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iwarburton
Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 2133 Location: Northumberland
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Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 4:55 am Post subject: Compare and Contrast |
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I promise I'm not going to bore everyone to death with holiday anecdotes but must just mention one thing.
All Canadian internal transport arrangements ran like clockwork. Planes, trains, coaches and ferries all ran pretty much to time and getting through airports etc was as straightforward as was compatible with reasonable security. There was a delay in our boarding a seaplane flight one day but this was weather-related and we were kept fully informed.
In fairness, our own Newcastle Airport was pretty much like this too.
Heathrow, on the other hand, was an absolute disgrace. Our outgoing flight to Vancouver was two hours late in leaving and our return flight to Newcastle was almost one hour behind time. Information/updates were pretty much non-existent. The queuing at all levels was horrendous--there were stacks of unstaffed reception points and I had to abandon trying to buy newspapers in W H Smith's because of the length of the check-out queue. I thought it was quite symbolic that the first escalator we came to as we entered the UK was out of order!
Of course we have to make allowances for the volume of traffic that it's trying to handle and the rigor of security requirements but it really needs to get its act together if it is to remain competitive.
What are other people's experiences?
Ian. |
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gfloyd
Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 4861 Location: Here, There, Everywhere.
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Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 7:28 am Post subject: |
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My experiences of Pearson airport in Toronto are not good. I remember once being stuck there for 2 hours after landing waiting for our bags to make it about 500 metres from the plane to the baggage hall. In fairness they were redeveloping the airport at the time, but it still didnt make me feel much better. The customer service at the airport consisted on shrugging when we asked what was wrong! _________________ His name was ernie ........ and he drove the fastest milk cart in the west..... |
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Lord Evan Elpuss
Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 3417 Location: Cloud Cuckoo Land
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Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 7:39 am Post subject: |
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I've had similar experiences there. Most times my flight back to the UK has been delayed by some degree. I can remember two occasions when my flight home was so delayed that it was the small hours of the next morning before my flight took off for Gatwick airport! _________________ Lord Evan Elpuss, Your ideal job is a Lumberjack. |
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gfloyd
Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 4861 Location: Here, There, Everywhere.
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Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 7:48 am Post subject: |
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In general west coast American (and Canadian) airspace is uncongested, so flying around BC should not lead to too many delays. The airspace in the eastern side of the US & Canada is obviously hugely congested, as is the airspace around the South East of England so delays are inevitable.
Heathrow of course is appalling as a facility itself. Its about 30 years out of date & designed to cope with 50% of its actual volumes. One can only hope that T5 will remedy some of the problems and that after T5 is completed they rennovate the other 4 terminals. _________________ His name was ernie ........ and he drove the fastest milk cart in the west..... |
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firewirefred Guest
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Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 10:03 am Post subject: |
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I've flown out of and into Heathrow terminals 1 and 2 on a handful of occasions this year and I've hardly experienced any delays. I flew over to Ireland for a few days last week from T1 and my Aer Lingus flight was pushed off dead on time at both Heathrow and Dublin airports. So all is not doom and gloom.
It must be remembered that Heathrow is (I believe) the busiest airport in the world. It is a major air traffic hub and our airspace is as congested as it can get, so we should be thankful that things can move at all. |
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