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Flight BA118 Bangalore – London. The Joy of Flying

By the time we had finished the Mind Map course at 6pm, packed-up, un-picked the course, had a meal, it was nearly midnight. My flight was at 6am back to London. That meant an early start to get to the airport, 4am. I still had to pack my suitcase, shower and book out of the hotel.

So, very little sleep.

The Bangalore airport is very small, Gate 1 seeming to be the only International departure point. The buildings appear to be being renovated, but I think like other cities, they will be moving the airport way outside the city boundaries, perhaps adding another hour to the journey.

I remember as a school boy, going on a school trip to visit London’s Heathrow airport, I would expect in the 1960’s. There were field all around the airport grounds, it was in the countryside. Now, as you fly in looking down, the vast amount of housing below, just shows how people move to be near the airport.

This same people now complain of the noise of planes taking off and landing.

Why did they move to the area in the first place? They knew the airport was there. They knew the noise would be there. Why complain? I expect they are glad they are on the doorstep when they want to fly.

So it is with most airports, people move towards the airports to live and work, then complain. Milan’s new Melpensa takes 50 minutes. compared to Linate which is 10 minutes from the city center. Kula Lumpa KLIA takes 1 hour, instead of a few minutes.

OK, the new airports are bigger and have more facilities, but still people drift out to live near the new ones, then complain.

My flight was delayed by over 2 hours, so what, just sit back and relax, do not go to sleep, even if the eyes need to close, you may miss the flight. Oh, I am so hungry, but I can wait for the meal on the flight, no I can’t, I am thirsty too.

I went to the little coffee bar, and get a muffin and tea, only to find out that they are complimentary of British Airways, because of the delay, but they made no announcement. Still that means that they did not spend so much, meaning more profits, and as a share holder of BA, that means more returns on my investment, if they pay anything out that is.

Eventually, we get on board, and I get my window seat, 27K. Strange, not a few hours earlier I had “checked-in” on-line on the internet, and booked seat 16K. I asked why my seat had changed, and I got the answer that they had changed the aircraft. What? Halfway through the outward flight from the UK?

I could not move from my seat during the flight due to the rather large ladies sitting in the two seats next to me, good job I have a strong bladder.

We had two meals during the flight, no choice really, non vegetarian or vegetarian. Yes, I could have ordered a special meal on booking the ticket, but I do not like to make a fuss.

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You too can enjoy exotic food on a plane too.

As we took off late that meant we arrived late into terminal 4 at Heathrow. The taxi waiting for me. I can get home and rest.

But then I was charged extra for waiting time of the driver, but he kept me awake on the drive home, as we talked about his home country of Sri Lanka, and my experiences of giving training in Columbo.

Oh the joys of travel. Let me sleep.