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Taken December 2004 from London, England (Gatwick Airport) - LGW to Gibraltar (North Front) - GIB

A mix of their excellent reviews and the GB Club Europe sale tempted me to go down to GIB for a day - booking 2 months in advance secured me the fare for £199.20.

GIB is a destination that can be checked-in online (but no 'print your own boarding pass' available). The day before I selected seats 03A (out of 4 rows) and 02F (out of 2 rows).

Sunday 5th December 2004 BA6902 London Gatwick (LGW) - Gibraltar (GIB), A320, 0825 - 1210.

I arrived at Gatwick around 0700 on the train (having spent the night in Brighton) - it was nice to get one of the new Southern trains for one - much nicer than the old ones they have. After taking the shuttle train to the North terminal I collected my boarding pass from the deserted Club Europe desks (I find it slightly quicker than using a machine, and there is less of a chance of it going wrong). Because I was only there for a day I only had the one piece of hand baggage. Fast track was closed (though it is of little use when open) but the security lines took less that five minutes to pass through.

Being only a Blue member of the BA Exec Club and not a frequent Club-class flyer getting into the lounges is a treat and especially so when it's at Gatwick! Though they it's the only Terraces lounge I've been in I've been told that it's the best on the network and I'd have to agree. It is on two levels and has showers, food, drinks, PCs, laptop terminals, meeting areas and a large assortment of comfy chairs. I also noticed a fountain - is that new? I don't remember it being there last August. The lighting wasn't too bright either, keeping in tone well with the time of day. There was also some music playing in the background. This early in the morning on a Sunday it was fairly empty and I spent a little under an hour pigging out on soft drinks and pastries. The view over the airport is not bad either though the new bridge connecting the South to North terminals is a bit obscuring.

Boarding began on time from gate 61 which is about five minute walk away if you're quick. No priority boarding was called, but there was only a 60% load factor so it wasn't really required.

There were four passengers in CE - me (03A), my friend (02A) and two other passengers (04A/C). Seats DEF were empty.

The cabin crew (four in total with the purser serving up front) offered us newspapers before we pushed back, but orders of drinks etc. weren't taken. According the captain our flight time was going to be fairly short and we were hoping to be on stand in GIB 15 - 20 minutes early.

Once airborne the purser took drinks orders (Bucks Fizz!) and I had that whilst waiting for breakfast which was served passing over Brittany. From what I could tell the economy passengers were served the cooked breakfast as well, but ours was far larger. I had read somewhere that there would be a continental or full English option, but this didn't materialise. No big deal because I had planned on the cooked option anyway. There was fresh fruit, sausage, tomato, bacon, little potato things (the word escapes me), a selection of hot rolls and marmalade. Tea or coffee was offered. The tomato and potatoes were particularly tasty though the tea was nothing special. BA mainline seem to have a larger selection of rolls too.

There was a second drinks service (another Bucks Fizz!) after breakfast had been cleared away. This was done quite promptly. While flying down Spain the duty-free 'Shopping the World' trolley came along. Seeming as Christmas is around the corner I though I might as well get something. I bought some perfume on behalf of my Dad for my Mum (!) and a Wilbur Winter Bear for myself. For Executive Club members BA have a £5 off voucher if you spend £40 (see the BA forum) or more so I used that to get some cheap chocolate too.

As predicted we arrived in GIB at 1155 - 15 minutes early. The landing was fairly dull as GIB landings go; the winds were calm and not much braking was used though the reverse thrusters were in full blast.

GIB's terminal is fairly basic

If you want marks out of 10 for this trip then I go for 8 on food, 7 on space, 8 for the cabin crew and 9 for the ground service.

Gibraltar

A home away from home. Packed to the brim with tourists, ex-pats, 5-digit telephone numbers and English shops and roadsigns you could be forgiven for wondering if you were really 1,000 miles from the UK. On a Sunday a good number of shops are closed as is the cable car to the top of the rock - which is awkward due to the three hour walk!

If you don't intend to go into Spain then you should find enough to fill a day - - by the time we were due to go back to the airport we had almost exhausted everything there was to do.

The December weather was around 15C, dry with clear and cloudy skies.

Sunday 5th December 2004 BA6907 Gibraltar (GIB) - London Gatwick (LGW), A320, 2030 - 2215.

GIB had three check-in desks active - two for Euro Traveller (economy) and one for Club Europe/status frequent flyers. Security lines were non-existent, but I did go through fairly early (there were two flight departing about the same time - a Monarch to Luton and the GB, both A320s) so it must've built up a bit.

The main departure area is quite cramped when full and the smoke from the bar filters through making it a fairly undesirable area. The lounge is much nicer though. Though not a Terraces I think only BA CE and status passengers have access (i.e. no Monarch). The drinks selection is as per the aircraft (except no champagne) but snacks are limited.

To be honest, we were lucky to get airborne at all. Thunderstoms had developed and the Monarch flight left 15 minutes early to stand a chance. We couldn't even re-fuel until boarding began because of the risk of a lightning strike. However a night in the Rock hotel was avoided and boarding began almost on time. There is, again, no priority boarding so it's worth waiting in the lounge until you see everyone else on board and then dashing up the steps. Note that the lounge is (or was) unstaffed - the door is on a code obtained at check-in. I do wonder if they actually change the code though?

Pushback was at 2035 and newspapers were offered again. Boarding music was played - the same song as in their TV adverts. I got a funny look from the cabin crew for having Wilbur bear sitting next to me (photo here)! There were thee CE passengers in two rows (02A, 02F and 01A) plus what seemed to be two operational upgrades into 01EF. Economy was packed out with everyone returning from their weekend breaks.

The take-off from GIB is a novel one - just like going out of LCY in a 146 - power on the breaks, lots of flap and we got off with 2,000' to spare.

The service was similar to the outbound - Bucks Fizz shortly after departure followed 15 minutes later by the evening meal. The choice was either lamb strips or aubergine, both served on a bed of green salad and spring onions. To accompany it was a vanilla dessert with raspberry sauce (the sauce was very good), hot rolls and two types of cheese with sun-dried tomato crackers. The salad had a lemon vinaigrette, but I saved this for something at home. Pictured is the lamb, which was very tender, but I had the aubergine myself. Very tasty (it had those tomatoes from breakfast) but the quantity of the aubergine and lamb could've been greater. Tea or coffee was served. The Euro Traveller passengers had a deli box - hot pananni, fruit salad, tub of water and a kit-kat.

The duty free trolley came out again and I downed another Bucks Fizz (or two...) as we plodded back on towards Gatwick. A very sudden, sharp touchdown ensured and we were on stand at 2215 exactly.

Gatwick North was quiet at this time of evening (just one departure on the board) and I was in the train station within ten minutes.

Marks out of 10: 9 on food, 7 on space, 9 for the cabin crew and 9 for the ground service.

Overall

People say that GB Airways are better than mainline BA and this was my second flight with them (the previous being an ET down to Montpellier MPL in the summer). I agree with them 100%. The crew were superb - easy to talk to, helpful and served us rather than gave us food and drink. I will undoubtedly fly with GB again. Bravo.