A Monarch Boeing 737 took me on my first ever flight as a nineteen year-old. Three excited friends and I were off from Devon for two weeks of fun & sun in Benidorm on a ‘secret surprise’ budget package holiday (the secret was that we would not know which hotel we were staying in until we got there)!
None of us had flown before and naively we arrived at Gatwick a full six-hours before our scheduled chartered plane departure to Alicante to have some airport ‘fun’.
London’s number two airport was no comparison to what it is today, let alone a modern day Singapore Changi or Bangkok Suvarnabhumi. In ’83 the only entertainment available was a Space Invader machine with the sound turned down! Within two hours we were bored stiff and inevitably this boredom was compounded further when the flight was over three hours late!
Eventually we boarded and as this was my first ever flight, I eagerly paid attention to the safety demonstration, woofed down the in-flight meal & free beer and annoyed all the passengers within earshot by chatting excitedly with my mates about what adventures lay ahead for the duration.
In the event we had a fabulous time of late nights (daybreak finishes in reality), lazy days and copious amounts of alcohol.
Benidorm Beach ’83
The six o’clock morning flight back home was a far more subdued affair as I started my thirty-hour sleeping marathon to catch up on what I had missed over the previous fortnight!
Awful Photos Of The Four Of Us
A very entertaining first post! Sounds like quite the first plane trip!
My first flight was from Glasgow to Palma in 2001. I actually hate flying but see it as a necessary evil. How else would I get to the places I dream about? 🙂 Great post.
Thanks – train if you have the time is the best way to arrive in my opinion! Wilbur
I can’t even remember my first plane ride, I was so young. But I love plane travel. So much better than cars for me.
Good luck with the 2015 A to Z Challenge!
A to Z Co-Host S. L. Hennessy
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I remember my first flight back in 2004 for a business trip to Bournemouth. Goodness my first time ever on a plane and I pick a 9-hour flight to England. I was nervous at first but it was quite enjoyable! For some reason the night flight to Heathrow was smoother than the day return flight back to Philly International.
Bournemouth is an unusual first destination but a very nice place. Hope you had some fun with the business, Wilbur.
I barely remember my first flight, but I do remember my first encounter in Gatwick. It was 2012, and not too much better than yours as we arrived after midnight.
I went to Benidorm in 1976 and stayed at the Hotel Don Juan. I went back for a day in 2006 and thought it was rather nice!
We stayed at a green tower block monstrosity called Hotel Peublo. I remember the nightclubs very well! Passed Benidorm again a view years ago on the coastal train from Denia to Alicante.