First flight Antwerp to Manchester by BMI

[air belgium]

Today the first BMI regional flight from Antwerp to Manchester.
Any photos?
Thanks.

[Sabena320]

This video is from the takeoff: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1BgyjJpEZ0

[Passenger]

Report from ATV Antwerp Television (1 min):

http://www.atv.be/item/deurne-terug-ver ... manchester

[Bruspotter]

Hi

Yeah I'm hoping for pics as well. Normally would have been present with the landing of the first flight and the water salute (?) from the apron but las minute changes made I was on duty in Rotterdam this week so wasn't there. Hope to see some pictures as well indeed.

Greets,

[Dreamlover]

These are my pictures from this morning at ANR. 08.55 arrival at ANR. 25 minutes too early.
The fire departement is waiting.

Here he is the ERJ135ER G-RJXP

The water greeting

And now he is clean to go back

Greetz
Guy

[jan_olieslagers]

Sorry to begin on a pecky note: shouldn't a plane be referred to as "she" in proper English, just like a ship?

But more seriously: on the last picture I can see some photographers very close to the plane, perhaps even unacceptably close. And not even wearing high visibility fluo jackets! Who manages safety at EBAW?

All that being said: it is great to see this new service started, wish them every success!

[[edit: and, of course, no blame on the messenger. The pics are nice to see, thanks very much for sharing!]]

[andorra-airport]

@ Dreamlover

Thank you for sharing your photo's , but the photo's dont show well on this website. Although I could work around it, maybe for the rest you can send the photobucket link?

And maybe it is just me, but I find it strange to see people so near an airplane without reflective clothing.

[cathay belgium]

Hi,
Thx for the pics,..
The people should have worn fluo jackets offcourse,anr safety department to blame.. and idd very close.. guess a young/new anr-guy hadn't taken all security preparations for the press!
And planes are always girls no?.. how else could they be my second love after real girlz

CXB

[jan_olieslagers]

No, not all planes are girls, more's the pity. Some planes are harsh old ladies, just try to fly them and you'll know what I mean. But as I have always said: flying a plane is done from the cockpit. Sitting in the coach and waiting for things to happen just doesn't count. Neither with planes nor with the gentle sex.

[andorra-airport]

In French all airplanes are male. 1 Exception: La Caravelle.

[jan_olieslagers]

Hm. Hmmm. Hmmmmmmm. Most interesting side discussion!

Le/la Dassault Rafale ?
La/le Concorde?
Un/une Alouette II/III ?
Absolutely UN Jodel but perhaps UNE Luciole?

Toujours curieux a apprendre!

[andorra-airport]

La/le Concorde?

Could be "Ma Concorde" for me, yes. In German it is female: die Concorde.

In French the helicopter "Alouette" is feminine too.

[air belgium]

Thanks for the photos!

[teddybAIR]

Off topic: I think its neither le Concorde nor la Concorde...they just say 'Bienvenue à bord Concorde' ...so I've been told

[Flanker]

C'est le Concorde.
Le Rafale
L' Alouette (girl)

[Dreamlover]

For me is taking pictures already difficult.
My mother tongue is Flemish, so don't judge me on writing errors please.
I didn't learn other languages, so i writh with the dictionary with me.
All joking apart i hope you enjoy the pictures

[galaxy]

In French the helicopter "Alouette" is feminine too.

Perhaps because " une alouette " is a bird.Even the male alouette bird is called " une alouette "
http://www.google.be/imgres?num=10&hl=f ... :429,i:124

[Comet]

Such a pity the flight timings are crap, otherwise we would have booked this service for our holiday next year, as it is we don't know where we'll fly from, just hope and pray it is not LBA.

[Ozzie1969]

An aircraft is not a "he" or a "she", it's an "it", just like all inanimate objects.

[SpottairBRU]

Sorry to begin on a pecky note: shouldn't a plane be referred to as "she" in proper English, just like a ship?

Indeed, referring to my memories of my English grammar class at the university (Germanic philology), airplanes and ships are commonly used with the female gender.

The wikipedia article on the subject is quite close to what was written in my "syllabus" at that time (unfortunately stored in the cellar of my parents' house, otherwise I would have scanned the page). Here is an extract:

Personal pronouns

The third-person singular personal pronouns are chosen according to the natural gender of their antecedent or referent. As a general rule:

• he (and its related forms him, himself, his) is used when the referent is a male person, and sometimes when it is a male animal (or something else to which male characteristics are attributed);
• she (and her, herself, hers) is used when the referent is a female person, sometimes when it is a female animal, and sometimes when female characteristics are attributed[citation needed] to something inanimate – this is common especially with vessels such as ships and airplanes, and sometimes with countries;
• it (and itself, its) is used when the referent is something inanimate, often when it is an animal, and sometimes for a child when the sex is unspecified.

Lower animals are generally referred to using it; higher animals may more often be referred to using he and she, when their sex is known.

In my syllabus, "Concorde" was used as an example (that's why I still remember that part ). Other example going in that way; the 747 is more than often referred to as "Queen of the skies", and not as King...

But I agree: this is to be picky, and as another English teacher told me once at an exam:

Fabien, as a human being, I want to give you the highest marks, as I fully understood what you wanted to tell me... however, as a teacher, I'll have to point out all your grammatical mistakes, and give you a less than average mark .

So, to summarize lots of discussions here on the forum: the most important is that we understand each other, and fortunately this is what happens most of the time

Back to the main subject: thanks for sharing the pictures, I hope to try this route soon...