It’s time for a Snapshot, this time examining the passenger experience aboard British Airways 956 between London Heathrow and Hamburg.
In case you’ve forgotten how we do travel write-ups on Economy Class and Beyond, I have two major travel writing styles:
- Trip Reports – These are full deep-dive reports taking you into the experience and the small things… as well as the big things!
- Snapshots – These are bite-sized reviews that show you the basic product in some nice gentle headlines (and normally, only images shot on the phone).
Today, we’re on the Snapshot. The full in-depth review is a work in progress (and I mean that in the nicest sense – you haven’t seen the pipeline I’m working through…).
Check-in
Physical check-in was conducted from Terminal 5. I took the train from the Central Terminal Area over, as the coach had dropped me off there.
At Terminal 5, I used an automatic check-in machine to generate a boarding pass for the flight. As I was carrying no luggage on the outbound segment, I proceeded through to security.
Security
I used the south security gates to clear the mandated requirements for scan and luggage check. Whilst it was not queuing into the tensabarrier maze, the security area was very busy, with it taking around 11 minutes to get through using FastTrack.
Lounge
I used the South Galleries Lounge at Terminal 5 – as this is a larger facility compared to the North lounge.
Services in the lounge have returned to some normality, with some items being self-service – including alcholoic beverages, cold drinks, tea/coffee, as well as light snacks. Hot items required ordering via a web page.
Hot items were ordered via QR code and a menu.
Boarding
Boarding was from Gate A9 – one away from the dreaded A10 bus gates. Announcements from this gate were very quiet.
A request was made for passengers to gate-check their bags if they could.
The aircraft
It’s a British Airways Airbus A319, painted in the BEA retojet livery from the BA100 celebrations.
The seat
British Airways has fitted this aircraft with the Collins Aerospace Pinnacle seat, pitched at 30″. In Club Europe, the seat also features a cocktail table.
Wi-Fi and IFE
No Wi-Fi or IFE was provisioned aboard this aircraft. There was also no power in the seat on this Airbus A319.
Catering
Drinks orders were taken before take-off, with them delivered shortly after post-take-off. These were offered with a nut mix.
A choice of salads was offered, with the salad arriving around 20 minutes before landing. I selected the Prawn Salad. This was served with a side salad and a mousse/custard/rhubarb thing.
Arrivals process
The aircraft arrived at Hamburg safely, where it was assigned a jetbridge.
From here, it was a matter of following the signs to immigration, luggage collection and exit
Outside views
The full trip report is coming soon!
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“No Wi-Fi or IFE was provisioned aboard this aircraft. There was also no power in the seat on this Airbus A319.”
They’re carrying the “retrojet” theme a bit far, no? 🙂
To fly, To Meh.
In all seriousness, the idea was to get shot of the A319s as soon as – so they were last in line for any upgrade.
Given the staff shortages (and you can crew an A319 with one less member of staff)…. They’re hanging around for a while it seems