Day trip to Dublin 23 November 2016 Richard Bowater
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EI-DUO EI-FTH EI-FWA EI-LBS
HB-VPH M-LGJI N722FD TC-JVK
A spot of luck had me
browsing the net just as a Ryanair advert popped up from
somewhere, thought they were all blocked but fortunately not!
Five minutes later I was booked onto the Newcastle to Dublin
flight for the grand total sum of £4.08 for November 23rd
4 days after my 50th birthday. With thanks to the
locals a cheap legal parking spot was found for the day adding a
further £1.20 parking and £3.60 metro return fee.
The road works have
gone from the A1M but it’s still a pain. Newcastle airport has
changed since I last flew out of there, it used to be plain and
simple book in and go to the lounge. It now reminds me of a
cross between a scene from Airplane and a visit to IKEA where
once you enter the retail you cannot escape until the other end!
With no purchase, no car park fee the airport unfortunately made
nothing from me, wonder how many other passengers pass through
for nothing?
The departure lounge
was the same old and we still walked across the ramp to EI-FRK
and up the air stairs. I made the mistake of stowing the camera
as the views out of the window were fantastic with snow on the
mountain tops and army’s of turbines just off the West coast of
the UK.
Ryanair still park
around the back of the terminal at Dublin so a good view of the
bizz and parked freight aircraft is available on arrival. Once
off the aircraft the hard days walking slog begins. It still
seems like 10 miles from the aircraft to the terminal exit,
should have got a pedometer to see the distance!
At this point I
should have hired a car for the day but decided not to, so the
long walk started, first visit was the petrol station for
supplies. Then a look around the back of the hangars to see if
anything was parked up. The expected UR-PSU 738 Ukraine
International and OE-IEA A332 WIM Airlines were parked around
the back. There was also a bonus in the shape of 2-ATTF ex Safi
Airways A319 returned from lease, its sister aircraft 2-ATTE had
been parked with it but had recently left for Scrapping at
Goodyear! A few bizz tails could also be seen.
After a bit of a slog
I arrived at the spot for the remainder of the day, the top of
the slippery mound. Nothing fantastic turned up but I did manage
to see the required A330s and a couple of 757s, a bit of bizz
and the day stopping Fed-ex A300F. The two rugby special scheme
planes stayed parked up and the retro A320 wasn’t to be seen.
EI-FTH the new 738 of the day was seen.
The early sunset
meant a few aircraft were missed by the camera including the
Polish Government Emb 170. After that the decision was made to
return to the terminal, so a quick slip down the slope almost
into the traffic and then the long walk back to the gate.
Newcastle produced one surprise on the way
home A6-HRM 744BBJ visiting for a last bit of shooting.
Total trip was probably about
just under £30 so a good day out.