Image credit: Andrey Belenko, January 2010

The first stage in taking a flight, particularly for the first time, is to get to the right airport and the correct terminal.  Many airports are so large these days that even being at the right airport but the wrong terminal may cost you your flight because it can take so long to get to the right place.  And if you arrive at the wrong airport you will likely stand no chance of getting to the correct one before your flight leaves.

Our advice is to ensure well ahead of time that you know exactly which airport your flight departs from, and the terminal that you need to get to.  You should find this out for all of the airports that you will visit on your journey.

Different cities, different problems

Finding the right airport in New York can be quite daunting for a first-time traveller.  The Big Apple is served by: JFK airport, LaGuardia, Newark,  Westchester and Long Island airport.  JFK alone has 7 terminals.

At the other end of the scale, in some cities it is pretty easy.  For instance Cape Town has a single airport serving commercial flights.  After the massive rebuild there, there is now a single combined terminal, with international and domestic arrivals and departures all within the same concourse.  There are still challenges though as the rush hour traffic can add an extra hour’s travel from the Cape Town central business district to the airport.  In the Cape’s wet winter it can get a lot worse.

Modern airports are big.  Beijing Capital International Airport, the main airport serving the Chinese capital, has three terminals and is truly gigantic – one part of terminal three is separated from another by two kilometres!  And worse yet, it is not the only airport: Beijing Nanyaun Airport serves domestic and regional flights operated by China United Airlines.

Moscow has three airports: Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo (which is for domestic flights).  Sheremetyevo has two groups of terminals (totalling six in all) that are a 20 minute bus ride away from each other.  In common with most large cities, Moscow traffic is bad and you need to allow at least an hour extra to get to the airport.  You can also get to Domodedovo by train, a journey that takes two hours.

The apron-side shuttle bus at Dubai airport takes 30 minutes to travel from terminal 2 to terminal 3.

In Paris there is the Charles de Gaulle airport.  There is also Paris Roissy airport.  These are two different names for the same airport!  To complete the confusion, it was originally known as Aéroport de Paris Nord.  The other main Parisian airport is Orly.

Transit passengers

Do not think that because you are transiting that this will not affect you.  It may!  In some cases you will even need to obtain a visa for the country you are transiting in.  For example, at Heathrow airport, only BA fly out of terminal 5.  So if you arrive on BA but depart on another airline, you will need to go through customs and catch the tube to another terminal, in order to continue your flight.

On one of my China trips I had to go through customs, leave the airport and catch a bus on the freeway to get to the right terminal of Being Capital International for my regional flight!

Even if you do not change flight number, you may still end up in the terminal if there is a refuelling stop.  (Refuelling stops are not always indicated on the itinerary.)  I do not know of any transit passengers (with the same flight number) who have had to move to another terminal to resume the flight, but very often the gate you enter by is not the same one as the exit one.

Size of terminals – finding the gate

With airport terminals so large, even when you have the right airport and terminal, you may still be faced with a Herculean task to get to the right gate.  Emirates have exclusive use of terminal 3 in Dubai.  So if you are travelling on Emirates you may think you are going to be fine.  If you are flying to London, then you probably are – you will usually depart from one of the 24 “A” gate numbers, which are in the main building.  But if you are flying to maybe Dusseldorf then it is another matter.  You are going to have to walk rather far.  After you have walked the full length of the main terminal you will turn right and then keep walking.  There are another 50 “C” gates!  Here’s the ugly little secret – Concourse C is actually part of the old terminal 1.  You have walked all the way to the next terminal.  The area around the “C” gates looks old and out of date.

In Dubai a brisk walk from terminal 3 to the far end of terminal 1 takes 45 minutes!

I was once on a flight over Africa where there was a lengthy delay before take-off owing to thunderstorms over the airport.  We encountered a further huge storm en route to our destination, and despite diverting around it, we experienced severe turbulence.

Boisterous drunks on board quietened up before becoming quite ill, and in addition to the seat-belt lights being kept on the whole way, the cabin crew were ordered to their seats by the captain.

Initially it was quite fun, but the fun stopped after a short while.  It was definitely a white-knuckle roller-coaster ride.

Turbulence gives one the impression that the aircraft is flying out of control, but it is not.  The aircraft may feel as if it is going to come apart.  Again, it will not do that.

Pilots try to avoid turbulence, largely for the sake of the passengers.  Cargo planes regularly fly through turbulence that passenger planes avoid, and they do not fall out of the air.

As uncomfortable as it was, the plane was never in any danger.  Not even if it had been struck by lightning, which commercial aircraft are designed to be able to cope with.  Your plane will almost always be under control of the autopilot when going through turbulence.  The autopilot has a special setting for turbulence in which it makes fewer, and more gentle corrections.  This relies on the tendency for aircraft to self-correct from most random flight changes resulting from air movements.

As with anything else, turbulence varies in extent and intensity.  There is a four-point scale for it:

• Light.  You can feel it, but you can walk around okay and the seatbelt lights remain off.

• Moderate.  It is still possible to walk and the cabin crew continue their duties but the seatbelt lights are put on.

• Severe.  What I experienced in my tropical flight above.  It is unusual.  Cabin crew are commanded to their seats.

• Extreme.  This is very rare because of all of the precautions taken to avoid it.

So, what are the real dangers associated with turbulence?

1. Loss of altitude when you are close to the ground.  If you are close to the ground and you get pushed down, the plane could hit the ground.  Thunderstorms can cause this and aircraft will not take off when a storm cloud is over the airport.  The pilot may divert the flight to a different airport to ensure safety, or the plane may be put into a holding pattern in a safe part of the sky until the weather in the region of the landing field has improved.

2. Gusts near the ground.  One pilot I spoke to told of a landing at Schipol when the plane was hit by a gust of wind just as he lined up the plane with the runway in a side-wind.  The jet’s wings rotated several degrees in a second and it was all he could do to level the wings and slam it on the ground.  Fortunately it was a cargo flight, so there were no complaints.  Passenger flights are typically diverted to another city if there are strong side-winds at the destination.

Aircraft and airports are both equipped to detect wind shear conditions that could otherwise be of danger to the plane.

3. Injury.  Passengers who are not belted in can be thrown against the roof of the cabin.  Persons have in fact died or have been seriously injured, particularly when flying in “clear air” with the seatbelt lights off when unexpected turbulence has been encountered.  Loose objects such as the drinks trolley can be flung against you, causing injury; and luggage can shift in the overhead lockers and spring the lock, dropping items on you.  The best you can do to protect yourself against this is to keep your seatbelt on for the whole flight.

4. Structural failure.  Over the years a disturbing number of light planes, not equipped with weather radar and with only basic instruments (flying according to Visual Flight Rules) have come to a bad end through falling apart in bad weather.  Commercial operators are better equipped and will reroute or reschedule if the weather outlook is poor.  The planes are also, as the cost would suggest, stronger and more reliable than private aircraft.  And the pilots are much less inclined to take unnecessary risks.

All things said, turbulence can be extremely uncomfortable but it is very rarely a source of real danger.

Photographed by Adrian Pingstone in August 2002 and released to the public domain

Before take-off

Once you’ve been welcomed aboard the flight by one of the cabin crew and located your seat, you can stow your luggage either in the overhead compartment or under the seat in front of you.  (The disadvantage of putting it under the seat is that it can reduce your available leg-room.)

Once all the passengers are boarded and seated, the cabin crew will start the safety briefing. They will show you how to do up and unbuckle your seatbelt, indicate where the exits are and show you how to inflate and deflate your lifejacket.  They will also show you how to operate the oxygen masks that will drop down from the ceiling if there is a sudden decompression.  (Decompression is very rare and few travellers have ever actually experienced it.)  They will do a final check down the aisles to make sure everyone has their safety belts on.  (The correct way is snug, and low down, across the hips.)

After being pushed back by a “tug” the aircraft will taxi to the runway under its own power.  It is customary for the captain to introduce himself and his team.  He will then make the announcement, “cabin crew, prepare cabin for departure”.  At this point you are just about set for take-off.

The cabin crew will “arm” the doors and check on each other to make sure that this has been done, before seating themselves.  The doors cannot be opened when the aeroplane is under way.  The “arming” is to ready the mechanisms that will operate the slides that will automatically deploy upon opening the doors when the airplane is on the surface.  (If the take-off is aborted, for instance, the doors will be opened, the slides will deploy, and everyone will be evacuated from the aircraft.)

Take-off

The pilot will line up the plane neatly on the runway.  The engines tone will rise as they push out maximum thrust.  The aircraft will leap forward eagerly and then gather speed quickly in order to get lift for take-off.  The acceleration will push you gently into your seat.  At a given speed (on a signal from the co-pilot) the pilot lifts the nose gently off the ground and the acceleration continues with the plane balanced on the main wheels, kept in place by the lift on the wings.  (You will usually not notice this).  For technically-minded readers, this phase of the takeoff is called “rotation”.)  Once the craft reaches take-off speed the pilot will pull back on the controls and lift the front of the plane into the air.  You may sometimes hear a faint thump as the wheels leave the ground.

From there the plane will climb sharply, gaining speed and altitude as it goes.  The rate of climb will gradually decrease and the plane will adjust to a move horizontal angle as it approaches cruising altitude.

Why the sharp angle after takeoff?  Once take-off has been achieved then the plane will fly an optimal route to get up to cruising altitude as soon as practically possible.  Quickly achieving altitude gives room for manoeuvre in case of any problems, and also gets the plane out of the immediate vicinity of the airport, reducing the crowding of the controlled airspace.  The aircraft becomes more efficient to run as it gets to the designed cruising speed and altitude.

Take-off noises

Shortly after takeoff the wheels and landing gear will be retracted into the aircraft fuselage, which can cause a slight thump, and the wheel-bay doors shut.  Once in the air, you will hear an assortment of sometimes quite loud noises.  These are normal.  The pilot’s actions are supported by hydraulic power, which ensures that he can control the rudder and other flight control surfaces, which would otherwise require inhuman strength.

Slats and flaps

It can be very disconcerting for first time flyers sitting at the window to see gaps appear in the wings before and during take-off, as shown in the picture accompanying this article.  The structures at the front of the wings are called slats.  The hinged ones at the back of the wing are called flaps.  A number of modern jets fly at a cruising speed of over 800 km/h (500 mph).  Without slats and flaps the takeoff speed would need to be a significant proportion of that speed!  By using slats and flaps the lift of the wing is significantly increased, essentially by increasing the curvature of the wing, which sharply reduces the speed necessary for flight.

After takeoff, once the speed has increased, sufficient lift is generated by the wings without the slats and flaps, due to the increased airspeed.  The devices are then progressively “packed away”.  This is also done using hydraulic power and the changing of the wing to its sleek cruising shape, without holes in it, will usually be accompanied by (sometimes loud) noises from the hydraulic system of the aircraft.

Now that you’re in the air, you should enjoy your flight.  This is one of the safest modes of public transport in the world today.

Get the details

The first thing to do is head for your airline’s ticket desk.  Find out what flight you have been put onto.  If you have a connecting fight on the same ticket, ask for the details of what the new connecting flight will be.  Should you have booked your ticket through an agent, you can call the agent as well, but we would still suggest getting the information first hand at the airport – the airline staff are almost certainly better informed and of more immediate help to you than an agent who is possibly half the world away.  And maybe asleep in bed.

If the delay is going to leave you stuck overnight, ask if accommodation will be provided.

Travel insurance

Your travel insurance may cover basic essentials and food as part of “delayed connection cover” but this may only activate after a certain number of hours.  (Usually from about six hours.)  Most policies work on a claim-back basis, so you will need to pay for items as needed and then claim back on arrival back in your home country.

If you have your policy wording in your hand luggage it will make it easier for you to check, but if the delay is as little as two hours, it is probably not covered.  For more information on taking out travel insurance, please click here.

Visas

If an overnight stay is required and the airline agrees to put everyone up in a hotel, there may still be a problem.  The airline is probably unable to provide you with a visa.  (Even in those lands where the airline management is indistinguishable from the government, the airline is under no obligation to arrange a visa for you.)

If you know ahead of time that you will be transiting an airport that for visa reasons you may not leave, be sure to check before you travel if they have a transit hotel in the terminal.  Then should you suffer an extended or overnight delay inconvenience, you could have this as an option B.

If you obtain a visa for a country with the intention of making a stop-over on the return leg, ensure that it is a multiple-entry visa if you will be close to the minimum connecting time on the outgoing leg.  We heard of one group who were forced to spend a day and a half at an airport on their way back!  Through no fault of their own they had missed the connecting flight on the forward leg of their journey and accepted the airline’s offer of a non-transit hotel for a few hours.  On the way back the authorities refused them admission to the country because they had already used their single-entry visas!

The only warning that they could have had was that their connection time was exactly equal to the minimum connection time.

Relax

Stress, it is said, comes from your response to a situation, rather than the situation itself.  Its easier said than done, but there is not much one can do to control what is really an external factor.  If you are going to a key event that cannot be rescheduled, by all means check out other airlines and see if you can get an earlier flight or another mode of transport to your final destination.

If you are to attend a funeral, for instance, it is likely to be at short notice and you may have to leave on pretty much the first flight, leaving little time for delays in the schedule.  You may need to adapt your plans as you go, particularly if there are delays due to bad weather.  In many parts of Europe high-speed trains are about as quick city-to-city as the flight would have been, and may still be operating even when flights have been grounded.

If it’s not a matter of extreme urgency then you can while away the time at a coffee shop, unwind in an airport lounge if your budget permits, or simply sit on a bench and watch the world go by.  You will get to your final destination in a better frame of mind.

These days there are three ways to check-in before a flight:

• You can queue in the long line and do it the traditional way.
• There is the shorter queue at the DIY kiosk.
• Or you can check-in at home or from the office, online.

If you check-in online you will still get fondled by strangers and have your luggage weighed, but there is less waiting and there are some other distinct benefits.

If you are using a Travel Agent for the booking, you can have the seat allocated at the time of booking.  If you have exercised that option then when you check-in online your seat allocation will already be set-up.

Advantages

There are several convenient things about an online check-in:

• You choose your own seat.
• You are far more likely to get the specific seat you want.
• You can see exactly where the seat is in a graphical seat configuration.
• Your seat number is allocated immediately, so you are much less likely to be ‘bumped’.
• Baggage check-in is faster when you already have your seat allocated.
• If you arrive at the airport late you are more likely to get on the plane in time.

It is logical that if you check-in online ten hours prior to departure, you are far more likely to get your preferred seat than if you arrive late at the airport just before the gates close and still have to check-in.  If you’re late and have not checked-in online you are unlikely to get a seat you will be happy with.  (You could even have no seat at all as you could get “bumped”.)

Disadvantages

Online check-in may not be for you if you:

• Intend to change your travel arrangements.
• Are indecisive about where to sit and like to change your seat.

There are some sorts of emergency workers and rapid-response staff who by the nature of their jobs are unable to make bookings far in advance.  They pretty much just need to get on the next flight.  By and large they do not much mind where they sit either.

There are other passengers who make their travel arrangements too early in the planning process, before the details about when, where and with whom a meeting is to be held.  As a consequence the same persons regularly end up changing the dates, their flights, sometimes the carrier and also their seats.  (As a Travel Agent working in the industry I have a special message for you: “Chill out.  This is one time that slowing down is a good thing.  Booking too early makes you less efficient.  And you value efficiency so highly.  And, by the way, you are also increasing overheads by incurring change and cancellation fees.  Someone who waits for clarity before booking is saving the company money.”  Other travel agents tend to have a different message for habitual re-bookers – their message tends to be shorter.  And less polite.)

If you are one of the people from the previous paragraph, don’t check-in online if you are going to need to change your flight details again before departure.

Check-in for later flights

Check-in staff can pre-seat you and check you in for other flights being made on the same ticket.  For instance, for your return flight on the same day.  That can be convenient.

If you anticipate making any change to your booking that have an effect on the later flight do not check-in for the later flight.  If you are checked-in your ticket status changes to ‘check in’ mode, which locks the booking.  Certain airlines will not permit the ticket to be re-issued until you have phoned in or physically presented yourself at their ticket desk.  They must first manually reverse the check-in status, then re-issue a new ticket.  There will almost always be a fee.  And then you still need to get a seat allocated!

If you have planned ahead, online check-in can help ease your passage through the airport.