TRIP REPORT: Older, Yes. Wiser? No – The Skyview Lounge, Euroairport Basel

The Skyview Lounge, Euroairport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg
Older. Yes, Wiser? No.

• Age is a social construct. Frequent flyer programmes, doubly so.
• Morning coaches. Coach Fun and comedies
• British Airways Galleries North Lounge, Heathrow Terminal 5 
• BA772 London Heathrow to Zurich (Eurotraveller)
• Into Zurich
• Experiments in photography: The Canon EOS R50
• Back to Zurich Airport and a dreaded Text message
• IC3 Zurich Airport to Basel Hbf
• To EuroAirport Basel and The Queue from Hades
• The Skyview Lounge, EuroAirport Basel 
• BA749 Euroairport Basel to London Heathrow (EuroTraveller)
• Little Britain at its worst
• Older yes. Wiser? Dear deity… of course not!

Skyview Lounge

I was welcomed to the lounge, and allowed through after a boarding pass. Someone tried to follow behind me, who demanded to be let in. I walked away from that hot mess as fast as I could, as this… person… was… sigh. Nope. Not going to say the word.

I walked around the ground floor of the lounge, with nothing appearing to be open.

A quick look indicated that all the action was going on upstairs, where there was plenty of seating, as well as food and beverages. From an architectural point of view, this is a stunning lounge, with lots of natural light possibilities.

I was there when it got dark. Natural light wasn’t a thing.

I plonked myself near a window – even though it was as dark as anything. I still like a window, and I’m going to have one where I can.

With my stuff secure – I heard off to the food and beverage area.

For a small airport, it’s got a lot better catering than some US airports I’ve been to, with both cold salad items, and hot food (comprising of chicken steaks, rice, fish, as well as soup).

Cold items

Breads and dried fruit

It’s better than most US Lounges. 

Meanwhile, drinks were mostly bulk-loaded, with large items as opposed to individual bottles of items – I’ve got no problems with this, as it can cut costs appropriately.

It makes a mockery of the USA, where lounges enjoy cling-filming apples.

No Cling film is needed here. 

As to the architecture of the lounge, it’s a lovely open space, with different seating options for those who want them.

It was the perfect place to relax.

But I noticed that the departure time was being pushed back further and further. Was I going to have a night in Basel?

Checking FlightRadarand FlightAware, it seemed the aircraft had a taxi around the Heathrow Complex, before heading back to a gate. That isn’t a good sign.

Of course, there was no communication from British Airways indicating what was going on, which made this a lot harder than it needed it be – other than a message that the flight was delayed.

 
Wonderful

Eventually, the aircraft took to the air, with it running way behind schedule. It seemed that I would be making the coach that I had booked in the first place, rather than dealing with trains.

Even if FlightRadar24 took time to get the correct flight number.

That would be welcome in some ways, as there was a rail strike in the UK – and dealing with that was low on my agenda.

I kept an eye on the map, as it was fast turning into a race – would I be kicked out of the lounge first or would the plane land first?

In the end, the Airbus A320 won, with it landing at 18:20 local time.

As the aircraft taxied in, I chose this point to leave the lounge and clear the Schengen formalities at this point.

After grabbing a couple of extra PokeStops to fill my item bag, I headed to the Non-Schengen border and was stamped out of the European block (with the passport stamp having a lovely F for France on it).

From here, it was one more battle with a small duty-free shop, and finally to a very full gate.

It seemed there were more than a few people who had been diverted to Basel that night, along with the expected passenger load

The gate had been set up for full boarding groups, with the agents intent on following boarding procedure – pretty rare for an outstation.

I queued up in my appropriate lane, with everyone else taking their places. During this time the ground handling agent preemptively started scanning boarding passes and checking passes whilst in the queue to speed up the process.

A nice touch.

Eventually, Groups were called forward.

It was time to head to Heathrow.

Next: BA749 EuroAirport Basel to London Heathrow… with a landing and a half…

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