Flight-fight! Off to Birmingham Airport
- Flight-fight? Fight-FIGHT!
- Round 1: Booking and Check in
- Off to Birmingham Airport
- Round 2: Aer Lingus EI263 Birmingham to Dublin Airport
- Interlude: Spotting in Dublin
- Dublin Airport
- Interlude: Finding the perfect Guinness Mug.
- Round 3: Ryanair FR666 Dublin to Birmingham Airport
- Quickie ride home
- And the final knockout blow goes to…
Off to Birmingham Airport
An adventure to Birmingham Airport beings early in the morning for me. Or what I hate to call 5:50am in the morning.
Ugh.
I do NOT do early on a Saturday. I prefer late. But oh well, there are planes and such!
As usual, it it was into an Uber for the quick ride to Birmingham New Street station, and then the Virgin Trains for the short 10 minute journey to Birmingham International Station.
The Uber driver had the usual no-qualms approach about obeying speed limits (although that could be said of any taxi driver in Birmingham).
Soon enough, I was outside New Street station.
From there, it was a matter of visiting a ticket machine to spend £3.60 for a return ticket to get to Birmingham International.
Once through the barriers (and £3.60 lighter), a trains was a few minutes from departing – so I headed down to the platform – and to the waiting train.
Quite times at New Street station.
This being 6:10 in the morning or so, it wasn’t that busy aboard – but enough to ensure that there would be a fair few people heading to London that morning.
Although this early in the morning, it was harder on others.
For me, it was mere 10 minute train ride to the train station in an express service. A rarity for me – who is used to slower forms of transport.
Well, I wasn’t going to pay Uber the £25 to ride to the airport.
Arriving at Birmingham International, it was a straight walk to the escalator and onto the Airtrain from the train station to the airport.
Never ridden it? There’s a video for that!
Arriving at the terminal, I headed downstairs to get my souvenir boarding pass. Whilst I had an electronic one, I’m still a sucker for a paper boarding pass
Aer Lingus Check-in desks.
That done, it was time to confront security. And oh my god… the sea of humanity.
Birmingham Airport deals in varied traffic – from transatlantic carriers, traditional airlines, and charter/holiday traffic.
Today was the day that holiday traffic was invading the airport – with most of the boarding passes spotted being Monarch Airlines ones.
I made my way through – and Birmingham airport security did its thing. In the end – it was a 20 minute wade through the queues before arriving at a bin
A few minutes later – I was through and into the rat-run, known as “duty free”. Birmingham Airport loves its duty free
Once through that shopping fiesta, I was in the public waiting area.
The waiting area has more shops for those who need to spend money – such as Next, Victoria Secret, Dixons Travel, as well as a Joe and the Juice – where I got my urgent fill of coffee for that morning.
As I was without lounge access paid for beverages were the order of the day. And within 5 minutes – I was bored of the waiting area – and headed over to the to the departure gates to watch planes.
Because… well… PLANES. Plus there’s fewer people around, so all the better.
So what have we got here? Well, lots of Monarch Airbus’s, a Sunwing Boeing 737 (operating for Thomson Airways), and in the naughty corner – an American Airlines Boeing 757-200.
Monarch A321 preparing to depart and in the background, a Thomson Airways Boeing 767-300ER
Lufthansa Airbus A319 pushing back
A United Airlines Boeing 757 tail next door. They must had paid for a gate… unlike American.
In the distance, I spotted the inbound Aer Lingus A320, which was taxiing around Birmingham Airport.
I see you in the distance Aer Lingus A320!
It had a short wait whilst the Lufthansa A319 pushed back and departed.
Patience Aer Lingus A320. Patience. The gate will soon be yours.
Once the gate was cleared, the A320 approached, parking at Gate 57 – a ground boarding gate.
No jetbridge for you.
And once it came on gate – everyone started queuing up. It seems the low-cost mentality of racing aboard a plane is full swing. I gave in queued up too. Well, it’s in a vain attempt to get overhead bin space.
Boarding was called by fare type, and then general boarding with rows 1 to 15 boarding from the front of the plane, and all the other rows boarding from the back of the plane.
I was blipped through and headed downstairs to the tarmac, and to the back of the plane to board the waiting Airbus A320.
Next: EI263 Birmingham to Dublin.
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