I went back to the UK over Christmas and flew North on the Airbridge, which I’ve written about previously (https://whereissarah.blog/2023/05/20/the-airbridge-experience/). This time I flew back via South America. 

It was a memorable journey.

The first thing that you know before you set off, is that it is going to take much, much more time. The Airbridge takes 18 hours from take-off from Brize Norton to arrival at Mount Pleasant Airport (MPA). This was going to take closer to 2 days. The route, rather than straight down the Atlantic, was to Brazil, then Santiago in Chile, then to the Falklands on the weekly Saturday flight.

The journey started well – the car hire staff at Enterprise Heathrow were delightful when I dropped my hire car off and within minutes I was in a minibus being taken to the terminal by Cleveland; he absolutely would not let me put my own suitcases on the bus, insisted on getting me a trolley for my large bags and wouldn’t take a tip, but only a handshake. Slightly different to Brize Norton, where you definitely have to haul your own bags in and out of the transport from the main gate to the the terminal. So unusually I arrived at check in a positive frame of mind!

At check in the Latam staff were also lovely, although the complications of our route made Felipe work really hard. The major challenge was to try and persuade the computer to print out a bag tag, that went as far as Santigo, where I could retrieve my bags for an overnight stay. He tried 4 different ways and couldn’t make it work! I could have my bags back in Sao Paulo (which I didn’t want) or at Mount Pleasant Airport in the Falklands, but the computer said no to Santiago. We agreed it was better to tag them for MPA and I could try and get Latam in Santiago to retrieve them. 

My route was to leave Heathrow late Thursday and fly to Sao Paulo in Brazil (12 hours), and then after a 3 hour period in transit fly to Santiago (3.5 hours), arriving midday on Friday. Then a long wait in Santiago and an overnight in an airport hotel. This all went well and being in Sao Paulo airport gave me an opportunity to learn which animals Brazil sees as its national emblems – the soft toys and tshirts on display were clear that they are the Jaguar, Toucan and Macaw, but the 4th was a bit more contested between sloths and anteaters. 

On to Santiago, where you remember I could pick up my bags or not. I found a member of staff in the baggage reclaim area who very firmly told me I must pick up my bags, as I was entering the country. She directed me to the baggage desk. Where the nice lady in charge said I didn’t have to if the bags were tagged through to Mount Pleasant. I chose to believe her, as I didn’t need my bags and I didn’t want to haul them over to the hotel just for the evening… but I was very tired and not thinking very clearly. Some hours later, when I found everyone else had collected their bags, I wasn’t sure which member of staff I should have believed. Only time would tell.

Off to the hotel for a bit of a nap and a shower and then into Santiago itself for an evening drink to meet up with others on their way back – at an Irish bar, obviously. It was a lovely temperature, as the sun slowly set. A proper, brief, summer moment with a cold beer and good company.

All too soon my alarm was going off at 3:30am, as we went to check in for the last leg. Once I’d woken up a bit, it was nice to see familiar faces and easy to spot who had spent Christmas in the UK (pale faces) and those who’d been somewhere warmer (healthy tans). 

Nearly there you think, only 4.5 hours flying time to the Falklands. However there’s the small matter of it being a domestic flight as far as Punta Arenas (in the far south of Chile), where we all get off and go through international departures (a booth in the lounge) and get back on the flight, which is now international to the Falklands. So that adds an hour or so. Oh yes, and this is the monthly stopping service that goes to Rio Gallegos in Argentina and collects passengers, which means a 20 minute flight from Punta to RG and then 1.5 hours on the ground, before finally taking off again and landing at Mount Pleasant. Astonishingly, against my expectations, my bags appeared on the carousel and so my journey was complete (but I am always going to collect them at Santiago in future!). 

Having done both routes this year, last week I was really clear that the Airbridge is better – because it’s quicker. However events just a week later are making me reconsider! The current Airbridge flight is experiencing all the downsides – passengers checked in at Brize Norton yesterday, only to be sent away to find accommodation in the middle of the night because the storm going across the UK unsurprisingly closed Brize Norton as well as Heathrow, Bristol and Birmingham. Then to add insult to injury, some poor souls checked in on time this afternoon, only to find there is a several hour delay and they could have arrived much later. This time because the weather at the Falklands end is delaying arrival. Fingers crossed after all that, they actually get here! 

I think the real point of these travel tales is that the reality is that the Falkland Islands are very remote and difficult to get to. Modern communication means that the distance doesn’t feel great when you’re chatting over Whats App to friends and family, but as soon as you start to travel and the weather starts to act up, it is not a simple place to get to. 

Good thing then, that it’s worth all the trouble to get here.