Mic n Daz,

It depends on the wind direction on the day more than anything. It's a few years since I flew in to FAO, but from memory, they have a single runway designated 10/28 (same as Blackpools main runway!). If the winds are from the east, aircraft will approach from the west, for landing on runway 10. If the winds are from the west, which are the prevailing winds, aircraft will approach from the east for runway 28. If runway 28 is in operation, the sun will be in your face until the evening if sat on the right side of the aircraft as you'll be looking north, which isn't ideal. Then again, that's where the coastline will be visible from so it's catch 22! There are some dramatic shots possible during descent over the hills before you reach the coast. If runway 10 is in operation, you'll want to be on the left. Have a look at the weather forcast for the Algarge before you set off so you can judge the approach path. When you get the conditions and timing right though, you get some stunning views. These are a few airport overviews of FAO which may help. The airport runs paralell to the coast so I don't think you'll get great views of the coastline either way. You'll be able to see the salt marshes but he'll presumably want the sandstone cliffs etc? You might be better getting photo's of things like that from a boat or even the beach depending on where you are stopping. My favourite photo so far this year was on approach to Antigua. The planning worked perfectly!

Darren

EDIT: I've dug some old photo's out. This is after take-off from runway 28 on the way home from FAO aboard a JMC 757-200. That's Vilamoura below

Camera technology has moved on leaps and bounds since then!! This is the problem with being on the wrong side of the aircraft; shooting in to the sun causes the background of the image to be bright, and the foreground dark (backlit).

Really confused about Globespan.....................read some really negative comments on other forums about them and now think I may have just thrown best part of £900 away by booking them - delays, rubbish service, seats given on first come even if you have paid extra and selected

Booked to fly to Calgary from Manchester end of June and have paid £25 each person each way for standard plus selected seats ( 2 adults travelling )
Seats were shown as Premium Economy, and I could pick them from the seat plan - which I did

However I cannot now go back into the seat plan so have no idea what the size of the plane is, also cannot find the seat pitch of the premium economy or what else we get ( have already selected meals )

Can anyone advise please??
Thanks

runmeg,

Which flight are you on (flight number?)? GSM941B departing at 1025 on 27th June? The first flight I beleive is this friday and is operated by their Boeing 767-300/ER's (aircraft in photo is a leased NEOS aircraft operating for GSM). I have a seating plan here. PE customers get "Generous seat pitch (38"), Seat selection, 25kg luggage allowance, Full meal service served with fine wines, select your choice online, Complimentary Soft Drinks and Complimentary In-flight entertainment.

Darren

Thats the right flight Darren

Just worried after reading so many bad reviews on other sites about long delays, seats not pre-booked and therfore a free for all, no entertainment during the flight and stop overs that aren't listed.

it is not a free for all on GSM, seats that are chosen at time of booking are passed to the handling agent 24 hours in advance for them to put into the check in system against your name. the only time your selected seats may not be available is if they do an aircraft change to another plane and your selected seats are not there. (for example some airlines dont have a row 13, so if your booked on 13ab and the aircraft is changed then the handling agent would preseat you somewhere close to your orignal booking, ie 14ab, 15ab etc)
Flyglobespan this year operate a two class aircraft now, business class and premium economy. Not sure on the legroom situation but i was told its just standard 'ecomony' seating.
Out of Manchester, unfortnatly all the flights so far this summer (five i think) have been delayed. Some big delays, some a couple of hours. Mainly down to crewing. Crew been given the wrong time to 'checkin' or lack of crew, also had a few knock on delays, where the aircraft was technical a few days before and hadnt caught up with its self yet. Not great start to the summer flying programme out of manchester im affraid. can only hope it gets better over the next few weeks.
The aircraft that operates on this route is a 767, with a 2-3-2 seating config. Please try not to worry too much about your prebooked seats and meals, if you are no longer happy with your seats then you can try and change them at checkin if there is availabilty to change as most people do book their seats at the time of booking. Hope you have an enjoyable flight and holiday and i hope the aircraft is ontime for you.

Thanks Wires

I have read other forums on Globespan and the reports are dreadful.
Hope we aren't delayed too much as only going to Calgary Friday til Thursday visiting friends so any delay will eat into our short break.

Any idea of the length of the delays?

We were also worried last year due to the negative comments about Flyglobespan, but we flew without a hitch to Orlando and back (I wrote a review - probably a fair few pages back now though - it was September!) and actually really enjoyed the flight.

Remember - people are always quick to go online and write a bad review if theyve had a rough time, but others a less likely to log on and write a great review - most people dont think about writing a good review - i only did it to try and show that Flyglobespan arent that bad.

We've actually booked to fly with them again this September - only hope they give the good performance they gave last year.

Dont expect anything too high though - they are a "no frills" airline afterall. Go in with that thought and im sure you will be fine

They were recommended by the friend whom I'm going to visit, her family has flown with them about three times and rate them better than Canadian Affair.

Just hope they aren't delayed / or if they are that it is a short one

I have used Globespan quite a few times runmeg and always been happy with the flights, As Glittergirl says people only post the negatives on most forums, I actually tried to post a positive review on one of these sites only for them to refuse to display it because they said my review was "too positive". Manchester has suffered so far but I think that these will be ironed out soon, as hopefully they will learn from the mistakes from the first few weeks of the season. Providing your flight is on time I can guarantee that you will be surprised at how good the service is as they offer far more as standard than just about any other low cost airline. Enjoy your trip.

I actually tried to post a positive review on one of these sites only for them to refuse to display it because they said my review was "too positive".

You're obviously not referring to this site flem, but if you haven't already posted your review here, please feel free to do so now.

David

Nope defo not this site, dont know if I am allowed to say what site but I was really annoyed as the site wont post positive reviews then people won't get to hear where Globespan have been really good as well as really bad (which they have been at times). The site made out that Globespan never did anything correctly and people were actually posting that they had never flown with them but knew how bad it was so gave them a negative rating (and yet these were displayed ). Pretty irresponsible moderating in my opinion and I now take what they say with a pinch of salt. Holiday Truths are the total opposite and I use it most of the time now for travel queries as it is obviously based on personal opinions good or bad, and lets face it what other site has the all knowing Dazbo5 for questions about flights.

Is there anyway I can find out the length of the delays from Manchester to Calgary for Globespan for the last five weeks?

The site that only lets people post negative comments is more than likely the one I have been reading.......it really did have me worried and at one point I was prepared to lose all my money and book with someone else based on the reviews that had been posted.............Not a helpful site at all if it only allows negative comments

Delays from Manchester:

This is off the top of my head as currently on days off and have no access to the airport departure history.

GSM to Calgary and Vancouver (MAN-YYC-YVR)

Bearing in mind GSM at Manchester is in its 4th week for summer 2008.

Delays:
week 1 - 1hr 30 mins
week 2 - mon: 4hr 30 mins fri: 8 hours
week 3 - mon: unsure fri: 20hrs (overnight hotel)
week 4 - mon: 1hr 30 (i think, i know it wasnt long) fri: 45 mins. - nearly ontime!!! would of been ontime if there wasnt a leak were the engineers had to be called out.

hopefully things will continue to improve at manchester, but with this being the aviation industry, anything, can happen.

also i think the Calgary route is just on a monday....but again unsure. ---im wrong its on a friday! (Edited)

Thanks

I'm flying direct to Calgary ( it says direct so fingers crossed they don't add on a stop ) we fly on Friday the 27th June and arrive back the following Friday morning

Yes its a direct flight from Manchester, as Calgary is the first stop. Hopefully they wont add an extra stop in Dublin or Glasgow like they use to do last year, so far so good

runmeg,

I can't get the information for the previous 5 weeks, it'll take me ages! Anything could happen on the day and you can't always go off previous flights. You can get a feel for punctuality but hopefully things will be ok on the day. They try to stick to the schedule as far as possible, but GSM aren't the most punctual of airlines. G-CEOD operated the flight on 6th June. GSM941 departed MAN at 1134 (sch 1025) and landed in Calgary at 1359z (sch 1305z).

Darren

Thanks Darren

I can cope with a couple of hours delay, but not 12 hours plus, that would just be too much.

Will check next weeks flight to see if that leaves on time or not.

Thanks again

Don't know if this has been mentioned in this long thread so apologies if it has.

Please ensure you log into your account just prior to travel. I happened to take a look in my account the other day and there was a change to our flight - not by much 3/4hr but it could have been a lot different. I didn't get an email regarding the change.

I'm checking practically daily for any changes............... hope it stays the same