TRIP REPORT: More Pleasure, More Business – BA967 Hamburg Airport to London Heathrow (CLUB EUROPE – BUSINESS CLASS)

BA967 Hamburg Airport to London Heathrow (CLUB EUROPE – BUSINESS CLASS)
More Pleasure, More Business

In this divided trip report

Part Two Onto Business

• Part One – The Pleasure
• Part Two – The Business
  
• British Airways Galleries South Lounge
• BA962 London Heathrow to Hamburg – Club Europe
• IBIS Budget St Pauli
• Crystal Cabin Awards Roundup
• Aircraft Interiors Expo – What you might have missed
• Back to Hamburg Airport, Hamburg Airport Lounge
• BA967 Hamburg Airport to London Heathrow – Club Europe
• Not going home in a hurry
• Compensation Fun, Games and Paperwork
• Life is in many parts

BA967 Hamburg Airport to London Heathrow Terminal 5
British Airways., Airbus A319, Seat 3F – Club Europe (Business Class)
464 miles flown, 0 Tier Points and Avios earned (redemption flight)

There was a wait on the jet bridge whilst pre-departure checks were carried out on our little Airbus A319 that would be doing duty again to London Heathrow.

Soon… 

Might as well watch planes whilst waiting to board. 

With the checks complete, we were allowed on

I was welcomed aboard and turned right, into the cabin.

I headed to my seat of 3F. Again, we have the Collins Aerospace Pinnacle seat, with the middle tray installed.

3F 

Seats, seats, seats. 

People were hurrying themselves aboard – it was the end of the trade show, and people had homes to get to, or flights to connect to.

With a full flight, boarding took time – but eventually the A319 was packed to go.

 An hour and a half late, our A319 pushed back for the short run to Heathrow.

Pushing back

Eurowings taxing out 

The Omari Special Flight 747 chilling.. 

With such a short taxi to the runway, the long safety demo video was skipped, and the crew did a manual demonstration instead.

With that done, seats were taken for take-off, as I tried to stay awake to the take-off video. I was failing

See you soon. 

I dozed a tiny bit until the hot towels came around. Again. Wonderful wet postage stamps (and of course… minimal reuse… Imagine if BA used a heavier quality towel and recycled these between washes).

Hot postage stamp sir?

With the plane trekking towards London, the crew started off their service. With one person doing the service, it was a sluggish run – to the point that some people in the aft of Club World weren’t being served until the plane started crossing the English Channel.

Above the clouds 

And on these one hours to one and a half hour hops, getting the service in and out as fast as possible is important – be it in Club Europe or EuroTraveller.

Speaking of the food and drink, there were three choices – a bugglaoi salad, chicken salad platter and something else. I decided to risk the bugaloi salad.

The tray.

Hmm. Whilst not what I’d call bugali, it was more of a Moroccan Carrot Salad. No matter.

That being said, the flavours were pretty good, with a reasonable tray with hummus, the Carrots and Couscous being flavour-filled, and the chocolate desert… how can I put in a way that isn’t over the top?

It was welcome at this point of the game.

The setting sun,

I also chose to have BA’s excuse for bubbles on this route. Which didn’t taste as bad as normal. Either it’s got less acidic, or my tongue had given out at this point.

 I’m still not sure which

With the cabin finally served by the time we got halfway across the channel, clear-down was pretty swift, along with the requests for additional drinks.

In my case… a cup of brown liquid masquerading as coffee. It’s airline coffee – you don’t expect an espresso type machine that distributes the good and strong stuff (although it seems that Vueling has trollies that do this).

With a coffee in me, and the plane closing in London – the cabin was cleared down and descended into darkness

.
Going over London before looping back fro Heathrow 

The plane took a route north of London, heading out towards reading, before finally turning back for arrival on Runway 09 Left.

Ready to land

 
South East England 

The Heathorow rental lots…

Another shorthaul British Airways plane landing.

With ease, the BA967 landed at Heathrow Airport safely.

BA967 peeled off the runway and began the trek back from Terminal 3 to Terminal 5. With the expected connections on the plane going long haul that evening (a lot of passengers were heading to Hong Kong it seems), we were sent to dock at the B gates as opposed to the A Gates where European arrivals normally end up

With the plane docking at one of the long arm gates of the B concourse, the seatbelt signs switched off.

I thanked the crew and headed off. And pondered if I was getting home that night.

Overall: I’ve noted the soft service is improving on British Airways – and its evident in the catering offered by the airline on the short haul network. However, elements like the speed of service need to be addressed in short-haul – especially in these 1 to 2 hour hops. Whilst the hardware won’t win me over (especially after seeing some of the economy hardware out there), there are signs that maybe British Airways is improving.

And that’s something to be welcome of.

Next: Not going home in a hurry

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