Round The World and other travels

We were ready for an on-time departure except for one thing : we had a missing passenger and we would have to wait until either he turned up or his bags could be located and off-loaded. He eventually appeared shortly before 1130. We managed an 1132 departure, but had to make the long taxi to take-off runway 09R. We were allowed to skip the queue and managed an 1150 departure, no doubt to the annoyance of some observant passengers on numerous other planes.

As it was not at a recognised mealtime, this flight only had a beverage and snack service. I had a glass of apple juice and a muesli bar, which seemed to have replaced the hand-made crisps.

We made an unusual approach into EDI. We were all set for crossing over the Firth of Forth to the east of Edinburgh for a westerly landing and indeed, as we approached the eastern suburbs, I could see a plane in front making its final descent into the airport. However we made a sudden turn to the west and headed out into West Lothian, subsequently lining up for an approach in the opposite direction, over Bathgate and Livingston. The decision must have been made to switch operations around. We touched down at 1249 and arrived on stand at 1252, that final diversion ensuring that we had no hope of making up the time lost at Heathrow.