Morrs101 - 01/02/2012 12:16 GMT
This is a review of teh return journey from Gatwick to Jersey with BA on January 29, 2012.
I arrived at an abandoned Jersey airport at 1815.
I parked up the hire car in the main car park and deposited the keys and the car park ticket in the drop box, located on the left hand side on entering the terminal, next to a small coffee stand.
I then made my way to the BA desk. I had checked in online already and there was no queue so I went straight to one of the two available desks and handed over my phone, some ID and my case, which I had decided to check in this time as it was so quick off the carousel last time it wasn’t worth wheeling around.
I then passed through security, depositing a few items in my carry on before entering the walled off area, which was deserted. There were no hold ups in security and we were airside by 1830 only to be met by a 50 minute delay with the original flight time of 1940 moved to 2030.
Airside at Jersey airport there is a WH Smiths, large World Duty free and a cafe/bar/restaurant. I also managed to log in to a free wifi network, which was a bonus.
At this time in the evening, with our flight being the last of the day, I could count the heads airside. As soon as our flight was called all the shops started closing down for the day. I did some shopping in duty free and took a seat to read and wait for the flight to be called.
The flight was eventually called at 2000 and we went immediately. We were held at gate 3 for a short amount of time in a very small room before walking out onto the tarmac for a short walk to the stairs.
Me and my travelling partner were sat in 8A and B. The seats on this B737-436 were blue leather and very comfortable if not a bit tatty in places due to age. The seats also had small drinks tables on the two middle armrests. Due to the length of the flight there was no in flight entertainment but a couple of magazines provided. There was a small business section took up rows 1-6 with the middle seats un-sold and was separated by a curtain at the front.
The flight was no more than 25% full so after takeoff I moved to 8C so we could share the space afforded by the empty, narrower middle seat.
Following another short delay due to a change of wind and subsequent change of runway, we pulled back at 2030 and were airborne by 2040.
Food was served at 2055 and consisted of hot and cold drinks, including alcohol. I ordered a tea which came with a soft currant and dark chocolate cookie and my travelling partner had a water which came with a packet of dried cranberries and nuts, nothing more substantial was served.
We began our descent at 2100 and landed with a thud at 2115.
We de-boarded via an air bridge and went back through gates 55A-K which acted as a special channel, avoiding passport control and going straight to a set of carousels numbered 10 and 11. Our bags were off almost immediately and we were landside by 2130.
A great run despite the delay and getting out of the airport and away so easily makes getting home all the sweeter.
