Well the main benefit of 2022 was the easing of travel restrictions and all the operational headaches incurred from it.
For me it was a journey of good, bad and simply mad days but as the saying goes every cloud had a silver lining.
I had a few firsts: working away in Manchester for a couple trips during February and March for Qatar Airways, learning new skills and working on the Air Canada flights, my first flight on a 737 MAX from Glasgow to Corfu last October. Thankfully I didn’t tell Mrs C until we had landed safely and on the bus to our cruise ship!
It was a lovely flight unlike my return from LHR-GLA in which I had a first in forty nine years of flying- an emergency landing at GLA on the way back from the Gatwick Aviation Convention where I met Allen also a member of this forum. It wasn’t really a bad flight, just a bit unnerving and all was well after a safe but very fast flapless landing.
Another first was the much delayed new Berlin Brandenburg Airport which I finally visited with my friend a fellow spotter in May. The only downside was no Condor! This was rectified on visits to Palma; another first on a TUI 787 from Glasgow evoking memories of four decades ago on my first trip on a Britannia Airways 767-200 also from Glasgow.
More Condor stripes were seen on visits to Frankfurt,Düsseldorf and Munich on flights from EDI via LHR. The Frankfurt trip included a day return to DUS on the super fast ICE train from Frankfurt Flughafen.
So what does 2023 have in store?
Well firstly workwise it is Ryanair training which I’m half way though, then a trip to ZRH late January with a return from LIS early February and a one way flight on Swiss from ZRH to LIS.
Later in February we are returning to NCE for our wedding anniversary and so far that’s it. But…..in August it’s the fiftieth anniversary of my first ever flight on British Caledonian Airways from GLA to NCL. I can’t repeat that these days but with a bit more time, and disposable income, it’s got to be something a bit special….. watch this space.
And finally later this year we celebrate that birthday where we reach that special age and pension beckons. We didn’t get to Hong Kong to celebrate our Ruby Wedding the furthest we travelled was to our front door to accept cards and gifts from close friends who couldn’t cross the threshold. So now that Asia is opening up again it will be a special holiday. I don’t know where yet but it will be on Oneworld carriers hopefully including AY, CX and QF.