smiles in the aisles

the allowances for the HKG trip are relatively high. The current reality is that many cabin crew couldn’t afford to turn the trip down if rostered, quarantine risk or not.

Pilot37

Not as much of a question, but more of an observation that during Covid we have seen so many different things at LHR that you would never have thought possible in normal times:

1) Extended single runway operations
2) Take-off’s from 09L
3) 2 out of 4 terminals closed
4) New one for me - yesterday, BA1468 to Inverness happened to catch a quiet period around 9am, so we taxied onto 09R/27L just before Pier 6 of T3 and back tracked the whole way down the remaining runway, executed a 180 on the runway and took off!

Anything else that people have experienced?

Pilot37

Globaliser

Ahem. 09L, if you please.

Pilot37

Corrected

smiles in the aisles

I only recall having done this once more in the last 15 years, on a BD flight as 09R was still feeling the effects of a recent snow flurry and remained closed

KARFA

I think I ended up doing that about 6/7 times this last year - it was becoming a bit of a banality in the end

bbaum1

Was curious if I could elicit some assistance.

We had an AsiaMiles Business award flight on BA from IAH to CDG, connecting in LHR on Boxer Day.

The flight times changes, and AsiaMiles rebooked us with a 14 hour London layover, before current restrictions.

We have booked a AirFrance flight on miles, 2 hours after arrival at LHR to CDG, of original BA flight.

Was curious if BA will allow us to short check our bags from IAH to LHR, not through to CDG, as the AsiaMiles award booking ticket has a 14 hour layover.

Not sure if that would be enough time to collect bag, re-check at AirFrance, and make it to terminal 3 from 5.

Was dreading calling AsiaMiles to make changes, to just drop LHR-CDG leg, as was not sure if it was even possible, as flight is in 2 weeks.

Any thoughts if this is doable or possible?


Mark

T5ops

Nothing extra to add, but I do remember being confused by seeing departing aircraft at the North end of T5. Really highlighted the unusual times.

corporate-wage-slave

I am not BA staff. BA usually only allow a short check of bags for overnight stays and I'm guessing this is still not such a thing. Two hours is not enough time to collect backs and re-check them landside in T3, so you best go hand baggage only, and even then if it's on a separate ticket your AF flight isn't guaranteed if you are delayed for whatever reason. 14 hours seems a long layover, you may want to consider a hotel room for that period or other travel options.

Sigwx

For myself, being the only movement at LHR for the best part of an hour. Not having to fly a SID and being casually allowed to effectively ‘self position’ to the oceanic entry point as the only other movements in UK airspace were emergency services, overflights (very few indeed) and the RAF doing circuits in a C-17 at BHX on a clear spring day.

The departure involved being the closest I’ll ever get to Windsor castle without questions being raised put it that way. Even eerier still was hearing the lorries and few cars/vans that were on the M25 from the T5B apron and hearing birdsong at the same time.

Not ever having to hold was a bit novel too.

13901

I remember, at some point during some lockdown (they're all a blur now!) cycling around Heathrow to savour the new tarmac on parts of the Perimeter road (pathetic, I know). It was so quiet I basically was the only person on my side of the road. A HAL bus passed and the driver of the otherwise empty thing waved at me. I did a loop of the airport, hearing no airplanes, then was doing another one when a plane came in to land from the West on the northern runway. It almost startled me.

rapidex

Not planning to go to collect your knighthood then?

Newly Wed

Is asked this on my recent MLE IROPS thread but it has reached the end of its natural life.

is it normal for a flight to travel for a prolonged period at 28,000 or was the flight crew taking it easy due to the wing damage on BA152 on 30/12?

I am an avid map watcher and I don’t recall cruising below 30,000 for a long period of time.

1Aturnleft

May well have been certification of the fix for X number hours at a certain outside air temperature before it was deemed safe to climb to cooler temperatures. You were also going considerably slower than optimal cruise speed for the first couple of hours too This may have been a factor. It could also have been to maintain an arrival at Heathrow outside of the nightly curfew. Just before you made that right turn up over Egypt towards the Med you passed BA61 flying in the opposite direction to MLE which was flying at 37,000 while you were still at 28,000. Despite the lengthy delay I can't help but think a night flight home from the Maldives was actually a much more civilized affair than a long day flight home. 10+ hours is a decent enough length of journey to be enjoying sleep at a natural rest time. I guess this late departure isn't conducive to a great connection from many seaplane resorts however which can only operate transfers during daylight hours.

Globaliser

The last CPT-LHR daylight flight of the recent batch has arrived at LHR and the last JNB-LHR is now en route, so I wonder if someone can now please satisfy my curiosity about these.

ZA-UK flights were suspended for a few days when ZA went on to the UK's red list. When BA restarted, the ZA-UK flights were retimed to depart in the morning (ie about 12 hours earlier than originally scheduled) and arrived at LHR on the same day.

Originally, I wondered whether this was so that the flights could be operated with two sets of crew remaining onboard for the entire round-trip without disembarking at CPT/JNB. However, it turned out that (at least by mid-December), the crew were doing the usual 2-night stay downroute.

So my question is why were the flights retimed for this period? The retiming did have an effect on booking a quarantine hotel, as it meant a different arrival date. That was beneficial for the passenger, who would get out one day earlier than if they had arrived at LHR in the early morning in the usual way. Was BA doing this to be kind to passengers, or was there some other reason?