Domestic Transfer in Heathrow Terminal 5
I’ve just arrived in London on a flight from Basel. By the time I reach the main terminal, coming from the B satellite, it’s 17h10. If you’re transferring onto a domestic flight from Heathrow, you will need to clear immigration here – and not at destination. The process is straightforward. Follow the signs for flight connections, and once you get there, proceed in the queue for domestic flight connections. By 17h18 I’m already in the lounge.
The British Airways Club Lounge North
I don’t really have that much time in the lounge. It’s very busy, but it’s still a lot less busy than the public airside area. Besides, I need a washroom.
Boarding
Boarding for the flight starts fairly early, at 17h45 for a 18h25 departure. My impression is that BA likes to board as early as possible to avoid delays caused by passengers. Boarding is by groups.
The Cabin & Seat
There are eight rows in Business Class, for a total of 32 seats, and from what I can tell, the flight looks full in the forward cabin. I’m seated on 4F, and the seat pitch is good.
Eventually, we push off stand at 18h17, eight minutes ahead of our scheduled departure time, and taxi to the holding point for runway 09L. The flight time is thirty minutes.
The Service & Crew
The crew on this flight are great. Apparently, they’re doing a meal service on this short sector with a full cabin. But they manage easily and they’re even very charming and relaxed about it. Just before departure, they hand out menus for the meal service. This is another one of those inconsistencies I mentioned in my last post. Why would they hand out menus on a short domestic service, but not on their international flights?
The Meal – Light Dinner
There are two options for the main dish – vegetarian and non-vegetarian. I’m having the former, which is a beetroot salad with goat cheese, served with a bread roll with olives. It’s a nice and light meal. For dessert, there is an apple crumble with custard, but I don’t try that, mainly because we’re already in the descent by the time I finish the main.
Arrival in Manchester
We land in Manchester on time. There’s a bit of a hold up getting the airbridge attached to the aircraft because the ground crew is busy sending off the aircraft parked to our left, which is heading back to Heathrow.
The flight ends in Terminal 3, which is a very strange place. It looks rather old and run down. I exit the terminal and follow the signs to Terminal 1 and then the station.
Conclusion
Once again, I really think BA’s operation at Heathrow is quite impressive. Given the size of the place and the amount of traffic they handle, the process for connecting passengers is straightforward and quite efficient. I’m also wondering if they’ve refurbished their aircraft and perhaps removed a seat row to give passengers a bit more leg space – even though that seems unlikely.
I think they are gradually refurbishing their European fleet——- ive seen photos of a new seat that is dark[ish] blue with red accents that will be on any new deliveries and gradually applied to the exisiting fleet. Overall your flight looked good.
Yes, it was. Definitely a lot more than what SWISS will give you on a ZRH to LUX flight.
A couple of comments I can add; the front row of Club Europe is reserved for Gold Card Holders until 24 hours before departure I believe, and menus are handed out on domestic flights (and not on all European flights) due to calorific information contained within as per UK Government guidelines as far as I’m aware.
Thank you for your trip reports, I really enjoy reading them.
Hi there, and thanks for the clarification. In that case I’ll have to pay attention to check-in early when I fly BA to Malta in a few weeks’ time. By any chance, do you know what the seat pitch is usually like on the LGW based A 321s?
AeroLOPA is a good source for this type of information, it seems paltry on the A321’s unless you’re in row 1 (or an exit row, should Club Europe extend that far). I think the main point about BA’s LGW operation to pay attention to is that your aircraft remains an A321 and doesn’t swap to an A320, where there is no forward bulkhead on the A/C side, and row 1 D/F disappears completely.
I will be interested to learn how you find BA’s LGW operation flown by its Euroflyer subsidiary. I wasn’t particularly impressed and find the Heathrow service better, but I’ve only ever used it once (LGW-SVQ, last September).
Thanks CRW20, now you’ve got me checking the flight on the BA app for any aircraft changes. Well, surely the pitch can’t be as bad as KM. But I’ll keep you posted.