Again, XL provided some of flights for our annual pilgrimage to Lourdes but as they have gto rid of some of their 757's and 767-200's, Air Malta and some other airlines operated some of the flights.

The check-in was efficient with Servisair giving us 4 check-in desks. There was an XL Duty Manager around which helped to get things done quickly.

We boarded slightly late due to the late arrival of the inbound aircraft. It was a fairly new 737-800 which was in good condition. The crew were good at helping to get the additional needs children onboard and remarkably, we pushed back 10 minutes late. We would have been on time but Servisair had trouble with one of the wheelchairs and they didn't think they could get it onboard.

We were served with a standard charter Shepherds Pie and some coffee which was fine as we were all hungry by this time.

We landed in Lourdes 10 minutes late which is excellent for a Lourdes flight!

On the return, we boarded very quickly and for the first time in 17 years of going, we pushed back early and arrived into LGW 15 minutes early! The crew were again excellent but we did get Shepherd's Pie again and they didn't have any tea as the caterers forgot to load it which is not very good.

Thanks XL - you did a great job this year.