Arriving into the wierdly old fashioned circular TXL airport we headed straight for the BA area. Having completed check in on-line and possessing no luggage all we needed were our boarding passes. With no kiosks here I tried the bored lady at the sales desk who quickly dispatched us to checkin unfortunately, which was thronging with a massive group of HKers heading home.
With BPs in hand we headed off for a coffee to wait - only to spot within minutes that the flight was delayed by an hour. Nice of the agent to avoid mentioning that [V].
With original departure due at 1955, Go To Gate was displayed at 1920 which we duly did given how bored we were with the rest of the facilities - it's not really possible to get a view out in the public areas, unless you have lounge access, as they charge for the viewing area so every possible window outside of that is blanked out.
Once in the gate there was a single shop selling only booze and perfumes and bar. Upon walking away from the bar drinks in hand cunning timing came the announcement that the ac had not left the gate at LHR and as a result the drinks from the bar were on BA - doh!
At around 1940 came the announcement that the ac had taken off, quick maths told me that the delay was going to be more than the 1hr30 we were now being advised.
After this there wasn't a single further announcement about the delay. Finally at 2115 the ac arrived. Boarding commenced 30mins later with a single announcement and no attempt at priority boarding of any kind.
Once everyone was seated the captain introduced himself, standing at the front of the cabin - now sorry if I bore you but I'll try and reproduce his statements as he was most courteous and professional.
quote:Ladies and gentlement, it has been a tough couple of days for us and I thought it was only right that I should speak to you personally. The weather in the South East of England has been causing great difficulties. Let me explain what has been going on. Within the South East we need every inch of airspace available, now in the last 2 days there have been numerous thunderstorms. We can't fly into thunderstorms so that has reduced the amount of airspace available. Therefore, in order to maintain the standards of safety which we expect, air traffic control has had to reduce the number of flights. This has affected all airlines at Heathrow, unfortunately as it's our hub it has affected us more than most. I'd like to thank you for your continued patience and understanding - myself and all the other crew onboard regularly travel as passengers and we appreciate how frustrating this can be. We do have a slot in 20 minutes time so if you need to make any calls/texts please feel free to do so while the engines are off.
Pretty much on the 20mins we taxied and took off, with an extremely long climb and period of seatbelts/turbulence. When the signs finally did go off the crew quickly set about the service. Sitting right near the galley I did catch one commenting to the other that 'we'll be in Netherlands airspace before we even get started'. The choice of food was Ham/Cheese and Tuna/Sweetcorn sandwiches (also veggie available). Unfortunately no tea/coffee would be served as no cups had been loaded.
About half way home the captain came on again to advise that the storms had abated and he expected a trouble free aproach to LHR. He went on to mention that Operations were well aware that there were a large number of concerned passengers worried about their connecting flights, especially those to the Far East, and that they were currently trying to sort out arrangements.
As promised the landing was straight in and uneventful. During the taxi the captain once again came on to say we had a good gate at T5A close to Passport Control. He once again thanked everyone for their patience and given the circumstances were outside of anyone's control that they would give BA a try again in the future.
Upon disembarkation the captain stood at the front and gave a personal goodbye to everyone as they left.
Unfortunately for those transferring, no-one greeted them at the airport and they had to take their chances at the massive connections queue.
Passport Control was poor, the signage really isn't clear as to who should go where, just massive meaningless UK Border signs everywhere. This meant that the EU queue went slower than the other as those with landing cards weren't turned away so my other half was out before me! (I really must enroll for IRIS).
All in all a tiring delayed flight however I'm thankful that they did run the flight despite the delay. I can forgive the cup mistake as I'm guessing LHR had been pretty chaotic. The captain was exemplary in both his explanations and his obvious caring attitude.
