Well, just a very short trip report on the shortest flight I’ve ever taken: SYD – NTL, 20 minutes actually flying (Quicker than train and cheaper than driving).
A rainy evening in Sydney and a late-finishing meeting saw me desperately searching for a cab to hail at about 5:45pm, to get to the airport from Broadway for my 6:30 flight on Rex. With checked baggage…
Actually, once I got a taxi, the driver made great time weaving through the peak hour traffic and I got to the airport, resigned to my likely fate: missed flight, a long train trip instead, missed rental car pick up and very late arrival at Newcastle.
But no, the Rex check-in people were fantastic. Yes, I was late. My bag was tagged “standby, too late to load” and “may not arrive until tomorrow”, and I was given a boarding pass and told to hurry through. It was now 6:10pm, the boarding time listed on the BP. If my bag arrived the next day, that would be ok, that would still work.
Of course I got the most ridiculous people lined up in front of my at security, and the world’s most relaxed staff. It took an age. At least all the slowpokes kept the extra random check people busy.
By the time I found the hard-to-find-if-you’ve-never-been-there-before downstairs gate, they were calling my name. I got on the bus, which was waiting for me, and we drove out to the little Saab turboprop plane. There was plenty of space in the cabin, my boarderline-sized hand luggage squeezed into the overhead, and I had an empty seat next to me on the “two side” of the aisle. Peering out into the rain I saw that the cargo door was still open and watched a little truck rush out. Could it be my bag?
Propeller planes are pretty noisy and sound aggressive when they start up and begin to taxi. But then when they take off the reach new, previously unimagined mental levels. So it was this night. Not so obtrusive once airborn, but still pretty loud.
It was a windy, rainy night, and the small plane rocked and rolled as it was tossed about by the heavy turbulence. So heavy that the FA regretfully informed us that there would be no drink and snack served on the flight. A shame, as I wanted to see how that worked on a 20-minute flight. The turbulence didn’t bother me, as the helpful in-flight magazine allayed all fears by explaining that the plane could handle anything and that turbulence is just like choppy water. It also answered a host of other questions a nervous flyer might have, like why the sound of the engines changes sometimes.
In just over the blink of an eye we touched down in NTL, still very windy and wet. We pulled into the gate just next to a recently arrived Jetstar flight.
After a quick trip to the WC, the baggage carousel beeped into action. And there was my bag! A bit damp, but last on – first off. Fantastic! So, as I headed off to the rental car lot, my first flight on Rex ended happily. Have to say I was delighted with their ultra-friendly service, really impressed, and grateful too
.
A rainy evening in Sydney and a late-finishing meeting saw me desperately searching for a cab to hail at about 5:45pm, to get to the airport from Broadway for my 6:30 flight on Rex. With checked baggage…
Actually, once I got a taxi, the driver made great time weaving through the peak hour traffic and I got to the airport, resigned to my likely fate: missed flight, a long train trip instead, missed rental car pick up and very late arrival at Newcastle.
But no, the Rex check-in people were fantastic. Yes, I was late. My bag was tagged “standby, too late to load” and “may not arrive until tomorrow”, and I was given a boarding pass and told to hurry through. It was now 6:10pm, the boarding time listed on the BP. If my bag arrived the next day, that would be ok, that would still work.
Of course I got the most ridiculous people lined up in front of my at security, and the world’s most relaxed staff. It took an age. At least all the slowpokes kept the extra random check people busy.
By the time I found the hard-to-find-if-you’ve-never-been-there-before downstairs gate, they were calling my name. I got on the bus, which was waiting for me, and we drove out to the little Saab turboprop plane. There was plenty of space in the cabin, my boarderline-sized hand luggage squeezed into the overhead, and I had an empty seat next to me on the “two side” of the aisle. Peering out into the rain I saw that the cargo door was still open and watched a little truck rush out. Could it be my bag?
Propeller planes are pretty noisy and sound aggressive when they start up and begin to taxi. But then when they take off the reach new, previously unimagined mental levels. So it was this night. Not so obtrusive once airborn, but still pretty loud.
It was a windy, rainy night, and the small plane rocked and rolled as it was tossed about by the heavy turbulence. So heavy that the FA regretfully informed us that there would be no drink and snack served on the flight. A shame, as I wanted to see how that worked on a 20-minute flight. The turbulence didn’t bother me, as the helpful in-flight magazine allayed all fears by explaining that the plane could handle anything and that turbulence is just like choppy water. It also answered a host of other questions a nervous flyer might have, like why the sound of the engines changes sometimes.
In just over the blink of an eye we touched down in NTL, still very windy and wet. We pulled into the gate just next to a recently arrived Jetstar flight.
After a quick trip to the WC, the baggage carousel beeped into action. And there was my bag! A bit damp, but last on – first off. Fantastic! So, as I headed off to the rental car lot, my first flight on Rex ended happily. Have to say I was delighted with their ultra-friendly service, really impressed, and grateful too
.
