Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Airlines

  • British Airways – Executive Club

    British Airways – Executive Club

    British Airways e-mailed this morning with the subject title “something to make you smile”. And, the e-mail did, so that’s my loyalty to the wonderful BA confirmed for years to come. And, most importantly, I hope that BA are able to ensure their staff all remain in employment and that routes don’t need to be dropped.

    Dear Mr White,

    We all love to hear some good news every now and then. And so today, we wanted to tell you something that we hope will make you smile.

    As the world prepares to fly once more, we know there is still a long road ahead, and we wanted you to know that we’ll be right there with you every step of the journey.

    To say thank you for all your loyalty and support, we’ve added 12 months extra onto your Silver Executive Club membership. So you have more time to enjoy your benefits, whenever you’re ready to return to the skies.

    What’s more, it will be even easier to retain your Silver status next time you’re up for renewal, as we’ve decreased the amount of Tier Points needed by 25%. This is the same for upgrade thresholds too, making that next Tier more achievable.

    You can read more information here, and other ways we’re supporting you during this period.

    We hope that put a smile on your face. Thank you again for your loyalty.

    Your Executive Club Team

  • More BA Routes Lost

    More BA Routes Lost

    Along with the temporary suspension to numerous destinations, sad to see that BA have recently announced that they have stopped flying to four locations.

    They’re:

    London Heathrow – Beirut (Lebanon)

    London Heathrow – Helsinki (Finland)

    London Heathrow – Leeds Bradford (UK)

    London Heathrow – Moscow Sheremetyevo (Russia)

    The Leeds Bradford link to London seemed relatively popular, but there’s been an environmental argument for a while about whether this is a sensible use of aircraft. Moscow continues to be served by Moscow Domodedovo, but BA must be expecting that a permanent fall in the number of people prepared to go to Russia.

    Disappointed about the removal of the Helsinki route as I planned to use that next year to get to Tallinn (after getting a ferry across the Gulf of Finland), a direct BA route they shut down in 2019. It looks BA has given up on great swathes of eastern Europe, which will be a handy boost to Ryanair and Wizzair. There’s always Finn Air, who are Oneworld, but I rarely see anything keenly priced there.

    Hopefully when things return to some form of normality then BA can start looking at new routes to replace the ones that have been lost.

  • British Airways (Seattle to Heathrow T5)

    British Airways (Seattle to Heathrow T5)

    This flight was back in October 2014, and I hadn’t intended to upload the photos so there aren’t many interesting ones of how the aircraft looked. But there’s a lot of food photos at least. Anyway, with the caveat that this is a very limited trip report, since there’s not much text about the flight itself, here we go…..

    Woooo, I was lucky enough to get seat 1A.

    The First seat has a television screen which comes out and the whole area turns into a bed. For those travelling with someone else, the footrest can also be used as a seat. The table comes out and so it’s possible to dine as two people, such is the generosity of space.

    I still have the menu, so this is a photo from today…..

    Photos of the menu.

    Proceedings started with a Kir Royale (Creme de Cassis and champagne) and warm nuts. How decadent.

    The amuse-bouche, although I’ve long since forgotten what it was and they don’t list that in the menu.

    The starter of lobster, mango salsa and a Thai sweet chilli glaze.

    Butter chicken with rice, dal and a toasted naan.

    The dessert of a cheeseboard.

    And coffee to end the proceedings with.

    Unfortunately, the mists of time have meant I’ve forgotten anything of particular interest about this flight. The First experience was one I certainly couldn’t afford if I had to pay for it, but it of course makes flying an absolute pleasure. For me, I find the attentive service all a bit much, I could do without the tablecloth, the placing of the napkin and the laying of cutlery, but I can understand why this is such a treat for a special trip.

    I haven’t taken photos of breakfast and, from memory, I think that’s because I ordered another cheeseboard. There’s dine on demand on BA flights in First and so you can have whatever you want at any stage. This flight arrived in at something like 07:00, which meant that I had access to the Arrivals Lounge at Heathrow T5, where I could have a full English breakfast after my busy flight of eating.

    BA crews were nearly always excellent in First and I always tried to stay awake for the entire journey, as it seemed a bit much to just fall asleep with all this luxury. I probably won’t travel First for some considerable time in the future, so trips like this were always an exciting treat.

  • British Airways (Heathrow T5 to Chengdu)

    British Airways (Heathrow T5 to Chengdu)

    The current Coronavirus means that I can’t write about any recent flights on British Airways, so here’s one from six years ago. As a rider at this stage, I wasn’t intending to post these photos when I took them, so they’re not really a very complete set covering the aircraft’s exterior or interior. But, I took a photo of all the food, which is something I rarely neglect my obligations towards….

    Back in 2014, British Airways decided that China was their future and they started a flight to Chengdu as their third destination in the country, as they already flew to Shanghai and Beijing (as well as Hong Kong). There was a documentary at the time where BA management, including their boss then Willie Walsh, said how important China was to them, although their enthusiasm waned and Chengdu was dropped a few years later, in early 2017. This flight was in Club World, or business class, with the aircraft being the Boeing Dreamliner.

    The screen for the IFE.

    The foldable foot rest, which then joined together with the main part of the seat to form a bed. BA have recently announced a new Club Suite, which looks amazing, so the days of having to step over someone else will soon be firmly in the past.

    The menu.

    The watermelon, feta and cucumber salad.

    The Szechuan braised pork with bean curd, an appropriate dish as this was the area of China that we were flying to.

    The summer berry cheesecake with mascarpone cream.

    The breakfast menu.

    Fresh fruit and the mango fruit smoothie. The smoothies on BA are world class and I always tried to get refills if they had enough.

    The continental breakfast option.

    I took these items from the Club Kitchen on board to nibble on between meals.

    I can’t remember much about these meals, primarily because I ate them six years ago, but I was rarely disappointed with BA’s food. I also know that I got my first choice for all meals on this flight, which is always a bonus. Unfortunately, I didn’t note the registration number of the aircraft or much else.

  • British Airways (Malta to Gatwick South) – Fourth Time

    British Airways (Malta to Gatwick South) – Fourth Time

    Above is the BA aircraft G-MIDT after we had arrived back into Gatwick on service BA2645. I haven’t flown on this particular aircraft before, it was brought into service in 2001 for use by bmi British Midland and then was taken over by BA in August 2012.

    Boarding was smooth and without any delays, they called Groups 1 to 3 in one go and then Groups 4 and 5 went separately. There were sufficient seats in the boarding area for customers this time, something which isn’t always the case at Malta’s airport.

    As seems usual in Malta, there’s a short walk to the aircraft and then customers use steps to board.

    We had the aisle and middle exit row seats, with no-one sitting at the window, so Liam moved there. The cabin crew noted how sun-burnt Liam was to add to the occasion, with the crew always being efficient and pro-active during the flight. The loads were light, I’m not sure that the aircraft was even half-full in terms of the Euro Traveller cabin, a result perhaps of the current coronavirus situation. That did though mean that there was no shortage of space in the overheads and boarding wasn’t delayed whilst bags were shuffled around.

    Boarding was though delayed as a result of French air traffic control, an element of which was on strike, which meant that we departed around twenty minutes later than expected. However, the pilots kept us informed and nearly all of this delay was made up en route back to Gatwick, a flight which took just under three hours. The flight itself was uneventful, all calm and comfortable, with the cabin crew making appropriate announcements, although the pilot seemed to get distracted when making her announcements, but I admit that it is rather more important to fly the plane.

    Another perfectly acceptable flight from British Airways, with Gatwick South being well staffed so we had no delays getting through border control and then back to the long-stay car park.

  • British Airways (Gatwick South to Malta) – Fourth Time

    British Airways (Gatwick South to Malta) – Fourth Time

    And my fourth visit to the delightful island of Malta….

    Earlier on in the day the flight was expected to be delayed by around ninety minutes due to adverse weather conditions, but there was then a change in aircraft and the delay became relatively minor. Not that this was a problem, we had arrived at Gatwick early, so we had plenty of time in the BA lounge. The gate was called and it was once again the set of gates at the end of the long corridor, a little bit of a walk from the main terminal. The boarding process was though very well managed, with all the customers boarded by group and this was carefully enforced. There are enough seats in the area as well for customers to wait before boarding.

    Parked up at Gatwick, the aircraft G-EUUT, which has been operated by BA since 2007, which I was on when I returned from Palma to Gatwick South in November last year. The aircraft that I should have been on today, before the aircraft change this afternoon, was the one which went tech last year en route to Palma…..

    I had an exit row aisle seat and Liam had the middle seat, although the window seat wasn’t used so we had the row of three emergency exit row seats between us. The flight was uneventful, which is a useful thing for a flight to be, with the buy on board seeming to be quite popular on this evening’s flight. Then there was just the matter of getting through border control at Malta airport and then the checks for the Coronavirus where everyone was corralled through a checkpoint….

    The flight wasn’t unreasonably priced, costing £44 for a single journey, which I reduced by using Avios. The flight, which took just under three hours, was around 80% full, which meant it wasn’t sufficiently busy to cause problems with space in the overhead lockers.

  • Flights – London City Airport to Florence (British Airways)

    Flights – London City Airport to Florence (British Airways)

    This is the first time that I’ve flown from London City Airport, an accessible and easy to reach airport in east London with its own DLR stop. And I’ve liked the DLR ever since I lived next to one of the network’s stops a few years ago.

    One of the advantages of London City is that it’s relatively small and compact, so it’s possible to roll up around 45 minutes before a flight and still board in time. I can’t be taking those sort of chances though, but I didn’t go through security until two hours before my flight, which is cutting it very fine for me. The airport was comfortable and clean throughout, with an almost endless supply of power points and places to work from for those who needed that.

    There’s an extensive views of the airfield from the departures building.

    The walk to the aircraft went by the side of a building, with the nature of London City Airport meaning that there aren’t air bridges routinely used.

    Approaching the aircraft.

    I started off on an aisle seat on the seventh row, but there were some empty seats ahead, so a crew member said that I could move to a window seat on the fifth row. The aircraft was clean and comfortable, feeling slightly tired though, with this aircraft being G-LCYI which is an Embraer 170 which BA have owned since new in 2010.

    This flight left at 15:50, so there were some spectacular skies visible from the other side of the aircraft, they almost looked photoshopped in on this photo. But they’re not, I can’t use Photoshop….

    The CityFlyer service still comes with free food and drink, although I was unsure exactly what the choices were before boarding. They actually seemed to be generous, with Speedbird available which pleased me. I think there was Heineken as well, but the Brewdog/BA partnership that has led to Speedbird is IMO much better. And BA are releasing a new beer soon in partnership with Brewdog again, so hopefully this venture has been a useful one for both parties.

    The food was much better than I had expected, it was salmon on rice, along with a side salad, roll, cheese & crackers and a chocolate dessert. There was also a water thing served with it, although it was easy to get extra drinks from the bar from passing crew members.

    The crew were friendly throughout and their announcements, as well as those from the pilots, were professional and appropriate. The aircraft landed into Florence slightly early, with the whole process being seamless and well managed. It was a reminder of how BA used to be across their short-haul fleet though with the free food and drink, as it allowed an engagement between the crew and customers. Now, that engagement has been nearly entirely lost, and on most flights there’s nearly no connection between customers who don’t buy anything and the crew. It’s a shame, the crew are one of the best assets that BA have in my view, but I’m sure that Alex Cruz knows what he’s doing…..

    This, incidentally, is my 2,000th post on this blog. How lovely….

  • Flights – Bucharest to Heathrow T5 (British Airways)

    Flights – Bucharest to Heathrow T5 (British Airways)

    With my time to Bucharest over for this year (or at least I have no plans to return this year), my flight back was the BA887 service from the Romanian capital to London Heathrow T5.

    I don’t always see the British Airways aircraft landing whilst waiting to go back to London, indeed I very rarely see it due to the layout of airports, but I did today. Here’s the aircraft landing in Bucharest, just a few minutes late. The aircraft is an Airbus A320, registration G-TTNH, introduced to the BA fleet from new in January 2019.

    The boarding process was well managed, Groups 1-3 boarded first in what seemed an organised little arrangement, then Groups 4 and 5. The staff members were friendly, it was all quite a relaxed affair.

    I had an exit row seat by the window. I’m going off these exit rows a little as I have to put my bag into the overhead lockers, and I like it being nearby. Anyway, there wasn’t too much pressure on the overheads today and so it wasn’t a difficulty. The seat next to me was kept clear, which is a handy feature of FLY, with a gold status member in the aisle seat, and my lesser status by the window.

    The flight was free from any issues, which is just how I like them. I fell asleep for about an hour, watched everything I’d downloaded from Netflix and then, a few minutes early, the aircraft was ready to land. The crew and pilot announcements were all professional and timely, but I miss the drop-down screens as it was nice to see how much progress we’d made. I think on airlines with wi-fi fitted that this information is freely available, but this wasn’t a wi-fi enabled aircraft.

    I still don’t really like the Buy-On-Board (BOB) strategy that BA implemented, when they started to charge for food and drink in Euro Traveller. The food and drink is a little immaterial, but it allowed the crew members to engage with customers and it also broke the time up a little bit. The BOB didn’t take much during the flight, or at least, it didn’t whilst going by the rows near to me and before I fell asleep….

    The aircraft landed at A Gates and that meant just a short walk to border control without walking from B or C Gates. Very impressively, it took me less than twenty seconds from entering border control to leaving it, as there was no queue for the kiosks and my passport was processed within two seconds. Marvellous.

  • Flights – Heathrow T5 to Bucharest (British Airways)

    Flights – Heathrow T5 to Bucharest (British Airways)

    My flight today was the 10:05 BA886 service operating from London Heathrow T5 to Bucharest in Romania. I haven’t been to Bucharest before, although I’ve been to Romania when I visited Oradea a couple of years ago. The aircraft being used today was G-TTNC, an Airbus A320 which was acquired new by British Airways in June 2018. The aircraft had come from Toulouse this morning and after it had returned from Bucharest, it then flew to Brussels.

    The boarding process was well managed and the boarding by group was enforced. One of the staff was quite forthright in dealing with customers who tried to board before they were meant to, but if there’s going to be a policy on things like this, it may as well be enforced. I was surprised how many customers tried to ignore the instructions that the staff members were making and although some might have been lost in translation, there were a few customers with headphones who seemed just a little oblivious to everything going on around them and they just wanted to board.

    I had an emergency exit row seat, so there was plenty of space, and no-one was seated next to me either. I felt sorry for the crew, playing Jenga with bags to try and fit them all in the overheads. They had to put some bags in storage elsewhere on the aircraft and so they were perhaps fortunate that there were twenty or so seats which were unused. As I’ve posted about before, the amount of bags that are brought on board is going to have to be reduced at some point.

    The emergency exit row.

    This is the first short-haul BA aircraft that I’ve been on which has wi-fi availability. I can cope, well – just about, without Internet for a couple of hours, so I wasn’t tempted, but it’s a useful service.

    For those who do want to use it, the wi-fi service costs £2.99 per flight, which seems reasonable enough.

    The descent was quite bumpy, with one customer walking down the aisles stumbling somewhat, but the crew were on hand. The crew were always pro-active and helpful, offering a really friendly service which always felt efficient but unhurried. The flight arrived in around ten minutes before its scheduled time and the pilots offered useful and timely announcements. The flight wasn’t the cheapest at £66 return and it would have likely been cheaper with a budget airline, but the cost wasn’t unreasonable and I felt that £33 for each journey was entirely acceptable.

    Incidentally, the border process at Bucharest Airport was efficient, although the staff took quite some time with every incoming individual and so I’m not sure what they were checking. There were lots of signs about the coronavirus as well, with a fair few passengers wearing face masks. Anyway, what I was going to mention was just as I was being called forwards, a customer came from the back of the queue to ask the member of border staff to hurry up. He was ushered away by another staff member in what was a polite manner, but I have to say that any customer who is rude to border or customs staff is taking a huge risk….. I suspect that his request for a swift route through the border wasn’t granted.

  • Flights – Warsaw to Heathrow T5 (British Airways)

    Flights – Warsaw to Heathrow T5 (British Airways)

    And back to the UK after a month in Poland….. I received a text from BA earlier in the day stating that my flight was delayed, which it indeed was by an hour due to the inbound plane being caught up in foggy conditions at Heathrow. I was in no hurry, given my usual tradition of allowing about eight hours between a flight arriving at Heathrow and a train going back to Norwich. And it just meant another hour in the Bolero lounge eating chocolate, so I managed to cope quite well.

    The gate was all clean and organised, with the signage being clear. The boarding process was muddled and was vaguely split into groups 1-3 and groups 4-5, but there was no enforcement of that. I wasn’t much bothered, as I decided to board a little late anyway, primarily as I saw no advantage in standing in a queue. Other customers were confused though and BA should fix things so that there isn’t any confusion.

    There was a specific reason for my lack of hurry with boarding, which is that BA had turfed me out of my emergency exit row seat about a week ago. When I have a seat in the emergency exit row I try to board first so that I can put my bag in the overhead locker nearby, but on this occasion I had been booted back to seat 37C. I had noticed this last week and decided not to put myself back in the emergency exit, as I’ve come to like being with my bag.

    Seat 37C is right at the back of the aircraft, but it occurred to me that FLY (BA’s seating algorithm) wouldn’t seat anyone by me. This came to pass and indeed they didn’t seat anyone in 37A either, so I had the three seats to myself. I was moved back as there was an aircraft change, to the new A321 Neo, which is controversial to say the least (the aircraft, not me being moved).

    So, the aircraft I had was G-NEOX and congratulations to BA for managing to get that registration, very ahead of the curve. It’s lovely and new, having been delivered to BA on 23 December 2019. This aircraft is densified, so it has 220 seats instead of 205 seats, with the bulk of the aircraft having slimline Recaro seats (the ones at the front in Club Europe, and in economy as far as Club Europe can ever go back have different seats).

    The seats are thin, they don’t recline and they’re unpopular with many people. I’m entirely sold though, I think they’re comfortable, at the appropriate angle and they don’t bloody recline. And I liked being near to the two rear washrooms as I’m not that near, but they’re convenient should I ever need to use them. There’s something quite pleasant about being near to washrooms, rather than stuck on seat 11A with a trolley and 6 passengers in a queue between me and the toilets. The two rear washrooms have been rather ingeniously crammed into the space that they have, but they’re functional and sufficiently big.

    I also like this seat at the rear as I could listen into any conversations which I felt were exciting, primarily connecting customers concerned that they’d be missing their flight at Heathrow. The crew were all professional and helpful, although I’m not sure that many customers actually made their later flights. The only negative about this densified aircraft is that BA haven’t taken the opportunity to put power in, even if it was just USB sockets, and they probably should have done. BA do many things better than Ryanair and easyJet, with this being an area that they could have moved ahead of their budget airline competitors.

    Anyway, back to the flight. The pilot sounded middle class and professional (I’m not linking the two, he just sounded both), with sufficient updates about out delayed flight. Initially there was going to be another 40-minute wait at Warsaw as we’d missed our slot, but this was soon cancelled and there was no extra delay.

    The crew were personable and friendly, lots of smiles and they ran an efficient trolley service for those who wanted to buy food and drink. Only around 10% of customers purchased anything, which likely aided their efficiency. The aircraft was clean and well maintained, although given it’s only a few weeks old, I’d be surprised if it wasn’t.

    The fare was £55 return plus 2,500 Avios, although I get 1,350 Avios back with this flight, so I thought that this was excellent value for money. Especially when taking into account that BA have provided lounge access at Heathrow and Warsaw, so all told, I was entirely content with the flight.