Flight 138 B737-700 (LTN-AMS)

8 September 2004

easyJet flight EZY2156
Boeing 737-73V
G-EZJN
seat 3A

Duration: 00:40

EGGW 081850Z 09011KT CAVOK 16/11 Q1031=
EHAM 081925Z 04008KT CAVOK 17/14 Q1032 NOSIG=

Security at Luton was not that strict compared to Schönefeld. Security personnel were even chatting without seeming to pay attention to the passengers passing through the detection gates. Luton uses the same routine as LHR: releasing gate information on the info screens just prior to boarding time, forcing the passengers to hang around the shopping area (…). When the flight status for EZY 2156 changed, it indicated a delay with an expected departure time of 20:00. Just about five minutes later it changed to boarding through gate 15. Again easyJet did not want to wate one second and preboarding was started immediately with Jane (from the famous Airline documentary tv-series) handling the preboarding process. Since easyJet always boards by boarding pass number (1-30, 31-60 etc) we had to move on to the specific lane 1-30 which had been prepared by easyJet in the preboarding area.
Because the inbound plane (G-EZJN) had been positioned on the wrong stand we had to move to the preboarding are of the opposite gate (16). At 19:22 the first lane was allowed to board the plane. Since we did not want to lose any time on arrival at Amsterdam, we took seats 3A and 3B, near the forward exit. After startup we taxied to runway 08 with another easyJet flight
departing in front of us. While taxying towards the runway threshold we could see the lights of another plane on the approach. The air traffic controller cleared our flight for takeoff while we were still taxying, and probably asked our flight to expedite takeoff as the pilot immediately applied takeoff power as we taxied onto the runway. He was probably just as eager to make up some of the time as we were 23 minutes late. Sunset quikly turned to darkness as we climbed over the English coutryside heading for Amsterdam. Descending over the North Sea we passed The Hague with the flashing bright lights of a fair clearly visible from above. The airplane turned left and we prepared for a landing on runway 06. Touchdown was smooth and we quicky reached our gate (D26), which saved us at least ten minutes compared to a landing on the new Polderbaan runway. Price: UKP 19,99 pp. (EUR 29,93)