Blair Force One
 

Anybody at Heathrow around 6am when the Prime Minister's chartered flight was held in a queue for 45 minutes, much to the annoyance of those on board?? Rumours that it was a NATS protest. Any information gratefully received, especially from anybody also stuck in the queue...

Why does Blair have to fly from LHR. Why not fly from one of the secondary airports ??

Yet again ---------Journo Alert !!!--------------

He is quite open about it barcode and asking for info. Hardly underhand.

Just like the rest of us . Take your turn when it arrives . Go with the slot to ease the flow or first come first served . Just be at the gate with plenty of time to spare <img border="0" title="" alt="[Cool]" src="cool.gif" />

Don't complain about journalists openly asking questions here (can't be more open than calling yourself "theguardian"). Good to see a journalist looking for informed opinion, rather than publishing misinterpretation as usual. Unfortunately I know nothing of the incident, though it sounds very much like the aircraft was treated like every other, rather than deliberately obstructed as a protest. This would however annoy many members of the current government, who feel themselves to be exceptions to all the rules and their own advice.

Don't know anything about your specific question about NATS, but both arrivals and departures are often delayed at that time of day. As hapzim implied, each aircraft has to take its turn in the queue, howver long it might be.

Was this during one of Tony Blairs recent visits to the UK?

No doubt thay will deny it happened, someone else will admit it then re nationalise NATS to teach them a lesson!

who is Tony Blair ?

What is a Tony Blur?

Needed time for make up, dress sense? and ensure all ground cameras were present for photo opportunity!

It's time for a change of Tone.. .Sorry, couldn't resist it.

I think he's the foreign secretary.

His frequent flyer statements must be longer than the AIP! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" />

I suppose he goes on holiday with the airmiles <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> . .Worse than an Accenture consultant

He'd wait a lot longer if he tried to take a train.. .. .Though on reflection he's probably forgotten what a train is...

I don't think I would know if Mr Blir was on board. He'd be subject to the same delays as eveyone else (except not subject to a slot as a STS/STATE, so no urgency to get him away on time).

Dan Dare. .. .Can you not tell whether it is a special flight from the callsign, one that would not normally be associated with that aircraft / Route.. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the Queens flight with BA out of EGLL to the windies use speedbird 9*** . .or something like that. Don't BA also use callsigns in the 9 thousands for positioning flights to Cardiff etc. Maybe that would be a clue.. .If he was on a scheduled flight then you wouldn't have any clues, if he was schduled he would be held like everyone else.. . . . <small>[ 07 March 2002, 15:52: Message edited by: Sonic Cruiser ]</small>

His flight was held in a 45minute queue at 6am yesterday? I presume that was his inbound from the CHOGM meeting in Oz? That being so are you referring to a queue on the ground or a hold in the air?. .. .Queue on the ground could be due to shortage of gates / ramp space although since he flies BA and is the PM you think that there would be some priority allocated to him!!. .. .Hold in the air at 6am would seem odd, I thought that Heathrow is relatively queit at that time?. .. .The NATS protest idea is "interesting" but I think implausible. To have him stuck in a queue NATS would have to have held up all the others in the queue as well. That would require a concerted effort from more than one controller plus a supervisor. Also the various Ops Desks of each affected airline would be on the phone to NATS quicker that you can imagine.