Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Singapore & Malaysia 2014
Flight Log 10: VS3005
London Heathrow (LHR) - Edinburgh (EDI)
Virgin Atlantic's Little Red proposition was set up in the aftermath of IAG's acquisition of bmi and the subsequent integration of that carrier's mainline operation into British Airways. Little Red uses a dedicated small fleet of Airbus A320s, operated by Aer Lingus on a wet-lease arrangement, to fly domestic services from London Heathrow to Manchester, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Today's aircraft was 'Queen of the Cobbles', named by a member of the public for the Manchester route, the idea having been inspired by the long-running television soap opera Coronation Street. This was to be my third Little Red flight of 2014.
I thought at first that the aircraft was busier than expected, but had to revise my ideas when I overheard the senior cabin crew member mentioning that there were more than 100 empty seats. In spite of this, the first few rows were packed solid. I couldn't decide if this was a balancing measure or if it was the typical online check-in phenomenon of too many people wanting to be first off the plane at the destination. We left the gate at 1116 and took off from Runway 27R at 1140, in a wintry-looking state of semi-daylight.
We quickly climbed to our cruising altitude of 36,000ft and when cabin service got underway, I had a tomato juice with the usual embellishments, plus a small bag of 'plane crisps' (typical Virgin pun!) and a coffee. This service was followed up by Little Red's trademark distribution of tiny packets of 'Love Hearts', which on this occasion, in a touch reminiscent of bmi, were described as "sweets for landing".
After a bumpy approach over Silverknowes in horribly murky and wet conditions, we touched down at a soggy and miserable Edinburgh Airport at 1239, parking at the usual Little Red gate just three minutes later. As on previous occasions, it had been a well executed and pleasant short flight.
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| ABOVE: 'Queen of the Cobbles' in Edinburgh - and just look at that weather! |
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| (Little Red, operated by Aer Lingus) |
| Date: Tue 09 Dec 2014 |
| Aircraft: Airbus A320 |
| Scheduled dep: 1120 |
| Actual departure: 1116 |
| Scheduled arrival: 1250 |
| Actual arrival: 1242 |
| Cabin: Economy |
| Seat: 1A |