BA1386 London Heathrow to Manchester Airport
A Celebratory Trip to Chicago
Contents:
- So, Chicago eh. That’s really different.
- Take the National Express, Manchester Airport, British Airways Terraces Lounge
- BA1385 Manchester Airport to London Heathrow
- T5 – Pick a lounge. Any Lounge – British Airways Galleries South, Galleries T5B
- BA295 London Heathrow T5 to Chicago O’Hare International
- The joy of O’Hare and Crowne Plaza O’Hare
- Experiments with a Canon 40mm lens
- Hyatt Regency O’Hare
- Using Amazon out of your home country in a pinch
- Back to O’Hare, The New AA Flagship Lounge
- AA86 Chicago O’Hare to London Heathrow T3
- Terminal change shenanigans, British Airways Galleries North
- BA1386 London Heathrow to Manchester Airport
- Luggage delivery incompetence, last-minute changes, and CrossCountry Trains home
- Why celebrate?
BA1386 London Heathrow Terminal 5 to Manchester Airport Terminal 3
British Airways, Airbus A320, Seat 12F – EuroTraveller (Economy Class)
151 Miles flown, 250+250 Avios earned, 10 Tier Points Earned.
I was welcomed aboard the Airbus A320… and it felt… familiar in an odd way. I dismissed that thought as I headed to my seat and dumped my bags in the overhead bin.
Then when I sat down… I noticed some of the trimmings.
Holllllllllld it. No B/E Pinnacle Seat. Brown trim everywhere. This isn’t a British Airways plane… it’s an ex-BMI (British Midland International) bird!
Hello Brown Cow!!!!
Ex-Lufthansa Seating…
NOT B/E Pinnacle.
The Brown Cow still lives.
Cabin during loading.
So I said this plane felt familiar. Later, I checked the registration….
Hello Old Friend. Hello G-MIDO
With a full cabin for this 151 mile hop to Manchester, the crew prepped the cabin for departure, and gave a manual safety demonstration.
It might be an ex BMI A320, it’s now a British Airways plane…
With the safety demonstration complete, our A320 was pushed back.. by a Robo-Tug!
.
All HAIL ROBO-TUG!
Robo-Tug? Well it’s more of a remote controlled tug. Here’s a video of the tug in action.
And more information about the tug by Mototok.
With Robo-tug pushing us back, it was time for us to taxi the long way to the runway,
That’s a lot of speedbirds.
British Airways Boeing 787-9
Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
The tower watching all…
American Airlines Boeing 777-200
United Airlines Boeing 787 and 777 at Terminal 2
Now long gone – United Airlines Boeing 747
SAS Boeing 737
Lufthansa Airbus A320neo (Easy to spot – notice the big geared turbofan engines and the crammed passengers in the back of the plane)
Soon, it was BA1386 to take to the sky. With its engines powered up, our A320 shot into the morning sky.
With the cabin being prepared to be sealed off, it was time for the Buy-On-Board service aboard BA1386
It also seems there was a new menu on-board. Let’s see what British Airways is trying to palm off onto unsuspecting consumers this time.
The food selection seemed extensive, with some uptake for beverages on this flight. Is it because customers want to pay… or because they’re thirsty and didn’t plan ahead for this short hop he North. I guess we’ll never know.
Meanwhile the cabin was quite for this 50 minute hop up to Manchester.
With the plane closing in on Manchester, the clouds grew a little more menacing, and the blue skies were replaced with grey clouds.
BMI p
With a straightforward approach into Manchester Airport, BA1386 touched down onto the tarmac.
With the plane down, it was time for G-MIDO to taxi back from the runway to the Terminal 3 complex
That’s rather… orange.
Virgin Atlantic A330-300 heading off for warmer climbs
American Airlines Airbus A330-300 heading out too – probably heading for Philadelphia.
FlyBE Dash 8 Q400 onm stand
With a turn, our BA1386 turned to a domestic gate at Manchester Airport and headed for home.
Hello again Gate 43
With the plane at the gate, the seat belt signs were turned off, and it was time to leave G-MIDO behind, ending the flying part of this trip.
Overall: Whilst the outbound flight may had been memorable, this flight sadly wasn’t. A rather bog-standard up and down flight. The highlight of course, being on a plane that used to belong to an airline that you used to fly and be passionate about… (and then was sold to IAG).
Next: The joy of incompetence. Step forward Menzies Aviation and National Express.
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