Round The World and other travels

Flight Log 7 : BD62

London Heathrow (LHR) - Edinburgh (EDI)

As is always the case with the bmi Regional RJ135 and RJ145 planes, boarding involved walking down onto the tarmac and climbing the aircraft's own steps. Although stepping inside an RJ145 often induces a feeling of mild shock in passengers as they take in the reality of the space constraints, I have always maintained that these are remarkably civilised little aircraft, once you're actually installed in one of the port-side single seats. On this occasion, sadly, I had 3D - the aisle seat of a starboard D/F pair. I had a close call when a woman appeared carrying a baby and identified 3F as her seat. However the cabin attendant approached and asked her to sit in 2F instead, as apparently there was no additional oxygen available in Row 3. The passenger who was meant to sit in 2F turned up shortly thereafter and took her place next to me; thankfully, she was of slim build and had no inclination for fidgeting. A single seat would have been nice, but I reckoned that this was as good as one of the doubles was going to get.

We pushed back exactly on schedule and, with the relatively fast taxi speed so characteristic of smaller aircraft, made our way to 27L for a take-off towards the west. Once established in the cruise, the single cabin attendant got service underway, starting in the Flexible Economy section where I was seated. Food and drink is complimentary in this cabin section. Passengers are offered a choice of two types of sandwich, free choice of a snack item and one or more beverages. I had a ham, cheese and pickle sandwich, a pack of Pringles, a coffee and a diet coke - all designed to keep me awake for the drive home at the end of this very long day.

The rest of the flight passed quickly and uneventfully and, in what seemed like no time at all, we were on the approach into Edinburgh, arriving comfortably ahead of schedule. My back-up option had proved its worth and I was safely returned to my home airport, only a couple of hours later than intended.

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