My first long haul experience to the United States of America August 2015 Part 2 (Back to the United Kingdom)

31st August 2015 Thomas Cook Airlines flight TCX173 from Las Vegas, United States of America to London Stansted, United Kingdom.

I arrived in Las Vegas International Airport around lunch time. My friends were about to get ready to check-in but before we do that my friends are ready to get out ticket and passports out my best friend was putting his flight socks & shoes on he don't like long haul flights. Little bit about this terminal, it is a brand new building only opened 3 years ago June 27th 2012 which is called Terminal 3 it's mainly international flights they include some domestic flights like Virgin America, Alaska  Airlines, Frontier Airlines Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, American Airlines, Sun Country Airlines and United Express. What happened to Terminal 2? it was softly opened in 1986 and officially opened in 1991 know as Charter Terminal for all international flights and charter flights it was closed 1 day after Terminal 3 was opened.

After 20 minutes of my British friends got changed for the flight & been to the toilets we're about to check-in. I thought the queue was going to long I think we arrived roughly 45 minutes before check-in closes.  

After 10 minutes of checking-in we heading through security & headed straight to the gate! United States Immigration does not require passport stamps on departure it's not run by US Customs & Border Protection (arrivals only) it's US Department of Homeland Security they check your boarding pass and passports through UV light and off you go! "Have a good flight." 

After 7 minutes of walking to gate E1 we made it! the gate is located at the end of the left side of the building. Next door gate E2 was Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 arrived from London Gatwick, UK. Our flight was delayed by 1 hour because the aircraft arrived late from Glasgow, UK we mean't to depart 3:15pm. When the aircraft arrived there wasn't a lot of passengers it was a fast process with pilots & cabin crew swapped over at least boarding process was quick with almost every passengers onboard the aircraft. 

Thomas Cook Airlines G-VYGK new to Airbus Military 10th March 2014 ex EC-330

Here is THE Thomas Cook Airlines NOT HI FLY! My friends who organized the booking said never fly with Thomas Cook again because of Hi Fly I fully explained & fully understand why we flew with them due to 1 short aircraft they did quite understand at least they enjoyed the flight home. As you mention on the caption this aircraft was new to Airbus Military last year ex EC-330 last year then handed over to AirTanker 6th February 2015 with new registration G-VYGK it was mean't to join the United Kingdom Royal Air Force however Thomas Cook introduced long haul flights from London Stansted (seasonal), Glasgow and Manchester, UK Thomas Cook have leased few Airbus A330-200 by Air Tanker it was delivered to Thomas Cook in 29th April 2105. Next year Thomas Cook Airlines will be going more long haul flights in the American continent to Los Angeles, & Boston in USA, Grantley Adams, Barbados and Frank Pais, Cuba. 

This was meant to be our original flight map, however because we departed Las Vegas late the flight path changed instead of flying through Greenland we traveled out of Canada by Newfoundland and Labrador and cross the North Atlantic Ocean.

Goodbye Las Vegas! and goodbye United States of America! While the aircraft was climbing the made a sharp turn right as we were heading to the mountain near Mountain Springs.

When I read the safety card it's still from Air Tanker not Thomas Cook Airlines even them monitor by the exit door with seating plan still shows Air Tanker.

It's now dinner time! today's Thomas Cook menu was chicken with rice and tomatoes, then desert was crackers & cheese, roll and chocolate mousse mixed with caramel inside. My friend did not have any dinner on the flight or a snack before we land all he head was breakfast in the States.The food overall is good! 

5 hours in the sky close from Toronto, Canada it's time for sleep! The cabin looks nice with the lights off the cabin. Unfortunately in general I'm not a good sleeper on planes on short haul flights, with long haul I still cannot sleep. I can only sleep with music on but only for couple of hours then I woke straight up. Few of my friends in this cabin are a sleep but my old friend next to me in the middle isle was fully awake so I'm guessing he can't sleep on planes. 

For children there are kids TV shows and music from Disney, Barney and Dora. 

I'm a huge Michael Jackson fan that's why I manage to sleep for couple of hours when the playlist was over I was asleep. Michael Jackson - Bad Album was the only music I like during the flight until something happened from my friend... he woken me up with Barney and Dora I was going to explode but it was funny..... then 1 try to sleep again my friend turned the volume up I flinched & immediately woken up. 

5am British Summer Time still at the Atlantic Ocean... We're not that far coming to British Airspace near Northern Ireland.... another 4000 miles to go.

September 1st we finally arrived in London Stansted, UK just after 10am! it didn't take long to get out the plane, got on a monorail at the right time, wen't through immigration quickly at epassport gates and waiting for our bags. My friends got their bags quick however I was the last one took 15 mins! at baggage reclaim their was a Ryanair flight arrived in Faro, Portugal. I think the reason why my bag took so long is that customs wen't through x-ray might have find something odd when it comes with souvenirs before it arrived at baggage reclaim at least through Nothing to Declare channel I did not get stopped. Really Stansted needs to put our flight to a different baggage reclaim number not 2 flights in 1 reclaim. 

So that was the end of my long haul flight experience. What do I think of the flight now? it's very enjoyable compare to Hi Fly... Would I travel with Thomas Cook Airlines on long haul flight again? The answer is yes! I would but not from London Stansted. Thank you Thomas Cook Airlines. 9/10

British Airways Flight BA2276 Incident

British Airways G-VIIO seen in Las Vegas, USA 31st August 2015 9 days before the fire.

8th September 2015 a British Airways Boeing 777 flight BA2276 to London Gatwick, UK from Las Vegas, USA has caught fire at 16:12 Pacific Time on runway 07L the pilots called a "catastrophic engine failure" only 14 people have been injured taken to hospital for minor injuries and possibly burn marks. All passengers and crew have evacuated safely with evacuation slides. The main course of the fire was the #1 engine failure on the left General Electric GE90 it suffered the fuselage and the wing rooted from the fire. The aircraft G-VIIO was a Boeing 777-200 new to British Airways in January 26th 1999 only 16.6 years old .

More news, images and videos can be found on the Daily Mail website. 

My first long haul experience to the United States of America August 2015 Part 1

Well I did it! On 24th August 2015 I went to the United States of America! the first ever long haul flight I have traveled not in history of Aircraft Aviation in Europe it's also in my hole life! If you mention I had a disappointing flight on the way to the US I will tell you why.

First flight wasn't Thomas Cook Airlines it was an airline based from Portugal called Hi Fly. Now Hi Fly has 13 fleets they own 1 Airbus A321 by Belgian Air Component, 5 Airbus A330 200, 3 Airbus A340-300 1 operated for LA Compangine in France and 2 Airbus A340-500. Hi Fly is or was a subsidiary with Hi Fly Malta owned few Airbus A340-600 based from Malta. If you wan't to see my full flight video CLICK ME! on YouTube to watch my video.

When I arrived at the gate for my flight we was giving out a letter from Thomas Cook Airlines about the aircraft we be flying with. Why did we travel with Hi Fly? Because Thomas Cook Airlines is short on 1 Airbus A330-200 aircraft from Air Tanker still on order, because Thomas Cook is ending London Stansted flights because the Summer Season is almost over it will be going to Glasgow, UK and Manchester, UK as it's not Seasonal. I paid £1,200 for this flight NOT travelling on a different airline operating for Thomas Cook!

 Hear is Hi Fly Airbus A330-200 aircraft! the registration as I mention is CS-TFZ. Let's begin with the first issue we had, first the flight was delayed for 2 hours we meant to depart London Stansted at 9am instead we left 11:30am because there have been lack of cleaners or not many staff cleaning the aircraft which is ridiculous!

This is the cabin of Hi Fly's Airbus A330-200 what it looks like. Unfortunately it's nothing special compare to other European airliners I wen't. When I was sitting on the seats they are OK to sit if you are travelling short haul instead long haul, the cabin looks like typical Airbus A320 family. The cabin crew and pilots are full of Hi Fly staff  from Portugal when we landed in Glasgow, UK there has been change some Hi Fly cabin crew to Thomas Cook Airlines cabin crew.
 

We landed in Glasgow, UK roughly 12:30pm for re-fuel and pick up more British Nationals and Thomas Cook cabin crew most are from Scotland. When we stopped I saw two aircraft  at the same parking bay where KLM is. First aircraft KLM is PH-BGI Boeing 737-700 just started boarding to Amerdam, The Netherlands when it left Glasgow Jet2 arrived G-GDFN Boeing 737-300 new to EasyJet in 1998 ex G-EZYH. We had another issue when other passengers finished boarding & re-fuel... we got delayed for 3 hours! I couldn't understand what the crew said by Portuguese cabin crew said...

We finally left Glasgow at 3:30pm so I decided to rest my eyes for a little bit till the pilot said we are flying above Greenland after couple of hours flying above North Atlantic Ocean. I quickly switch the camera on and took any decent photos I can take! however the next photo you'll about the see makes my day after many long delay.

Yes it's British Airways Airbus A380 in Greenland's Airspace! I have no idea where it was heading to I could guess San Francisco or Los Angles, USA or anywhere in Canada from London Heathrow, UK.

Anyone for dinner? Today's food from Thomas Cook is either beef or curry. I choose chicken curry with rice then crackers, rolls and chocolate mousse mixed with crunchy chocolate and caramel then coffee afterwards. The food was OK I guess.

I haven't mention about in flight service yet! Unfortunately it's not really that good the touchscreen is very poor, all movies & tv shows are dubbed in Portuguese language and live in flight map don't work! the only part it works is how long you arrive in Las Vegas, time of duration and time you have departed from Glasgow not London Stansted.

Finally we are over the Nevada Desert not far to Las Vegas! there was another problem of landing it's not the airline's fault it's the Air Traffic Control. It's because there was a very important aircraft coming to land in Las Vegas. Do you wan't to know who was that very important person is? If you been following me on Facebook I mention what it is, it's US President Barack Obama! In November 2016 President Obama will be Vice President of the United States. Candidates for next US President are Lincoln Chafee, Hillary Clinton, (wife of former US President Bill Clinton) Martin O'Malley, Bernie Sanders and Jim Webb. Anyway it was awsome seeing current President Obama's Boeing 747 aircraft I'll mention on another blog soon.

Finally I have arrived in the United States of America! also the first time I got my passport stamped in Las Vegas on my current passport for the first time in 10 years I last got stamped on my previous passport in the UK before Malta joined the European Union in 2004. We come to the end of part 1 of my first long haul flight experience. What do I think of the flight? VERY DISAPPOINTING! I will start doing part 2 it will be on here later.