Ps76 From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2004, 808 posts, RR: 0 Posted (3 years 3 months 3 weeks 17 hours ago) and read 14820 times:
Hi,
Just thought I'd try to upload a few pics from a flight I managed to take last week. It was from my local airport London Gatwick to Shannon just for a few hours to have dinner mainly and return home. Was quite a fun trip in the end and hope the pics turn out ok.
Was quite sunny when I left home in the morning:
Street parking near Gatwick airport:
The price of using street parking near Gatwick - having to walk through muddy grass to the terminal(!)
Hotel Sofitel next to the North Terminal at Gatwick.
The North Terminal:
Shuttle train to the South Terminal:
The South Terminal:
I didn't get a pic but basically I went to Starbucks in the Gatwick Village on the upper floor of the South Terminal and had a muffin (Skinny Lemon Poppyseed!) and a small coffee of the day before I went airside. Was quite a nice way to relax before going airside and I was getting a little hungry becaus I hadn't really eaten much that day. With a departure time of 3pm though it was nice not to be rushed having to get up early etc. and was quite relaxed getting up, going for a jog and getting to the airport.
Airside in the South Terminal:
Apologies for the blurry shot but can just see 15.00 Shannon about 1/3 of the way down the left hand side(?) Departure gate was already announced as gate 10.
Airside again:
Gates 1-10:
Walking to gate 10:
Easyjet plane on the way:
Gate 10. The gate was quite busy as the flight was I would guess about 90% full. (My return ticket only cost £15 so I'm not suprised they were full(!)).
LH4116 From Sweden, joined Aug 2007, 1520 posts, RR: 15 Reply 1, posted (3 years 3 months 3 weeks 17 hours ago) and read 14784 times:
Nice little report!
Your trip remembered me about a trip a made last year. It was also on FR, and i flew all the way from VST to STN, just for a crayfish and avocado sandwich, at Café Alba, Stansted. My tickets were also bought dirt cheap.
It's good to see that FR actually flies from a "main stream" airport, and not just some old abandoned air force base, out in the middle of nowhere.
I won't stop complaining until SAS reintroduces free service in Economy Class!
Ps76 From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2004, 808 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (3 years 3 months 3 weeks 17 hours ago) and read 14772 times:
Interior cabin (Boeing 737-800):
Wing View:
Engine nacelle:
Not too much legroom (but enough for the short flight for me):
They distributed the Ryanair magazine for anyone who wanted it before takoff (apologies for the blurry shot):
Quite full cabin:
Another Ryanair plane:
Taxiing out:
An Easyjet plane still half in the British Airways colours (from Easyjet's recent buyout of can't remember the name but they used to fly for British Airways and now they fly Easyjet flights):
Taxiing to runway 8R:
Rolling Runway 8R:
Takeoff:
Initial left turn turning us West to head to Shannon (via Cardiff):
Ps76 From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2004, 808 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (3 years 3 months 3 weeks 16 hours ago) and read 14711 times:
Cruise altitude was given by the captain as 32,000ft. (probably getting closer to that by this stage?):
They also mentioned that the wearther in Shannon was, unlike sunny Gatwick, windy and rainy. We reached lots of cloud roughly soon after passing Cardiff. The flight is short at only 1hr10min. You basically go up, have a drink (I had an orange juice (J20)), give back the empties and go down again from what I remember.
Descending through cloud:
Breaking out below the cloud. I'm not sure exactly where this is but the captain had mentioned we would be landing on Shannon's Easterly runway:
Ps76 From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2004, 808 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (3 years 3 months 3 weeks 16 hours ago) and read 14677 times:
Shannon airport arrivals food shop:
Shannon airport exterior view:
"Park Inn" Hotel just near the terminal:
The airport is just by the water (Shannon estuary?). Even in the wind and light rain it made a nice place to walk for a little while:
Shannon airport sign:
Fedex Atr by the airport perimeter road (main exit road from the airport):
That's all the pics I could get before my camera ran out but it was getting dark anyway. Basically I continued my walk down the airport perimeter road a little longer then returned to the terminal where I had dinner (sausage and mashed potatoes with a half pint of Guiness). The total layover was only 3hrs so by the time I finished dinner and watched a little tv (and went to the excellent observation lounge) it was time to head back through security, buy a few chocolates as a souvenir and head to the gate.
The return flight was also on time and was in darkness. Weather was not too good for takeoff anc climb with no views and a few bumps but got much better and had some cool views during descent and landing at Gatwick airport. From there it was roughly 9.30pm so I walked back to my car (through the mud again!) and drove the 1/2 hour home. Overall was a quite relaxing way to fly for an afternoon/evening. Hoep the pics were ok (and not too many too).
LH4116 From Sweden, joined Aug 2007, 1520 posts, RR: 15 Reply 6, posted (3 years 3 months 3 weeks 10 hours ago) and read 14195 times:
Nice little report!
Your trip remembered me about a trip a made last year. It was also on FR, and i flew all the way from VST to STN, just for a crayfish and avocado sandwich, at Café Alba, Stansted. My tickets were also bought dirt cheap.
It's good to see that FR actually flies from a "main stream" airport, and not just some old abandoned air force base, out in the middle of nowhere.
I won't stop complaining until SAS reintroduces free service in Economy Class!
Trintocan From United Kingdom, joined Apr 2000, 3134 posts, RR: 5 Reply 7, posted (3 years 3 months 3 weeks 9 hours ago) and read 14147 times:
Thank you for this great trip report PS76. FR does fly from quite a few mainstream airports, most notably DUB but also MAN, LGW and CIA which, despite being smaller than FCO is actually much closer to central Rome.
That U2 plane that you commented upon was from GB Airways, which U2 bought out in 2007. They did flights from LGW, MAN and BRS to several Spanish destinations. Prior to that they were independent and operated BA codeshares.
All of FR's planes are 737-800s.
That sign by the airport (SNN) features a 707 tail - it's quite interesting indeed.
Pe@rson From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 18345 posts, RR: 56 Reply 11, posted (3 years 3 months 2 weeks 6 days 14 hours ago) and read 13387 times:
Cool report!
Quoting LH4116 (Reply 1): It's good to see that FR actually flies from a "main stream" airport, and not just some old abandoned air force base, out in the middle of nowhere.
Quoting LH4116 (Reply 1): My tickets were also bought dirt cheap.
Won't bother to state the obvious.
"Everyone writing for the Telegraph knows that the way to grab eyeballs is with Ryanair and/or sex."
Ps76 From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2004, 808 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (3 years 3 months 2 weeks 6 days 11 hours ago) and read 13285 times:
Hi,
Just to say many thanks for the comments/encouragement. Was worried the report wouldn't turn out that well at all but seems like it wasn't not too bad at least.
Quoting BA319-131 (Reply 9): Did you meet up with anyone for dinner or was this a jolly by yourself?
Unfortunately this trip was on my own but I kinda don't mind it that way. I guess I could have asked my brother or a friend but they mostly think I'm nuts flying to places for 3 hours (I think it's kinda fun!)!.
Quoting BA319-131 (Reply 9): Was it the same plane back or a different one?
Was a different plane and crew on the way back. But actually did this same flight about a year ago and that time it was the same aircraft/crew and the times were kinda the same too. Was something saying hi to the same flight attendant when he had just served me a few hours before(!)
Quoting JFKMan (Reply 10): How much was it round trip with taxes and everything?
Total cost was 15 pounds (around $30). This was actually much more than it used to be because since last year the Ryanair credit/debit card processing charge seems to have gone up from 2 pounds to 10 pounds which kinda sucks. The flights were 2 pounds 50 each way but plus the debit card fee it came to total 15 (used to have flights booked for 2 pounds all included). Of course you can't be that picky on the dates you want to fly and basically have to book at least 14 days in advance and take whatever dates are available if you want to take the cheapest flight.
Vasu From United Kingdom, joined Apr 2005, 3618 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (3 years 3 months 2 weeks 4 days 8 hours ago) and read 12759 times:
Great trip report, Ps76!
I'm interested in your street parking at LGW... I fly quite a lot from LGW and much prefer driving to getting the bus or train (though I normally choose not to because of parking costs).
Where abouts is it that you park? Is it far from the North Terminal?
Ps76 From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2004, 808 posts, RR: 0 Reply 18, posted (3 years 3 months 2 weeks 2 days 16 hours ago) and read 12232 times:
Hi,
Just to say many thanks for the comments etc.
To Vasu the street where I park is called Povey Cross Road (just past the fire station). Unfortunately I'm on a Mac at the moment and have no print screen function but if you go to Streetmap.co.uk (or any other mapping site) and do a GB placename search for Gatwick airport and zoom to the North Terminal you should see it. On the map it's right next to the North Terminal but in reality it's about 10 mins. walk mainly down the side of an A road which is just by the Terminal (London Road) and then to the roundabout. It's right near the Moat House Hotel and on the same road as the Hotel Mercure (used to be Renaissance Hotel). Hope it might help a bit.
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