It’s time for the last of the flight snapshots for this trip, looking at the passenger experience aboard British Airways 226 between Atlanta and London Heathrow.
Booking/Check-In
This was booked as part of a return booking on the AA site, allowing me to route through Atlanta on the way back from Chicago O’Hare, whilst having a longer day in Chicago. Seats were assigned at booking (as part of a BA Silver membership perk).
A British Airways boarding pass was issued at Chicago O’Hare when confirming the seat map.
Bags were confirmed as transferred upon checking at the British Airways Gate desk when I checked at Atlanta.
Transit
I had arrived at the T Gates at Atlanta, so I needed to take the people moved from there to the F Gates, where international departures are handled.
After arriving at the F Gates, I was able to proceed toward the gate and facilities as needed.
Lounge
The Club ATL was offered as the lounge for British Airways customers. However, by the time I had arrived at Atlanta, the lounge was shut.
Boarding
Boarding was strictly via Zone at Gate F7, with individual boarding lanes set up for each set of zones.
As part of the departure process, an image was captured and checked to prove I had left the United States of America.
The Aircraft
A British Airways Boeing 777-200ER (G-VIIA) would provide the lift between Atlanta and Heathrow.
This was configured in a four-class configuration with 8 First Class, 49 Club World (with Club Suites, 40 World Traveller Plus, and 138 World Traveller seats.
The Seat
In Economy Class, British Airways had installed the Recaro CL3710 in a 10-abreast configuration. I was assigned a window seat, with the other two seats being unoccupied. These were configured with 31″ of seat pitch and 17.1″ of width.
In-Flight Entertainment
British Airways has the classic Thales IFE system installed on this aircraft. It was surprisingly laggy to use, along with a limited library of content aboard.
In-Flight Connectivity
British Airways uses the Intelsat (ex Gogo 2Ku) on this aircraft, as the fleet begins its transition to Starlink.
British Airways Club members can connect for free messaging at this time, allowing me to communicate using various apps with people as I crossed the Atlantic.
Food and Drink
Service commenced with a drink and pretzels run.
This was followed by the main meal run. A choice of Chicken (Chicken jambalaya) or pasta was offered. This was served with
For a pre-arrivals service, a brown-bag service was offered, with a Ham and Cheese croissant inside, with drinks.
Arrival
Even though the aircraft pushed back late from Atlanta, it made it to Heathrow a good 30 minutes before its scheduled arrival, with the aircraft arriving at Heathrow Terminal 3 around 15 minutes later.
Border and Luggage collection
As I was using a new passport, I was able to use the eGate to clear the border in a fairly quick manner.
Luggage collection, on the other hand, was a long wait. Whilst the aircraft had been assigned Belt 11 for luggage collection, my luggage (along with someone else’s) was sent to another belt. This was only revealed to me when I queried this with the lost luggage team, without outreach or the BA App notifying me where the luggage was.
Thus, for onward travel, it was a race through customs and under the tunnels at Heathrow to meet the coach to take me to the Midlands.
Other Pictures
The full review of British Airways 226 is coming soon.
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