Originally Posted by
ScottieFlyer
With hindsight I think the bussing at LHR was caused by the aircraft. On that flight it was an a321 rather than the usual a319 on the GLA-LHR route. I'm now guessing they parked it at an international gate for an onward flight hence the need to bus us.
It is the latter, not the former. Aircraft size doesn't matter, but rather the next destination of the aircraft which are always parked on the stand relevant to their next departure. Sometimes this will mean domestic pax arriving on the international pier, sometimes international pax arriving on the domestic pier. Both require bussing.
The flipside is the aircraft being in the right place for departure meaning you are much less likely to be delayed on departure and almost never need bussing to the plane. Easy to forget that the bussing-in is done for a good reason.