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back to article Vulture 1, Eyjafjallajökull nil (half time)

If the latest tranche of volcanic ash has cut off chunks of the UK from Europe again, it certainly didn't hit the traffic of the M25 yesterday morning. But as the taxi came out of the umpteenth 40mph zone, just ahead of the Terminal 5 turnoff the driver looked up to the sky and declared, "Nope, it's very clear. Not a plane in …

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  1. Stefing
    Happy

    On the plus side

    My friend currently in California may be forced to endure the lovely weather a while longer!

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  2. Mister Cheese
    FAIL

    Typical Heathrow

    "on the runway five minutes after the scheduled departure time"

    So, practically empty airport, clear air-space, and you're still departing late...

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    1. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Departure time is when you leave the gate

      not when you leave the runway. Taxi time 5 min? not too bad. At Schiphol you sometimes get the impression they are going to taxi the plane the whole way

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    2. Number6
      Reply Icon

      Departing where?

      I always assumed that the quoted departure time was pushback from the gate. It's the getting from gate to take-off clearance in five minutes that's impressive for Heathrow. Normally it takes longer than that to taxi to the end of the queue.

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    3. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      FAIL

      Errrm, not that bad really...

      You depart the *gate* at the scheduled departure time, Heathrow is quite large and it can easily take a slow moving jet 5 minutes to reach a runway, last time I was at Heathrow it took ~20 mins before I actually took off...

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  3. davefb

    @mister cheese

    Good point, maybe the should build a new runway ;)

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  4. Ian McNee
    WTF?

    Very poor!

    Not one reference to jetpropulsionmeetsvolcanicdust-based boffinry! Boo!

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  5. Andus McCoatover
    Happy

    WE WANT MORE!!!!

    C'm on. Drink up and get back to work ;-)

    (You're in the pub across the road, not fuc*king continental Europe. I can see ya. Fooling no-one!)

    And at first, I thought you were debating whether "P A R I S" could make it through the ash-cloud....Title of "Vulture 1" confused me a tad.

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    1. Andus McCoatover
      Reply Icon
      Coat

      LAUNCH VULTURE 1 NOW!!

      Break in the weather!

      Breathtaking news - meteorologists have discovered they have an ash-hole!

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  6. Irp

    @davefb

    cant now , the new Blue and Yellow multi-coloured government have decided its better to push those extra flights to other regional airports such as Birmingham...

    We'll see what comes of it all...Probably a runway extension at BHX, as while it has the spare capacity, IIRC its not as long as would be ideal for some of today's larger jets...

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  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Strike

    Is it just me that thinks that when it comes to industrial relations BA are stuck in the 19th century (the rest of their operations at least having reached the 20th century) I'm sure they'd set the troops on the picket lines if they could.

    Shame they can't look at the long game, it's obvious that their employees will have no loyalty going forward, but has it not occurred to them how this will affect people considering a career with them.

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  8. Annihilator
    Happy

    Buses

    "It was almost as if BA wanted to at least keep up the pretence it was getting people on planes."

    I imagine BA are loading the coaches to Edinburgh in much the same way - via the jetways.

    "How was your day Lloyds?"

    "Not bad, Harry, fell off the jet way again"

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  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    They advertise this?

    Then maybe the dust cloud is BA's doing on ASA orders.

    Now what does the BA union have to simper about this time then?

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  10. Frumious Bandersnatch

    Terminal 5 ... a bland Eno track on constant play.

    I think Eno was probably being ironic there. Come to think of it, you probably were too. Hmmm.. Will this make up for my ignorant comment?

    http://www.last.fm/music/Visit+Venus/Music+for+Space+Tourism,+Volume+1

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