Originally Posted by
bd95
I think I've also had domestic arrivals at gate 8 too, followed by a frustrating wait while ground staff worked out how to open and close a few doors to change it into a domestic gate!
For departures, since moving across from T1, my experience of flying domestic to Belfast has generally been departures from the Eastern or Southern gates of 5A, rather than the Northern.
Ooohh if the 'swing' is in operation that definitely makes things better. I remember having a heart-sinking moment when pulling up at gate 8 and having to wait for a bus to carry us no more than about 100m, certainly less than you'd often walk on a Ryanair tarmac!
Some domestic rotations are linked - today, for example, one A319 has simply shuttled happily up and down to GLA and NCL. But equally as often they alternate - to get better use out of them through the day - so they do spread out. That's why in the early sharklet days when they actually made some effort to schedule them appropriately you'd often see them in MAN - it was linked to the ATH rotation. Nowadays they've given up on scheduling and it's a lottery whether they see the fuel benefit or not each day.