Tuesday 24th July, Reykavik airport
The jet stream pushed the 757 to arrive nearly 50 minutes early at Reykavik. as we made our journey the blue skies were being replaced by grey clouds and we braced ourselves for a much lower temperature on landing.
The landing at Reykavik was a typical 757 landing being both hard and bouncy. Our plane taxied towards the terminals and then came to a stop at a hard standing. We were going to find out first hand just how cold it was as we caught a bus to the terminals.
It was 5 am local time and it did take quite some time to get everyone off the plane. This was even with the doors open front and back. All that carry-on had to be recovered and gathered up from up and down the plane. It was definitely a shock walking across the tarmac to the waiting coach.
We were not subjected to any more searches or passport checks as we stayed air-side. Then once in the terminal we headed for the open cafeteria. There we joined the long queue for the tills.
The airport acts as a hub for Icelandair and we were in the middle of all the arrivals but there had yet to be any departures.
With only a couple of tills open the queue was rather long. I had a local fruit yoghurt, a ham and cheese croissant and a large tea. These were all well worth the wait and I added a bar of local milk chocolate to my order. Our breakfasts were a mere £28!
When the gate was announced we went to sit nearby. The airport was well equipped for travellers and all their mobile devices this is the collection of power points that were available.
With 40 minutes to go we joined the queue that was forming at the gate. After so long sitting down standing was not so bad at all. The amount of carry-on was again quite amazing.
Iclandair 767 to Heathrow
Our seats on the 767 were again on the port side only this time we had our own two seat row. The AV system was the same and I started the adverts playing as soon as I sat down.
I watched the luggage arriving to be loaded and then sitting on the tarmac at the side of the plane. After a while the Captain apologised for the delay and explained that there was a further delay loading all the luggage. We finally pushed back 30 minutes late.
Across the airport I can see where NATO fast jets were to be based. I did look for the USAF F-15s only to discover later that they went to Iceland the next day.
We were held over Luton as we approached Heathrow and we circled for a further 20 or so minutes. Below us I could see other planes on their approach to Luton airport. To our side I could see other planes holding also.
I was on the wrong side of the plane for great views of the City of London. But I did get this image of Putney Bridge.
Once in the terminal at Heathrow we were quickly through immigration using the automatic gates. Our two cases came out quickly and our taxi was waiting for us.
Good to be home.