Sadly it seems that truckie is correct. Last week or so the spanish 600,000Eu club have been making all fly the entire sid & star even at midnight with no other traffic, and even though giving taxy clearances for an early departure against STD (no slot involved) then hold you at the runway for 10 mins, engines running and no warning of this stupidity at all.
OK, so they've been picked up for being a bit too helpful, (what flow control is required at midnight?) but the taxy thing is simply ludicrous.
Then thirty minutes later the French clear you from one end of the country to the other...direct.
