Originally Posted by PUCCI GALORE

Unusually for me, I actually read through the entire thread awaiting the moment that the OP came out and said that it was all a wind up. I had found the idea of the Capt trolling round LHR in a 747 or some such, finding a spot free at T4 and stopping there just for a giggle. What utter nonsense!

I loathe bussing - but LHR is an utter mess and muddle and it is to me a wonder that it works at all. However one most important difference with the USA is that airlines at LHR do NOT "own" their gates. I remember one classic arrival at DFW where "our" gate was still occupied by some other aircraft that was delayed for some reason. We had just flown in from LGW and we had to sit waiting for "our" gate for nearly an hour. We had to get permission to let the passengers go and use the toilets. We would have welcomed a bus, or a rickshaws - anything to allow us to get everyone off. Only once in HNL did an AA 767 arriving from DFW use a Hawaiian gate as all the AA gates were in use. Naturally we had to wait for someone from AA to run (actually waddle would be more accurate) round to attach the jetway.

I read the El Al thread and found it really rather offensive, and frankly I think that this whole thread has been started a a wind-up and has indeed been most successful in its object.