BA LCY-SOU
 

Just looked out of my window and spotted a BA E190 (G-LCYO) on final approach into SOU, coming in from LCY.

Wondered if I had fallen asleep and woken up to find out that it was May already and the new routes had started 😃 sadly not...

Positioning to SOU to operate a charter to NCL, then tomorrow NCL-BOH.

Is that NCL - BOH tomorrow a change from coming back into SOU as the airport is shutting at weekends from tomorrow?

Southampton FC are playing Newcastle United FC this weekend, so that’s presumably the reason for the charter

Doubtless it is a coincidence that Newcastle United FC are playing at St James' Park tomorrow, the visiting side being Southampton FC.

Forgive my knumptiness, but is that a scheduled flight from LCY-SOU?

Positioning sector

If it had been a new scheduled flight, there would have been a length thread about what TP it should earn, I'm sure.

On Tuesday/Wednesday this week, both Southampton and Brighton used Jota Aviation G-JOTS. Southampton played Man Utd so routed SOU-MAN-LGW and Brighton played Liverpool the following day so routed LGW-LPL-LGW.

Im not sure how often BA Cityflyer pick up these charters but nevertheless, it’s something interesting. Premier League teams often prefer to fly over distances exceeding 2 hours on the road but it’s even more important now as so many hotels are closed and you want to minimise the contact players and support staff have with the outside world to try and protect the bubbles.

We’ll be seeing plenty of CityFlyer sports team charters this year.

March will see a lot of flying on behalf of the Welsh rugby team.

What sort of catering do they have on these charters? Or do they not bother given the short duration flights?

On super short domestic flights it's usually just a bottle of water. On longer flights, I'm not sure.

G-LCYO did the honours having been on the ground at LCY since before Christmas. It actually seems to be on behalf of Jota Aviation (operated using their call sign) who of course were often found filing in for BA, another amusing oddity of the COVID world !

After that performance, Southampton should be sent home by road.

With or without vehicles?