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Category: Gatwick

Turkey Trip 2026 : Day 1 (Wizz Air : Gatwick Airport South to Istanbul)

I had just enough time to pop into My Lounge at Gatwick Airport before the flight. It was busy when I entered but they were happily letting Priority Pass customers in without a queue, although it took me a little time to find a power point to ensure I was fully charged for the journey ahead.

There was some fruit for those who like that sort of thing.

And some reliably dreadful tasting Cruzcampo beer, but that’s fine as it’s meant to taste like that and wasn’t a serving error (although it is self-pour).

Our 13:05 flight was delayed by 80 minutes which was a little sub-optimal, but not critical to our travel arrangements.

I don’t entirely trust My Lounge food, but this looked safe enough as a little snack.

Boarding at the gate was, once again, efficient and well ordered. There were some passengers pushing their baggage limits somewhat, but they came unstuck as they were checking some bags. It’s an expensive extra cost for those who thought that they’d get away with it.

Boarding the aircraft which was registration G-WUKS, an aircraft that I don’t think that I’ve been on before. There was another ten minute delay whilst an engineer came on board to tape up a tray table was broken, but then we were good to go.

Jonathan and I had been randomly allocated middle seats which I had been slightly dreading as it was a four hour flight. Fortunately, when I boarded the row of three a couple of rows in front was evidently empty so I made a run (well, brisk walk) towards it. Another passenger mentioned to me that she was also moving there with her husband, but she suggested that I had the aisle seat, which is the one that I wanted anyway.

Jonathan had equally good news in being able to move to an aisle seat. The flight was actually three and a half hours, not four hours, but it’s a lot more comfortable when not wedged into a middle seat. The aircraft was clean throughout and as usual, the cabin crew were friendly, engaging and efficient.

And safely into Istanbul Airport which had no working wifi (I mentioned this a few times to Jonathan), but it’s a grand looking airport and the largest privately owned one in the world. It opened in 2019, replacing Ataturk Airport, and seems to be rather a long way from Istanbul. Anyway, on the positive side, the border control process only took fifteen minutes and we could then plan on getting to the hotel. Design wise, it looks an impressive airport and I’m sure that I’ll be back here again at some point in the future.

Although by this time we were around an hour behind schedule, the whole arrangement from Wizz Air surprised and delighted me, especially since I wasn’t trapped in the middle seat. Coping without wifi for another two hours wasn’t what I expected after landing though, but that’s not the fault of Wizz Air.

January 21, 2026
Turkey Trip 2026 : Day 1 (Hove to Gatwick Airport)

After safely switching platforms during the three minute connection time, I was safely at Hove railway station. To be fair, this isn’t going to be the most complex piece of transportation during this trip, but I was pleased that there were no delays here.

The original Hove railway station opened in 1840, but this was closed in 1880 and the railway station at this site opened in 1865 and was originally known as Cliftonville. It was renamed West Brighton in 1879, then renamed to Hove & West Brighton in 1894 before taking its current name of Hove in 1895.

Here the Southern Railways Thunderbolt rolling into the platform. It was a relatively busy train and an announcement was made that it was stopping additionally at Three Bridges to assist passengers having difficulty with the cancelled services between Brighton and London Gatwick.

We arrived on time into Gatwick Airport railway station which was rebuilt in 1958 from the former Gatwick Racecourse station. As an aside there was also a railway station at Tinsley Green, renamed Gatwick Airport in 1936 (one of the first airport railway stations), but this was later demolished (to make way for the 1958 station) and this was a little further along the line towards Three Bridges.

As an update, Jonathan had already arrived at Gatwick about 45 minutes before, so this meant that we were now both safely at the airport ready for the flight. It was good to arrive on time given we didn’t have a lot of time to spare and it was then promptly announced that our flight was delayed.

And with that, the trip began…..

January 21, 2026
Wizz Air (Wrocław to Gatwick Airport)

And another Wizz Air flight, this time from Wrocław to Gatwick Airport once again. It’s a handy flight time this as it’s in the early afternoon, making it much easier to get back to Norwich without having to rush for trains.

There’s my flight, the 14:45 to Gatwick Airport South. This is a spacious and well organised airport, with the security process only taking a few minutes.

A quick visit to the lounge. They have a decent choice of craft beer, a rather good Greek salad and lots of meat products.

I didn’t experience any issues with my new passport, so that’s one less burden to have to deal with when arriving or departing from a Polish airport. They haven’t introduced the new entry and exit system yet, but I don’t think it’s long away from introduction and the kiosks are already set-up and just roped off.

The boarding process was efficient and easy, another smooth Wizz Air operation here, although we had a wait of around fifteen minutes on the air bridge.

We then had a nice wait in the rain. The aircraft was G-WUKV, it’s the third time that I’ve flown on this plane in case anyone wanted to know that.

The seating Gods had allocated me a window seat, so that was a positive for the journey, giving me a lovely view of the now rainy Wrocław. The flight was only around 75% full which meant that passengers could move themselves around a bit, so I probably wouldn’t have been stuck on a middle seat.

Some clouds. This was taken near Gatwick Airport, but we were caught on yet another series of loops as we waited for our landing slot. The flight was quiet and the crew members were efficient and polite, the whole arrangement as once again well managed. There was no queue at the border control at Gatwick Airport, so I was able to get straight through the kiosks there.

The flight cost £8.99 which is quite clearly excellent value, with the aircraft landing on time and there were no eventful moments during the flight. I had a quick nap during the two hour flight and I’ve again been surprised and delighted by Wizz Air.

October 22, 2025
Wizz Air (Wrocław to Gatwick Airport)

Wrocław is the city of these little gnomes and this is the one welcoming passengers to the airport.

I didn’t love it a few days ago, but I feel we’re friends again now.

My 14:55 flight looked like that it would be on time. The security process was fast and efficient, with the airport feeling clean and organised. But, it’s Poland, I can’t remember it not being like that.

A quick visit to the airport lounge. I was very pleased with the Greek salad arrangement, the range of beers and the peaceful nature of the place.

Safely at the gate.

The queue took longer than I had anticipated, which wasn’t great as the sun was bounding into the airport from the windows, so I was too hot. But, I didn’t complain other than to about 18 friends on WhatsApp.

A little unusually for Wizz Air, they were boarding via the airbridge only. The seating Gods had been favourable yet again, giving me a window seat. The aircraft was G-XLRB and I don’t think I’ve been on that aircraft before, although it’s only a few weeks old and so that isn’t a surprise.

It’s not very visible, but that’s London in the background. The crew were friendly and everything, yet again, went as expected. There were frequent announcements from the pilot about the delay and the whole arrangement felt relaxed.

We’d been delayed before taking off because of a limited number of slots at Gatwick Airport and there was also some faffing about in a holding cycle before landing.

And back into Gatwick airport. We were around one hour late, but I had a big gap before my train home, so all was well. This is the last flight for a few weeks, I coped admirably I thought….

September 14, 2025
Wizz Air (Faro to London Gatwick South)

I had the choice of paying about £4 for a convenient bus service from the hotel to the airport or traipsing two miles along lanes. Anyway, here we are.

The view over to Faro on my walk. It was far too hot, but since it was about 08:00 in the morning, it wasn’t yet at its hottest.

Safely at the delights of Faro Airport.

The airport felt busy, with more non-Schengen flights than Schengen, which is unusual for a European airport. It seems though that there are more passengers to the UK and Ireland than every other destination added together, presenting a challenge when you have to have two segregated areas of the airport.

Ryanair has recently complained to the Portuguese Government about border control delays at Faro, Lisbon and Porto, with long delays now being commonplace. As mentioned, Faro has a lot of flights to the UK and this is clearly placing a burden on the airport authorities and the volume of passengers was high. It took me 38 minutes to get from the outside of the terminal to airside and through border control, which is longer than I’d normally expect but it doesn’t feel at all unreasonable although others have waited much longer recently. As I’m ever cautious, I had allowed an extra hour in case of delay, but this must be traumatic for anyone who is late for their flight. You can pay for premium security, but I’m not sure if that follows through to border control which is where the longer wait it.

I’ve been fortunate over the last year with my Priority Pass card, I’ve never been refused or had to wait more than a few minutes, but I did suspect I’d struggle today. However, I timed it well to ensure that I could charge devices and have a quick breakfast in the lounge. The pasteis de nata was delicious, the coffee was rich, there were endless crisps and they had a small bottle of awful Portuguese beer, so I was happy.

At the gate and there’s an odd glass wall here which I assume is a throwback to a previous airport set-up, but it has created something of a pinch-point now. There wasn’t much seating downstairs, but there was a fair amount tucked away upstairs.

I wasn’t surprised that we needed to get on buses to the aircraft, nearly every departure seemed to be a bus gate.

There are several airlines lined up in the background, with at least five of them being back to the UK.

The boarding process, and aircraft G-WUND is the same one that took me out to Faro a couple of days ago.

As the seating Gods had given me a window seat, I thought I’d take a photo of the views over southern Portugal.

Flying over northern Spain.

As I had taken photos of other bits of coastline, here’s the UK and it was much cloudier which pleased me. I’ve had enough of the heat to last me the rest of the year.

There’s London in the background with all of its grey glory and I accept that I’m not likely to win any photographic competitions with this effort. The flight was, yet again, comfortable and organised, with everything being clean and tidy. The crew were friendly, the pilots made clear announcements and the service was just efficient. And no-one applauded when the aircraft landed, so there’s another win.

Back at Gatwick Airport and the security process was faultless with no queue at all, although I’ve rarely had any problems at Gatwick in the past. All told, a very lovely flight and another bargain for £8.99.

July 21, 2025
Wizz Air (London Gatwick South to Faro)

Arriving at Gatwick Airport on the early morning bus…. Instead of the cinematic sweep up the driveway to an impressive departures hall, you’re unceremoniously dumped at the back of the building, which looks more like the loading dock of an industrial estate than the gateway to international travel, but as it was 05:00 it was too early to care much about this. There was no queue at security, so I was left pondering slightly why I had left my hotel so early, but better to be early than late.

I haven’t flown from Gatwick Airport for some time and I wasn’t sure if there would be space in one of the lounges using my Priority Card, but it’s fair to say that My Lounge was not packed.

Lounge food and drink which was typical fare for British airport lounges, some dry and uninteresting food alongside a dreadful lager. The sausage, bacon and hash brown were OK, I poured myself just a small amount of Cruzcampo since it was still early morning, took one mouthful and realised just how dreadful it is. The orange juice was out of cheap cartons, but in fairness to the whole arrangement, the coffee, food and orange juice was all filling enough.

Mine was the 08:00 Wizz Air flight to Faro and as usual for the airline, everything was efficient, clearly signed and without delay. There were more bag checks than usual which always adds to the drama, but once again, this didn’t impact me.

It was raining when I walked to the aircraft, it always feels a shame leaving the UK when there’s weather that I like. The aircraft registration was G-WUND, the same one that took me to an icy Tallinn a few months ago. The seating Gods had allocated me a window seat, so that was a rather handy arrangement.

Nearly at Faro and the aircraft toured up and down the coast a bit before landing. We had experienced a delay on departure, the reason for which was never mentioned, but as Wizz Air pad their schedules so much, we still seemed to manage to arrive on time. The pilots were generally decent on the number of announcements, the crew members were all personable and I fell asleep for most of the flight so don’t really know much of what happened.

It was very quickly evident that it was too hot.

The border control process felt a little chaotic, but these new machines for UK passports seemed interesting, but I wasn’t called to try them. The whole queueing arrangement was a little chaotic in places and it felt like a long wait, but it was 31 minutes in the end, which isn’t entirely unreasonable given this is a busy time of year for the airport. It does feel though that the airport in general is creaking in places with passenger numbers, so yet another extension to the building seems likely for future years.

Anyway, this was another very satisfactory experience given that the flight cost £8.99, the flight was comfortable, the boarding process was efficient and the crew were friendly. I am though getting the creeping sense that most airports in Europe are about five million passengers beyond what they were built for.

July 20, 2025
British Airways (Malta to Gatwick South) – Fourth Time

Above is the BA aircraft G-MIDT after we had arrived back into Gatwick on service BA2645. I haven’t flown on this particular aircraft before, it was brought into service in 2001 for use by bmi British Midland and then was taken over by BA in August 2012.

Boarding was smooth and without any delays, they called Groups 1 to 3 in one go and then Groups 4 and 5 went separately. There were sufficient seats in the boarding area for customers this time, something which isn’t always the case at Malta’s airport.

As seems usual in Malta, there’s a short walk to the aircraft and then customers use steps to board.

We had the aisle and middle exit row seats, with no-one sitting at the window, so Liam moved there. The cabin crew noted how sun-burnt Liam was to add to the occasion, with the crew always being efficient and pro-active during the flight. The loads were light, I’m not sure that the aircraft was even half-full in terms of the Euro Traveller cabin, a result perhaps of the current coronavirus situation. That did though mean that there was no shortage of space in the overheads and boarding wasn’t delayed whilst bags were shuffled around.

Boarding was though delayed as a result of French air traffic control, an element of which was on strike, which meant that we departed around twenty minutes later than expected. However, the pilots kept us informed and nearly all of this delay was made up en route back to Gatwick, a flight which took just under three hours. The flight itself was uneventful, all calm and comfortable, with the cabin crew making appropriate announcements, although the pilot seemed to get distracted when making her announcements, but I admit that it is rather more important to fly the plane.

Another perfectly acceptable flight from British Airways, with Gatwick South being well staffed so we had no delays getting through border control and then back to the long-stay car park.

March 8, 2020
Norwich to Gatwick Airport by Overnight Train

The train from Norwich to London Liverpool Street wasn’t very busy, around a handful of passengers in each carriage. Although, slightly irritatingly, I had to change carriage after getting all comfortable as I discovered the power didn’t work in the one that I had chosen. The conductor was a friendly and affable man, with the train being spotlessly clean since the cleaners spent around thirty minutes on it, cleaning it both inside and out.

Safely at London Liverpool Street, arriving on time. I noticed customers in two carriages couldn’t get out, an unfortunate side effect of these slam shut doors. I, being ever helpful, opened one door when walking by, whilst the others managed to unfree themselves from their trap.

Although I had a ticket to use public transport from London Liverpool Street to London Blackfriars, the underground was just shutting down and the times suggested by GWR didn’t seem to actually correspond to any underground trains. So, since I like walking, I went for the option of the 25-minute walk across the city.

I’ve never seen the above church, which is St Ethelburga’s at Bishopgate, near to Liverpool Street station, which just goes to show how unobservant that I can be… It’s one of the few surviving medieval churches in the city centre and there were once two shops at the front of the building, but these have since been removed. It was also one of the churches which allowed divorcees to remarry, which wasn’t quite within the rules of the time. Although the building has mostly survived, even through the London Blitz, it didn’t entirely make it through an IRA bomb placed outside in 1993, which destroyed 70% of the building.

The Bank of England.

St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Safely at Blackfriars station, where I promptly went up the wrong escalator and reached the platform for trains to Luton Airport. Hopefully no-one noticed me going up one escalator and then straight back down the one next to it.

This was awkward, I’d reached the correct platform, which was Platform 1, and noticed there was a train ready and waiting to depart to Three Bridges. This is also the train to Gatwick Airport and the passenger in front of me ran for the train, where as I thought I’d have a little meander around as I was hardly in a rush. And then I heard the station staff call out that they’d hold the train for me, so I do a slightly fast walk to get a train that I didn’t really need to get.

I thought I looked quite smooth and nonplussed in walking towards the train, although I might have actually rushed and been less lackadaisical if it was a train I was actually trying to get.

On board the Thameslink service from London Blackfriars to Gatwick Airport.

The train arrived on time at Gatwick Airport.

Inside the terminal, one of the few times that the ticket machines are so underused. Incidentally, my railway ticket failed to open the barriers and I noted that Gatwick Airport had employed a member of barrier staff who didn’t burden himself in using his customer service skills. But, since he was standing there at 01:00 in the morning, perhaps it’s not entirely fair to expect him to be anything other than fed up.

And here we are at Gatwick Airport arrivals at South Terminal, arriving around 30 minutes earlier than expected as I accidentally caught a train I hadn’t intended to get at London Blackfriars. The ticket cost just over £20, which I think is reasonable given the distance travelled and the comfort provided. It just now means I have to faff about for my flight, but I like the adventure really….

November 7, 2019
Flights – Naples to Gatwick South (British Airways)

This is the last British Airways flight of the day from Naples to Gatwick Airport, which had only a light load with around 50% of seats taken. The aircraft was an A320, flight registration G-GATN, with this being another purchase by BA in 2015 to bolster their Gatwick fleet. The aircraft had previously belonged to TAM Airlines, a Brazilian airline, for just over a decade.

The boarding arrangements were a little ridiculous, as although customers were called through by their group number this just meant that they got to stand outside for longer waiting for the bus to the aircraft. The bus was over-filled so it managed to be an uncomfortable journey for many customers, although I had fortunately found myself a seat for the brief transfer. Priority customers were mainly then on the wrong side of the bus when it disembarked, which I noted upset a couple of people.

I had an emergency exit row seat and had all three of the seats to myself, which was marvellous. The crew were friendly and a little informal for British Airways, but that’s something I think works, airlines can be too serious otherwise. I couldn’t see clearly into the Club Europe cabin, but it looked as though the eight rows were occupied by the grand total of one customer.

The crew took orders for food and drink via their tablet and hand-delivered them, rather than traipsing the trolley through the cabin. I liked this service style as it meant that there was less disturbance, and it wasn’t a slow process as not many customers purchased anything. The aircraft cabin remained dark for the flight so that customers could sleep, indeed it was so dark that I struggled slightly to find my seat again after visiting the washroom.

The flight arrived into Gatwick a little early and the pilot made the appropriate announcements in what felt like a friendly tone. I’ll mark this down as yet another smooth and comfortable flight from British Airways, it’s making it hard for me to be tempted back to Wizz Air and Ryanair….

May 17, 2019
Gatwick Airport – Signage

What slightly humoured me wasn’t that something had gone technically wrong with this screen but that there were numerous passengers trying to stand sideways in an attempt to read it….. I need to get out more. Or perhaps stay in more…

May 17, 2019