It’s time for another Snapshot looking at the passenger experience on British Airways 749 between EuroAirport Basel-Mullhose to London Heathrow in EuroTraveller (Economy Class).
Re-routing and check-in
initially, I was routed to travel back between Zurich and London Heathrow. However, due to weather conditions, British Airways pulled all remaining Zurich flights. The default option was to reroute to Basel and pick up an aircraft there.
Seating was allocated on the aircraft and a boarding pass was assigned.
A ticket to Europort Basel-Mullhouse was brought at Zurich Airport as a single ticket, which covered the entire route.
Upon arrival at Basel, I transferred to a bus and finally arrived at the Swiss side of the EuroAirport terminal (with the other side being the French side of the terminal).
Check-in
The check-in queues extended very far back with Euortraeller passengers, whilst the Club queue moved at a snail’s pace
Security
Fast Track security was offered at EuroAirport Basel, with the wait only being a few minutes. My bag was scanned without incident.
To access the main Y-shaped passenger concourse, you have to pass through Duty-Free on the Swiss Side of the airport. Once clear, you’re in a comparatively small terminal area.
Lounge
EuroAirport Basel offers a single lounge – The Skyview Lounge. This is on two levels, with a lot of space to explore (as well as an open-air deck).
Hot food, salad items, hot and cold and alcoholic drinks were on offer on the upper floor.
Boarding
British Airways 749 boarded from Gate 30 in the Non-Schegen Zone and another Duty-Free shop. Boarding groups were enforced, with a nearly full flight expected.
The Aircraft
British Airways operated an Airbus A320 on this route. This had the modified configuration, where row 1 was exposed to create a larger entranceway.
The Seat
Due to the late re-booking, I was assigned 27A at the rear of the aircraft. This was a Collins Aerospace Pinnacle seat. The seat next to me was spare.
IFE+C
British Airways offered its online portal for this flight. For those who required internet access, this was priced starting at £4.99 for inflight data, and £2.99 for messaging only.
At the back of the plane, power at the seat is offered in the form of USB-A sockets.
Catering
As a free option, a bottle of water was offered. This was complemented with either a small flapjack or a corn-based snack.
Landing
Due to the windy conditions, the landing conditions were… challenging at Heathrow.
After landing, the aircraft was met by buses on a remote stand for transit into to arrivals.
Arrivals
After bg bussed to the terminal, immigration took 30 minutes to clear due to a lack of border agents.
Given I had no luggage to collect, I cleared the secure area and headed to the public area to grab coffee before the journey back to Birmingham.
Other Pictures
The full trip report including my experiences on British Airways 749 should start next week – subject to a lot of editing time…
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That airport looks a bit small (perhaps to counterbalance the absurdly long name?), but nicely functional and the lounge looks very nice indeed. And a free middle seat on such a late booking is a welcome extra! Looking forward to the full report!
It is… tiny indeed. This trip report is a doozy. A class one doozy.
And that excudles the reroute. That landing was something else….