Round The World and other travels

London Gatwick (LGW) - Edinburgh (EDI)

My first thought on boarding this flight, which was completely full, was near-disbelief at what I perceived as the lack of space. Then I remembered the horrors of charter flights and low-cost carriers and realised that this was good! See how spoiled you can become in 6 weeks?

We left very slightly behind schedule at 0937. Although there was very little queuing for the runway - we were second in line behind a Continental wide-body - the waits to allow landing aircraft in meant that we did not get airborne until 0954. Having taken off in an easterly direction, it wasn't long at all before we were making that big left turn to take us north, passing high above London. As the flight had been re-timed from 0915 to 0935, I wondered whether this might provide an excuse to abandon the hot breakfast service. I needn't have worried - I was soon tucking into my second cooked breakfast of the day. (A real glutton could have had three ... one was also available in the Arrivals Lounge!)

In no time at all, we were skirting the eastern suburbs of Edinburgh, curving in for our approach over the Forth. As we got close, construction of the new and much-needed taxi-ways at EDI was in evidence. We touched down on Scottish soil at 1054 and, according to my watch, arrived at the gate precisely on schedule. The final flight of the trip had been completed.