Two for the Price of One: BA967 Hamburg to London Heathrow T5

Two for the Price of One: BA967 Hamburg to London Heathrow T5

In this epic…

• Two for the price of one? Or when two become one?
• Off to Manchester Airport on the edge of my seat…
• BA Domestic – BA1387 Manchester Airport to London Heathrow
• Heathrow Transit, American Airlines Flagship Lounge
• American Airlines – AA87 London Heathrow to Chicago, Main Cabin
• Streamlined Immigration?
• The Crowne Plaza O’Hare
• Evening adventures with the Sony A5000
• The Hyatt Regency O’Hare
• Off to O’Hare, American Airlines Admirals Club
• American Airlines – AA1205 Chicago O’Hare to Boston Logan
• A Boston Omnishambles
• British Airways – BA202 Boston Logan to London Heathrow Terminal 5 in World Traveller Plus
• Transit and changes… from holiday to work, British Airways Galleries North Lounge
• British Airways – BA974 London Heathrow to Hamburg
• IBIS Budget St Pauli, Hamburg
• Trade Show 101 (or… don’t sleep on your glasses).
• Pounding the Halls of AIX – What you might had missed…
• A Walk around the Hamburg Dom
• Rushing back to Hamburg Airport
• British Airways – BA967 Hamburg to London Heathrow
• Homeward bound
• Mixing business with pleasure

Boarding the plane, I was welcomed aboard the British Airways A319. I headed down to my seat.

Again, this plane features the B/E Pinnacle seat (again, the closest I could get to a B/E AeroSpace product)

The B/E Pinnacle Seat.

Whilst I was flying aboard an A319, boarding took its time as the volume of passenger tried to cram aboard.

Boarding in progress

Why BA didn’t put on an A321 or A320 is beyond me. This flight probably could had filled it quite happily.

However, boarding was completed on time, and soon enough the crew did a safety presentation (as the video screens weren’t working).

Push-back was on time for our plane to complete the short taxi to the runway.

Norwegian Air Shuttle and Lufthansa mainline

Eurowings A319 and an Air Berlin Dash8.

A very quick taxi, and our A319 lined up for the trip back to London.

With climb in progress, the crew begun their cabin service.

Want to guess what was the service for this Band 2 flight? That’s right… another ham roll.

and if you were good.. cheese rolls were also available.

Meanwhile, the view outside was pretty relaxing for the flight back to London. Pretty clouds everywhere. That would come to haunt us as we closed in on Heathrow.

A drink eventually arrived… I went for my usual standby… Diet Coke and Water. Mainly because 1) the drugs wouldn’t allow drink and 2) I was dehydrated enough after pounding exhibition halls for days on end.

Again – the service was pretty much as the outbound service.

That’s no bad thing – again, sometimes its about setting your expectations appropriately. But I would be rather annoyed to pay £400 return to get this as the onboard service (good thing I only paid 9000 Avois and £35).

The cabin itself was quiet. Just lit up with the usual blue mood lighting and the light of the setting sun outside.

Cabin during cruise.

However, as the plane begun its decent into Heathrow, the cabin started to get a bit bumpy.

As we closed in on London, the flight got a lot more bumpy. It made for an interesting journey as we lined up for London.

London Below…

Thames Barrier, The Millennium Dome and Father Thames.

And nearby – London City Airport!

The Millennium Dome/The O2 (Take your pick of the name). 

South London.

With a few bumps on final approach, our little Airbus A319 made its approach into Heathrow Airport

After a bumpy landing, our plane taxied towards its home – Terminal 5A.

Passing a Qantas A380 on the way…

And some Boeing 747-400s at rest…. 

The plane headed toward the taxiway between Terminal 5A and 5B, and begun heading to a gate on the A side. This would save time – mainly as I would not have to deal with the transit system, and I could just get out of the terminal on what was turning into a time-critical connection (namely, the one where I could get home).

With our plane coming to a rest at a gate, the seat belt sign was extinguished, and it the mad panic to get off the plane went into full swing.

Even I was in the rush – I had stuff to be done before I could leave Heathrow Airport.

Overall: Again, a perfectly reasonable – if sluggish service for a short flight. The crew were in reasonable spirits, but again – nothing outstanding to report on the short-haul experience.

And I do wish they’d mix up the short-haul catering. Having the same roll twice over four days is a bit mad.

Next: It’s time to head home… but there is stuff to be done before I can head for the train…

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