Air Canada A319 at LHR

[Irishwingz]

Hi guys

After arriving from BKK on a Thai 747-400 I was taxing by T3 on Thursday morning last when I saw C-GITP (almost 100% it was that reg but defo a baby Airbus) at some gate in T3.

I thought it was strange a narrowbody Air Canada Airbus in LHR. any ideas? Hardly a ferry flight as the aircraft is not new.:8

[airsmiles]

It's the usual 'summer only' flight to St. Johns.

[SpringHeeledJack]

I always forget just how close, relatively speaking, Newfoundland is to Europe, London to St Johns approx 2,300miles, London to the Canary Islands approx 1,900miles. For the long thin routes (and with favourable wind conditions) the smaller A318/9 B737-8 fit the ticket, although I prefer the larger aircraft on such routes not least for the ability to go for a stroll and stretch. :8


SHJ

[LHRops]

Ref these AirCanada A319`s they seem to have only the 2 configured for the Heathrow flights which are C-GITP and C-GITR

HTH

[SpringHeeledJack]

I'm guessing due to ETOPS, as that is no small cost to an airline, as well as larger seats/increased pitch for comfort.



SHJ

[clareview]

A319's have been operating this route on a summer only basis for a couple of years (at one time it was a B767 routing LHR - St John's-Halifax) so passengers must be ok with the size of the plane. If the aircraft is specially configured for this route, what happens in the winter?

Sun Country also operate across the Atlantic with a B373-800 from Minneapolis but with a fuel stop, Fly Globespan also used B737-800's over the Atlantic.

Don't knock the B757 - I have regularly used it from BFS to EWR with Continental and comfort and space are as good as on some larger planes

[Irishwingz]

narrowbody across the Atlantic, as a paying passenger I'd be pretty hacked off to be honest! I'd say flying to the US on an old Delta/Continental 757 wouldn't be fun either, although getting on and off would be quicker I guess:}

[SpringHeeledJack]

Having done both Atlantic and Pacific legs on narrow bodies, I'd agree wholeheartedly and psychologically widebodies 'feel' safer, even if there's no evidence to support that viewpoint. That said, if you had to first fly to Toronto and then back to St Johns again, the convenience of a less spacious direct flight would soon take precedence. I'm sure that a lot of the natives know each other and like to have a good natter across the oggin :)



SHJ

[WE992]

I've flow a global sat facing backwards on a narrow body with 4 engines and T tail. I would have given anything for more room to have stretched out!

[Groundloop]

I've done transAtlantics on 757s (US Airways) and I find them a lot more comfortable than widebodies. There are just too many people on widebodies - always wandering about disturbing you.

Also you have a 1 in 3 chance of a window seat on a narrowbody!

Small is beautiful!

[Liffy 1M]

When headwinds have been particularly strong on a few occasions this summer, the Air Canada A319s have fuel-stopped at Dublin, which in Great Circle terms is about 250nm closer to St. John's.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6011/5962617176_23a7e40fbb_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24101413@N03/5962617176/)
C-GITR A319-112 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24101413@N03/5962617176/) by Irish251 (http://www.flickr.com/people/24101413@N03/), on Flickr

[WHBM]

It's not actually that far transatlantic to St Johns (someone can look up the distance). In the days of using Gander (which is a bit further) rather than St Johns, Air Canada also used to route through Prestwick, and the Tristars used to do the transatlantic leg in just about four hours.

Did a couple of trips on AC from St Johns to Heathrow back in the mid-1990s 767 days, which came through from Toronto and Halifax, and at holiday times was regularly overbooked eastbound by the time it got to St Johns, when the "solution" offered by AC (as it was the last flight of the day from St Johns, it departed near midnight) was hotac, and then a morning trip to Montreal Dorval, bus up to Mirabel (with everyone very grumpy at both airports if you didn't speak fluent French to them), and then back directly overhead St Johns about 24 hours later, as the schedule didn't stop at St Johns every day.

That initial 767 sector from Toronto to Halifax was not commercially necessary (it was additional to the regular service on this route) but just acted as a positioning sector on certain days, which doubtless ruined the costings. It was however a useful alternative for Toronto to place any overbookings on the London nonstops onto, which in turn led to the denied boardings by the time it got to St Johns.

Presume these issues no longer apply now the A319 operation is self-contained.

[Hartington]

Try Fort de France to Paris on a completly full Air France 707 in the days when the only in flight entertainment was a pull down screen at the front of the cabin and just one film supposed to land at Orly, had to overshoot due low visibility and ended up at Le Bourget. Or Singapore to Amsterdam on a KLM DC8 with stops in Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Bombay and somewhere in the Gulf (I was too zonked to care!). A nice little A319 with drop down screens from the baggage racks, audio programs and only 4 hours would be a dream!

I've no doubt someone here can tell us what a DC6 or L1049 was like!