V-Flyer

So the last ever Little Red to MAN - and it was certainly eventful!

First of all, we were informed at check in that there would be no catering on board, and were given a £5 voucher to spend at LHR as a "goodwill gesture". It transpired that, just 40 minutes after arriving at MAN, the aircraft was due to return to Dublin (presumably to be returned to the EI fleet) so the galley was, quite literally, empty.

The crew were, as ever, lovely. The senior crew member gave an emotional and genuinely heartfelt announcement on arrival at MAN, thanking everyone for their custom over the past 2 years, telling us they wished it could have continued but all good things must come to an end and "this isn't goodbye, just good night". That earned a well deserved round of applause. Many have said it in the past, and I wholeheartedly concur - the crew are what makes VS special. Tomorrow the two up the front on tonight's flight are car-sharing down to Crawley ready for six weeks training at The Base to become mainline VS crew. Good luck to them.

There's not much else to say about the flight itself. The crew spent most of it down the back chatting, as they had no drinks service to carry out. But - in true honey lamb style - the drama had only just begun on arrival at MAN.

We parked up at a gate Little Red never normally used - presumably because the plane was heading to DUB instead of back to LHR. It turned out it was an international gate and the 67 of us found ourselves in T3 immigration, confronted by UK Border Force staff who told us we'd committed a major security breach and, as we'd come off a domestic flight, couldn't be allowed through the border but nor could we return from whence we came. Comparisons with the Tom Hanks film "The Terminal" were made as a stand-off ensued. We were stuck in no-man's-land for a good 30-40 minutes - with very little in the way of communication - until a Border Force manager finally appeared and, eventually, those with hand luggage only were allowed through on production of photo ID. I have no idea what happened to those with checked luggage as they were held back and presumably had to be escorted somehow into domestic arrivals. All in all a complete cock up which the Border Force were keen to blame on Swissport.

So a dramatic end to an emotional flight. Little Red LHR-MAN, you'll be missed.

It sure was eventful wasn't it.....

The closing remarks by the senior crew member really were moving along with the theme tune of "Coronation Street" played when we reached the gate, in honour of "Queen of the Cobbles"

Managed to grab a quick photo with the lovely crew up front and grabbed a hug with one of the two at the back. I have always said the Little Red crew, certainly at Manchester, have always been first rate and today's flights were no different.

Shame about the catering clearly planned well in advance but I did put my refreshment voucher to good use and enjoyed some beef goulash and Prosecco in the Gold circle lounge which I doubt I will visit again anytime soon.

The arrival process was simply a shambles as you say and thankfully with hand luggage I wasn't delayed too long but I had missed two trains by this point.

Little Red you will be missed very much and thank you for everything. It has been memorable and I feel so privileged to have been part of the story

Jon