Fairly quiet night, but a few "moments".
First 2 jobs of the were easy enough and not much to unload and then - unusually - we were RTB'd for 20 minutes or so, before being sent out to stand 106 (North Terminal) for a Corfu, 131 bag job. We arrived at the stand and I made sure the chocks and cones were ready, then put the mains power on in readiness. The plane in question then came screamind down the taxiway - probably faster than I go down the M23! - and swung into the stand and stopped, brake coolers screaming. It sounds just like an air-raid siren and just as loud. While my two team members busied themselves with the cones and getting the holds open, I chocked it, powered it up then banged on the underside of the cockpit to let the pilot know mains power was on - there's a little hand sign you do to tell them. Lo and behold, the pilot was a woman! And a looker too! Bleedin' hell, they'll be giving them the vote next...
Having dumped the luggage at reclaim we were sent to the next job, Las Palmas on 105. Heavy, heavy, heavy. 162 big bastard bags, 9 baby buggies and 2 heavy wheelchairs. We were all sweating like pigs by them time we dumped that lot at reclaim. By this time it was 12.45 so I radioed in and was told "Right, last job is on 170, bags to the North reclaim. Lands in about 20 minutes". Perfick. Stand 170 is out in the fields, but right beside an entrance/exit where I could nip out for a ciggie while we waited. Suitably ciggied up, I re-joined my 2 colleagues and hooked up a set of steps in readiness, then sat back and watched as a swarm of EasyJets landed.
15 minutes passed and I was getting perturbed as the passenger buses hadn't turned up. Odd, but they are late quite a lot...
Suddenly, my radio crackled into life - "TMR, I've dropped a bollock, your plane is actually coming in on stand 11, not 170". "No worries" says I, we are on our way. Stand 170 is about as far away as you can get from 11, so the race was on - could we get there before the plane. Luckily I had one of the faster electric buggies and at one point I was alongside the plane as it taxied to the stand. Hopped out, chocked it, powered it, then my colleague turned up and we off-loaded it, as the rain started to come down. The poor passengers, coming back from Heraklion, didn't look impressed with the weather as the filed onto the transfer bus! Stand 11 is in the South Terminal, but they were being bussed to the North Terminal, where we had to dump the bags.
As usual, all the bags were on the carousel by the time they cleared Passport control and we were heading back to base and off home. Another afternoon and night in the life on "the ramp" - it's amazing how quickly the 12 hours passes. Bleedin' knackered now, mind.
