Skies

For the first time since being in Edinburgh, I was up just after 8 am and made sure the packing was done before I went to the kitchen for some lemon water and coffee. We had planned to take the 10:15 am bus from in front of the house, but my brother persuaded us that he’d give us a lift, and it seemed easier than lugging the suitcases across the city. It also meant we got another half hour with everybody before we needed to be on the road.

We were at the airport before half-past eleven, and as we had Fast Track security, we were in the British Airways lounge by 11:45 am. They were switching the food from breakfast to lunch, and the Christmas sandwiches I picked up were delicious. It turned out to be a wise move to eat something.

The gate was called just before 1 pm, and we left the lounge as soon as the screen told us where to go. In hindsight, that was a silly thing to do. The gate was directly opposite the lounge; the incoming plane had not yet let everybody off, and there was nowhere to sit as it was jam-packed. As departure time approached, it was clear we’d be late, and at 1:30 pm, an announcement was made letting us know that bad weather at Heathrow would delay things. They said there’d be another message in about fifteen minutes. We followed a trail of people back to the lounge.

No sooner had we sat than a boarding announcement was made, and we reluctantly walked back to the gate and, within a few minutes, beyond the boarding pass scan towards the plane. We were walking to the plane, so there was no direct air bridge connection. We needed to stand on the stairs—waiting to be let out to the aircraft—for about twenty minutes. I don’t think that was BA’s greatest moment, as it wasn’t the nicest place to wait.

Eventually, we boarded. It was a full flight. There was the usual scrum for overhead bag space. It frustrates me that BA does not enforce its baggage rules: many cases were oversized, and several people had more than the permitted cabin bags. When I have checked my bags into the hold, I find it annoying that I am asked not to stow my small bag overhead so somebody else can store a large suitcase. Fortunately, there was just enough space.

We pulled away from the gate but only as far as a remote holding area, where we sat for over an hour. The crew were good at keeping us informed, but it amused me that as soon as we got the message that the cabin crew should take their seats for take-off, at about ten to four, the man in front of me attempted to head to the toilet.

The flight itself was uneventful. The view of the sunset from above the clouds was glorious for the short time it was on my side of the plane.

When we approached Heathrow, it was very obvious that the cloud was very, very low, with almost no visibility until we were above the runway. I don’t know how the crew does it, although we were all asked to turn off our electronic equipment for landing.