Round The World and other travels

As my 737-400 was to depart from Gate 112, one of the new ones across the high-level bridge, I left the F Lounge in plenty of time. Once at the gate area, it became fairly clear that it was not going to be a heavily loaded flight, despite being the start of the mid-term holiday for many English schools. This was especially true for the Club Europe cabin, where there was only one other passenger, in 4A. At the scheduled departure time of 1050, a 10-minute ATC delay was announced.

We pushed back at 1101 by my watch and were airborne some 17 minutes later. The seat belt signs were switched off relatively quickly and cabin service began with hot towels. The Captain explained that our route would take us over Belgium, Luxembourg, Innsbruck, the north of Italy, Venice, part of Slovenia and finally Croatia. Somewhat surprisingly, there were no pre-lunch drinks and we launched straight into the light meal, which largely consisted of a rather basic selection of cold meats and cheeses. Not at all unpleasant, but certainly not one of the more substantial Club Europe offerings. I drank the new Pommery Champagne - the unloved Monopole Blue Top ('Monopoo' to FTers   ) is now a fading memory - followed by some coffee.

The Captain made an announcement to point out that there were some exceptional views of Venice on the right-hand side of the aircraft. With the cabin being so empty, it was no trouble at all to pop over and capture the moment. Unfortunately, the cloud cover increased sharply as we approached our destination. There were still some remarkable views available, though, including one of what I would later discover to be the town of Trogir.

We touched down at 1422, executed a U-turn in the middle of the runway, pursued a little 'Follow Me' van and pulled onto stand at 1425 - bang on schedule, despite our delayed departure.

This was an OK, but not outstanding, Club Europe experience.