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Tag: Gatwick

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
Flights – Gatwick to Limoges (Titan Airways)

[I originally posted this in July 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links. Incidentally, this aircraft has now left Titan’s service and is used as a cargo aircraft in South America]

Around three weeks before my British Airways flight from Gatwick to Limoges, I received an e-mail informing me that it would be operated by Titan Airways. I had half expected at some point, from reading Flyertalk far too much, that a Gatwick flight of mine would be operated as a wet lease by Titan Airways, so I thought it’d be interesting to see how it went. I did though understand that if I had so wanted, British Airways would offer an alternative date for those who only wanted to fly on their metal.

The crew offered a friendly and engaging welcome, so my first impressions were positive. The crew were also dressed in a smart uniform and I was pleased that the lead crew member in my cabin was Polish, so I expected excellent customer service. Which I duly received throughout the flight. I was flying in Club Europe, and there were the usual BA services such as hot towels and the drinks selection was the same as BA operated flights.

I prefer the slightly more modern British Airways interior, but it was comfortable and clean. Ironically, this was a British Airways aircraft from 1992, when it came into service, until 2015, when it left service.

As I’ve commented on elsewhere, I’ve always felt that the British Airways breakfast meal is their weakest, although there’s obviously a huge element of personal taste involved in that. It wasn’t great and was way too over salted, and lacking in any real quality. Having said that, it was hot and as I understand, this is the food that would have been served if British Airways had been operating the flight.

The crew member was quick to offer extra drinks and he was efficient and seemed to be pro-active in his service. The cabin, which was quite lightly filled, was relatively small, which helped him in his efforts.

I can’t imagine why this would be of interest to anyone, but just in case, the safety card.

Disembarking at Limoges for the next adventure. It took under one minute from leaving the aircraft to getting through to the front of the airport terminal, although I was the first to disembark which helps enormously.

I’ve read a couple of people post that they were disappointed to hear that their flight was being operated by Titan Airways, but having experienced this flight, I’m not sure that they have anything to fear. The tier points, Avios and so on are obviously all the same, although I don’t think that the usual Bidvest trolley ran through the Euro Traveller cabin, although I might be wrong.

July 31, 2025
Flights – British Airways (Limoges to Gatwick)

[I originally published this in July 2018, but have reposted it to fix some broken image links]

After a very lovely week in Limoges it was time to depart back to the UK on board Speedbird. Limoges is not an airport which is difficult to navigate and it rather makes London City Airport look large. Mine was the only flight for a few hours and it took around two minutes from entering the terminal to sitting in the departure gate area.

I don’t intend to bore people with an in-depth review of the flight, as it was all efficient and well managed. The crew were welcoming and friendly, whilst being attentive throughout the flight. I was in Club Europe and the load there was light, just five customers, which meant that the bulk of the service was conducted by one crew member.

The cabin was clean and I took my favoured seat of 2C. I say favoured, but I usually get seat 34B on Ryanair because I refuse to pay for a better seat on most flights…. But when I get some luxury, I like an aisle seat, but not on the front because I can’t be near my precious laptop.

I’ve always thought that the food across British Airways in First down to World Traveller in long haul, and in Club Europe in short-haul (since that pesky Cruz took away short-haul food) is actually pretty good. It might not be the best in the world, and can’t necessarily compete with Emirates or Singapore, but it has always met my requirements.

That is with one exception, I’m not the biggest fan of BA breakfasts, especially on short haul where there is little other choice. So I’m always overly delighted when there is a choice for breakfast and one of those options is the plate of cold meats.

The quality of the cold meats was towards the higher end of the scale, with the cheeses having a depth of taste and the tomato a particularly pleasant flavour. The meats melted in the mouth and there was a choice of four bread rolls, with the seeded one taking my fancy.

Given it was a morning flight there was a lot of champagne and wine flowing in the cabin, although just for today I felt that this was a morning for orange juice. Although the champagne did look tempting…. The crew member pro-actively offered extra rolls, drinks and checked if I needed anything else, so I didn’t go without at any time during the flight.

Due to my position in 2C it meant that I disembarked the flight first. And disembarked is the correct word, I refuse to use the word deplane…. I don’t actually like this, as it means that I feel I’m under huge pressure not to get lost as I walk towards the terminal. It’s amazing how I can deviate from what an airport can think is its idiot-proof walk towards customs.

I took this flight for purposes of securing BA status next year and it cost £84, which I think is very reasonable for a business class flight. Although, having said that (well, written that) Limoges is one of the cheapest routes for business in Europe on BA, but it’s a seasonal flight only.

July 30, 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
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
Malta – Safely at Gatwick Airport

Unusually for me I arrived at Gatwick Airport by car, thanks to Liam’s excellent driving skills, which made for a smooth and easy journey. In three hours and ten minutes we had gone from being in Norwich, parking at Gatwick’s car park, getting Liam’s ticket re-issued (long story), through security (which Liam messed up) and into the lounge.

So that means six hours or so in the lounge. I think we’ll cope.

February 29, 2020
Flights – Gatwick South to Palma Mallorca (British Airways) – Gone Tech

Above is aircraft G-EUUW, the Airbus A320 which was meant to take me from Gatwick South to Palma Mallorca. Unfortunately, a technical malfunction with the undercarriage meant that the aircraft needed to make an urgent return to Gatwick South after it dumped its fuel. The aircraft is one of BA’s Gatwick fleet and they’ve owned it since new, when it was delivered to them in 2008.

Going back a little, this is the boarding gate 28 at Gatwick South. The boarding process was all well managed, the groups were called in order and there was plenty of seating. There was the usual muttering from some passengers in group 5 who had clustered around the gate to board and then found themselves waiting until the end, but the signage and rules are clearly displayed. The staff members were pro-active in moving waiting passengers away from the queue, as there can be gate congestion if this isn’t well-managed.

I decided that I’d avoid an exit row on this occasion and went for one which was the row behind the exit row, because I like having my bag with me. After a major repair undertaken on my McCain’s bag, I wanted to monitor whether it would collapse or not. The flight was nearly full, it took off time and the pilots sounded friendly and helpful. With everything in order, I went to sleep.

I woke up to hear “we are now returning to Gatwick after we circle to dump fuel”. I asked the passenger next to me what had happened and was told that the pilot had made an announcement that something wasn’t responding, but there was no cause for alarm. I thought that this was most exciting and started to wonder whether there would be a three hour delay to claim EU261. I always think it’s just me who ponders on this, but it was clear from listening to other private conversations that it wasn’t just me. A couple of passengers were unnerved and wanted to abandon their flight when they arrived back into Gatwick, but all else remained calm. The crew came around with water and to offer reassurance, which they did very well.

Fuel dumped, landing back into Gatwick Airport.

I thought that BA dealt with the process well, but they didn’t really explain to customers where to go, they simply said to return to the main terminal and find customer services. That was fine, I knew where it was, but I was conscious that some people seemed to drift off unsure where to go. Nonetheless, there was a queue ahead of me at the customer service desk, where we were told that we’d be issued with new boarding passes and refreshment vouchers. Instead, we just got the vouchers and were told that the seat numbers would remain unchanged. I’m not sure in that case why they couldn’t have done that at the gate.

Every passenger got £10 to spend on refreshments.

I went to Boots with my vouchers. I had to pay 7p for the bag as the refreshments vouchers won’t cover that.

The boarding gate situation for the replacement flight wasn’t entirely clear, my app was telling me that the flight would depart from Gate 14. But, when I got there, no-one was there and the screen was blank. The boards didn’t give a gate number for some time, but eventually they did and I felt reassured that I wasn’t in the wrong place.

I was one of the first at the gate.

And here is my replacement boarding pass, a change from 13F. I had to check that this wasn’t an emergency exit row, for reasons already mentioned. I have, if I’m being honest, had better boarding passes, although it gave the information that was needed.

This was when things went just a little wrong for some customers. My seat was changed as the exit rows on the replacement A320 were in a different place, so they had to shuffle some customers around. I suspect that every customer was told about a change if it affected them, but some people claimed on board that they weren’t.

Anyway, I found one of the few plug sockets at the gate and charged my phone, conscious that the three hour delay was now quite marginal and if BA boarded quickly they’d get there just in time to avoid paying the EU261 compensation. Boarding started smoothly and I was on board again soon enough. The new aircraft was G-GATR, an aircraft brought into use by TAM and they kept it until it was sold to BA in 2015.

The boarding process was confused as some customers had a new seat number and some didn’t. I got on board, sat down at 11F and watched what became a slightly chaotic situation unfold. I’m not sure how much is BA’s fault, as I knew that two customers were deliberately staying in the seat they had already been allocated for the first flight, instead of their replacement seats. They were effectively being moved one row back to a different emergency exit row, but they weren’t having that. Which led to a domino situation of some customers in the right place, some in the wrong place, but some also standing in the aisle in a mood.

There’s a page on Flyertalk called DYKWIA (don’t you know who I am?) and there was a little of this kicking off. One customer told a crew member that they always had the same seat and he expected them to deliver that. The crew member didn’t seem impressed, but acted professionally, asking him just to take his new seat and they’d resolve the situation when everyone had boarded. Unfortunately, he didn’t like this and he told the crew that he was unhappy and stood up again, delaying customers. A few other people were murmuring, but BA had a crew member who was solid and firm, he wanted people to take their seats and he’d do what he could on what was a nearly full flight.

Our passenger, let’s call him Gordon although I don’t know his name, then continued arguing with a crew member in what was becoming a difficult situation. I heard another crew member say that they might need the pilot to intervene, but the crew member dealing with the situation said clearly “sir, you have two choices, you either sit at the seat you have been requested to sit at, or you leave the aircraft now”. The customer said something about there was another choice about he could have the seat he wanted, but the crew member was persistent and received a final warning of “sir, sit down or you will be asked to leave”. He sat down. I was marginally disappointed.

This whole situation had meant that BA no longer had any chance of arriving into Palma within three hours, although I’m not going to credit the grumpy customers with that. The flight was comfortable and the pilots were professional and calm, apologising several times for the delay. The pilot also mentioned that he had been led to believe that a new crew would have been taking us to Palma, instead of mostly the same crew, hence a delay as they had to complete a considerable amount of paperwork relating to the now broken aircraft. Incidentally, I was also pleased as I now had a seat free next to me on the flight, which I hadn’t earlier on.

We received refreshments of biscuits and a glass of water from BA, as there was no catering on the replacement flight. This isn’t a problem for economy as it’s a buy on board situation for customers, who could get stocked up at Gatwick, but the Club Europe customers couldn’t have been thrilled. The pilot made an oblique announcement when we landed that EU261 would apply, although he didn’t use those exact words and left just a little to the imagination. The doors opened, which is the measure of whether the compensation is paid, at 3 hours 19 minutes late, so this wasn’t the cheapest of days for the airline. But, looking at BA’s profits, I think they’ll manage.

But everyone was safe and sound, and all told, a professional operation from my favourite airline. How very lovely.

November 8, 2019
Megabus (Heathrow T5 to Gatwick)

Today I’m going from Heathrow T5 to Gatwick, ready for a flight tomorrow. Usually I’d get the Underground Piccadilly line up from Heathrow and then get a train to Gatwick from Blackfriars with Thameslink all using Oyster. However, since it was early morning that would mean that the prices to do that would cost getting towards £20 and it would also take a couple of hours.

I checked the National Express price, and that remains at a ridiculous £26 for a single journey. Although it’s a convenient service to take, I find it unfortunate that a company price gouges like that, it’s not a great image for tourists. The price is so ridiculous that for any group of two people, it’s just as cheap to take an Uber.

Fortunately, the wonderful Megabus have taken an interest in this route. If booked ahead this ticket can be under £10, although mine was £15 booked just before the journey. This is more expensive than going from Norwich to London with Megabus, but at least it’s a chunk cheaper than National Express and I’m sure they have some high overheads to operate to and from airports.

The bus arrived on time, at 10.00, with a scheduled journey time of 70 minutes. It was clear from the ticket details where to wait for the bus, although the actual information at the bus stop could be clearer as it was nearly all for National Express. I was confident that I was in the right place though and there were Heathrow staff nearby to offer assistance to anyone who wanted it.

The driver looked at the ticket on my phone seemingly confused, although he must have seen hundreds of them before. He looked at his watch, looked puzzled and so perhaps he thought it was a different time of the day to what it actually was. Who knows…. The driver didn’t exact engage like the American Megabus drivers, but that’s not unexpected.

I got the seats at the top and there were plenty of working power outlets and there was also wi-fi available.

I had a lovely view of the sweeping countryside. Well, the motorway.

This photo doesn’t really show it, but there were an alarming number of chips and cracks on the bus’s windscreen. I can’t imagine that it’ll last too many more journeys. The driver seemed competent though and his driving was professional and smooth throughout.

Anyway, the bus arrived into Gatwick early, so the journey took just 50 minutes. For the price I think this is a really decent service and hopefully it’ll take some trade away from National Express who I think are over-charging quite heavily for such a short route with such a captive market.

May 9, 2019
Flights – Malta to London Gatwick South (British Airways)

Here’s Speedbird on the tarmac of Malta airport, looking rather elegant in the morning sun. It was my first time departing from Malta airport and it’s a small, but well managed, operation. Actually, that’s with the exception of when I got to the airport and my flight wasn’t listed on the departures board. Which led to a very quick check of if there were two airports or if the flight had been cancelled. It didn’t appear on the boards for another two hours, by which time I was already in the airport lounge.

The boarding process was the usual slightly confused little arrangement, where the staff called boarding groups one to three, but not many people seemed to either hear or listen. And those who did listen didn’t seem to understand what the staff member was talking about.

So the upshot of that arrangement is that the staff member had to start turning people away who tried to board before they should, with this mini walk of shame hardly a great way to treat passengers. Anyway, I was in boarding group one and I wanted to board promptly for a change as I needed to put my bag in the overhead lockers.

I commented on seat 1C a few days ago on my flight from Gatwick South to Malta, it’s fine other than it’s where the wardrobe once was. So, the aircraft wasn’t designed to have a seat where they’ve now put one, so it’s important for the occupant of seat 1C to be careful to avoid anyone’s bag coming towards them when they board. On this, I fortunately succeeded at keeping my knees from other bags as I was in seated in 1C.

I’m not a big fan of these front row seats, as my bag has to go in the overhead lockers, and it’s just easy to have it at my feet. The layout of the aircraft means that my bag has to go back three rows, always a challenge to recover at the end of the flight. Fortunately the helpful passenger in the row behind me rescued my bag, and also the bag belonging to the occupant of 1A.

Here’s a photo of an aircraft door.

The menus and hot towels were handed out before take-off, although the crew member apologised that they were cold (the towels, not the menus). I liked the sound of all three of the meal choices, and was very pleased with the starter, dessert and cheeses.

The pre-meal snack and drink. My second alcoholic drink of the year, a gin and tonic. It came with ice and lemon, and it tasted like I expected gin to taste. Unfortunately, I have no special knowledge of gin to even be able to try to explain it.

The meal, which was roasted chicken with morel mushroom and spring onion casserole with thyme roasted potatoes. The advantage of sitting in seat 1C is that I know that I can get my first choice of meal (unless something really bad has gone wrong with the catering).

The meal was well presented and all of the elements were at the appropriate temperature. I’m not a fan of chicken skin which isn’t crispy, it just tastes of fat, so I peeled that off. The rest of the chicken was tender and moist, with the sauce having a decent flavour. I’m not that big on mushrooms either, but they weren’t really an important part of the dish. The vegetables were about as good as vegetables get, but the potatoes were moreish.

The cheddar cheeses was excellent, and the olives, tomatoes and feta cheese added to the whole proceedings. As there was a bowlful of bread rolls left I was able to get a couple of them, with the butter actually having some taste and not the generic rubbish that is served in some places. The dessert was rich, a chocolate and cherry torte which was like a Black Forest Gateau.

The whole cabin service was efficient and pleasant, with the cabin crew being pro-active in offering extra drinks. They were so pro-active with me they asked if I wanted a second champagne and I hadn’t had a first, but it seemed rude to decline at least one glass. BA have switched from serving champagne in mini bottles to using full size bottles and it was Champagne de Castelnau (I didn’t know this from just the taste obviously, it’s printed on the menu).

The flight apparently arrived in a few minutes late, although I only know this because the pilot explained that there were strong headwinds which slowed down progress. There was also a fair amount of turbulence towards the beginning of the flight, but fortunately the cabin crew had already got to row two and so I had my drink.

Overall, I felt that this was a pretty strong performance from BA given their historic achievement of inconsistency. The crew member was saying that she was called in and hadn’t expected to be working today, but she seemed on top of the service. All in all, rather lovely.

January 13, 2019