Departure Time

Updated 2 November 2026 · Fan site. Not affiliated with Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive.

Departure Time is the final story mission of The Ballad of Gay Tony (2009). Luis Lopez destroys Ray Bulgarin's heroin hidden at Funland in Broker, kills his enforcer Timur, then chases Bulgarin to the airport and boards his jet as it takes off. Luis kills him, escapes by parachute and meets Tony Prince. It pays $10,000 and the Maestro achievement.

What is Departure Time in The Ballad of Gay Tony?

Departure Time is the last mission of The Ballad of Gay Tony, the second of the Episodes from Liberty City. The player controls Luis Lopez, bodyguard and business partner of the nightclub owner Tony Prince. It comes straight after Party's Over and closes our Ballad of Gay Tony missions list.

How does the mission start?

It opens at Tony's apartment in Algonquin with an argument. In the mission before, Luis had been told to kill Tony and briefly weighed it up. Tony knows, and the two have it out. They agree that the Russian gangster Ray Bulgarin, who wants them both dead, must be dealt with. Luis drops Tony at the Monoglobe in Dukes to wait and promises to come back if he lives.

What happens in Departure Time?

Luis heads into Funland, an amusement park in Hove Beach, Broker, where Bulgarin's heroin is stashed inside bins shaped like ducks. He shoots his way through the guards and blows up each bin. Bulgarin is not there. His man Timur turns up with more gunmen and reveals that his boss is flying back to Europe; Luis kills him before he can get away.

Luis takes a Bati Custom motorbike and races to the airport. Yusuf Amir, who offered help and was told no, joins anyway in his gold Buzzard helicopter and clears the Russian cars behind him. On the runway Luis rides up to Bulgarin's jet, gets inside before the door shuts and fights through the bodyguards. Bulgarin appears with a grenade and threatens to drop it if shot. Luis shoots him anyway, the grenade goes off, and Luis jumps out with a parachute as the jet falls into the sea.

How does The Ballad of Gay Tony end?

Luis lands back in Liberty City and finds Tony at the Monoglobe. On the way he knocks over a homeless man and a bin; after Luis walks off, the man finds Bulgarin's diamonds inside it. Tony and Luis make peace, Yusuf arrives with big plans for the clubs, and the three walk off together.

Gta.wiki points out that Timur mentions Dimitri Rascalov's death during the mission, which places it after the end of Grand Theft Auto IV and makes it the last mission in the GTA IV trilogy of stories. The diamonds Luis leaves behind also tie it to the other two stories, including The Lost and Damned.

What do you get for completing Departure Time?

These rewards are listed on gta.wiki. Gta.wiki also compares the plane sequence with the San Andreas mission Stowaway, where Carl also rides a bike up into a moving plane and leaves by parachute.