Introduction

My flight to London Heathrow departs from Basel at 06h50, which means I have to catch the airport bus at 05h05 in the morning. EasyJet currently has nine aircraft stationed in Basel, most of which leave in the early morning to make their first flights of the day. As a result, queueing for security can be a bit unpredictable at Basel airport, even with there being a dedicated fast track. But today I’m lucky, and the queue isn’t too long, which means I still have enough time for a quick coffee in the lounge. The Swissport lounge is located in the Schengen area, before passport control and emigration. So make sure to plan ahead!

Boarding

Boarding for the flight is by groups. This is something I think British Airways does really well. Either that or the Brits just really enjoy an orderly queue. The flight today is operated by an Airbus A 319, and from what I can tell, the flight is not all that full this morning.

The Cabin

The aircraft is still being loaded and refuelled when I take my seat on 3F.

There are six rows of Club Class this morning. Every row is occupied, although in most cases only one of the two seats is taken.

The Service

There are four crew in the cabin. The purser serves the Club Class cabin on his own. With the light load he takes a pleasant, leisurely pace with the serivce, which I rather like. The service feels unrushed.

The Meal – Breakfast

The breakfast service is another thing that British Airways does really well. I also like that they have a vegetarian option and a non-vegetarian option available on all flights. In addition, other meal options can be ordered at the time of booking.

I mention this here becauce on the Lufthansa group, meal preferences that are saved in a passenger’s frequent flyer profile only apply automatically on long-haul flights. As a result, even if your profile states a preference for Asian Vegetarian, for example, that still needs to be ordered specifically on short-haul flights, which, frankly, is just really very dumb.

In any case, to drink I have a sparkling water and a cup of the most horrible coffee that no amount of milk or sugar can salvage.

I opt for the English breakfast.

The hot meal consists of a grilled tomato, mushrooms, cumberland sausage, scrambled egg and a piece of English bacon cunningly concealed under the egg.

There is also a multigrain bar which, as I write, I remember I still have in my bag.

Hot croissants are served from the bread basket.

There is also butter. I don’t have jam on my tray, but the passenger next to me does. So I’m assuming that was just a mistake and that there normally would be jam too.

And some fresh fruit to at least pretend that this meal was not totally unhealthy.

Arrival

It doesn’t happen very often in Heathrow that you get a direct routing to the approach fix for the landing without having to do at least one orbit in a holding pattern. So today must be my lucky day, because we’re running 25 minutes ahead of schedule! It’s a gorgeous day here in London, with arrivals coming in over Windsor castle for a landing on runway 09L.

Terminal 5 is surprisingly quiet this morning. All e-gates are operating and most of them are empty, no long queues, no waiting.

Getting into London

To get into London I take the Heathrow Express. Just a piece of advice: if you have a trip to London planned in advance, try to book your tickets for the Heathrow Express as early as possible to avoid having to pay a fortune. Otherwise you end up paying GBP25.- for a one way ticket for a journey of 15 minutes. Alternatively, if you’re in less of a hurry you can always use the cheaper but slower Elisabeth line, which has the added advantage of calling in both Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road in the heart of the West End.