This first trip report “home” follows on from my Sleeper train trip report from Euston to Inverness.
As I had work on Monday, my options were: all day travelling by train to London , most of the day travelling by train to Inverness-or-Edinburgh-or-Glasgow-or-Aberdeen and various rail or air connections thence. (Thence is a word that isn't used enough.)
There are no Saturday night sleepers and I couldn’t chance the Monday morning arrival being delayed.
So a flight from Wick to London City it was, via Edinburgh, via a mercifully cheap BA fare of £92.00
Wick Airport was charming as usual, where you ring a bell to get someone to come out for your luggage.
As the £92 ticket was a through-fare they checked my luggage all the way to London.
The weather is always a concern at these one-flight-a-day airports… Wick Airport has three flights every weekday to Aberdeen and one to Edinburgh. Nothing on Saturday and just the one Edinburgh departure on Sunday, timed to depart at 4.35pm so if it’s cancelled, not much room for other arrangements!
Thankfully, it looked like it was going to be a lovely day, at least going from the view at the folks.
The airport was rebuilt about 10 years ago and is very quaint. If a modern building can be quaint…
Very specific hand-washing instructions there.
This lovely plane was on the apron. One of two Basler BT-67 planes, which have been specially modified for flying under extreme polar conditions. That was not to be my carriage for today.
The flight starts from Edinburgh, and turns around in Wick. The arrival made the airport feel quite busy!
The flight from Wick to Edinburgh is operated by Loganair, in FlyBe colours – or not – as the case would be.
The Dornier that arrived from Edinburgh was plain white. I hate that. But I presume it’s being sold or is going for a repaint in new Flybe purple.
You can also see a helicopter en route to the rigs in the distance.
At Wick, a tractor tows a fuel tank to the plane for refueling. There were in the background some people from Bristow preparing another helicopter for departure to the oilrigs.
Boarding was called – at Wick Airport you wait until boarding before going through security. That took seconds. My boarding pass was then taken and I was handed the stub back. That hasn’t happened for me in years!
The seat configuration was 1-2 and the plane had about 15 passengers on board today. Legroom was excellent.
Although this plane is a bit older, I really love it. It’s comfortable, a bit noisy but pretty fast. I also like that the altitude on this route means you get to see a lot of detail on the ground below.
The propellers are huge, close up.
The usual safety announcement, and soon we were soaring over the little town of Wick.
The town getting further away – and you can see the x of the runways near the top left.
Actually, it reminds me of the Apple APP STORE logo, that airport layout!
Then over Loch Hempriggs and the rugged cliffs of Caithness.
Loganair still offer a complimentary inflight service.
I am not sure if it’s ever anything more than a biscuit, but here it is:
Then over the snow capped Cairngorms
Or Grampians. I’m not entirely sure.
Then past Dundee
And before long, crossing the Forth towards Edinburgh.
Where it was a lovely evening.
We pulled up beside a FlyBe Dash 8, sporting the new Flybe colours.
Which made our plane seem… plain. In comparison.
I’ve had a look through the history of the aircraft and it’s always been predominantly white, apart from a time when it had a tartan SCOT AIRWAYS tail and logo.
Edinburgh was a hive of activity around the aircraft.
I wondered briefly, if my boarding class showing C class would get me into the lounge. (The WIC – EDI stub showed Y class)
But I didn’t want to be THAT person arguing to get access on a bargain basement ticket. I headed to the Servisair lounge, but didn’t get far as I’d forgotten about the new No.1 Traveller Lounge at Edinburgh, which was pretty empty.
Here are a few pictures from various angles…
I had the complimentary cheese board
Helped myself to some nice salady things and ordered a few G&Ts from the bar. The service between the two people serving was interesting.
One asked which gin I would like and which tonic I would like.
The other poured a Gordons & Britvic. Which would have been perfectly acceptable if the choice of gins wasn’t staring me in the face. Bring back self-service in the lounge! Hic
Boarding was from Gate 5, adjacent to Gate 6 where I used to board for Little Red. The BA lounge was adjacent and the Servisair Aspire lounge not too far either – so for flying BA these two are the best options. BA of course has entry restrictions.
I love flying to London City, mainly because of the Embraer aircraft. They are SUPER aircraft to fly on. Just super.
The seat config is 2-2. The colour scheme inside is muted grey and dark blue so it feels relaxing as soon as you board.
Look at the legroom!
A request for a G&T was handled superbly… (with an apology as they had no ice on board)
And the approach to London City is incomparable.
That’s only London Bridge Station and the Shard just below us!
You can see the Citi logo!
Things got a bit blurry!
My bag was off very quickly and I was soon on the DLR. London City is just a terrific airport to use, even when you feel like you are flying between the buildings of central London!
