<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by kt74:
I've heard bmi pilots complain about this one before (eg, when stuck in a distant part of LHR waiting for a stand to come free...). Now, my question is:
(a) Is this true?
(b) If it is, why can't bmi demand better stands, as the second largest fee-paying customer at the airport?
(...or is that old rumour about bmi defaulting on payment of landing fees still valid?)</font>
Completely untrue. Gate allocations are done by BAA Operations. Usually they are mapped out quite far in advance, but when flights get delayed, they may have to be re-jigged. Having watched staff do allocations (albeit not at LHR), they don't do it with any sign of favouritism - it's much more a matter of what aircraft can fit on which stands and when is the next flight scheduled onto the stand.