MAN-MAD-MAN BACONNECT 2/3/07

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Member for

17 years 3 months

Posts: 25

MAN-MAD BA1640
EMB145 0840am dep---actually dep 9.30am
G EMBL
2/3/07.
load full apart from two empty seats!

Arrived at Manchester at around 7am,used on-line check in the night before so no need to queue up for my boarding pass.Terminal three was quite busy at this time.Sat down and did a bit of spotting and read the paper to pass the time.
Everything was going to plan when I approached gate 50 at 0815,
I was told that there was a techincal problem with the aircraft and we would be boarding now at 9am for a 9.20am departure.Then when I was about to board I noticed that our aircraft had been changed to G EMBL from G EMBC.This was confirmed by the captain who apologised for the delay in departure saying it was a good job they had a standby aircraft available:)
Departed at 9.30am off 24Left and had a pleasant flight down to Madrid passing numerous Ryanairs going in the opposite direction whilst en-route.
Had the excellent Breakfast on board and landed at 12.45pm local time.
Embraer was excellent smooth,fast and Business Jet like.
Cruised at 37,000 ft en route.

Transfered to T2 on the free transfer bus from Terminal 4 to do some spotting for the afternoon from the Cafe.
Cubana IL96:) ,Aeromexico B777 and Venezuelan AirForce B707 :eek:operating for the defunct Air Madrid!!!,Aerolineas B747-400,Pluna B767, Avianca B767,Lan B767 and A340 to name a few.After a few Beers and a bite to eat and an excellent afternoons spotting,as well as loading up with some Duty Free it was time to return.

MAD-MAN BA1643
HS146-200 2020dep
G-MANS
Load- full

Used the self service ticket desk in Terminal 4 departures to print off my boarding pass this time and proceed to security.
A word of warning here,if your flight is leaving from any of the remote gates it takes nearly 20-25 minutes for a transfer from Security to get to the gate area.This includes an underground train ride to the remote gates.The new Terminal 4 is quite impressive and absolutely massive.
Took off on time and cruised at 26,000 feet on the way back.
Another excellent flight and would certainly recommend the afternoons spotting at Madrid.Load of South American carriers and Spanish Heavies arrive between 1 and 4pm
Landed back at Manchester on time at 2210 and was out of the airport by 2220hrs.

Shame that this service is being axed,i found it excellent value for money,I booked this trip last November and paid 60 quid return including taxes.I would certainly say that there would be enough demand for a twice daily service if one of the loco's decide to pick up from where Flybe are going to leave it in a few weeks time.

Thanks for Reading.

Glen.

Original post

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 6,503

An excellent report and an excellent price, too! :)

Member for

17 years 2 months

Posts: 1,037

Great Review,

I think I may haft to do that trip, Is it good for photography?

Regards,
Sam

Member for

17 years 3 months

Posts: 25

Great Review,

I think I may haft to do that trip, Is it good for photography?

Regards,
Sam

Sam, not sure about anywhere else but some people were shooting through the glass in the cafe which looked ok.

Glen.