Flew on the early morning (0710 hours) from Bristol to Glasgow International in the first week of October 2003. 127 of the Boeing 737-300s 148 passenger seats were filled. Air traffic control delays caused the flight to arrive ten minutes late at Glasgow, after exactly one hour in the air.

The flight was comfortable and the cabin crew attentive and friendly. The flight deck crew gave sufficient information on the course of the flight.

The return was five days later in the early evening. Again the flight was about 85% full and we had a similarly attentive cabin crew. However, for once both my wife's and my seats were worn and slightly uncomfortable.

The time in the air was an amazing 45 minutes for the near 400 mile journey. Our female captain, who had an engagingly charming accent (Dutch?), explained that we were being pushed along by a 100 mph-plus tail wind.

There was a very strong north-westerly wind blowing as we landed on Bristol's westerly runway, and this was very apparent on the final stages of the approach. However, the touch down was superb: firm, but without a hint of a significant partial cross wind.

We landed five minutes ahead of schedule despite a considerably delayed start from Glasgow (30 minutes) caused by the late arrival of our plane, doubtless because on that leg it still had to contend with the 100mph wind, but this time in its face.

Total cost of the return/round trip was £26 each.