BE GLA-SOU-GLA

By: GAZGLA - 19th August 2006 at 10:31

Had a day trip to SOU yesterday (18th), well I say SOU. It was actually BOH, but due to no flights from GLA-BOH I decided on using Flybe from GLA. With FR I would have had to fly down the day before which I couldn't be bothered with.

So I booked the flights over a month ago and selected my seats; 6A outbound and 5A inbound. Thanks to the seat maps I could tell I would be on a Q400 to SOU and a 146-200 to GLA. Believe it or not this would be my first flight on a LCC, it was also going to be my first time on a dash 8.

I used the BE website to check-in online the night before. I set my alarm for 0500, got up had a shower, then into the suit ready for some breakfast. I arrived at the airport around 0620 for the flight.

Route: GLA-SOU
Flight No: BE883
Boarding: 0630
Flight: 0700-0815 (0700-0830 sked)

So it was straight through security for me (which took all of a minute), then straight to gate 14. Boarding was called at around 0640, this was completed swiftly. The aircraft was G-JECL.

I sat down in the rather comfy seat and no-one sat next to me. The flight seemed pretty busy at the back, overall I'd say about an 85% load. We pushed back on time, with another BE dash 8 and the BMI G-RJXM not far behind. The pilot must have been in a hurry for some reason as he was bombing it along the taxiway for a 05 departure. We paused for about 20 seconds at Golf 1 before turning onto the runway and making a swift departure.

We cruised a 17,000ft, which unfortunately meant we were in cloud cover for the whole journey. But atleast we arrived in SOU 15 minutes early, where we parked up next to a BA dash 8. I think we were on stand 3.

SOU is a small airport so its very easy to navigate your way about. So out of the airport I went to find a taxi...

Now for the return leg:

I completed what I had to do early, so I decided to see if I could swap my 1830 flight to the 1650 flight. "Your ticket is flexible Mr Wright, but there will be a small charge, let me just find that out for you." So i'm thinking it will be like £10 or something, but no. "Ok, its a rather large sum of money, £124.50." :-o That was like £20 more than what I paid for my return flights !! So no thanks.

I decided to waste some time in some cafe/bar/restaurant thing where I had a bag of crisps and a beer. Thankfully I had brought my Ipod, otherwise I think i'd have died of boredom. At 1630 I decided to make a move and go check-in for my flight. As I was walking to the other end of the terminal I noticed quite a few men in similar tracksuits. As I got closer I realised it was Southampton FC. They were checking in for their flight to Leeds, as they were playing Barnsley the following day (today). Check-in and security were rather slow, but hassle free. So an hour and half of nothing passed before I decided to sit at the gate (3) and wait for the flight to be called.

It was just then that I noticed George Burely, so I thought I'd go up and say hello and get his autograph, as you do...

The flight was eventually called for boarding, now using gate 2. I got my first look at a rather boring 146. G-JEAS.

Route: SOU-GLA
Flight No.: BE894
Boarding: 1820
Flight: 1845-2010 (1830-2000 sked)

The first good thing I noticed was that the F/A's were absolutely stunning!! :P

But anyway, back to aviation. The flight was about 95% full I'd say. Surprisingly again I had no-one sitting in either of the 2 seats next to me. The take off was enjoyable. We lined up and the parking brakes were set. The engines were powered up and the aircraft struggled to inch forward, then the parking brakes were released and the jumbolina leapt into action. The flight was uneventful, apart from the occassional F/A beding over the food trolleys etc...

Arrived in a very wet GLA about 2010 I think, closely followed by a BD A320. Here are a few shots from BOH, SOU and GLA.

So overall I thought BE were an excellent airline. On time and comfortable. Now back down again on the 5th September.

Gaz