737 or a 757 Thomsonfly

bagand96

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

Of course they would never dream of overbooking.

The sad reality is that airlines do overbook. Ryanair are a very notable exception - but Thomson will be no different to other carriers.

Spot on... it does happen and no airline is immune from the problem as far as I'm aware!!

Of course, airlines do overbook, however Thomson, and other charter operators selling as part of a package holiday don't tend to. It's because the contract between the tour operator and holidaymaker is different to the contract between a scheduled airline and a passenger.

Thomson have sold a package holiday as a tour operator, and as such have far more responsibility to their customers. They can't just bump people from a flight, or cancel and say "sorry folks you're on your own, write to us for a refund". They have sold you a holiday and its far harder for them to get out of that, as they have also charged you for hotels, transfers etc (except in extreme cases like swine flu in Mexico). The regulations for package holidays, including charter flights, are far more restrictive. It's the same reason that charter flights can end up with a reputation for huge delays. Charter airlines have to get you there and back, the flight must operate in some form, whereas other airlines would cancel.

Granted, it may have been different in the Thomsonfly.com days where they were selling seat only flights outside of the tour operator, under a low cost model. But they have all but ditched that, and bought the flight only back inside the tour operator.

kirsty12_2

Pssst wrote: »

I wouldnt stress about it. Just look forward to the joy of holidaying on Kefalonia. Its a relatively short flight and if you want something to stress about then take a peek out the window as the engines shut down and the plane swoops low,does a sharp u turn and lines up with the runway. The airport is small,the runway isnt that long and it lies across a finger of land with sea on the approach and end of runway. It is not unknown for incoming aircraft to do a touch and go. Enjoy your hols on my favourite island....sigh

Thanks for the info:beer: I'm not sure I'll be telling DH about it though lol:rotfl:

Doesn't a 757 need more room to land?_pale_ This is going to be fun!!:rotfl:

deegee999

Perhaps they will have one of those bungee things they use on aircraft carriers:D, anyone know what thomson use on the stanstead Heraklion route? going on june the 2nd.

omelette451

kirsty12 wrote: »

Doesn't a 757 need more room to land?_pale_ This is going to be fun!!:rotfl:

The formula for how long a runway has to be depends on all sorts of things, including but not limited to size of plane, what's on it, crew limitations, and even weather on the day. A 757 may be a bit bigger than a 737 (though not by much - it's only one step up) but if it's only carrying holiday passengers it may well weigh less and require less runway than a 737-800 fully laden with passengers, luggage and cargo. You really oughtn't worry about it - if it were in any way unsafe you can guarantee the airline wouldn't run the flight. As it is, most package holiday flights on that route will traditionally have been operated using fairly large planes, perhaps even bigger than the one you're getting; it's only relatively recently that charter airlines have developed such large fleets of smaller aircraft. As others have said, just relax and enjoy your holiday!

apt

A B757-200 has more powerful engines and probably needs less runway than a full B737-800. Also Kefalonia's runway isn't that short - longer than many British airports where these jets operate - Bristol, Leeds, Newcastle etc.

Pssst

kirsty12 wrote: »

Thanks for the info:beer: I'm not sure I'll be telling DH about it though lol:rotfl:

Doesn't a 757 need more room to land?_pale_ This is going to be fun!!:rotfl:

Its ok-it'll come in low and slow ,,enjoy your hols,,I love Kefalonia.
Where r u staying BTW?

kirsty12_2

I'm staying in Scala, I'm so excited my tickets arrived today:j

Pssst

kirsty12 wrote: »

I'm staying in Scala, I'm so excited my tickets arrived today:j

Great ,you really cant go wrong. If your looking for car hire I can recommend Greekstones.

http://www.greekstones-rentacar.com/

Have a great time. wish i was there.....