TheFiend

Perhaps if that "poor girl" had obtained prior permission to import them, and had a prescription for them then she might not have got into so much trouble....But she was carrying a large quantity tablets that had not been prescribed to her, or her husband, and had no prior permission to import a drug that is a controlled substance in Egypt.....

And that offer is only available from Heathrow.....

Yep, Mrs Fiend does a rather nice bacon butty...

Think I'll stick to a good old bacon butty!!!

Stansteds runway is the same length as the 2 at Manchester, give or take a meter, so they wouldn't need to lengthen the runway..... it could handle an A380....

Newcastle was basically just a short-haul/domestic airport until Emirates came along offering to Dubai and onward... If they can make a success of Newcastle I'm sure that Stansted will work as well, especially as it adds cargo capacity to the UK...

I have flown with Emirates from MAN, NCL and BHX and every time the flights have always been plenty of bums on seats.... NCL started off as an A330 but it wasn't long before it was switched to a 777..... MAN and BHX were 777, they are now A380... You would be surprised at how many people travel from those "regional airports" to the Middle East and beyond... Earlier this year I flew DOH to MAN via LHR as it was a quicker option that waiting in DOH for the next MAN flight..... would I do it again? No way, the connection at LHR was just too much hassle!!! For the last couple of years my airline of choice from MAN has been Qatar, so it's not as though I'm an Emirates "fanboy"

When my upgrade time comes along I always get my new phones from Carphonewarehouse.... the phones they supply are unlocked, so no problem at all with Thai sims.....

A quick check shows Emirates has 6 A380 flights per day from LHR and 3 A380 flights per day from LGW and that is without including the Qantas code-share flights to DXB. MAN is 3 flights per day, BHX 2 flights per day GLA 2 flights per day NCL 1 flight per day. If an airport like Newcastle can support a daily flight to Dubia I'd hazard a guess that Stansted could..... https://www.routesonline.com/news/29/breaking-news/276339/why-emirates-has-added-stansted-to-its-route-map/ Also notice Qantas pulling out of the "codeshared" Sydney - Dubai - Heathrow route in favour of flying via Singapore..... adding Stansted replaces that lost capacity to London without needing another expensive Heathrow slot.

2016 Stansted passenger numbers was 24 million and just behind Manchester (25 million) and placed 4th in total passengers numbers of all UK airports and ahead of Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh.... all of which have at least one daily flight to the Middle East.... Emirates have obviously done their homework and think this "regional" airport is worth their interest....

Goldpanner.... flying has changed since the 80's,...... who would have thought then that there would be 3 flights a day from Manchester to Dubai, 2 from Birmingham and with the option of flying A380's as well!!! There is so much more choice now for departure airports..... Me, I've got a choice of MAN, NCL, GLA and EDI within 2.5 hours of where I live, all offering flights to BKK via the Middle East..... Why travel all the way down to London to fly to Bangkok??? The ME3 have opened up more options for flying to exotic destinations for the masses.....

Goldpanner....... East Anglia isn't the whole catchment area for Stansted, you can add in North London as well, as not everybody wants to fight their way across London to get to LHR or LGW

For people in that area it would certainly be a lot easier to get to Stansted than having to suffer the M25 traffic or catching trains to get to Heathrow or Gatwick. Emirates have obviously done some research and concluded it's viable

The last couple of times was to sort out a problem with Mrs Fiends sim card....

The OP hasn't been online for 18 months, so you might not get an answer....

Never had to wait more than 5 to 10 minutes at the AIS kiosk when we arrive. Always our first post of call after going through customs.

With Emirates Saver tickets there is a charge for pre-booking seats prior to on-line check-in opening.... I like to choose where I'm sitting when I book so Emirates is now out of the equation for me.... Etihad also dropped out of favour with me when they dropped the luggage allowance down to 23Kg.... MrsFiend loves bring Thai food ingredients back to the UK with her so our luggage allowance gets maxed out for the trip back... Qatar is the airline of choice for me at the moment even if it means suffering 2 legs on a Nightmareliner....

Emirates brought in a charge for pre-booking seats on the cheapest fares. Since then I haven't booked any flights with Emirates..... Qatar is currently my airline of choice for flying from Manchester.....

On two occassions I've done overnight sleeper trains down from Uttaradit down to Bangkok and it is definitely an experience..... takes forever.

I'll still fly into BKK as we fly from there up to Sukhothai.... @Jacko..... It'll save you heading up to Swampy when you head home to Manchester....

https://www.qatarairways.com/en/press-releases/2017/Oct/qatar-airways-launches-new-flights-to-thai-holiday-destination-p.html DOHA, Qatar – Qatar Airways has responded to increased customer demand for services to Thailand by launching direct flights to Pattaya, the airline’s fifth route to the country. The new four-times-a-week service, which starts on 28 January 2018, is in addition to the airline’s existing flights to Bangkok, Krabi, Phuket and soon to be launched, Chiang Mai. The launch of the service to historic Chiang Mai is scheduled to start on 12 December, 2017. Located on the popular southeast coast of Thailand, Pattaya and nearby Rayong are major destinations for sun-seekers looking to soak up the local culture or relax and bask on one of the areas extensive beaches. Holiday-makers on the route are expected to come from Qatar Airways’ extensive network of destinations across Europe and the Middle East. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “We are delighted to announce the launch of our newest route to Pattaya in Thailand, our fifth route to one of Southeast Asia’s most popular destinations. Thailand is continuing to grow in popularity with our passengers, who love travelling to this beautiful country to enjoy its incredible culture, cuisine and natural scenery. "Qatar Airways is committed to responding to customer demand by flying our passengers where they want to go and providing them with our unrivalled five-star service to destinations around the world.” Qatar Airways will operate a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with 22 seats in Business Class and 232 seats in Economy Class on flights between Doha and U-Tapao Rayong Pattaya International Airport, on its winter schedule. It will be the first five-star Middle East airline to offer flights to and from Pattaya. Qatar Airways’ new service to Pattaya will help to reinforce the strong ties between Qatar and Thailand. Qatar Airways currently operates flights to three destinations in Thailand, with services 35 times a week to Bangkok, 14 times a week to Phuket and daily to Krabi commencing 1 December 2017. From 12 December 2017, Qatar Airways will also fly four times a week to Chiang Mai, which will take the airline’s weekly frequency to 60 flights a week. Qatar Airways currently holds the title of ‘Airline of The Year’ as awarded by the prestigious 2017 Skytrax World Airline Awards. In addition to being voted Best Airline by travellers from around the world, Qatar’s national carrier also won a raft of other major awards at the ceremony, including ‘Best Airline in the Middle East,’ ‘World’s Best Business Class’ and ‘World’s Best First Class Airline Lounge.’ Qatar Airways operates a modern fleet of more than 200 aircraft to a network of more than 150 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America. The airline is launching a host of exciting new destinations planned for the remainder of this year and 2018, including Canberra, Australia; St Petersburg, Russia and Cardiff, U.K, to name just a few. Flight Schedules Doha (DOH) to Pattaya (UTP) QR828 departs 20:05 arrives 06:30 (next day) - Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday Pattaya (UTP) to Doha (DOH) QR829 departs 07:50 arrives 11:40 - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

MrsFiend won't let me waste money on Biz class tickets for us...... She enjoyed the Biz class experience when we got an upgrade, but she doesn't think it's worth the extra money..... We fly on QR836 into BKK on the 1st of November and it's down as being an A380...... but for the last few weeks A340-600's have been on it.....I'm hoping that if the A380 is swapped off it that I get to fly the A340 instead of a 777.... Fingers crossed it will be an A380 or A340-600...

When I arrive I'm always over my allowance, and I've been stopped on a few occasions for a search, but I've never had them confiscated or been fined for bringing in extra. Usually carry my allowance in a duty free bag with the extra stashed in my hand luggage.

Try a Qatar Nightmareliner.... flights on those are torture!!! Unfortunately I have to suffer them out of MAN,

Yes but these are leased airframes, rather than owned, and the older 777's are about to be replaced with A350's and Nightmareliners, so the average age will be dropping anyway.