Introduction

Well, I must say that this has been a really brilliant weekend in London. It’s just amazing how much there is to see and do. Of course, it helps that the weather has been stunning and quite warm during the day.

Getting to the Airport

The Elizabeth Line and Heathrow Express are still not running at the weekends due unscheduled “emergency repairs”, whatever that may mean… So, I exit the CitizenM at Tower of London at 12h40 and enter the tube station just around the corner. I catch a District Line westbound train to South Kensington, where I change to the Piccadilly Line to Heathrow. The first train to arrive is bound for Terminal 4, and then Terminals 2 and 3. So I alight at Hatton Cross and wait for the next train which is headed for Terminal 5.

At Terminal 5 I take three escalators up from the station to arrivals at ground floor level, and then another three escalators to reach departures.

Check-In

I’ve checked in already on the app, so once I arrive, I head straight for Fast Track security on the south side of the terminal, which is not at all busy today – for a change.

The British Airways Club Lounge South

As you exit security, there is a screen showing the occupancy in the lounges at Heathrow Terminal 5. I wonder if this actually ever changes. The lounges seem to be busy no matter what time I’m there – although the same can be said of the public airside area, which is crawling with travellers.

I enter the lounge and mange to grab a table that’s just been vacated. It’s been a while since breakfast at The Wolseley, and I’m hungry again. The food selection in the lounge is always very nice with BA, with a nice variety of hot and cold dishes.

I have the beetroot salad with orange and sweet corn to start, followed by the pie and some pasta. The pie is lovely – perfect comfort food. The pasta sauce is good too, but it’s a shame that the pasta has been cooked to death, to the point that it desolves on the fork.

Boarding

The first indication that something may not be as it should with the flight is that it shows a delay of thirty minutes on the departures screen, with the departure moved to 15h50.

I reach the gate and join the queue for Zone 1. But then a gate agent makes an announcement that there’s been an aircraft change and that therefore, our gate has moved from A11, on the main concourse, to C54 in the second satellite that is accessible by train. And so, a full A 320 sized load of passengers slowly pack up their things and move to the escalator to the basement where the train stop is.

When we reach the other side, there is no indication of our flight, the gate shows a departure to Madrid at gate C54 and no aircraft on stand. By this time, our departure has been moved to 16h10 – fifty minutes delay.

The gate area is crowded by the passengers of the delayed Basel flight and those of the changed Madrid flight. Eventually, after some confusion, the screens are updated and passengers are advised that the Madrid flight will be leaving from gate A10 on the main concourse, where most passengers have just arrived from. They’re also advised that this means they’ll have to go through security again at the main terminal. Good times.

Admittedly, BA’s communication leaves much to be desired. There is only one announcement for the gate change of the Madrid flight and no announcement for passengers of the delayed Basel flight. Of course, humanity’s general level of advancing stupidity isn’t helping. One Spaniard approaches the gate about the Madrid flight, and the gate agent tells him he needs to go to gate A10. To which the Spaniard replies that the Madrid flight will leave in 20 minutes. He doesn’t move and I’m trying to figure out what he hopes to achieve by arguing his point?

Eventually, boarding starts at 16h40, an hour and twenty minutes after our original departure time.

The Cabin & Seat

I’m seated by the window on 1A. The aisle seat remains empty. The seat pitch on row 1 is good and the seat is quite comfortable, with an adjustable headrest. There are four rows of Business Class, and the cabin is not completely full up front.

The Service & Crew

The cockpit and cabin crew are excellent and obviously doing their best to manage the situation. The captain informs us that the aircraft originally scheduled for the service to Basel had to do an emergency landing in Heathrow due to smoke in the cabin, and was subsequently taken out of service. I think it might have helped for the gate agents to mention this to passengers. The captain also informs us of a further delay as the result of a runway switch.

While we wait, the crew pass through the cabin with bottles of still water. Eventually, we depart at 17h43 with a delay of two hours and thirty minutes.

The Meal – A Bonus Afternoon Tea

The flight time to Basel is eighty minutes. As soon as we’re out of the Heathrow TMA, the service begins. As on the previous occasion I took this flight, the meal is an afternoon tea, and there is a choice of vegetarian and non- vegetarian sandwiches.

I go for the non-vegetarian option. For the savouries, there is a canapé of boiled egg mayo, a smoked salmon brioche, and a cucumber and cream cheese sandwich.

The scones are served warm, together with a large tub of clotted cream and a small jar of strawberry jam.

And for the pastry, there is something that I struggle to clearly identify. I think the flight attendant said it was was a date cake with caramel sauce. But I’m not sure.

Arrival in Basel

The first officer makes an announcement to inform us that we’ve been given “a really neat” direct routing, and that we’re basically already lined up with the runway. We just need to loose altitude quickly. And that’s exactly what happens. He announces twenty minutes to landing, and shortly after, the speedbreaks open and our aircraft goes into a steep dive. But we make it. Twenty minutes later we touch down on French soil and I’m back in Basel. By the time we land, we’ve only partially made up for our delay – we’re still running behind by one hour and fifty minutes.

At least the airport is not busy at all, so that I’m through the terminal and waiting for the bus in under ten minutes from the aircraft’s door opening.

Conclusion

I like BA. They went through a bit of a bad patch adjusting to the competition and the increasing presence of the low-cost carriers, but they appear to have found back to a more confident, solid footing. All in all, I didn’t think the delay was such a big deal, although I do think the airline might have communicated a bit more proactively what was going on. That aside, though, I think one cannot help being impressed by the operation BA has running at Heathrow airport, especially considering that there are only two runways available.