Tier Point Run to Inverness in Nov 2022: Day 2 – London (LHR) to Inverness (INV)

I’m on the late rotation up to Inverness and back down to Heathrow today, so a late start for me in comparison to yesterday. However, that didn’t stop me from getting up at 5am! Early mornings are when I am most awake, so today’s late finish might be a bit of a struggle!

Headed over to Heathrow at just after 11am. Plenty of time for me to drive through whatever traffic I came across, park up at POD parking and get through security for a bit of relaxation in the lounge, before my first flight of the day.

POD parking was packed again. Clearly for some reason it’s busy time. I’m starting to get used to taking a POD to T5. It feels like a good way to travel!

T5 was heaving as well but The First Wing (TFW) was empty, just how I like it. Consequently it took minimal time getting through into the First Lounge and on into the CCR.

Rather than eating in the CCR I decided to head over to the First Lounge and help myself to some tasty beef pies with mash, veg and gravy. We’ll nice.

Back to the CCR and one of the staff recognised me from yesterday. Amazingly she asked whether I was a footballer! Perhaps because of the shorts that seem to be welded to my body? Either way, it’s always nice connecting with people in the lounge.

In my travels around T5, I bumped into Laura Kuenssberg who was loitering around the domestic gates. Assume she was heading up north somewhere to cover a story. Another celeb ticked off my list!

When the gate was announced for my flight to Inverness, I’d forgotten that A4 was one of those dreaded bus gates. I guess it adds to the experience! It’s also one of those very narrow corridors which are easily clogged up with passengers hanging around the gate.

The bus headed off into the murky depths of Heathrow – passed the B gates. Finally arrived at the aircraft and was soon on board into seat 01F. With the rest of a full bus plus a second bus with more passengers on the way, it took a while for all passengers to get onboard this BA flight up to Inverness.

The captain advised that there would be a delay of about 20 mins before we pushed back but he wasn’t concerned by this as a result of the relative short taxi and extended flight window, so was still confident of getting us on stand ahead of schedule. All good plans…

The captain then announced that he was being frustrated by an aircraft directly behind us not being able to park on stand due to aircraft guidance not being turned on. Therefore, we couldn’t push back. After 35 mins, we finally pushed back and were on our way. As to where this mythical short taxi route was, we clearly missed it. We didn’t take off until almost an hour after our scheduled departure time.

No lunch menu handed out but I was happy enough with what was provided: some sandwiches which were decent enough and afternoon tea with a warm scone! Delicious.

Arrival into Inverness was in the dark and due to the earlier delays we were running about 15 mins behind schedule. It causes a little bit of stress due to having to get back through security. If this was Heathrow, I may not make it due to there being a 35 min conformance time. I.e. if you don’t get into security 35 mins before your flight is due to depart (even if it’s delayed) then you won’t be allowed through. Luckily outstations like Inverness don’t need this type of restriction due to the size of the airport.

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