was where the 'meh-ness' began.
Have you ever heard of weather being *too* good? Believe me, as a north-west European with the skin complexion of a yoghurt wall to wall it turns out my aversion to the sun also results in
non allergic rhinitis - basically, all the shitty symptoms of hayfever without the actual pollen. Compounded by the bright sunlight and reflections from tarmac/parked aircraft. This meant I kept dissolving into fits of sneezes and sniffs, especially when anything vaguely interesting appeared. I kept having to make trips to the bathroom to stock up on paper towels; though as soon as I got indoors the worst of the symptoms cleared at least.
The other weather related issues were the face that operations were easterly, so only arrivals on the Kaagbaan passed in front of the viewing deck. Not a problem with a 300mm lens - but remember what I said about the weather being too good? Heat haze killed pretty much everything beyond about 150mm
.
Fortunately, KLM stuck a Fokker-100 on the viewing deck so at least there was somewhere to shade.
One reason for coming at this time of year (apart from the flyBE fare sale) was that I was hoping the viewing deck would have re-opened some of the floor space that was taken up for redevelopment of the E piers - sadly, whilst it looks as though completion isn't too far off (no construction hoardings, just some metal barriers preventing access), it isn't open yet which further limited photos - as of course anything vaguely interesting parked on the F, G or H piers - or the wrong side of the E pier. This limitation on floor space also limits angles for photography, particularly in the morning as everything in front of the open area is backlit and remained so until around 1pm.
That said, I can't really fault the panorama terrace - it looks like it will soon re-open, and with it will come much easier access as I spotted new doors and lifts from the Schiphol Plaza, which again hopefully points to a full re-opening being sooner rather than later!
After several trips between the terrace and the toilet with a few expeditions for beverages, it was time to head back airside.
Finally, Schiphol has done away with what was
one of my pet peeves - at gate security screening. Now it is one central area which is efficient and stops the 'cattle herding' at the D-gates. Which is lucky, as my flight home departed from D-18...
BE1278 AMS-MAN
ERJ170 G-FBJK
7D
The inbound aircraft arrived 30 minutes early, so I made my way to the gate in plenty of time. As it happened, though we boarded early and had everyone on board in plenty of time we incurred a slot delay - and I suspect had a change of flightplan, possibly due to weather in the north west of England - plenty of thunderstorms rattling about due to the hot and humid weather.
As a result, we pushed ten minutes late and then had the inevitable Polderbaan departure which added a nice long taxi, though the pilot spared no horses on the departure!
I was originally booked in seat 8B, however noted 7C and D were both vacant - so I took the opportunity to move and get a window! Oddly there appears to be some film on the windows which distorts the view outside - and it wasn't limited to just my window either; so no photos on this leg.
The routing into Manchester was bizarre due to the weather - we ended up 'holding' in perfect circles overhead Wakefield in some bastardisation of the usual ROSUN arrival. Following this we were routed directly to the ILS so any loss due to the holding was made up for!
- Circles in the Sky
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Due to the earlier delay we were a little late, which wasn't helped by the handling agents forgetting to turn on the guidance system - though judging by the speed at which airfield ops turned up I half suspect it wasn't entirely the handling agents fault...
We were on stand right next to the passport control, and the e-passport gates were very quiet so I was through in minutes with no queueing - in fact I suspect this has smashed any previous record I held for getting through MAN arrivals; plane to kerb in less than 5 minutes.
This is where the 'meh' makes a return. I bought a drink on my was to the station and got stuck in a queue behind the dreaded dawdlers ("I think I've got the right change here somewhere" etc) which meant I just missed a train into Manchester so was forced onto the tram - not a huge issue, its just a bit slower. Unfortunately due to some tit blocking the tram line with his van it meant I missed the connection for my tram home which meant an extended wait of 12 minutes during which time my nose started playing up again. By this time I couldn't wait to get home!
So, the actual trip wasn't too bad, but plenty of little niggles all combined to make it feel unsuccessful and a bit disappointing. Flybe were pretty good, absolutely no complaints there. And I can't really complain about the terrace at Schiphol - it is just that external events combined with not feeling 100% kind of spoiled my day!
There's the right way, the wrong way and the railway.
