London being a city I love, I'm always looking forward to go there from time to time. I've been looking at the airfares to London from Montreal for a while before our departure, and found out that Thomas Cook Airlines had really good prices on the Montreal-London Gatwick run (469 CAD tax in, return). In a matter of days, a good friend of mine and I booked our flights via the Canadian Affairs website. The process was quick and efficient and we received our travel itinerary in no time. Meanwhile, we decided to visit Manchester for a bit of spotting while in the United Kingdom. We decided to fly on British Airways as it was the most convenient and the cheapest for the dates we would select.

Please note that I went into details to provide as much information as I could, and I posted a few pictures to support my words.

Date: 14 May 2006
Route: Montreal CYUL -- London Gatwick LGW
Airline: Thomas Cook
Flight Number: TCX 06L
Aircraft: Boeing 757-2Y0 G-FCLJ
Seats: 07A and 07B

Three weeks after we initially booked our flight to London, it was time to go! After a 45 minutes drive to the airport, we went to the Thomas Cook check-in desks and the process was quick. We got our boarding passes, and got seats 07A and 07B. We then had a little something to eat at L'Altitude by Casey's before saying goodbye to our relatives and we headed straight to security. It all went quickly as there was no queue at the time.

Now it was my first time in the new Montreal Trudeau International finger, although it has been opened many months ago. I must say it looks really nice, clean and modern. It's not a huge finger but I think that's enough for the amount of international traffic Montreal gets. It looks so much better than the shed we had before for international arrivals and departures. Here's a few pictures of the international jetty at CYUL:







We did a bit of duty free shopping as well before heading to our assigned gate, gate 61. The duty free, again, looks fine to me, although small compared to major airports. But it's still a huge improvement compare to the duty free shops we used to have in the past.



Walking towards gate 61, I could see many heavies parked at the gates such as a Royal Air Maroc 767-300, an Air France 747-400, a KLM MD-11 and an Air Canada new colors A330-300. I had the chance to see as well the Lufthansa A340-300 taxiing in from Zurich, a Zoom 767-300 and the Biman Bangladesh DC-10, which diverted here the day before. Here's our aircraft, aThomas Cook 757-200 G-FCLJ, at gate 61:



A general boarding announcement was soon made at 6h25 pm and we made our way in the jet bridge to the aircraft. I was at this time pretty excited as I realized I was off to London once again. Great! We were welcomed by a young flight attendant and we walked to our assigned seats, where a small Naya bottled water and a blanket were waiting for us. I've heard good stories about those Thomas Cook 757s (G-FCLK and G-FCLJ), mainly because of the seats and pitch. And it is true. I made myself comfortable in my leather seat and I was quite happy about the generous 35 inches seat pitch in this aircraft. I would say the flight was 65% full and the aisle seat next to us (07C) remained empty for the flight. Good for us I thought.

We pushed-back on time at 7h00 pm just before the KLM MD-11 on our left hand side. I thought we would use the 06s for departure but it seemed they switched the runways operations as we quickly taxied toward runway 24L. Soon after I could hear the engines spooling up and we accelerated down the runway at 7h10pm. We did rotate quite quickly, somewhere around the 55th Avenue for those familiar with the airport surroundings. We climbed up towards in a westbound direction for a while before turning north, and later east. Unfortunately I couldn't see anything on the ground as it was overcast over the greater Montreal area. Our route followed the St.Lawrence River, Newfoundland and then the Atlantic Ocean, at a 37.000 feet cruising altitude.

Headsets were offered at a 2,75 pounds price. I preferred not to buy them as the IFE was poor anyway. The latter consisted of a few shows and one movie, which was Big Mama II on this flight. About an hour into the flight, the meals were served to the passengers. It consisted of only one choice, which were pork and chives sausages with champ mash. It was served with a mixed vegetables and ricotta jalouise, crackers and cheese, bread and butter, a small apple cake and a baby size Dairy Milk chocolate bar. Here's a picture of the meal:



As for drinks, you would have to pay if you'd want one (Pepsi, juices, wine, etc...). For the price we paid for the flight, I wasn't expecting more to be honest, so I wasn't disappointed. In and all it was okay, especially that I wasn't particularly hungry by the time we ate.

The flight went by quickly enough and was uneventful. I tried to sleep, without any success. I listened to my mp3 player for a while, watching the daylight slowly emerging from the horizon. Now that's something I absolutely love about those night transatlantic flights. It's just so peaceful. Shortly before descent, we had a little something to eat, which was a bacon panini served with a small muffin and a small orange juice cup.



Again, it was overcast over Ireland and the United Kingdom so we couldn't see anything on the ground. Descent was smooth except a few minor bumps. Finally, I could see the English countryside, which was really nice as usual. We landed on runway 08R at 6h45 am and taxied quickly to our gate (17 I think) at Gatwick South Terminal.

There were no major queues at the customs so it was all good for us. We then walked to our designated baggage claim area where we realized our things were already waiting for us on the belt. The whole process from the opening of the aircraft door after arrival to Gatwick train station went quickly and we were happy to board a Southern train at 7h40 am, with Victoria Station in Central London being our destination. It was a bit of a rush in the underground station as the trains had delays and that it was a Monday morning. Fortunately, we made it to the hotel without any further problems, except that the room wasn't ready yet as it was too early for check-in.

London

Our stay in London was great. Our hotel was the Copthorne Tara Hotel, in Kensington. It has a pretty convenient location near the tube station and it was easy to reach Kensington High Street and Kensington Gardens. The rooms look pretty old though (but big by european standards), and they seriously need some to be refurbished. Fortunately we got a great deal on Priceline. I wouldn't pay the price asked at the hotel check-in, which was 225 pounds a night (!!!), which is ridiculous considering how the rooms look tired.

We had a lot of fun walking around the city and did a lot for the few days we were in town. We went to Windsor Castle which is simply amazing, we visited most of London major attractions such as St.Paul cathedral and the Tower of London, we went to see the Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre which was awesome and had a lot fun shopping and walking around. Of course we went to my favorite restaurant, Mr Kong near Leicester Square, where I met Jeff (one of Mr Kong waiter) for the fourth time. Awesome!

A few pictures for those who are interested....


Harrods Knightsbridge


A few cabs at night


Kensington Palace


BA London Eye at night


Windsor Castle

And my favorite one by far, being a huge London Underground lover...


The world famous Clock Tower and a Westminster Station Underground logo

Also, one of the highlights of our stay was the first ever visit of the Airbus 380 to London Heathrow. So many enthusiasts were there. I was amazed by all the attention this giant of the sky gets. It was a lot of fun to chat with the people out there, and being interviewed both by the BBC News and the BBC Radio was an enjoyable experience. In and all, it was a great day despite the weather being cloudy as usual.







Date: 19 May 2006
Route: London Heathrow LHR -- Manchester MAN
Airline: British Airways
Flight Number: BA1382
Aircraft: Airbus A319-131 G-EUPY
Seats: 15A and 15Bs

After spending four beautiful and exciting days in the United Kingdom capital, it was time to go to Manchester for a bit of spotting. Having heard a lot of good things about it, I couldn't wait to fly there and experience the great spotting locations provided at Manchester airport.

As our flight was leaving Heathrow at 6h30 am, we had to wake up in the middle of the night and took the N9 bus in front of the High Street Kensington underground station. We arrived at Heathrow Central at 4h40 after a 45 minutes bus ride and went straight to Terminal 1. We had to wait a few minutes before 5 o'clock as we wanted to use the BA self service machines. Again, nothing wrong happened and we got seats 15A and 15B. We went to the fast bag drop and by 5h10 am, we were upstairs having an orange juice and some croissants at Caffè Italia.

Later on we went through security, which again was a breeze. We had a short walk around the pier where we were to board and saw anything but BMIs and British Airways babybuses. We did some duty free shopping before having a seat in the waiting area at gate 5 (our aircraft was waiting for us at gate 5C). A few minutes later boarding was called and in a matter of minutes we were sitting in our seats aboard the A319. I like the leathers seats in those short haul aircrafts. My opinion is that they are quite comfortable and that the legroom is generous enough for short flights. Today's flight was to be a really quick one, about 35 minutes. We would only fly at a 18 000 feet altitude.

Pushback was on time and we taxied to runway 27L for departure. The only plane taxiing with us was a BMI Airbus, which was also going to Manchester if I'm not mistaken. We had a really short take-off roll and rocketed into the sky.





The climb was smooth and we were offered Ciabatta ham, gruyere and mushroom sandwiches minutes later. It was served with coffee or tea. The rest of the flight was uneventful and we soon started our descent towards Ringway airport. Again, it was really cloudy and we couldn't see anything. We landed in a wet Manchester and taxied past a Thomas Cook A330-200 (gorgeous aircraft!) backtracking the taxiway on its way to the terminals.



We exited the plane and had to wait no more then four or five minutes to see our baggage on the belt. As we were staying in the newly opened Travelodge hotel near the airport, I first looked for some hotel shuttle buses, like they have in Zurich or at some European airports. Unfortunately it didn't seem to be the case here, so we took a cab to the hotel. At 7h50 local time, we were in our hotel room having a nap as we woke up quite early that morning.

Spotting at Manchester

Well, what can I say? To me, Manchester qualifies as one of the best airport I've been to for spotting. Both the spotting locations and the traffic are amazing. Despite the really bad weather (cold, wind and rain), I had a blast walking around and taking pictures of many airlines I've never seen before.

I would like to thank Paul Markman (a local photographer) for showing us around the airport. I know it was raining like hell that particular Saturday morning and that Paul surely would have preferred to stay in bed. We couldn't imagine not having a ride around in such a horrible day weather-wise.

I guess the perfect spotting trip in Europe would be to visit Manchester, Amsterdam and Zurich all together. They all offer good traffic to the enthusiasts, but most important, they have great photography facilities.

Date: 20 May 2006
Route: Manchester MAN - London Heathrow LHR
Airline: British Airways
Flight Number: BA1399
Aircraft: Boeing 757-236 G-BPEC
Seats: 24E and 24F

As Paul and I stopped spotting at 12h38 due to some interesting aircrafts movements, it was a bit of a rush back to the hotel as we had to check-out by 1 pm. Anyway, we made it and called a cab to get to Terminal 3. Once again, we used the self service machines and got seats 24E and 24F. We went to the fast bag drop off, but I had my bag to go through the inspection point as it is a backpack. (I guess that's the reason...). We had a little coffee at Costa near security. It was good to warm us up after the spotting session we had in the morning, in some rainy conditions.

Security was once again really smooth and we had plenty of time to kill. Our departure was at 3h30pm and I guess it was about 1h30pm when we passed security. I did some spotting from the airport and took photographs of aircrafts taxiing to runway 24R for departure.

The minutes went by quickly and soon enough it was time to board G-BPEC, our ride back to London Heathrow. We had a delay of about 30 minutes due to traffic restrictions at LHR, which wasn't really surprising. We push backed and made our way towards runway 24L for departure. Despite the plane being full, we had quite a short take-off roll and we experienced the power of the Boeing 757, which was a lot of fun, especially on such a short journey. Back in the air, we were offered a choice of tuna or cheese sandwiches, along with coffee or tea. We declined the offer as we ate just before departure.





Once more, the flight was pretty smooth and we started our descent towards Heathrow. Guess what? It was cloudy again! Not that I was surprised, but a patch of sun would have been nice to see. We flew down towards runway 27L, passing by central London and its famous landmarks. It started to get bumpy as we got closer to the ground, which made the approach a little more exciting. We flew past the usual British Airways buildings and other airlines facilities before touching down on 27L.



We exited the runway and taxied to terminal 1. Some interesting aircrafts could be seen on the ground, such as a JAL 773ER, a Gulf Air 330 and a Royal Brunei 767. Again, we got our baggage quickly and after leaving the arrival area, we made our way towards the tube to take the Piccadilly Line towards the Hilton Kensington Olympia hotel for a last night in the United Kingdom.

Date: 21 May 2006
Route: London Gatwick LGW - Montreal CYUL
Airline: Thomas Cook
Flight Number: TCX 06K
Aircraft: Boeing 757-2Y0 G-FCLJ
Seats: 28E and 28F

Our week in London and Manchester was already over. We had to go back home after a wonderful week of fun, sightseeing, emotions and spotting. We left the hotel in the mid morning and we took the tube towards Victoria station. Once there, we got our Southern train tickets to London Gatwick airport and we went to Starbucks for a mocha coffee and some pastries. We left the station at 11h20 and arrived in Crawley some 30 or 35 minutes later. I don't see why people pay more to get on the Gatwick Express as the Southern Trains company provides a quick and efficient link to the airport from Victoria. It might be a bit faster but I'm not sure it is worth the extra money you have to pay to get on the LGW Express.

On arrival to Gatwick, we disembarked and went upstairs to get to the South Terminal check-in area....and what a mess it was! I've never departed from Gatwick before and I quickly realized it wasn't the same reality as Heathrow. LGW was full of people going on vacations and I felt like you don't have this "business travelers all around" feeling you get at Heathrow. There were queues everywhere, and the queue was particularly a mess at the Excel counters. Fortunatly for us, after we made our way through all those families waiting to check their baggage, we found the Thomas Cook check-in area in Zone E, and it was almost empty. The check-in agent was very unfriendly and seemed bored by his job, but the good point is that things went quickly.

We went to security and the queues were short so it was a matter of minutes before we reached the secure area. With more than two hours to kill before boarding, we had plenty of time to shop around and to grab something to eat. But first, I went to the Continental gates to see if Peter Max was operating a flight to Gatwick that day. Unfortunatly, both 777s we saw were wearing the normal CO livery. Back to the duty free shops, we bought a few last minute things and gifts and went to Upper Crust to get a baguette. We also went to the viewing area on the third floor which, despite the dirty windows, provides a decent view of the South and North Terminals.







We walked towards gate 19 for boarding. I guess they are refurbishing the gates area in that wing as it looked ugly and there only was a narrow path to get to the gates. As soon as we arrived to our assigned gate, a boarding announcement was made for the last rows so we didn't have to wait since we had seats in row 28. At this time we were about 30 minutes prior to departure so I read a bit before we pushed back at 3h07 pm.

The engines started and we taxied to the holding point of runway 26L, next to a BA triple seven. We hold there for a few minutes before entering the runway for departure. As the flight was full this time, we had quite a long take-off roll before climbing out of Gatwick airport. The clouds layers must have been really thick over southwest England as we seemed to fly in the clouds forever.



Again, the flight was uneventful and we enjoyed the really good seat pitch offered on this aircraft. The in-flight movie was Cheaper by the dozens which I have already seen, so I didn't bother buying headsets on board. The meal looked similar as the one we got on the way to London sooner that week. Again, we had bread and butter, some Jacobs crackers with cheese, a cheese and red onions jalouise (what's a "jalouise anyway?), along with the main meal which was chicken in creamy cheese and sun dried tomatoes sauce. We had a kind of chocolate and cinnamon brownie as a dessert, with the same baby size Dairy Milk chocolate bar.

To my surprise, the flight was to be about the same length as our eastbound flight, about 6h35 long. We flew at an altitude of 37 000 feet and it was unfortunately overcast all the way from Gatwick to Montreal. As the IFE was really poor on that flight, I've listened to my mp3 player for hours and I've read some magazines. A ham and four cheese panini was served soon before descent to Montreal Trudeau, with a scone cake and strawberry jam. We were also offered coffee and tea. The descent to CYUL was a bumpy from time to time and we followed to usual pattern towards runway 24R.



We must had good winds on our way over the ocean as we landed almost 40 minutes before our original time of arrival, which was 5h40pm. We touched down at 5h02 pm in, once again, a dark and grey Montreal, as the weather was crap. To my delight, we parked next to a KLM A330-200, PH-AOC. I think it was the first visit of this type in the KLM livery in Montreal. A nice sight indeed.

We joined the queue in the international arrival hall, which was a bit long as we arrived simultaneously with KLM and some transborder flights. The overall process was fast and we proceeded to the baggage claim area. Again, it was my first time in this relatively new section of Dorval, and I most admit it looks really good. I couldn't compare it with the old baggage claim area we had before at this airport. For some reasons our flight number would not show up on the baggage claim area screens, even if they were on belt number 2. The screens were showing flight MT 6 instead, which I have no clue why.

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Overall, it was a great trip. Thomas Cook offers a good product considering the price we paid for the return flights. The service was okay, but the best part was that both flights were on-time, and the leather seats with their 35 inches pitch were fine. Of course the meals aren't great but you get for what you pay, and I wasn't expecting more. Thomas Cook was to me a pleasant experience and I would fly with them again if they keep their fares as low as they are now.

British Airways was nice as well. We had a delay on the MAN-LHR run, but it was due to traffic restrictions at London Heathrow, so we can't blame the airline. The leather seats and pitch are nice for those short flights, and flying the 757 on a 40 minutes flight was fun.

That's about it. Do not hesitate to add comments and to ask questions if you feel the need to.

Cheers, as they say so often in England!

Alex G.-Denicourt
Contrails Aviation Photography

[Edited 2006-06-03 01:52:31]

[Edited 2006-06-03 01:53:55]