Hi Papa
April last year with First Choice airline (might actually be the same bird you are waiting for since you are scheduled to be on an ex-FCA plane) coming back from Trivandrum in India we ended up with a 32 hour delay.
Booted out of our nice beach hotel and put into an "interesting" Indian city hotel for the night. Virtually zero information from Thompson all the way through the disaster - lots of folk re-booked connecting flights when Thomson told us the delay would "only" be 24 hours - and so they lost double their costs when they missed them also.
Compensation from Thomson - no way. They just tell you to go claim on your insurance.
We never did find out what actually had happened - we got a variety of explanations ranging from a broken down plane in Male (co-incidence maybe?) , flight crew expired Indian Visas, planning/scheduling error on final flight of the season, and even - incredibly - delays due to Pakistan missile tests!
Thomson eventually sent an alternative plane to get us - and it was a 767 ex-FCA one so we got decent seating.

However - I just came back from Goa this year on the TOM135/136 flights early February - which was again one of the 20 year old ex-FCA birds - and we only had a 2 hour delay.

Goa is still wonderful - the weather, the people, the food (and the Kingfisher beer!) are all worth the hassle.
Hope you get there soon and have a great holiday.

Hi anyone want to know what aircraft type they are on this summer with thomson airways there schedule can be found on ana aviation services web site . cheers col

T2 TOM135 19:30 Goa On Time
That is what the MAN website is showing at this time 21:04
In the light of papa's posts how can this be correct??

Hi can anyone tell me whether the ex Thomsonfly 767-300's have been refitted inside because when I flew to Palma in 2007 it was quite scruffy inside?

Thanks in advance sparky123.

sparky123,

The longhaul aircraft have a new interior. The short haul ones with the 328Y configuration have the older cloth interior (apart from one that I know of).

Darren

djk wrote:

In the light of papa's posts how can this be correct??

They may have juggled their aircraft and used another one or managed to lease one in at short notice to minimise disruption. I wouldn't go off MAN airports departure page, it only updates once the flight has departed. If you check the ETA, it's 24 hours behind schedule. I've just checked, and the outgoing MLE flight that normally goes on to operate Papa's flight (G-PJLO) has only just left. If that's still going to operate Papa's flight, which I suspect it is, it'll be 24 hours late departing.

Edited to update

Darren

So if i'm going to La Romana it should be a newly refitted plane?

sparky123,

As LRM (Dom Rep) is a long haul destination, you'll be on a long haul configurated aircraft. Depending on your departure airport, it's more likely to be an ex-FCA aircraft.

Darren

It's Birmingham Airport so what does that mean!

Cheers sparky123

sparky123,

It means the flight is operated by an ex-FCA aircraft if it's after May. I can appreciate you want to know about flights, but can I ask you supply all the information to begin with rather than multiple single posts. Thanks.

Darren

Sorry I apologise my flight is in April so I'm assuming it is a newly fitted ex Thomsonfly?

Cheers sparky123.

sparky123,

A flight number would be useful

BHX-LRM-BHX (TOM401/2) are operated by a Thomsonfly Boeing 767-304/ER (283 long haul) rather than an ex-FCA.

Darren

Dazbo,
only answer this question if you're not too busy. I have never been to BHX and i just wondered what it was like I've heard it's one of Thomson Airways' main hubs.

Cheers sparky123

sparky123 ... you may find some useful info in our BIRMINGHAM AIRPORT Q&As topic and on the BIRMINGHAM AIRPORT website.

David

sparky123,

David beat me to it!! As a charter airline, Thomsonfly (Thomson Airways) don't opperate a hub system, they've no need to. They operate in a totally different market sector. They have a few aircraft based at BHX (5x 757-200's for summer 2009 and a 763 on certain days) to operate charter and scheduled flights. TOM have aircraft based around the UK to operate their holiday charters. Their scheduled side of the business co-exists alongside it. Their Main bases are at MAN and LGW, with BHX being their 3rd biggest base. But their operation is all over the country and aircraft are rotated regularly for maintenance and operational reasons.

Darren

Update.

As I suspected we got to Manchester only to be told the flight was delayed 24 hours.They did not even want to check us in just gave us the option of a hotel.As we were keeping our bags we decided to stay in the hotel.We were provided with a meal(basic)and am just about to have breakfast.

Thomson to their credit handled that side of things well.However the poor communication before I left the house was very bad.No one would admit the flight was delayed and we were told to check in as normal.It was plain this was an event they had known about for over 24 hours but still chose to drag us to the airport.

Anyone who is on this flight should be aware of EU ruling 261/2004 allowing compensation.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/flight-delays#cancel

I will pursue this on my return.It may help to pay last nights bar bill

Now looking forward to a long day at the airport.

Again I think Thomson have handled this in the best way they can but I will pursue compensation as I have alredy paid for this "insurance"in the cost of my ticket.

May not be able to post again till I get back

Papa

Papa,

Thanks for the update and I'm glad you're been looked after. I'm not sure if you saw my post on the previous page, but your flight is due to depart at 2030 today and should be operated by G-PJLO (she's a nice bird!). I hope things are back to normal for this time next week; your return flight goes on to operate my flight to Kenya (that's currently delayed massively as well!). I hope you get to Goa safe and sound and enjoy the rest of your holiday

Darren

Hi, we are flying from manchester to cancun on the 5th April thomson flight tom193 can you give me some info on aircraft type and facilities please
Thanks
Jabron

jabron56,

You'll find extensive aircraft information on this thread. MAN-CUN-MAN (TOM193/4) are operated by an ex-FCA Boeing 767-300ER. Seating is configured 2-3-2 throughout with 33" seat pitch in economy, 36" in premium. Seat back IFE is provided throughout (IFE listing kindly provided by BY-TOM-AMM-FCA here). I'll be posting an aircraft quick reference guide tomorrow on the What Aircraft? thread that you might want to look out for.

Darren