Our travel to LHR was very smooth, across London on the Underground to catch the Heathrow Express at Paddington which stops at Terminal Five, where our hotel was located.
Our flight was due to depart at 09:25, so we had an early start on the Monday morning. It was cloudy, and showery. Not ideal for photography, and I was keen to try out my new camera at an airport.
I had pre-reserved our seats, and we had 18A and 18B. We checked in using the self service check in machine and dropped off our bags before going through security to have a couple of hours spotting.
A view across the Terminal Five apron. The Jet Time aircraft was operating flights to Scotland for BA. This was the first time I'd seen them.
The Danish-registered JetTime aircraft.
We'd seen a few special liveries while we were at LHR - the first one was the Boeing 747 with the gold nose which had flown the British Olympic team home from Rio. The second was this Aer Lingus Irish rugby aircraft:
American 767 - the first time I'd photographed their latest livery.
Another special livery was this London 2012 themed British Airways A320:
Something I never expected to see at LHR - a Thomson Dreamliner!
The Dreamliner is called Alfie!
Queuing for take off.
Our flight was slightly delayed owing to late arrival of the aircraft from Milan. We were to depart from gate B34, which required a short ride on a monorail type thing, quite good and something I've not experienced at any other airport.
A320 G-EUUG at gate B34 is prepared for flight BA872 to Krakow.
BA A320 with sharklets.
We were called forward to board at 9:15. As we entered the aircraft we were deafened by raucous classical music being blasted out over the sound system.
The safety card. It was a relief when the safety video started because it cut off that damned classical music!
View from my seat.
Inflight magazine.
View inside the aircraft.
We pushed back at 09:46 and taxied to runway 9R. The Captain was (as usual for BA) very informative about the conditions - two hours expected flight time, wet in KRK and potentially turbulent during the early cruise phase.
I saw several A380s as we taxied and while we were on the runway. I also saw my only LOT aircraft of the holiday as it landed from WAW.
We took off at 10:06.
It was cloudy as we climbed away but as we reached altitude the cloud was broken.
Above the cloud.
Passing the Essex coastline. We took a more "northerly" route than normal - instead of crossing the coast at Kent, flying over Belgium, some of Germany, over Prague and into Poland we crossed the coast of East Anglia and then Holland before flying across Germany and into Poland that way.
Scene from the Airshow display. I live to see the Airshow, more interesting than ANY inflight film!
According to Airhow, we cruised at 37,000 feet, at 583 mph and had a 57 mph tailwind.
I have always found British Airways inflight snacks to be quite pleasant, and today's was no exception. We were served a soft cheese and tomato relish on a croissant, with orange juice to drink.
The inflight snack.
Broken cloud over the Continent.
It was cloudy and grey over Poland. The Captain said we would have a westerly breeze on landing and would be landing on the west runway at Krakow.
My first glimpse of Poland through the cloud.
We landed at 12:54.
My first photo on Polish soil taken just after landing.
Tails - one unfamiliar to me (I had never seen that Norwegian tail before) and one VERY familiar!
The sight of this made my day, I was VERY happy to see them!
We taxied to the terminal and were taken by bus to the arrivals area.
We caught the train from the airport station into central Krakow. I will say more about my opinion of KRK in my return report.
The train to the city centre.
We had a good week, drunk Belgian beers, ate pierogies and had a tour in a Trabant car.
The video of my flight:
) ...
I was wondering why it was there. Nice to be in the right place at the right time to bag that visitor!