No, but I will ask.

Would be interesting to see what equipment they would use on the LGW-DME run. I would assume they would put a 320 over there as there are no suitable 767's at LGW and I would doubt they would use a 734.

Interestingly enough, I took the LHR-SVO overnight SU flight a week or so back. I was amazed at how busy it was. J was overbooked and Y was about 90% full. A couple of things to note:

1) SU caters both legs from SVO, so you get crap SVO food on the LHR-SVO run.
2) Hand baggage is 10kg. Any amount over means luggage gets tagged
3) Road into Moscow at that time of day is a breeze, but you feel like crap for the rest of the day

I really don't see the point of coming home to LHR from DME at 0600, or even 0700. I suppose if you are Moscow based you would get a full day in London if starting there, but I would rather catch the night before flight as it lands at 2200. Getting up at 3 am to catch the 6am is not fun.

SU have a morning departure at 11 ish which is much more reasonable. You can spend an evening in Moscow, wake up at a better time and get home still in time to do some work.

I assume any LGW-DME service would be on a 737. As they used to operate on the LGW-SVO runs.

You are right, whenever we book people on the overnight SU flights LHR-SVO, it is usually full. A surprising number of Moscow-based staff will take the overnight flight after a full day in London.

As for the early morning ex-DME, I frequently don't make the late evening 875 flight and have to stay over. Nowadays I usually take the AY connection at 1250, but I have in past frequently taken the OS flight at 0550 or LH at 0700. Both are surprisingly busy.

A big plus of a morning flight, is that it opens up all kind of same-day transfers which were never available before, although not so good if the flight goes into LGW of course.

The car documents prove that you own the car or have written permission from the driver to drive the car. If you leave the documents in the car, then anyone can present the documents if stopped/checked by GIBDD or asked to sell car. As the "permission to drive" can be a handwritten note that is signed by the owner (you can also buy credit card sized slips at newspaper kiosks), anyone can knock one out in 30 seconds. (There is a presumption that you do not have permission to drive the car unless you can prove that you do).

That's why leaving the car registration documents in the car is seen as a really bad (although I guess you have to balance it against the chances of losing them outside). When you have that, your driving licence, your passport and your jumbo house keys, the famous boxy black leather Russian "manpurse" begins to seem like a reasonable thing to carry!

The gun fits in there too.

You Moscovites with Sky-owning friends or relatives in the UK may want them to set their videos/PVRs during the week of March 20th, as More4 are running a series of programs asking if Russia can survive as a state until 2050.

It hardly makes sense to split BA flights between LHR and LGW. Besides, UN already flies DME-LGW, and the westbound 10:10 AM departure is early enough to permit a half-day in London without waking up outrageously early (and their website advertises free taxi service from Moscow for J passengers).

I admit to ahving done the overnight flight on SU just to get extra time in London myself. It actually isn't bad, in J, if I have a relaxed schedule. I can sleep ~2 hours on the flight, be home at 6 AM, sleep for a few hours, and then show up at the office around 11 AM/noon. Y would likely not be as acceptable, and neither would CE seats.

Plenty of expats in Moscow have Sky so can watch it themselves! Most channels, except BBC/ITV, are watchable with a 2.8m dish and a sky box. You can still see my old dish on a rooftop in the distance from Red Square :)

Sky or just Sky News?

More4 is digital terrestrial, anyway, not satellite, isn't it? :confused:

The word in Moscow is that an additional 3x weekly overnight flight is starting on May 9th.

Originally planned as a LGW-DME service on a 737 (as I reported earlier), it has now switched to a LHR-DME service.

It is planned to operate on Monday, Friday, Saturday nights from LHR, leaving at 2200, arriving at 0455. The return flight goes straight back at 0545 (Tuesday, Saturday, Sunday) arriving LHR at 0650. It is planned to be a A320 ( :td: ).

This will give onward connections for the first time out of DME, and also give an (early) morning return flight.

I pity the crew though, doing a 9-10 hour shift, flying from 2200 to 0700.


(ps Am current in the DME Navigator lounge, nursing a hangover (cognac for breakfast, vodka for lunch) after 2 days locked away at a offsite in a forest somewhere. Will be passed out in seat 1D in an hour.)

More4 is on the Sky Digital lineup too.

Would much rather have a flight that leaves a bit later (ie 3pm from LHR) and come back from DME at 0700-0800.

I am off to DME this week, and due to the last minute nature of booking, there are almost no "Western" hotels left to book. Am going to give the Swisshotel a go at nearly 650 Euros per night (595 1st night 695 2nd night). With taxes that is nearly £1000 GBP for 2 nights!!!!

Just think if you were on the "new" 0545, You would pay all that money for a hotel room that you would have to leave at 3am.

The Russian's are getting better than the Chinese at seperating you from vast quantities of cash

My colleagues from other offices have been staying at the Swisshotel recently, as even a Russiaphobe can make it to our office on foot with a modicum of street smarts (e.g., don't get run over by a tramvaiy while crossing the street). The reports have been quite favorable. The bar on the 32nd/33rd floor also has great views to the outside, and often inside as well. ;)

I might like to see the third rotation depart a bit later in the morning, even if that means departing LHR somewhat later as well. I still think I'd prefer SU if flying J for the overnight, however--a CE seat would make the next day even less pleasant than it is when flying SU. The 0545 on Saturday AM should be very popular, as I have known many to get stuck over on Friday night, or leave meetings early to ensure they get to DME in time. However, I too would have preferred the later departure from LHR that arrives around 0100.

I agree about the timings. Best to arrive at midnight-2am, and have the flight leave Moscow 7-8am.

With what they have planned, they only need the aircraft from 2205 - 0650, and they can do it without the crew having to nightstop.

I would avoid going outward on a 2205-0455 flight in CE. If they had a decent seat, it would be another matter.

I would find the return at 0545 on a Sat morning quite useful though.

Interestingly the extra Saturday day time flight appears to have been retained, so that means 4 flights (2x767 and 2x320) on a Saturday.

I see the overnight flights are now on the timetable.

BA 880 and BA 881

I pity the crew who have to operate these.

Cannot see me taking either flight

Outbound means a missed night sleep

Return leaves far too early.

However, as I mentioned before, the SU flight was suprisingly busy on the overnight, and the early flights on LX seem quite well subscribed.

Both the OS flight at 0545 and the LH one at 0700 are from all accounts quite busy, with a lot of onward connecting passengers. Even the AY flight at 1250 regularly carries dozens of passengers connecting to the JFK flight.

The early morning flight will, for the first time, allow you to do a same day connection to virtually anywhere on the BA network.