Mark's Wildlife and Adventures Blog

I woke up at 4am and was really excited about flying to Manchester today! I made sure i had everything with me including my cameras, hand baggage and most importantly my passport, boarding pass and e-ticket. Then i left the house at 4:45am to catch the 5:16am train to barnham and get on the 5:27am train to gatwick Airport.

The train was dead on time and i arrived at gatwick at 6:24am, i made my way to the North Terminal Transit and got on it and when i got there, i went straight past the queues as i had my boarding pass and checked in online 24 hours earlier so i literally flew through the terminal, just as the advert on ba.com says!

I passed through security and it seemed less stressful than Heathrow but maybe that is because iam flying domestic and Gatwick is less busier i guess. I spent a while in the shops and went to the viewing lounge while i waited for my flight to be announced, here is a pic of a BA 777-200 at the gate and i filmed some of the action too.



Video of the airside action.



It wasnt long till my flight was called and i went to stand 55, this stand is made of 4 different mini stands for smaller planes such as mine so my one was at stand 553 - initially confusing but they let you know quite quickly! My flight was a BA 737-400 registered G-GBTA, here is the gate pic and the plane just as i was boarding.




I sat down in my seat which was right at the front and with a window, it was a bit dirty but i managed some nice pics through it and filmed the welcome announcement.



Video of the welcoming on board.



Video of push back, safety briefing and taxi to the runway 08R.



We taxied to the runway which took about 5 minutes and we are leaving dead on time which is good:P I filmed the takeoff here which was very quick and we climbed out eastwards and turned north to Manchester.



We had a nice hot breakfast too which was good, i was amazed at how quick breakfast could be served on a short 40 minutes flight:P I took several photo of the route along the way here.







Here is me enjoying the flight!



It wasnt long before we started our approach into manchester Airport, i filmed the landing here.



It was a brilliant flight and we landed on time and i really enjoyed myself and its nice to chat to other passengers too, some are on holiday too or some returning to work, a domestic flight seems so much quicker than a long haul one and different operations. Here is a pic of my plane as i said farewell to it.



I didnt have any Hold luggage to reclaim so i bypassed that and just walked through the terminal to landside and i as suprised to not go through customs or any other checks, probably because iam used to this sort of thing on long haul trips and domestic must be like just getting off a bus or train i suppose, very efficient though!

I made my way to the bus station where i caught the 10:15am bus to the Aviation Viewing Park, where i will spend the day watching and taking pics of the planes before my friend picks me up at 5pm, the Manchester Airport photos ill be on the next post once the videos are up. Hope you enjoyed my great adventure so far folks!