Okay guys - this is my first post and I thought I'd make it a decent-sized one. Following is a trip report from my honeymoon in Oman. I live in the North East of England and my nearest airport is NCL / Newcastle International.

It's fairly well served by the big boys; BA fly to LHR (but not LGW anymore, they've left that to Flybe), AF to CDG, KLM to AMS, EK to DXB, SN to BRU and LH to DUS. The last one is a bit of an oddity as most of the destinations I've checked out via DUS seem to go via FRA as well, making any long haul trip with Lufty a bit of a trek. The last itinerary it gave me for NCL-BEY went NCL-DUS-FRA-BEY which took 24 hours!! No thanks. I guess though DUS is a good hub for European cities.

We decided on Oman on the Arabian Gulf. If you're not familiar with the geography of it, well it's kind of round the corner from Dubai, directly opposite Iran. In fact the distance between Oman's northernmost enclave and Iran, across the Straits of Hormuz is only around 25 miles.
Oman is underdeveloped in comparison to Dubai, in that there are only a handful of hotels and tourism is still finding its feet there. That said, Oman has striking architecture, heritage and enormous towering peaks that frame the cityscapes that Dubai can only dream of and it bills itself as a more sedate, genuinely Arabian holidaying experience than Dubai.

The plan is to fly with BA's A321 domestic shuttle to Heathrow, transfer onto QR's A340-600 to Doha and then check out QR's Premium Terminal before transferring onto a regional QR A321 to Muscat in Oman. All flights business class.

Le'ts go!

My lovely new Samsonite suitcase, packed and ready to go - by the time we returned it was battered and bruised! It looked like it'd been round the world several times! What on earth do these baggage handlers do with them?



It was a temperate 18 degrees celcius when we got in the car - we'd better get used to some warmer temperatures quick as it's apparently 41 degrees in Oman today!


Newcastle International's spacious check in area. Compared to the rat race at many of the UK's biggest airports flying from here is a dream. Granted that you don't get all the shops and the glitz but the queues are much shorter.



Emirates are doing a brisk trade with their A330 service to Dubai. We would have used them but the transfer times weren't all that great and Qatar's J class is much better and on this occasion, cheaper. Their billboard here is a play on words of 'Tyne and Wear' which is the former name of the County in which the airport is situated.



So, this is where the fun starts. We go to check in and the good news is that BA can check our baggage all the way to Muscat. Excellent. The bad news is that the flight is late inbound. That means that our two and a half hour window to get from T5 to T3 once we land will be reduced to an hour. Hmm. It's doable. We keep our fingers crossed. There also oddly is no dedicated business section on domestic BA flights. There's no priority boarding, no priority deboarding, or any priority baggage. That's annoying. We end up right the way back behind the second emergency exit row. Note to self - don't ever pay to fly J class on BA domestic.

The waiting time for our flight to Heathrow taunts us!



You get a good view of the tarmac from the waiting areas at NCL. The nearest Flybe is about to launch off to Gatwick, a service recently given up by BA's 737-400 fleet and the furthest Dash away is shorlty off to Southampton. The EZY 737 is off to Prague whilst the AF CRJ is taxying out to depart to CDG.



It was then that I noticed something amiss. The AF CRJ taxied onto the active and then did a quick 180 and came back off, and the airport fire trucks sped past.



I could see two specs in the distance, coming downwind to land, in the opposite direction the departing traffic. I just had time to grab the camera as two Harriers came into view, on clearly the emergency traffic touching the deck, and a wingman above.



The wingman shot off into the distance with a wing waggle, whilst his mate taxied off onto the GA apron, closely followed by the fire trucks. The AF CRJ taxied back onto the active and waited. This was a problem. Clearly the AF couldn't depart because the fire trucks were tied up and there was no cover. If the Harrier suddenly caught fire or otherwise needed the attentions of the fire crew then the airport would effectively be shut for some time.



Eventually the AF began its take off roll and I breathed a sigh of relief. We were still be tight into Heathrow for our connection to Doha, but at least our incoming A321 could land!

Drama over, we head over to the BA Terraces Lounge, where a friendly attendant welcomes us. There's a good selection of teas, coffees and a really speedy unsecured wireless connection. Tip for you - it also works in the luggage collection area downstairs too so if you're in NCL and waiting for your luggage then you can pass the time online!



The one bonus is that there's a fairly deserted free bar!



After what seems like an age, I see the familar red and blue fin of a BA A321 looming outside through the windows. We are promised that we'll be leaving in 30 minutes by the lounge attendant. 30 mins, passengers off, luggage off, us and luggage on. Hop to it, BA.

Boarding time finally and our chariot awaits. Pilots are head down on the FMC's by the look of it.



Once on board, you realise how spacious BA cabins are after the lo-costs. The seat pitch was pretty decent and I like the cool dark blue leather seating. I might have imagined it but there looked to be a tad more legroom in the first few rows. I guess they just pull out a row and put the curtain in when this aircraft operates Club Europe flights?



My wife got the better seat, in front of the emergency exit. She has much shorter legs than me too!



The skipper gives a short PA, apologising for the delay and says that'll he's confident we can make up some time in the air - reducing what on the tickets is a 1 hour and 5 minute flight into 50 mins. He was right, as soon we're away, speeding past NCL's distinctive control tower and going up at a very steep angle. For an Airbus, we sure are motoring.

Shortly after takeoff, the flaps are cleaned up and the overhead displays drop down.






This isn't a long flight and in no time the crew are out of their seats and starting the snack service. There's no alcohol (that I could see) but you do get free soft drinks and tea or coffee, a couple of sandwiches and a choc bar. Both sandwiches were pretty decent.



A clever idea on a short flight - you get a little bag to hang on your seat when you've done



Like so...



By this time we're well into the descent for London, and the Captain comes on to tell us that although we've made the journey in under 55 minutes ATC aren't playing ball, and there will be at least a 10-15 minute delay in holding. Groan. This puts us on the ground at 20.20, with our departure to Doha from a different terminal at 21.30. Boarding will close around 21.10. We don't have long at all. The saving grace is that we're docking at the main terminal, so no busses back to the terminal. The rather worrying thing was that the BA transfer page in the inflight magazine advised 2 hours for this process. We'd have 40 mins, max!

On the approach for LHR, almost overhead LCY and the 02 arena, formely the Dome.



Coming down the glide into LHR.



Our first glance of T5.



So now it was the quick dash through Terminal 5 to Terminal 3, where hopefully we would make it to the QR flight that was boarding as we ran.

Would we make it?

To be continued....

[Edited 2008-06-15 13:46:13]