Originally Posted by
ORAC
The photos of flights departing half empty show it is not.
It should be realised that aircraft cannot sit on the ground until they are full before departing. Just like at any busy airport there are only so many parking slots and each one occupied will have another aircraft airborne en-route due to fill it.
Each aircraft on the ground will have a block time - and at the end of it they go, full or empty, to allow the next aircraft to take it. The manifest will have prepared, all checks done - and they go.
In the meantime there will be other materiel due to depart - be it SF or other vehicles, or indeed anything else in theatre which is ready to go. If they space and weight is available they’ll put it on. Why shouldn’t they?
In the meantime you have idiots like the ex-RM bleating about not being allowed to fly in his charter flight fir his animals.
You may have noticed all the other flights are C-17s and C-130s with APUs sitting in a ramp for loading. No ground units, no steps, no scissor loaders.
With the civil side closed I’m not sure who he thinks would be able, or willing, to turn his flight round when they’ve got their own jobs to do, let alone with the expertise to handle animals.
Show a little class! The bleating ex RM (Pen Farthing) is a veteran of Afghanistan,who paid for the charter,for himself and 68 staff (all with visas/permission), plus they have offered the additional 100 spare seats to the MOD.
The 68 staff work for the Nowzad charity,vets amongst them. Round trip fuel,use the APU & air stairs + beltloader. All the pax need to be processed anyway and all the animals have DEFRA paperwork.
Unlike the dinosaurs you flew,ground support requirements for the aircraft are minimal.