Air Travel

Question:

B.A is a very good airline and I`m glad you like them but you must get your facts right. The pilot that naerly left his plane via the cockpit window, was flying a "B.A.C 111" not a Trident, and after a safe landing at Southampton`s Eastleigh air port ,a week in hospital the pilot was back at work none the worse for the experience. The B.A.C111 `s window had been replaced but secured whith bolts that were too short, that`s why it poped as the aircraft began to pressurise. The B.A.C.111 airframe is so strong that many have been re-engined and are still in short haul service. I love this news group…                            g.w Clickety Clack.                  g.w.

Response:

>British Airways Service to Cities Ending with "H" >By David Sommer >British Airways provides airline service all over the world.  It would be a >diservice to the company to merely gloss over the details of its many services >in an either irreverent or imprecise manner.  Therefore, I am going to begin by >focusing on limited topics within the overall title,  "British Airways >Services". So nevertheless, let’s take a look at British Airways service to >cities whose spellings end with the letter "H".  It’s as good as any a place to >start.

<snip> Wonderful! A virtuoso performance! Thank you! ))

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British Airways Services to Cities Whose Spellings End With the Letter "H" By David Sommer British Airways is such an large and important air  carrier that the only way to cover its story properly is to focus on certain aspects of it, piece by piece.  Today I’m taking a look at BA service to cities around the world whose spellings end with the letter "H". First, an overview of British Airways. British Airways is the product of the merger between British Overseas Airways Company (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA), and today, British Airways operates flights to cities all over the world, plus the Channel Islands. Aircraft types used by BA include the latest types built by Boeing and McDonnell- Douglas, plus the Concorde, a supersonic transport built by Britain in cooperation with France. The Concorde type is actually is really old  now, but people still talk about it because it goes really, really fast.  American F-18 fighter planes would have a hard time keeping up with it, I’ll bet. BA’s primary hub is at London’s Heathrow Airport, a perfectly modern faciltiy located just west of the British capitol.  Heathrow is one of the busiest airports in the world, and many of the world’s best known airlines, plus many you’ve probably not heard of, also serve Heathrow Airport.  Interstingly, most British au pairs and a lot of swinging British Austin Powers jet setter types pass through Heathrow Airport’s Terminal Four at least once in their stories. BA also has a notable presence at London’s Gatwick Airport.  Gatwick has long been London’s bastard stepchild airport, for it has only one runway and is located much closer than Heathrow to the famed but perilous, menacing White Cliffs of Dover.  But thanks to the introduction of instrument landing systems and air traffic control, the dangerat Gatwick has been reduced somewhat.  The need to relieve air traffic congestion at Heathrow has also elevated Gatwick in stature — though the same can hardly be said about its clientele, a potpourri of backpackers, bucket shop air travelers, no-frills voyagers, charter misfits, and shady third world types, all of whom  ride in cars on the highways and aboard Britrail trains.  Important people still prefer to come and go from England at Heathrow.  To them, Gatwick is still the back door to the United Kingdom, succeded in lowliness only perhaps by the Dieppe ferry docks at Newhaven. To be continued…

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.. >  Important people still prefer to come and go from England at Heathrow. To > them, Gatwick is still the back door to the United Kingdom, succeded in > lowliness only perhaps by the Dieppe ferry docks at Newhaven.

You forget Luton Airport. Nightjar

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>… >  Important people still prefer to come and go from England at Heathrow. >To > them, Gatwick is still the back door to the United Kingdom, succeded in > lowliness only perhaps by the Dieppe ferry docks at Newhaven. >You forget Luton Airport. >Nightjar

 Luton doesn’t really exist.

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> whether doing an instrument landing or not. Also Gatwick has two > runways, 08L/26R and 08R/26L.

Gatwick HAD two runways. It has one runway.

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>Gatwick has long >been London’s bastard stepchild airport, for it has only one runway and is >located much closer than Heathrow to the famed but perilous, menacing White >Cliffs of Dover. > But thanks to the introduction of instrument landing systems and air traffic >control, the dangerat Gatwick has been reduced somewhat.

What a load of nonsense. Wherever did you dream up all that stuff about the White Cliffs of Dover being a danger to operations at Gatwick? Dover is about 70 miles away, and the cliffs cannot possibly have ever posed any kind of threat to any aircraft landing at Gatwick, whether doing an instrument landing or not. Also Gatwick has two runways, 08L/26R and 08R/26L. –Chris In Seoul, South Korea WWW:   http://wwp.mirabilis.com/1374996 ICQ:   1374996

Response:

Sorry Chris to use your reply as a springboard but I never saw the original. Gatwick may well be a "bastard stepchild" but it is a hell of a lot easier to get in and out of not to mention quicker to get into central London than Heathrow ever will be.  If only more airlines flew in there, I would use it every time! Cheers  Al. >Gatwick has long >been London’s bastard stepchild airport, for it has only one runway and is >located much closer than Heathrow to the famed but perilous, menacing White >Cliffs of Dover.

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>> whether doing an instrument landing or not. Also Gatwick has two > runways, 08L/26R and 08R/26L. >Gatwick HAD two runways. It has one runway.

Methinks some clarification is in order. Technically it HAS two runways but one (08L/26R) is primarily a taxi-way and used as such 99% of the time. The two runways are not used simultaneously since they are too close together. Nevertheless there have been a few incidents when pilots mistook the `taxiway’ for the runway. Niels

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Did I miss it? I didn’t see anything in the post that had a city ending in H. Michael

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>Gatwick may well be a "bastard stepchild" but it is a hell of a lot easier >to get in and out of not to mention quicker to get into central London than >Heathrow ever will be.  If only more airlines flew in there, I would use it >every time!

Right. For some reason the airlines have got it into their heads that passengers prefer Heathrow over Gatwick. I personally would always pick a flight into Gatwick in preference to Heathrow. I don’t travel into central London myself, but if I did that would strengthen my opinion even more. Its so easy to just jump on the train and be at Victoria Station in about half an hour. –Chris In Seoul, South Korea WWW:   http://wwp.mirabilis.com/1374996 ICQ:   1374996

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>Right. For some reason the airlines have got it into their heads that >passengers prefer Heathrow over Gatwick. I personally would always >pick a flight into Gatwick in preference to Heathrow. I don’t travel >into central London myself, but if I did that would strengthen my >opinion even more. Its so easy to just jump on the train and be at >Victoria Station in about half an hour.

Note: As of tomorrow (Monday Jan 19) you can do the same from Heathrow (except that the new train service to Paddington is quicker than the LGW-Victoria counterpart). — -Niels

Response:

> Right. For some reason the airlines have got it into their heads that > passengers prefer Heathrow over Gatwick. I personally would always > pick a flight into Gatwick in preference to Heathrow. I don’t travel > into central London myself, but if I did that would strengthen my > opinion even more. Its so easy to just jump on the train and be at > Victoria Station in about half an hour.

However, Heathrow is in the process of building a high speed rail link to downtown London and this will probably remove one of Gatwick’s advantages. But Gatwick will probably remain a less crowded airport which usually means it is more efficient.

Response:

British Airways Service to Cities Ending with "H" By David Sommer British Airways provides airline service all over the world.  It would be a diservice to the company to merely gloss over the details of its many services in an either irreverent or imprecise manner.  Therefore, I am going to begin by focusing on limited topics within the overall title,  "British Airways Services". So nevertheless, let’s take a look at British Airways service to cities whose spellings end with the letter "H".  It’s as good as any a place to start. But before going into the body of the subject material, let me provide an imprecise and irreverent overview of British Airways. British Airways is national flag carrier of the United Kingdom, a country located between the northeastern United States and Norway.The airline’s main hub is at Heathrow Airport on the outskirts of London, the British captitol.   Being the most important city in Britain, London is the site of many banks, businesses, theaters, government offices, and brothels filled with hashish smoke. Heathrow airport is a very modern airport. It is equipped with all of the latest state-of-the-art aircraft servicing and navigation amenities, including lighted runways and rotating radio beacons and passenger terminals and avgas pumps and chemical deicers and what not.  The grease in the food concession area only catches on fire every now and then, much to everyone’s relief — and also there is a wonderful car park. The bulk of British Airways services to and from London use Heathrow Airport, along with most services to London provided by other airlines from all over the world.  Heathrow is the major point of entry to the United Kingdom.  The majority of British au pair nannies and swinging "Austin Powers" types routinely pass through Heathrow’s famed Terminal Four at least once in their stories. Heathrow Airport boasts three runways.  Two of them are parallel, and the other sort of runs diagonally to the parallel pair.  Nobody hardly uses the the slanted one.  It’s only 6,450 feet in length, and a mere 148 feet in width. There used to be more runways but austere times saw their removal.  There is a control tower.   A smaller but nonetheless significant amount of London service provided by british Airways uses Gatwick Airport, long considered the bastard stepchild of London aviation.   Gatwick has never been as popular as Heathrow.  It’s inconvenient and lower class and it has only one runway and there is terrible noise from a nearby highway.  Gatwick is also perilously close to the fearsome towering white cliffs of Dover — a real hazard to aircraft approaching in fog — especially so when the pilot is visually impaired and has been drinking and his wife recently left him — a bad elixir indeed, it goes, perhaps, without saying. Mostly charter flights and larger corporate jets and rinky dink third and second world airlines used Gatwick for many years.  It’s clientele has always been a bit shabby.  Now BA and other airlines are using Gatwick more, in part to relieve overcrowding at Heathrow and also because Parliament told them to use Gatwick more — to create more local jobs and motels and call girls and masseuse services, etc. British Airways flies modern aircraft, including Concorde, the fastest airliner in the world.  The fleet includes jets large and small, including the 747-400 and the brand new 777.  The carrier’s DC-10-30 types carry people in rows nine across and have ailerons on the trailing edges of the wings.  Seven of these aircraft are in service for BA at present.  The Vickers Viscounts were retired some years ago, as were the Comet II types.  That’s how far in the past BA’s roots go.  According to Airways magazine, BA’s first class seats are so comfortable that even the CEO of the company will sit in them and be photographed.   British Airways is the product of a merger between British Overseas Airline Company (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA).  BEA was the carrier which flew Tridents (a 727 ripoff) and a pilot of theirs was sucked out of the cockpit when a window popped loose from its fittings at altitude.  Fortunatetly the copilot was able to grab the captain by the ankles and hang onto him while landing the plane safely. BA maintains travel shops within the United Kingdom in places like Bromley and Cambridge and and Shetland Turnbridge Wells. No BA office was listed in Stoke on Trent, as it were, and it is not known if any the women working in BA’s Shetland office wear sexy black lace garterbelts and stockings beneath their blue BA outfits.   BA also maintains offices in world capitols on every continent.  The BA offfice in Burkina Faso, Africa, is conveniently located in Ougadougou, on Rue Nelson Mandela.  No BA office was listed for the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn in New York City, nor in the Watts/Compton section of Los Angeles, in the United States.  BA’s local telephone number in Nepal is 222266, 226611. Dallas/Ft. Worth is served by BA but Ft. Worth ia separate city from Dallas, so it isn’t really the first city ending with "H" to appear in the timetable.   BA DC-10’s fly nonstop between Dallas/Ft. Worth and Gatwick and vice versa.  The ceilings of these planes were raised to allow for the numerous Stetson hats worn by the clientele.  To make passengers feel at home, hay is thrown about the cabin floor, and taped sounds of cows being herded are piped in throughout the interior. The first official city in the current BA timetable ending with the letter "H" is Edinburgh, Scotland.  Service is available by BA between both Heathrow and Gatwick and Edinburgh.   Boeing 737 and 757 aircraft are assigned to the route, and service is frequent.  The last flight of the day, BA 1464, leaves Heathrow every evening except Saturday.  Scottish business men returning from furtive trysts with younger women in Chelsea typically rush to catch this flight. Ho Chi Minh City would be a BA city ending with "H" — if adding "City" to the name "Ho Chi Minh" wasn’t mandatory.  But the fact is that everyone says Ho Chi Minh City nowadays, so Ho Chi Minh City really doesn’t have a place herein.  BA can get you to Ho Chi Minh City via connections through Singapore every day of the week.  You could conceivably depart from Milwaukee or Ixtapa among other places, and make your way to Heathrow. From Heathorw, you could join BA 011 departing for southeast asia from Terminal Four at Heathrow Airport at 11h05 daily.  BA 011 is long enough in duration to allow ample time for food and beverage services in flight.  A BA 747-400 is used for the journey of BA 011 Singapore and onward. The United States of America was involved in a skirmish of sorts in and around Ho Chi Minh City some years ago. Jeddah is the next BA destination in the timetable which spelling ends with the letter "H".  Jeddah is in the mideast.  BA 133 departs on Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday at 14h50.  The flight departs from Heathrow on Wednesday only at 20h30, and on this day of the week first class passengers are served a complimentary civilized dinner prior to boarding BA 133 by BA’s highly touted chefs du terminal.  Other passengers are advised to bring a Have a Snack or something. 777 aircraft are assigned to the route.  The mideast is different from England in some ways. Long Beach is listed in the BA timetable, although BA aircraft do not serve Long Beach or Ho Chi Minh City directly.  Connections to Long Beach are provided from London via Phoenix using BA’s Gatwick-Phoenix nonstop DC-10 flight 2277.  An America West 737 handles the second and final segment between Phoenix and Long Beach.  Long Beach, it should be noted, is barely ten miles from LAX.  Both LAX and Long Beach are in Los Angeles County.  That’s where that british actor got busted with that hooker in a parked car.  BA flies nonstop between London and LAX — but Los Angeles doesn’t end with the letter "H" — in fact you won’t find any "H" at all in the name, although there is a town near LAX called Hawthorne. Munich enjoys frequent BA service from London.  According to the timetable, the aircraft assigned to the first flight of the day, BA 948, may vary.  A 767 is expected to be assigned on most days.  Munich is in Bavaria, the happy part of Germany.  It’s not far from Heidi’s home in the Alps.  BA’s partner, Deutsch BA, handles the thrice-daily Gatwick to Munich flights.  The BA timetable does not make mention of any Lufthansa flights between London and Munich. Perth, Australia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania both begin with "P" and end with "H", and both are served directly from London via BA.  BA 011 travels all the way to Perth via Singapore on a daily schedule.  Other connections are available between London and Perth via Qantas Airlines of Australia.  Qantas Airlines exploits cute little koala bears in its advertisements. Riyadh is another middle eastern city served by BA.  BA 135 covers the route using a Boeing 777.  One Monday BA leaves Heathrow Terminal Four at 13h55.  On Wednesday BA 135 leaves at 12h50.   On Saturday BA 135 leaves at 14h35.   You can get bakalah in the middle east. Savannah, Georgia is linked to the BA system by a partnership connection with US Airways.  BA flight 2197 between Gatwick and Charlotte uses a 767 type.  The connection involves US Airways using a 737 type on the Charlotte-Savannah segment.  Savannah is near big golf places.  There are 7-11 convenience stores there too. BA services to Zurich are frequent. Zurich is the last BA city ending with "H" in the listed in the timetable.  Departures are from either Heathrow or Gatwick.  The three flights out of Gatwick Airport are designated with four digits — but nobody knows why.  The last flight of the day, BA 956, leaves Heathrow, except on Saturday, at 20h20.  A Boeing 757 is assigned to the service.  It isn’t known what time the last flight of the day from London to anywhere at all departs.  All Gatwick to Muinich flights rely

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