CheshireTom

sinbinjack, When you are appointed a moderator to this forum please feel free to dictate what constitutes reasonable content of anyone's posts. Until then, STFU. But just to show we are all nice guys really I'll start a thread that you may add some enlightened comments to. Tom

Crackhead, As Roland says, Qantas are the only other major player that has done a direct (same flight number) service from Manchester. BA put a stop to that with the advent of OneWorld and the preference, understandably, for the LHR hub. Qantas, as things stand at the moment, cannot do a non-stop service because all their agreed weekly slots are taken up at LHR. Both Qatar and Emirates operate indirect connecting services through Doha and Dubai and are doing quite nicely. Tom

Crackhead, What route did Thai fly from Manchester in the 80s? I thought the bilateral agreement didn't come around until '97. Direct flights to SEA from Manchester don't seem to be unprofitable for either Singapore or Malaysia - what makes Bangkok so different? BA don't want to fly anywhere long-haul from Manchester so it only leaves Thai (Qantas slots are fully taken up at LHR) with bilateral rights to go into Bangkok from Manchester. Thai can't do it at the moment because of a lack of airframes since United pulled the plug on their 747 order. What mainline airline, other than

Crackhead, As everybody in the travel industry knows (apart from you it seems) Thai pulled out of Manchester as part of the deal for them to join Star Alliance so that they would not be in competition with Singapore Airlines. That agreement expires soon. The reason that you can't do direct (as opposed to non-stop) flights from Manchester through European hubs is to do with 5th/6th Freedon rights and crew duty time not passenger loads. It is a problem that Thai continually comes up against as witnessed by their recent decision to pull out of the Geneva leg from Zurich. Your comme

ETIHAD, the national airline of UAE has recently commenced flights to LHR and BKK. Their initial schedule means that connections are only available twice a week (Sat and Sun outbound and Thu and Sat on the return). Flights are via Abu Dhabi with a circa 90 min connection time. What makes them an interesting player is that they have a premium economy product (49 inch seat pitch) on new A330 aircraft. I haven't managed to get hold of their discounted agents' rates yet but will try to do so over the next few days. Tom Etihad Airways

Qatar Airlines have just been upgraded to 5 Star status on the Airline Quality/Skytrax rankings. They join Singapore and Cathay to be the only three airlines ranked as 5 Star. (and well-desrved IMHO). http://www.airlinequality.com/StarRanking/5star.htm Tom

nidnoyham, Unfortunately, from the perception of your average traveller it probably does. As you well know, that's why airlines spend millions on branding. A duff paint job can have serious financial consequences as the BA tail designs fiasco demonstrated. :crying As it is they are going to have a hard job getting anyone onto their aircraft for them to earn their keep especially with both EVA and Thai still offering flights under 400 quid. Add into that equation the recent arrival of Etihab on the route and the imminent arrival of Backpackersxpress, albeit from Manchester, and the

BigDUSA, I'm sorry Denny but any airline that can't even afford to paint its aircraft gets a place on my "dodgy" list. They were both parked up in Bangkok a couple of weeks ago and had simply painted "Phuket Air" onto the Garuda and KLM colour schemes. Hardly inspiring stuff. Tom

Phuket Air are using some cast-off KLM and Garuda(?) aircraft on this route. Not an option that I would even consider. Tom

poskat, It is considerably more expensive to buy a one-way ticket London-Bangkok-Chicago. Your best bet would be to purchase a round-the-world fare with either Oneworld (AA and BA/Qantas) or Star Alliance (United and Thai and/or Singapore) from Chicago with stopovers in London (and any other European hub if you would prefer to fly the Europe-Bangkok leg with the likes of LH, SAS or Iberia) and Bangkok. That way you will have more options and flexibility as to routings, date changes and carriers. Personally, I would get two prices - one Chicago-Heathrow return and one RTW with Star

wagger, At least you can acclimatise by nipping down to Portsmouth for the weekend. Tom

Ken, British Caledonian Airways ceased to operate in 1987 when it was merged with British Airways, EVA Airways did not fly until 1991 therefore it is likely any crew etc had found other gainful employment in the intervening 4 year period. British Airways absorbed the planes and crews into its Gatwick operations. British Airways then merged British Caledonian's flight operations with its charter subsidiary, British Airtours. The newly formed airline was called simply Caledonian Airways and adopted the original IATA designator of British Airtours, KG. The legal entity that is Britis

1. Wat Yansangwararam and Wat Phra-Phuta-Maha-Vachira-Uta-Mokat-Sasda. Both are located about 12 km south of Pattaya (just before the turning for Nong Nooch) and signposted from Sukhumvit Road. 2. Horse riding at Horseshoe Point. 3. Bang Saen for a seafood lunch and an afternoon sandwich at Galaxy.

I would have rated British Caldonian Airlines* as a 4 star, but it's no longer in business. In fact, EVA Airlines bought all of British Caldonians assets when it went bust. I'm not sure if any of their pilots, air crews and ground crews went with EVA in it's early days or not. Ken, British Caledonian Airways did not go bust - it was merged with BA in the late eighties, a couple of years before EVA Airways came into being, and became a charter airline (Caledonian Airways). This was sold on a couple of times to eventually end up with Thomas Cook who discarded the whole image to form th

stevoh, I flew with EVA First Class LHR-BKK-LHR last month on Thu/Sat flights. In both cases the aircraft were in a 386 seat configuration i.e. 8 First Class upstairs in two rows of 2-2. I would agree with the poster who pointed out that neither First nor Business Class on EVA is a particularly good product. Hopefully they will get some of the 777s on the route soon together with the Premium Laurel and Enhanced Evergreen Deluxe interiors. Confirmation of a significant purchase and lease of both 777-300LR and ER was announced yesterday (Tue) with further details to be announced on Fri.

eltilza, Change your return date until after the clocks go back - whatever date that is towards the end of September - the winter schedule should be OK for you. Tom

Pat, I'll look up Mr Wong next week. To find St Louis - from the lights at South Pattaya Road, head north. It is the second last shop about 10 metres before the original Mike Department Store on the left-hand side, next door to a pharmacy. For Decar, continue along 2nd Road and it is the second to last shop before you hit the new shops just prior to Royal Garden.Centre.

pat809, Is Mr Wong The Chinaman that used to have the place on the corner of Pattayaland 1 and Beach Road? Tom

Ben, You can buy them all over the place but you get what you pay for. Copies (not just watches) come in various grades largely dependant on where they are made (Thailand, China/HK, Taiwan or Japan). For the better quality stuff in Pattaya try St Louis or Decar, both on 2nd Road - they both look like bag/shoe shops but go in and ask to see the watches. In Bangkok try Burapa Watch on the 3rd Floor of MBK. You can expect to pay 1,500 Baht upwards at these shops. If you are shopping at these places make sure you know what you are looking for - there is a host of sites giving advice

aarmitage, As a rough guide (70 Baht to the UKP): Cigs - 75-85p for 20 (although I prefer to bring mine in duty-free (GBP60-70.00 for 1,000) JW Black - GBP11.00 for .7 litre Gordons Gin - GBP6.50 for .7 litre T-shirts (Polo style) - GBP2.00 each Footie shirts - GBP3-4.00 each (decent quality) Electrical goods vary greatly - last thing I bought was a Panasonic rice cooker - GBP7.00 You'll obviously have to take into account plastic tuk-tuks, wooden frogs, coconut monkeys, "designer" sunglasses, fruit-shaped candles and a heap of other crap that you will no doubt

jack, Got to disagree with thaiflyer. You will only be subject to EU rules if you pass through immigration at CDG. If you are ticketed through and merely in transit at CDG the non-EU (1 litre, 200 fags) rules apply. Tom

From next Mon (29 Mar) Qatar are upgrading their aircraft on the Manchester and Bangkok routes to brand new A330 to replace the current A300. With just a one-hour stop in Doha the total journey time is now under 15 hours. If you can fit in with their limited timetable (four-weekly) they should now be a pretty serious alternative to Emirates - especially since they are GBP100+ cheaper in economy. Qatar Airways Tom

Eric, Just treat them exactly the same as you would do a bargirl's family. Tom

A couple of things happening which may interest some of those folks who fly from Manchester. Backpackers’ Xpress have been busy acquiring their aircraft (funjets) (747-400 from Singapore Airlines I believe) and have pencilled in a start date of 1 June although sometime in July/August seems more likely. Not really a charter as their tickets will be fully flexible. Flights will be MAN-BKK with one stop in Delhi and on to Melbourne from BKK. Might suit some of the younger boardies. Karaoke, dance-offs, beer and pizza at the in-flight pub will be among the attractions of the world's f

laffnliv, They are taking guests now at a (very good) rate of 800 baht. The extension is to be a "Balinese style" resort area and will also house their advertised suites. The rooms in the main building are very tastefully furnished and all have one double and a single bed. I'll try and get some pics this week and post them if poss. If you are willing to put up with the aesthetics of the adjacent construction it is probably a decent choice for the price. Tom