London Feb. 1: Arriving in London City, London England (LCY)

03FEB08 London City, London England (LCY)

Once we landed on runway 10-28, we taxied down the runway, turned around and taxied back up the runway and made a left onto the apron and parked the airplane.


Another aircraft landed right behind us in this one runway busy airport.

I deplaned looking to my left and seeing an Air France and British Airways ARJ.


I then walked into the terminal (there are no jetways at London City) and then made my way to Immigration. I looked out the window and there was a VLM Fokker 50 landing.



The line was cleared in no time and I was through Customs even quicker. his was my first time landing at LCY, but I've taken off here several times. It is a very easy airport to navigate.

I headed outside and watched an Air France ARJ take off for France and another private jet land and then left and headed for the Docklands Light Rail that is connected to the airport.

London Feb. 1: Geneva, Switzerland (GVA) to London City, England (LCY)

LX438 03FEB08 Geneva International, Geneva Switzerland (GVA) to London-London City International, London England (LCY) 1:55p 2:40p ARJ HB-IYU

Flying Time: 1:15

I completely expected to have my bag checked at the airplane door, but the overheads were actually big enough for my roller bag except for the ones under the wing.

The line was backing up behind as we all waited. I got to my seat, stowed my bag and sat down. This airplane has two classes with 10 Business class leather seats in a 2-3 configuration and 86 Economy class leather seats in a 2-3 configuration as well; there are curtains diving the cabins. I
took some pictures of planes as they passed by my
window, I could also see an El Al Boeing 767-300 and a Qatar Airways A330-200 at the gate.

The flight filled up rather quickly, but there were maybe two empty seats on the entire plane. People were conversing about their ski weekend as we waited for departure.

The Captain came on the PA at 1:55p and advised that we would be leaving shortly. The manual safety demo was done at 2:00p and we taxied out at 2:02p. At 2:07p, we were at the end of the runway and started our takeoff roll.

It was a beautiful day so it was really nice as we took off to see the surroundings.

We went straight out for a bit and then made a right turn and cleared the mountains; we were very close to them it seems.

The view was spectacular as we crossed the Swiss Alps and continue Northeast.

We were served a choice of a salami or cheese sandwich and beverage of choice.

After the meal, we were served a Swiss chocolate, which was a nice touch.

It was soon time for landing and the cabin was prepared. I could see the northwestern tip of France and the southeastern tip of England and the English Channel between the two countries.

The descent was spectacular as we circled the city if London. You could see the buildings up close and very personal. My personal favorite is seeing Westminister Abbey! I really love London.

After this spectacular view, we landed at London City.

London Feb. 1: Leaving Geneva, Switzerland (GVA)

Geneva International, Geneva, Switzerland (GVA)

I entered the departure/shopping area of the airport at about 12:10p. I then had to go through the security area, but I did not know where to go since my flight was not yet assigned a gate. I had a choice of security areas A, B or C. I did what everyone else was doing, walked around the shops. I also looked for a Lounge. I did find three, but none of my credentials would give me access to any of them. I really need to get a Priority Pass card as that would have given me access to all but one of the lounges.

While I waited in the secure area near gate B41, I saw a Qatar Airways (QR) A330-200 A7-ACB arrive from Doha. This is the plane that will go to Newark and make up the return flight QR84 on 3FEB08. I love aviation! There was also a Q400 at the hard stand that later left for the runway followed by a A330 from Monarch.

I showed my passport and boarding pass to the gate agent who said hello and gave me a Landing card for the U.K. This is the card ones fill out whenever they enter the U.K. The next agent took my ticket, then ran the boarding pass through the reader and gave me the end of it back. I then went up the stairs and down the jetway to the waiting airplane.

London Feb. 1: Arriving in Geneva, Switzerland (GVA)

03FEB08 Geneva International, Geneva (GVA)

We taxied up to the gate and I deplaned along with everyone else.

It was quite a long walk to the Immigration area, but I got a good chance to see the planes on the tarmac at the gates. I thought about just going into the terminal area as opposed to entering the country. I decided against it and then went to the Immigration area. I cleared Immigration without and issues and I then cleared Customs and headed out to where everyone was being met.

I headed upstairs to the departure area to find a spot to check in for my flight. I did and was told that I'd get a seat at the gate as the flight was quite busy.

I walked around the airport for a bit and then sat down to catch my breath a little. I thought about going into the city, but did not even bother although I later found out later that it was only five minutes away by train and cost 3 CHF on either the #10 bus or any train from the platform as they all stop in the center of the city.

I walked over the the train station and shopping area and it was a busy beehive of activity. I somehow mistook Geneva for Zurich as I was looking for the waving gallery above the airport and that is actually located in Zurich.


I did some window shopping in the stores as well as at the little flea market that was in the hallways. I then went down to the supermarket that was also in the area. On my way back to the airport terminal, I saw a place to store your bags. I did not check it out, but that is good to know for a future visit.

I then made my way back to the terminal and walked around some more. I saw a display of Carbon Offset done by IATA. You can see it below.





After checking it out, I entered the Immigration area.

London Feb. 1: QR84 Newark to Geneva, Switzerland (GVA)

QR84 02FEB08 Newark Liberty International, Newark NJ (EWR) to Geneva, Switzerland (GVA) 9:15p 10:40a 332 A7-ACC

Flying Time: 6:40

As I boarded this red intriored Airbus A330-200, I saw the flight attendant take a boarding pass and took a passenger to the left; I assumed he was in First Class. I looked left and it was indeed First Class in a 1-2-1 configuration of about three rows. To my right was Business class in a 2-2-2 configuration of about four rows I think. Economy class followed in a single cabin with a 2-4-2 configuration.

I got settled in as there was some seat shifting around me. An announcement was also made that cell phones should be turned off as they are not allowed to be on once you are on board. The airplane slowly filled up although the load was not too bad. The Economy class cabin is one long cabin which is interesting.

Before takeoff, we were presented with a moist packaged towelette and a candy.

So one thing about this airline is that the flight attendant are very beautiful; the guy in front of me actually took pictures of one of them who was from South Africa, I kidded with her that I wanted a picture too, but I was kidding.

Just after takeoff (9:35p), we were presented with a gray amenity kit in a plastic bag with the Qatar logo on it. The bag contained a pair of socks, toothbrush and toothpaste, eye shade, ear plugs and ear bud headsets.

This airplane is fitted with Audio/Video on Demand, I thought that the controllers could not handle it as they are fixed into the handle of th seat, but it does.

These were my options:

• films
• movies
• international
• action, comedy, drama, family, classics, all movies a-z
• arabic
• hindi
• asian
• tv
• international
• comedy, classic comedy, documentary, children’s sport, entertainment
• arabic
• hindi
• asian
• specials
• BBC
• Al Jazeera News
• Welcome to onboard video
• Live television
• Music
• Games
• Young oryx flyers
• movies
• tv
• games
• News
• Live text news
• Airline update
• Flight tracking
• Arrival info
• Arrival info
• Connecting gate
• Terminal map
• Qatar news
• Qatar
• Qatar airways
• International route network
• Qatar airways fleet
• Privilege club
• Doha international airport
• Communication
• shopping
• help

We were constantly reminded of where Mecca was during the route map programming.

After the amenity kits, we were presented with little stickers that had “Duty Free,” a smiley face and “Please do not disturb,” and a fork and knife and the words “Please wake me for meals.” It also showed you where to place sticker on your seat (right shoulder of seat). I heard a lady behind me say and smiled how cute it was and that she had never seen it before. I have actually seen it on other flights primarily Asian airlines. I of course chose the “Please wake me for meals" one.

Next, we were given hotel towels (paper) which was really a very nice touch indeed. The flight attendant came back quickly thereafter to pick up the used towels.

Now it was time for the specials meals to be distributed, which was done very efficiently.

At 10:17p, the flight attendant arrived with the meal: chicken with vegetables and fish with rice and also pasta were the meal choices tonight. I chose fish which had a roll, a pasta salad, chocolate, cream cheese, butter dessert and water.

At 10:48p, the flight attendants came through with tea and coffee as well cleared the trays. One cleared the trays while the other cleared the trays.

After dinner, duty free came through. I wanted to get some models of the QR A380 which was quite cheap, but another guy had bought the only two models they had on the plane. I also wanted to buy some playing cards, but they were out as well. Dejected, I returned to my seat.

In a few minutes, I went to sleep without using my footrest as it would take up my much needed space for my legs.

I awoke to omelet or scrambled egg with beef for breakfast; I chose the latter; at this time, we had about two hours to go. It consisted of scrambled eggs with beef, potatoes and tomato, plus a roll, yogurt, orange juice and a fruit cup. Tea with lemon and a croissant followed swiftly.

I ate heartily, after which the tray was cleared. I fell asleep for a little bit more and then we started our descent into Geneva. It was a beautiful day and you could see for miles. We made a few turns around the lake as we came in for a beautiful landing.