This was our flight back to London City Airport from Dublin Airport. It’s a decent terminal in Dublin and the boarding process at the gate was timely, albeit slightly clunky in terms of group boarding which seemed to be Group 1 and then everyone else, but the staff were friendly and helpful. The check-in staff did want to see my passport, which is the first time that I’ve been asked for it on this trip, as it was never needed at Heathrow. We were flying back to City Airport as our flight back to Heathrow was cancelled a few weeks ago, allowing me to change it free of charge to a different airport in the capital.

The aircraft was G-LCYR, an Embraer E190 aircraft which is nine years old and has been with the airline since it was produced. This flight was serviced by BA CityFlyer, a wholly owned subsidiary of British Airways, but they do have different service standards.

There are our two seats, both by the emergency exit giving us extra legroom.

Liam, who I kindly gave the window seat to again.

And me. Cabin crew were all personable, with the announcements made by them and the pilots being appropriate and useful.

Boarding was well managed other than there were problems again with trying to fit all the bags on board. I write here regularly about the situation where people who bring a small bag are forced to put it by their feet, whereas those who bring their entire spare bedroom in a bag get to put it in the overhead lockers. It was a bit irrelevant for us as we had emergency exit row seats where bags have to go in the lockers, but it’s not an ideal arrangement. Where flights are nearly full, as this one was, there perhaps needs to be a change in emphasis now and maximum bag sizes could be brought down a little.

This being a CityFlyer flight meant that we got free food and drink. The food options weren’t decadent (a small brownie, crisps or corn nuts), but it was perfectly acceptable for an hour long flight. The Brewdog beer was very handy, although given I’d had a Guinness in the airport lounge, I probably didn’t need it. But it was free and so I panicked and ordered it. I decided not to drink any more beer that day…… This is where service standards differ a little from regular British Airways short haul services, as the only free drink offered on those is water.

And here we are back in London, all on time and without any issue. The delight of London City Airport is that it’s a short hop on the DLR back into Stratford, where Liam had parked his car, taking us no more than 25 minutes after landing to be back at the car. After Avios discounts and the like, this flight cost me about £20 (so, £40 return) which I think is excellent value for money and indeed so cheap I’m not sure that BA made any money on this little expedition of mine.

The inbound BA flight to Florence was delayed, apparently the pilot said due to a technical issue rather than air traffic control or the winds, but the departure was only around an hour later than it should have been.

The boarding process was a little confused as customers weren’t really shown where to wait, although to be fair to the staff, they didn’t have a great deal of space as there was another flight boarding at the neighbouring gate. There was a vague effort at boarding by group number as I did hear one announcement, but it was ineffective. Although it didn’t make much difference anyway as there was a bus to the gate rather than an air bridge. The boarding gate staff were polite and helpful, with the process being prompt if nothing else.

The BA flight to London City Airport before mine had been cancelled, so the aircraft I boarded was completely full, although I’m not sure where the other passengers were sent from the earlier flight. The crew member made some authoritative, but essential, statements that baggage must be placed into the lockers quickly and everything other than large bags should be placed under the seats. I like my bag by my feet, but it’s perhaps still a little unfair that BA reward those with large luggage by having the area under their seat clear, whilst those who pack light have their foot room impeded.

The aircraft was G-LCAA, an Embraer 190 which was used by China Southern Airlines from 2011 until May 2019, when it entered BA’s fleet. I find it quite intriguing to know that this aircraft has spent most of its life shuttling around China before being entirely refitted by BA.

The pilot then made a friendly announcement and in that he mentioned that there was a slight rush as we had headwinds against us and a need to get into London City Airport by 22:30 because no incoming flights are allowed in after that due to their curfew. As a slight spoiler to this post, the aircraft landed at 21:54, which meant that all was well and we avoided having to land at London Southend Airport which would have been over an hour by bus transfer. London City Airport usually closes at 22:00, but it remained open to deal with our flight.

Back to the flight itself… British Airways have, for the many years I’ve travelled with them, managed to perfect inconsistency. I’m aware of what the offering would be, since I read the timing of the flight and associated menu on Flyertalk, but it was a near pointless effort compared to the excellent meal provided on the outbound flight to Florence. I had eaten in the lounge, but most other customers hadn’t, perhaps expecting something similar to what they had received on their previous flight.

And into London City airport, safe, sound and only a little later than anticipated. The curfew at London City Airport is an absolute one, so all told, BA did well to get this aircraft back given all the problems there had been at Florence airport during the day. A bus journey from Southend Airport is something that I could have done without, so I’ll forgive BA for their limited catering arrangements on this flight….

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….