Back to:

Trip to Southampton and Heathrow

By Matt Falcus

05-06 October 2020

As lockdown restrictions eased after the first wave and airlines started resuming services from Teesside, along with the announcement of a new Heathrow route, I thought I’d book a trip to try and tick off a few aviation bucket list items and support our local airport.

Having never flown on a Saab 2000 or landed at London City Airport, this seemed an obvious choice, so I booked a flight from Teesside to LCY with Eastern in September. I chose to return the next day on our new Heathrow service to see what that’s like and support it.

Shortly after booking, the London City route was placed on a long term hiatus and I had to amend my plans. So, I booked to fly to Dublin, then across to London City with BA, and back on my original Heathrow booking.

Then Dublin got postponed till February.

It seemed my original motive wasn’t really possible any more, but I still had a Heathrow flight to use (and a hotel booking that I’d made), so I settled on a flight down to Southampton on the Jetstream (another new type for me, so all wasn’t lost).

A week before my trip (which I’d rearranged for October), I got a call to say my Heathrow fight had been cancelled. My patience was really being tested now!

But I was committed, so I booked to return home via train.

(Despite all the changes and cancellations, Eastern Airways customer service were quite helpful with changing dates and issuing refunds at least).

October 5^th came around and I arrived at Teesside Airport and the very quiet terminal, sanitizing my hands and having my name checked against a list as I entered.

In the departure lounge there were passengers for my flight, as well as the London Heathrow service (which ironically was being flown by the Saab. If only I’d book that one!). The café is open, with table service, so I had some lunch and a coffee as my aircraft arrived from Aberdeen.

My flight was on Jetstream 41 G-MAJA, an aircraft that was built in 1994 and had seen service with Manx and British Midland prior to Eastern Airways.

No seats were assigned, and on boarding any hand baggage bigger than a handbag or camera case had to go in the hold.

I picked an emergency exit row on the right side, which offered a bit of extra space. There were around eight passengers on board, plus a single cabin attendant and two crew up front.

At 12:30 on the dot the engines were started, and we taxied out to runway 23 the long way around past the Cobham hangar and flying schools, with the Heathrow Saab taking off ahead of us.

Our takeoff was swift, and we routed out on a runway heading, then turning down the west side of the country. We flew directly overhead Brize Norton, with rows of RAF transport aircraft and tankers visible on the apron.

The flight lasted exactly an hour. Service onboard our flight in these Covid times consisted only of a small bottle of water. However, I noticed the crew were treated to hot drinks!

Approaching Southampton we were evidently a little high as we performed a descending 360 degree turn before joining final approach and landing bumpily on the short runway 20. The only other aircraft on the ground were two Eastern Airways ATR 72s, G-IACY and G-IACZ.

Here’s a video of the flight: https://youtu.be/mYxVSsjjWfs

Southampton’s terminal was as quiet as Teesside’s, and actually seems like it’s a bit smaller.

My next task was to get to Heathrow. Southampton Airport Parkway station is right outside the terminal, which is really handy. Trains stop here between Southampton and London regularly, and I’d booked an open ticket in advance.

It took around 50 minutes to get to Woking, where I got off and took the National Express link to Heathrow. This took 30 minutes.

Currently Heathrow is only operating from terminals 2 and 5. I’d booked the Premier Inn at Terminal 4, so I took the free local bus from Terminal 5 round to Terminal 4, which was eerily deserted, and walked to the hotel, securing a 4^th floor room with a view over the runways.

Heathrow was also very quiet compared to normal, with some periods as long as 15 minutes without an aircraft movement. At full strength Heathrow would experience movements every 90 seconds, so this was very strange.

Despite being so quiet, I was able to see a number of interesting aircraft. Most notably were the recent arrivals to the British Airways fleet, including all Airbus A350-1000s from G-XWBA up to recently delivered G-XWBG, plus their two new Boeing 787-10s, and Virgin Atlantic’s latest A350s.

Other interesting aircraft of note included RwandAir A330, Etihad 787-10 in special ‘Choose China’ livery, LATAM A350, Cargojet 767, Saudia 787, Aer Lingus A321neoLR, Iberia A350 and Iran Air A330.

Next day I stayed in the room (aside from running downstairs to order a feast of breakfast from Costa to eat by the window) till checkout at noon.  I decided to walk around the perimeter (there is a free bus) to the new Novotel spotting location. This took me past the BA maintenance base, where the final two Boeing 747s were waiting to be sent out to Kemble and St Athan a few days later.

The Novotel spotting location seems to be the brainchild of Zulqarnain Butt, who runs the London Heathrow Spotters Facebook page. It occupies the event room on the top floor of the hotel, which is not very busy with events at the moment, but handily overlooks Heathrow and has great views.

Set just behind the Renaissance Hotel, the view is a little obstructed, but there are some good gaps for photography, and you won’t miss any movements. Flight tracking apps are essential for distant aircraft.

Here’s a quick video showing the views: https://youtu.be/AG520mWXivs

The place is very comfortable, with chairs, tables, charging points and free WiFi. You can also pop downstairs for food and drink. It’s handy to be able to stay warm and dry compared to Myrtle Avenue, for example.

I booked in advance through Zulqarnain, which is useful for guaranteeing your space if it’s busy, but I think you can just turn up. It costs £10 for 4 hours, or you can book by the day, or even an overnight package.

At 5pm I headed downstairs and took a combination of bus and Underground to get to Kings Cross (which was also eerily quiet), then Grand Central back home.

My log book was vastly reduced compared to previous Heathrow visits, but all in all this was an interesting trip flying Eastern Airways from Teesside and checking out a new spotting location at Heathrow.

---