aviatordom
10th May 2008, 06:49
Hi all,
I thought you would like to read a Trip Report & see a few pics of my latest flight, about a month back now!
==========
Note, this is the TR of my flight from AGP-STN. On the outbound flight i had seat 26F of the EZY 319 which means that i couldn't look out of the window due to EZY's seating config (i think this is the case) so i didn't bother posting that TR!
Date: 4/04/2008
Airline: easyJet (EZY/U2)
Flight Number: EZY 3112
Route: Malaga-STN
Aircraft: Airbus A319-111
Registration: G-EZIK
Unfortunately my lovely holiday in Spain came to an end, so on Friday it was time to get up early and head for Malaga Airport. The taxi journey took around 15-20 minutes and eventually I could see the control tower & lots of building works for a brand-new terminal! After walking through the doors and into the original terminal building, the easyJet desks were straight ahead of us. There was a fairly long queue but it seemed to go quite quickly. After saying goodbye to our cases it was time for the short walk to security and I thought to myself “This is going to take ages and will be a nightmare!”
I was right, security was a little bit chaotic. As usual in Malaga I was searched and there were quite a few passengers who seemed quite agitated with the security staff!
With no cases & security checks it was finally time to relax! We looked around the various duty-free shops, virtually the same as the ones that you get in nearly every airport. During a quick lunch I could see an unmarked, plain A320 push back from a gate and an easyJet 737 arrive. A pleasant surprise as you usually see an easyJet A319!
At our departure gate there were about 80-90 passengers waiting. It looked as if it would probably be a nice, quiet flight! Boarding was supposed to commence at 10:30 but as far as I can remember there were no supervisors to open the flight for boarding. Time passed and eventually two easyJet employees arrived but it wasn’t until 5 minutes later that Speedy-Boarding passengers were asked to board the flight. At once, at-least a ¼ of all the passengers at the gate either stood up or walked forward to board. It was obvious that half of them must of again, tried to bypass easyJet’s system as one of the supervisors announced “Speedy-boarding passengers only!”
Again, 5 minutes later boarding group A was asked to board. As you’d expect there is no line, just a huge swarm of people everywhere!
Luckily we all got through uncrushed, now it was a short walk towards air bridge. Our aircraft could clearly be seen from the windows, G-EZIK which again, according to air fleets first flew on the 11/05/2005. A friendly F/A greeted us and there were many rows behind the wing that were free, amongst all the chaos of getting through the terminal doors at the departure gate I was surprised by this! I sat in seat 23A where I had two windows to myself, one with a nice, virtually unobscured view outside and the other had good views of the wing. I also worked out that if I sat on the left-hand side I wouldn’t be blinded by the sun!
Whilst the last few passengers were boarding and the cabin crew making preparations I decided to look at what was going on outside, a few aircraft were taxiing and a First Choice 757 was pushing back.
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0097_6xRDq.JPG
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0098_JHU7y.JPG
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0099_J46ly.JPG
A few minutes later an Aer Lingus A330, EI-ORD pulled up beside us and our captain made an announcement saying that the cause of the short delay was due to an aircraft or crew change, something like that! Anyway, the usual safety demonstration was performed and the funny “Barking” sound caused by the power transfer unit was heard as the engines were about to be started. incase your unsure of what this "funny barking sound" is then take a look at the first few seconds of this video http://youtube.com/watch?v=grd5eJjJcL4
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0102_Y6TcU.JPG
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0104_L5cJ4.JPG
We then started to taxi to runway 13, saw a few aircraft land & depart before us, including a First Choice 757
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0108_81la9.JPG
Eventually we taxied onto the runway and made a smooth, gentle takeoff
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0110_v9chl.JPG
Departing from Runway 13 provides some very nice views of the ground below, The Mediterranean and the mountains!
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0111_VJes1.JPG
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0112_107ts.JPG
After a few minutes we made a left turn, to head North, again there were very good views of the Southern Coast!
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0114_j3H8c.JPG
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0116_1YKmy.JPG
The cabin crew started to sell the usual drinks, snacks, etc…. and I decided to read my Top gear magazine which along with the window, kept me entertained during the flight. Whilst we were still flying what I think was Madrid according to an announcement from the captain I managed to spot one of the many bigger airports in the city (if it was Madrid!)
Again, most of the flight was uneventful with little or no turbulence at-all (shame!) I would of taken more pictures of what I could of seen on the ground, but for a long time you couldn’t see anything below, just wings & sky all around!
However some weird group were performing some weird actions in the aisle which was quite amusing! A 3 year-old that hadn’t stopped speaking from when we were on the ground kept on wanting to change seats which was very annoying!
Whilst we were flying over what was probably Northern France I saw a pretty little island
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0122_eocZu.JPG
We started our descent a few minutes after and It was very nice seeing the nice, green ground below! It is however a little depressing seeing the usual grey skies!
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0125_8fkVA.JPG
After reading Top-Gear for a little while I was pleasantly surprised when I looked out the window to see LHR right next to us! And that is as close as I have been to Heathrow’s new T5 in real-life yet!
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0128_378KP.JPG
We would be landing on Runway 23 and on the approach I could see all the pretty little villages before making a nice landing. It was a shame for my holiday to come to an end so quickly, but also the flight!
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0129_g7I6b.JPG
We had to wait on the taxiway for a little bit, as we were according to flight stats 17 minutes late so another aircraft had taken our original gate, the other aircraft was originally supposed to taxi in after our aircraft had turned around and was departing again, this was probably the reason why. So we had to wait for another aircraft to push back at a different gate so that we could go in. There were a few aircraft on the ground, including a private jet, a couple of Ryanair 737’s and a Thomsonfly 757, which especially made me jealous as hundreds of passengers were only beginning their holiday!
By this point my camera barely had any juice, so I couldn’t take any pictures!
After the engines were shut-down, the funny barking sound from the PTU came back again, this time it kept on going on!
We disembarked through the rear door via stairs, so visiting the flight deck was out of the question, it was however nice seeing the aircraft from the outside just as I did when we departed from Stansted.
In conclusion, the flight again, was very good. Friendly & Informative crew and great service. The short delay at Malaga was slightly annoying though but overall 8/10!
Thanks for reading!
I thought you would like to read a Trip Report & see a few pics of my latest flight, about a month back now!
==========
Note, this is the TR of my flight from AGP-STN. On the outbound flight i had seat 26F of the EZY 319 which means that i couldn't look out of the window due to EZY's seating config (i think this is the case) so i didn't bother posting that TR!
Date: 4/04/2008
Airline: easyJet (EZY/U2)
Flight Number: EZY 3112
Route: Malaga-STN
Aircraft: Airbus A319-111
Registration: G-EZIK
Unfortunately my lovely holiday in Spain came to an end, so on Friday it was time to get up early and head for Malaga Airport. The taxi journey took around 15-20 minutes and eventually I could see the control tower & lots of building works for a brand-new terminal! After walking through the doors and into the original terminal building, the easyJet desks were straight ahead of us. There was a fairly long queue but it seemed to go quite quickly. After saying goodbye to our cases it was time for the short walk to security and I thought to myself “This is going to take ages and will be a nightmare!”
I was right, security was a little bit chaotic. As usual in Malaga I was searched and there were quite a few passengers who seemed quite agitated with the security staff!
With no cases & security checks it was finally time to relax! We looked around the various duty-free shops, virtually the same as the ones that you get in nearly every airport. During a quick lunch I could see an unmarked, plain A320 push back from a gate and an easyJet 737 arrive. A pleasant surprise as you usually see an easyJet A319!
At our departure gate there were about 80-90 passengers waiting. It looked as if it would probably be a nice, quiet flight! Boarding was supposed to commence at 10:30 but as far as I can remember there were no supervisors to open the flight for boarding. Time passed and eventually two easyJet employees arrived but it wasn’t until 5 minutes later that Speedy-Boarding passengers were asked to board the flight. At once, at-least a ¼ of all the passengers at the gate either stood up or walked forward to board. It was obvious that half of them must of again, tried to bypass easyJet’s system as one of the supervisors announced “Speedy-boarding passengers only!”
Again, 5 minutes later boarding group A was asked to board. As you’d expect there is no line, just a huge swarm of people everywhere!
Luckily we all got through uncrushed, now it was a short walk towards air bridge. Our aircraft could clearly be seen from the windows, G-EZIK which again, according to air fleets first flew on the 11/05/2005. A friendly F/A greeted us and there were many rows behind the wing that were free, amongst all the chaos of getting through the terminal doors at the departure gate I was surprised by this! I sat in seat 23A where I had two windows to myself, one with a nice, virtually unobscured view outside and the other had good views of the wing. I also worked out that if I sat on the left-hand side I wouldn’t be blinded by the sun!
Whilst the last few passengers were boarding and the cabin crew making preparations I decided to look at what was going on outside, a few aircraft were taxiing and a First Choice 757 was pushing back.
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0097_6xRDq.JPG
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0098_JHU7y.JPG
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0099_J46ly.JPG
A few minutes later an Aer Lingus A330, EI-ORD pulled up beside us and our captain made an announcement saying that the cause of the short delay was due to an aircraft or crew change, something like that! Anyway, the usual safety demonstration was performed and the funny “Barking” sound caused by the power transfer unit was heard as the engines were about to be started. incase your unsure of what this "funny barking sound" is then take a look at the first few seconds of this video http://youtube.com/watch?v=grd5eJjJcL4
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0102_Y6TcU.JPG
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0104_L5cJ4.JPG
We then started to taxi to runway 13, saw a few aircraft land & depart before us, including a First Choice 757
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0108_81la9.JPG
Eventually we taxied onto the runway and made a smooth, gentle takeoff
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0110_v9chl.JPG
Departing from Runway 13 provides some very nice views of the ground below, The Mediterranean and the mountains!
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0111_VJes1.JPG
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0112_107ts.JPG
After a few minutes we made a left turn, to head North, again there were very good views of the Southern Coast!
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0114_j3H8c.JPG
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0116_1YKmy.JPG
The cabin crew started to sell the usual drinks, snacks, etc…. and I decided to read my Top gear magazine which along with the window, kept me entertained during the flight. Whilst we were still flying what I think was Madrid according to an announcement from the captain I managed to spot one of the many bigger airports in the city (if it was Madrid!)
Again, most of the flight was uneventful with little or no turbulence at-all (shame!) I would of taken more pictures of what I could of seen on the ground, but for a long time you couldn’t see anything below, just wings & sky all around!
However some weird group were performing some weird actions in the aisle which was quite amusing! A 3 year-old that hadn’t stopped speaking from when we were on the ground kept on wanting to change seats which was very annoying!
Whilst we were flying over what was probably Northern France I saw a pretty little island
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0122_eocZu.JPG
We started our descent a few minutes after and It was very nice seeing the nice, green ground below! It is however a little depressing seeing the usual grey skies!
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0125_8fkVA.JPG
After reading Top-Gear for a little while I was pleasantly surprised when I looked out the window to see LHR right next to us! And that is as close as I have been to Heathrow’s new T5 in real-life yet!
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0128_378KP.JPG
We would be landing on Runway 23 and on the approach I could see all the pretty little villages before making a nice landing. It was a shame for my holiday to come to an end so quickly, but also the flight!
http://content.images.flightsimworld.com/member_uploads_1/PICT0129_g7I6b.JPG
We had to wait on the taxiway for a little bit, as we were according to flight stats 17 minutes late so another aircraft had taken our original gate, the other aircraft was originally supposed to taxi in after our aircraft had turned around and was departing again, this was probably the reason why. So we had to wait for another aircraft to push back at a different gate so that we could go in. There were a few aircraft on the ground, including a private jet, a couple of Ryanair 737’s and a Thomsonfly 757, which especially made me jealous as hundreds of passengers were only beginning their holiday!
By this point my camera barely had any juice, so I couldn’t take any pictures!
After the engines were shut-down, the funny barking sound from the PTU came back again, this time it kept on going on!
We disembarked through the rear door via stairs, so visiting the flight deck was out of the question, it was however nice seeing the aircraft from the outside just as I did when we departed from Stansted.
In conclusion, the flight again, was very good. Friendly & Informative crew and great service. The short delay at Malaga was slightly annoying though but overall 8/10!
Thanks for reading!