for me its spending about hrs in the loo with a nervous bladder

Getting out the binoculars and doing a bit of plane spotting!

After check in going to the Weatherspoons at Birmingham Airport for a meal and drink, then smiths for magazines and books (saves packing them and weighing down the suitcase) and then into the bar for a couple more light refreshments

Check in asap and if its an early flight a nice breakfast to soak up a few bevvies for dutch courage.

its easy for me ,

i only get to carry the wife's bags

Nothing to add,really.....just thought it would be nice to see three Welsh Dragons in a row!!

Check in, then go for a cooked breakfast, then go round all the airport shops, getting make up, magazines, hair stuff, bottled drinks, etc... then going through immigration, checking the screens, going to duty free to have a play with perfume and make up again. Then sit in front of the screens with a coffee and a cake to see when we're boarding!

I think everyone has said that pretty much!

We tend to travel from Humberside Airport for most of our holidays and overseas trips and unfortunately there is very little to do at this airport both before checking in and after Passport Control.

When we used to fly out of Gatwick, it was simply watching the Departures Board and thinking of all the people up in the air all going about their business waiting for our flight to appear on the board. But Duty Free Shopping used to be a ritual for us, but of course this no longer applies now that Duty Free is no more.

checking in as early as we can, then it is obligatory to have a cooked breakfast before mooching around shops and watching a few planes take off. Since Donny opened, we have flown from nowhere else so there are not so many shops to mooch around and very few planes taking off when we have travelled..so the kids always get a couple of £ to go and play on some driving game or another and i just chill out with a paper or talk to the people i know who work there until it's time to board...

Whatever the time of day a pint in the bar. Whatever the one at Manchester is called through customs. I don't waste time on the check in side of things, get the cases through and the boarding card then go straight on in!

I do have a mooch around the perfumes too. Always seems these days you don't have a lot of time before they call you up for boarding. Might also have a quick dip into Smiths for a couple of magazines.

No particular routine but if we have an early morning flight for some reason after check-in we always have our breakfast at the airport - and it's always a cuppa and bacon sarnie....

check in is always the first thing (of course!!!)
then coffee and cake or breakfast depending on time of day!!
ciggi and toilet is always next!!
look around the shops before going through departures is always a must.

once through passport control... which takes ages at stansted airport !!straight onto French connection for a new holiday top and a browse!!

then have a look for a new perfume and after 20 squirts decide on the first one i tried

by now we are ready for a drink or another coffee while checking the tv monitors for our flight !!

lastly make our way by train to departure gate usually have time to have another ciggi and go to the toilet, and refresh make up and perfume while there!!

then its boarding plane and off we go!!

no.1 we get out out cab,find a trolley for the suitcases which OH pushes!! find the check in and wait in qeaue, get to front check in. then we make our way to sercurity once through that we have something to eat and drink and then go into duty free. come back watch planes for a bit, then screen watch back in to duty free have a smooze around.

Quite straight forward for me depending on the airport I'm travelling from;

Check-in (get rid of bags to leave hands free!)
View the apron and take a few photo's if there's a suitable view and weather permitting
Go through to the departure lounge
Enjoy the views of the apron, more photo's
Quick look around the duty free
Last look over the apron
Board plane!

Darren

First check in

then have a look round the few shops that are there, go for a couple of drinks
Buy some duty free
Then last tab before going through passport control
wait in the gate area then board

Check-in (once the bags are through, then I feel like we're on holiday) then join the queue for security. We used to go for a nice meal at Garfunkels in T1 (Manchester) but the security queues are getting so long these days there's just not time anymore
Once through security it's a mooch round the shops, pop in WHSmiths for magazines and bottles of water (shame son's friend doesn't work there anymore - used to get his staff discount on our big pile of mags and sweets) and then off to Starbucks for a Java Chip and a sandwich and, if in T1, a look at the planes (can't see much in T2). Squeeze in a loo run before boarding, and then sit at the gate waiting for our row number to be called - no point pushing to the front like some people do - it's not a bus, everyone's got a seat
Had a four hour delay going out to Ibiza last August, so there was time for a stroll over to Garfunkels in T1 for a lovely meal, then stroll back to T2, queue in security, long mooch round the shops, go to the cash machine watch a movie on the iPod, then spend our "Thomson refreshment vouchers" in Starbucks and still have time for another mooch round the shops.

Get there hours before check in
Once checked in go into zombie mode to calm my nerves
Quick tour of the shops, then something to eat
Another tour of the shops.
2 hours in the bar for a small beer, then diet cokes to wash down my valium 40 mins before take off.

well, if anyone's ever flown from blackpool airport, you'll know that there is only ONE routine, check in, then go to the cafe to watch the planes as there's nowt to do ! not that I'm complaining, mind, as it saves us a lot of money not having loads of shops to go round !
cracking little airport though.

juby 5,

There's lots to do at BLK!! They have a great viewing area by the CHC Scotia helicopter terminal and some great photo oportunites around and about the terminal. It's a shame the Vulcan got scrapped though. I love BLK, it's a great little airport. Can't wait for my forthcoming trips on a 1944 Dragon Rapide and the last flight of the Douglas DC-3 as part of the Dakota fairwell tour in July.

Darren