Does anyone else remember Dan Air?
May 2, 2009, 4:52 am
#1
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Does anyone else remember Dan Air?
I was coming back from Amsterdam to LGW a few days ago, and the FA looking after us in Club seemed familiar to me....
and after a while,I worked out the connection.
She had been one of the heroic ladies who managed to serve a hot breakfast on the early morning flights from Gatwick to Manchester, in the days of Dan Air, before it got gobbled up by BA.
It used to be quite amazing, they could get a tasty (and satisfyingly greasy) hot cooked breakfast to a full flight of hungry travellers, in about 20 minutes.
The flight this week was not at all busy, so we had the chance for a nice memory jogging chat about those long ago days, while I glugged some champagne...
and after a while,I worked out the connection.
She had been one of the heroic ladies who managed to serve a hot breakfast on the early morning flights from Gatwick to Manchester, in the days of Dan Air, before it got gobbled up by BA.
It used to be quite amazing, they could get a tasty (and satisfyingly greasy) hot cooked breakfast to a full flight of hungry travellers, in about 20 minutes.
The flight this week was not at all busy, so we had the chance for a nice memory jogging chat about those long ago days, while I glugged some champagne...
Last edited by steveblower; May 2, 2009 at 5:14 am Reason: typo
May 2, 2009, 4:56 am
#2
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http://www.danair.org/index.html for those younger FTers around here.
May 2, 2009, 5:27 am
#3
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Used to fly with Dan Air loads in the 1980s to Spain with my parents.
Started out on the Comets (which were weird and had some seats facing each other like to get on trains). The comets were noisey and slow but had a certain kind of grace.
Then they switched to 727s and BAC 1-11s and we went to Menorca on these every year. On year we went at Christmas and the pilot was a lady called Yvonne Sintes - I am pretty sure she was the first ever lady pilot in the UK.
Once had a 30 hour delay when a BAC 1-11 went tech and they had to fly parts out to repair it.
Flew back from Menorca in a 727 registration G-BDAN which then went on to crash in Tenerife a few days later - scary.
One of the comets I flew in is at East Fortune museum.
Started out on the Comets (which were weird and had some seats facing each other like to get on trains). The comets were noisey and slow but had a certain kind of grace.
Then they switched to 727s and BAC 1-11s and we went to Menorca on these every year. On year we went at Christmas and the pilot was a lady called Yvonne Sintes - I am pretty sure she was the first ever lady pilot in the UK.
Once had a 30 hour delay when a BAC 1-11 went tech and they had to fly parts out to repair it.
Flew back from Menorca in a 727 registration G-BDAN which then went on to crash in Tenerife a few days later - scary.
One of the comets I flew in is at East Fortune museum.
May 2, 2009, 5:43 am
#4
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May 2, 2009, 5:48 am
#5
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Most of the pages on that website are blank but there is an article on Yvonne Sintes - I was right she was the first lady UK airline pilot. She also lived in Menorca which probably explained why we got her as our captain so often.
May 2, 2009, 6:06 am
#7
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Vividly
it was a Dan Air flight from Girona that was responsible for my 20 year "grounding" with fear of flying
A curious thing is that the flight I took in order to be "cured" was Ryanair
it was a Dan Air flight from Girona that was responsible for my 20 year "grounding" with fear of flying
A curious thing is that the flight I took in order to be "cured" was Ryanair
May 2, 2009, 6:16 am
#8
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I remember watching Dan Air aircraft on approach to NCL in my school days.
They seem to prefer an approach from the west for some reasons and seem pretty slow and I blame them for not being able to learn my times table until I was much older
However, that could just be my memories distorting things. They were easy to identify by its red tail logo in those days.
They seem to prefer an approach from the west for some reasons and seem pretty slow and I blame them for not being able to learn my times table until I was much older
However, that could just be my memories distorting things. They were easy to identify by its red tail logo in those days.
May 2, 2009, 6:49 am
#9
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Flew a few times but avoided like the plague when possible. Last DA flight, the armrest literally fell apart and onto the floor (not just the pad but the whole caboddle). Persuaded me that the planes really had had their day, and beyond ...
I do believe our own dear Pucci was not only BCal but may have been DA before that. Perhaps I am imagining it ??
I do believe our own dear Pucci was not only BCal but may have been DA before that. Perhaps I am imagining it ??
May 2, 2009, 7:52 am
#13
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When BA took over Dan Air it was able to add Dan Air's flights between Gatwick and Madrid to its own as well as acquiring, instantly, the rest of a sizable operation out of LGW. I wouldn't be surprised, however, if BA's LGW-MAD operation is today as small as Dan Air's was at that time. (I know that with easyJet, Air Comet and now Ryanair on the route it's a different world.)
May 2, 2009, 8:05 am
#14
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It's interesting as I had fond memories of Dan Air even though I had never flown with them 
When I was a young child, I used to love watching airplanes and my father used to take me to the airport for some plane spotting. At that time, Dan Air had quite a few aircraft going through Aberdeen airport so the airline triggers some fond memories for me
When I was a young child, I used to love watching airplanes and my father used to take me to the airport for some plane spotting. At that time, Dan Air had quite a few aircraft going through Aberdeen airport so the airline triggers some fond memories for me
May 2, 2009, 8:54 am
#15
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In my formative years, DA operated quasi-scheduled services between Gatwick and Zurich - officially charters but you could book any duration - and I used them a lot in the 70s. Also charters to the Med.
We booked a Ving (remember them?) last minute holiday to the Algarve and I was looking forward to travelling on their Comet IV to Faro. I was disappointed when they substituted a 727.
Remember their charter catering? Two flaps in the back of the seat in front - the top one with a 'meal' (sandwich) outbound, the lower one for the inbound. Did anybody use both?
Then there was the Danish company Danair, which sometimes led to confusion.
Trivia time: what did the Dan of Dan-Air stand for? Answer: Davies & Newman.
70s. Also charters to the Med.We booked a Ving (remember them?) last minute holiday to the Algarve and I was looking forward to travelling on their Comet IV to Faro. I was disappointed when they substituted a 727.
Remember their charter catering? Two flaps in the back of the seat in front - the top one with a 'meal' (sandwich) outbound, the lower one for the inbound. Did anybody use both?
Then there was the Danish company Danair, which sometimes led to confusion.
Trivia time: what did the Dan of Dan-Air stand for? Answer: Davies & Newman.