Leeds Bradford - Malaga & Return, Jet2.com Dec 07/Jan 08

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Member for

18 years

Posts: 108

Hi all, have just returned from a nice new years break in Torremolions, Costa Del Sol.

As with all out family holiday there is always a lot of 'debating' over when/where etc etc and this was no exception. We booked with Jet2Holidays about a month ago so I guess you could class it as a last minute holiday. We had been looking around and found 6 nights in the Hotel Amaragua in Torremolinos, flying Jet2 from Leeds. Ticked all the boxes! :D

Anyway after the usual christmas day stuffing it was getting late ish and time to pack! to be honest I wasnt really looking forward to this holiday much as i went to Murcia in 2005 on a Spanish exchange in December and it was rubbish weather. So it was off to bed ready to be up at 5am on Boxing Day. Up nice and early, we planned to leave ours at about 5.30 to get to Leeds Bradford for 6. However my Mum was messing about still packing so didnt leave until about 5 to 6 but there was no traffic so got to Leeds at about 6.15. We went and dropped the car off at setinel car park just off site of Leeds Bradford and got the shuttle bus to the terminal. All very quick and efficient.

Flight: LS185
Sched Departure: 08.05
Actual Departure: 08.05
Sched Arrival: 12.10
Actual Arrival: 11.30
Aircraft: Boeing 757-200 G-LSAH

Well we proceeded to check in hall B at Leeds for the Jet2.com check in. There was a small queue but no longer than 2/3 minutes. We checked in quickly after a bit of re-organzing of suitcases (Jet2.com dont accept over 25kgs in one case and one of ours was 26) We then headed up stairs to the viewing area while my mum wandered around WHSmiths etc and got a muffin from the food court. After what seemed like an hour she came back just as a bmi A319 left for LHR. We then went off to security, which was quick but I got searched and my bag got emptied and sent through the xray twice which took a few mins.
After putting on some freebie aftershave in Alpha shopping we grabbed a very rare free seat in the lounge (there was a delayed Chamberry flights so a lot of people waiting aswell as the other departures). The airport was quiet as it was boxing day but still the lounge was packed. Te sooner the better for a new terminal!!! Anyway our flight was called for boarding at 7.30 for rows 7-42 i think, so loads of people rushed and queued up right back from gate 4 round past smiths and around the corner. Once that queue had gone down the rest were called. We were in row 5 so one of the last to board. We went out onto the stand and G-LSAH was waiting, amongst a mass of Jet2.com red tails! We boarded through the front steps and were met by a friendly crew mwmber who directed us to our seats. I was on 5F so had a nice view of the engine. There were a few rows free infront but was full behind. I heard a crew member say 206 i think when counting us all.

Front cabin of LSAH
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q316/planecrazycharlie/P1040219.jpg

The doors were closed soon after and after the crew welcome etc we were pushed back from stand at 08.00 and taxied out to runway 32. A nice speedy departure at 08.05. We went up into some broken cloud which stayed most of the way down to the channel. The pilot came on the tannoy 4 times during this first time, firstly welcoming us, secondly informing us of our route (manchester - devon - brest peninsular - bay of biscay - madrid - malaga) third time justo update us with speed and location and just before decent with arrival time and temp.

One up to cruising alt of 39,000 ft it was a nice smooth ride over the UK and we got a great view of Jersey, got a clear view of where my uncle lives in St Healier. Then out over the bay of biscay, just cloud and sea for a while then over the pyranees:
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q316/planecrazycharlie/P1040238.jpg

Once over mainland spain there was a bit more cloud but we could still see some land. A bit of luck was that I just had my camera out when an AF A330 flew past and then moments later a TAP Airbus which was much closer than the AF, I managed to get a pic of it:

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q316/planecrazycharlie/P1040246.jpg

Anyway here is a bit of history of our plane: G-LSAH, she first started her life in October 1987 with China Southern and reamined with them until her delivery to Jet2 in Feb 2007. Considering she is a fair age she is in good condotion inside, the usual marks but quite tidy. Here her previous history can be seen:

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q316/planecrazycharlie/P1040231.jpg

We comenced our decent at about 11.10 through quite thick cloud over Spain, it get quite bumpy at one point and we got below the cloud just before touchdown. We landed at 11.30 onto a wet runway at Malaga and there was lots of Spray from the reverse thrusts. We pulled onto stand near an AB 737 and Monarch A321. We all disembarced (think i spelt it right lol) quickly and into the terminal through passport control and into the reclaim area. Baggage was already on the belt so very fast handling!

I really enjoyed the flight. I give Jet2 for this flight:
Punctuality: 10/10
Crew Professionalism/Happyness/Helpfulness etc 10/10
Comfort: 9/10
So overall its a 10/10 ...... very very impressed with Jet2, everything on time, smooth and efficient. I think they do offer a very good level of service compared to other locos and some scheduled airlines! Well done :D

Part 2 shortly ....

Original post

Member for

18 years

Posts: 108

Well after a nice stay in Torremolinos (Hotel Amaragua very good, althogh Jet2Holidays was the only english operator there so majority were German/French etc) It was time to come home!! We checked out at 10am and set off to drop the hire car off at the Niza cars depot just outside Malaga Airport. We opted for a car as it was only £20 more than the taxi transfer offered by Jet2Holidays but it gave us flexibility as we went off several days to Gibraltar, Mijas and Marbella.

We dropped the car off at 10.30 and were taken to the Terminal by te shuttle bus. We were checking in at desks 4-7 which were miles away from the main entrance. It was quite busy with the majority of UK flights leaving similar time to ours, these included various ZB, BA, EZY etc.

Check in was fast and efficient and i was allocated seat 18A with my family around me on rows 18 & 19. We proceeded through security was was quite speedy and grabbed a bite to eat and had a look around the shops before sitting down near a bit window looking onto the runway and some stands. There were a few movements mainly EZY and ZB. The flight from Leeds arrived at Malaga 20 minutes early and we watched it pull up to gate C50. This time it was G-LSAI.

Flight: LS186
Sched Departure: 13.00
Actual Departure: 12.50
Sched Arrival: 15.00
Actual Arival: ........ Well thats the interesting bit lol
Aircraft: Boeing 757-200 G-LSAI.

We were called for boarding at 12.20 at gate C50, we went over at about 12.30 and there was just a few people there. We went down the air bridge and were met by another friendly member of crew. She showed us to our seats, this time overlooking the wing and engine. At this point the plane was anly about 20% full, I wasnt sure how busy it would be as it was New Years Day but suddenly there was a rush of people and the plane filled right up. At about 12.40 the captain came on welcoming us and informing us that there were 2 captains and a first office in the cockpit today and that 2 passengers were missing and their bags were about to be offloaded. Within about 30 seconds of him saying that they boarded so the doors were closed quickly and we were pushed back. Once everyone was om I could say there were about 200 people on which I though was quite good for the day!

We taxied to the runway behind a bmi baby 737 which waited for another bmi baby to arrive then quickly took off, us following behind. We rotated quickly and steeply and flew over the coastline of the Med. We then took a sharp left turn and flew over the Sierra Nevada. The pilot came on the tannoy informing us of our route and the weather at Leeds. Not good, he said it was wet and foggy. Our routing was the same out the outbound flight, Madrid, Bay of Biscay, Torquay, Manchester then Leeds.

The flight was very smooth and fairly clear over Spain but more cloudy over France and then Thick cloud over the UK. Here is a pic of the engine when we were over France:

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q316/planecrazycharlie/P1040754.jpg

G-LSAI also arrived with Jet2 from China Southern. She was built in 1987 so is another elderly bird!! Yet again she was in good condition, a few scuffs and pen marks on the seats but not bad. Here is a pic of the cabin:

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q316/planecrazycharlie/P1040760.jpg

At about 14.15 the captain came over the pa letting us know that visibility at Leeds was not good, although within limits at the moment it may get worse. A few people sighed but I think most people wern't bothered as it was only a maybe. There was a guy a few rows infront of me who kept asking the crew if it was safe and normal to divert. Well we carried on and started to decend into the cloud, we suddenly seemed to rise up again over the cloud and into the sun again. The cabin crew then got a call from the cockpit. The captain then came over saying that unfortunatley the visibility at Leeds had gone down to 320 metres which was way under the minimum for the 757 (500 metres i think?) so due to the fuel situation we would need to divert to Machester rather then hold for it to improve. Great. A lovely trip down the M62 to look forward to! Well anyway we did a few turns and started our decent into manchester. There was a lot of cloud but no fog. We touched down smootly and taxied past the old MyTravel hangars, Now with Thomas Cook signs on :(

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q316/planecrazycharlie/P1040769.jpg

We parked next to some VLM F50s and were met my some Menzies reps and busses. They told us that there were some coaches waiting for us outside the Jet2 check in. We all got off onto the buses and they took us to the terminal. Security was painfully painfully slow and annoying!!! After 20 odd minutes we were through and made out way out of the arrivals hall infront of Victoria House and were met by some coaches, the crew appeared and got in a taxi. The coaches set off at about 16.15 for Leeds. This journey was sooooooo slow, it was only an hour but dragged on and on and on. The whole coach was in silence most of the way which made it a bit uncomfortable. There was a guy sat near us who was on the Jet2 B737 CDG-LBA flight that also diverted to MAN, although most other 737-300's got in ok with the CATIII Ils.

We arrived at Leeds at 17.15 to lots of fog!! it was awful! We got off the bus and I went for a look at the arrivals board in the terminal, most Jet2 737 flights, bmi and Ryanair were getting in just the 757's and dash 8's that were diverting to MAN or another airport (not going to name it as everyone goes on how Leeds has bad weather and runway constraints etc and this new airport is much better lol)

Well that was an eventful end to our holiday. Very impressed with Jet2 and just a shame we had to go to Manchester! Come on Bridgepoint lets get LBA's runway sorted!! Please! :)

Overall I give the flight:
Punctuality: 10/10 (we were due to arrive 15 mins early at Leeds but the weather set in)
Crew: 10/10 all frendly and happy and smiley
Comfort: 10/10

Overall another great flight with Jet2, very nice and enjoyable. Keep up the good work :D :D :D

I took the follwing pictures after a stroll down the beach towards the airport. Not of the highest quality but give a good idea of the main traffic around 11-13.00

Flybe E195
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q316/planecrazycharlie/P1040569.jpg

TOM B738 from MAN
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q316/planecrazycharlie/P1040576.jpg

GSM B738
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q316/planecrazycharlie/P1040596.jpg

Sterling 737
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q316/planecrazycharlie/P1040608.jpg

Jet2.com G-LSAI, from LBA
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q316/planecrazycharlie/P1040622.jpg

IB Airbus
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q316/planecrazycharlie/P1040637.jpg

FCA A321
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q316/planecrazycharlie/P1040665.jpg

Police Chopper
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q316/planecrazycharlie/P1040735.jpg

Thanks for reading!

Member for

18 years 7 months

Posts: 5,530

A very enjoyable report there, thanks for sharing. I've had some interesting landings in fog at LBA but surprisingly have never had to divert (probably because I'm never on a 757, which can't autoland because they don't register the dip in LBA's runway so the poor plane gets confused!)

One problem with your report... I want to go somewhere sunny now! :)

Paul

Member for

17 years 2 months

Posts: 1,037

A very enjoyable report there, thanks for sharing. I've had some interesting landings in fog at LBA but surprisingly have never had to divert (probably because I'm never on a 757, which can't autoland because they don't register the dip in LBA's runway so the poor plane gets confused!)

One problem with your report... I want to go somewhere sunny now! :)

Paul

That's only on R32...Noob!

Nice report there, charlieflies!

Member for

21 years

Posts: 4,209

Great report, nice catch with the TAP!

Sorry to hear about the divert, I was checking the METAR yesterday and the weather was very bad indeed. Thankfully all was well today (for very selfish reasons!) but the next few days look like they might be interesting up here too...

Member for

18 years 7 months

Posts: 5,530

That's only on R32...Noob!

It's only R32 that has CAT IIIa. R14 is CAT I which isn't autoland at all. The 75's operate to CAT I minima on both 14 and 32 at LBA. Noob!

Paul

Member for

20 years 10 months

Posts: 9,401

Nice report. :)

I know out of the flights that I deal with up at LBA, only the two FR DUB's and the Shannon managed to land. The BE ERJ on the SOU, and DH8 on the BHD both diverted, as did the Aer Arann from ORK, Thomsonfly from ALC and both KLM's.

Member for

16 years 11 months

Posts: 765

It's only R32 that has CAT IIIa. R14 is CAT I which isn't autoland at all. The 75's operate to CAT I minima on both 14 and 32 at LBA. Noob!

Paul

LOL! You two are funny!
Either way a good read! Thank you for sharing
Adam

Member for

17 years 7 months

Posts: 102

I've had some interesting landings in fog at LBA but surprisingly have never had to divert (probably because I'm never on a 757, which can't autoland because they don't register the dip in LBA's runway so the poor plane gets confused!)

It's only R32 that has CAT IIIa. R14 is CAT I which isn't autoland at all. The 75's operate to CAT I minima on both 14 and 32 at LBA.

Sorry if this is a daft question, but why can the 757 only operate to CAT I on a CAT IIIa ILS? Is it just that they're not fitted with CAT II autoland systems?

Member for

18 years 7 months

Posts: 5,530

Sorry if this is a daft question, but why can the 757 only operate to CAT I on a CAT IIIa ILS? Is it just that they're not fitted with CAT II autoland systems?

EGNM will be able to explain in much greater detail than my very simplistic understanding, but essentially the runway at LBA is, shall we say, not quite level. The 757 for some reason doesn't register that the runway is higher at one end than the other (actually, to be more precise it dips in the centre) and so can't get the approach quite right. The 737's don't have that problem and can perform a CAT IIIa autoland on R32 perfectly fine.

I guess they operate to CAT I minima purely as a safety precaution due to the 757 being one of the larger aircraft to operate regularly at LBA.

Paul

Member for

18 years 3 months

Posts: 2,561

Good report there mate !

Nice to see a report about them especially with the 757s! Im flying with Jet2.com in March to TFS! Good little freebie i won! :dev2:

Did you travel with Jet2 Plus at all?

Member for

18 years

Posts: 108

Hi everyone, thanks for the nice comments ;)

So what is needed to sort out the 757 ILS situation at LBA??
I seem to remember that MYT and BY used to be able to autoland the 757's with few problems compared to LS ...... am I just imagining that?

Also with the talk of Jet2 getting 767's would this mean they will have the same landing problems?

Member for

18 years

Posts: 108

Good report there mate !

Im flying with Jet2.com in March to TFS! Good little freebie i won!

Did you travel with Jet2 Plus at all?

Cheers, cool how did you win it???

No as far as im led to believe Jet2Plus is only on canary flights atm?? Although at the Jet2.com check in a MAN i know there is Jet2Plus plastered all over the ticket desk so I guess it will be available for more flights?

My mum did say should we upgrade when we got the booking confirmation but I said its only for canaries flights, it seems really good value to me, £20 for lounge access and meals etc. I would deffo use it next time I fly with Jet2.

Hope you enjoy your Jet2 flight! lol

An addition that I thought was quite good was that on both flights the crew said, welcome on board this Jet2.com scheduled service. They realy emphasized scheduled. I think that added a nice touch as it gives a more full service flight feel.

Member for

18 years 3 months

Posts: 2,561

Sorry how silly of me!! I forgot it was just on the Caneries runs! Long day of snow based work at NCL today!

Member for

18 years 7 months

Posts: 5,530

Hi everyone, thanks for the nice comments ;)

So what is needed to sort out the 757 ILS situation at LBA??
I seem to remember that MYT and BY used to be able to autoland the 757's with few problems compared to LS ...... am I just imagining that?

Also with the talk of Jet2 getting 767's would this mean they will have the same landing problems?

What's needed to sort the problem? A hell of a lot of concrete or a change of location to somewhere not at the top of a hill I would guess! At 683 feet above sea level LBA is the UK's highest commercial airport, which I suppose brings certain disadvantages!

I'm not sure whether the same would apply to the 767, although I would imagine so as that and the 757 were developed alongside each other and designed to behave in very similar ways. Not actually flying them though I can't say the same problem would apply with any degree of certainty! Forum member EGNM is a fountain of knowledge for things like this. I'm sure he can clarify when he gets his rather ample backside home from Oz!

Paul

Member for

18 years

Posts: 108

lol!! yeah it was on look north that you guys further up north than us yorkshire folks had a fair bit of snow! Although saying that it was about an inch or two here in yorkshire!

Member for

18 years 3 months

Posts: 2,561

lol!! yeah it was on look north that you guys further up north than us yorkshire folks had a fair bit of snow! Although saying that it was about an inch or two here in yorkshire!

Aye we had a bit NCL was closed at odd points in the morning! Couple of diversions 2 to EDI 1 to MME and the EK A330 landing in spectacular style!

Member for

18 years 5 months

Posts: 157


An addition that I thought was quite good was that on both flights the crew said, welcome on board this Jet2.com scheduled service. They realy emphasized scheduled. I think that added a nice touch as it gives a more full service flight feel.

Ryanair also say this on their flight's... I didn't think these airlines did much other than scheduled services but then again it's probably just said to remind the 'chav' passengers that they're not on a charter so that the crew won't have as many nappies to clean up on the turnaround at the end of the flight...:rolleyes: ;) ;) ;)

Good trip report there though mate some good pics aswel, i like to see a few from the cabins, cheers.

Member for

19 years 10 months

Posts: 624

Great report. Reminds me of my flights on Jet2 this summer. I flew G-LSAI from LBA to Faro. :)

Member for

20 years 11 months

Posts: 683

So what is needed to sort out the 757 ILS situation at LBA?

Nothing!....757/767 can use 32 at LBA down to Cat 3B minima (ie decision height 0, RVR 75m) Due to the downslope on 32, touchdown is likely to be long, so additional limitations are imposed (landing weight limited, NO tailwind)

I can only presume that Jet2 have an issue with their 757s which does not permit autoland at LBA (unless, of course, 14 was in use that day). Sometimes Low-Cost equals extra hassle...should have booked with a carrier that can make full use of LBA's capabilities!

Member for

18 years 7 months

Posts: 5,530

I can only presume that Jet2 have an issue with their 757s which does not permit autoland at LBA (unless, of course, 14 was in use that day). Sometimes Low-Cost equals extra hassle...should have booked with a carrier that can make full use of LBA's capabilities!

Just to clarify, when I said the 757 operates to CAT I minima at LBA I was talking specifically about Jet2's 757's. Other operators, as made clear by Moondance seem to work slightly differently!

Apologies if I confused things!

Paul