I have quite a few trips with British Airways coming up. I’m looking at it from the positive side. Having so many flights in short sequence should allow me to make a direct comparison and collect a representative sample of service on the British flag carrier. But first, I need to get back home for Christmas.

Getting to the Airport

To get to Heathrow, I’m going to have to cross London from east to west. To catch either the Elizabeth Line or the Heathrow Express would mean changing twice, at Embankment and then again either at Tottenham Court Road or at Paddington Station. I only have hand luggage and I’m good for time anyway. So, instead, I take the District Line to Baron’s Court and change there to a Piccadilly Line train to Heathrow’s T5. Door to door the journey takes me 95 minutes to complete.

Check-In

Fast Track security is tucked away behind the Boots shop towards the northern end of the check-in concourse. The scanner can’t seem to read the boarding pass in the app, so that eventually I have to go to the manned desk to get airside. By the time I’m through security, it’s 14h25 and my flight should start boarding at 14h40.

The British Airways North Terrace Lounge

That gives me enough time to quickly visit the lounge and grab some food. The BA lounge is a complete zoo, as usual, but at least the food offerings are nice – better than the Lutfhansa Group lounges or the Air France KLM lounges.

I have a small chicken pie with gravy, sprouts and baked potatoes and then it’s already time to leave again and make my way to gate A 02.

Boarding

I reach the gate at 14h45. They’re in the final stages of boarding groups 1 and 2, so my timing is perfect. At least I seem to have broken my unlucky spell because I manage to take some decent pictures of my chariot to Basel this afternoon.

The Cabin & Seat

I honestly don’t know how BA do it. It’s a Sunday afternoon and our A 320 has a total of 36 seats on nine rows in the Business Class cabin. And every seat is taken.

I’m seated on row 2, and quite frankly, the seat pitch is so tight it’s actually painful. At least with other European carriers the pitch gradually decreases towards the back, but not immediately on row 2.

The Service & Crew

While we’re still on the ground there is no service at all. There’s a slight delay pushing back – because there always is in Heathrow. While we wait, the young female cabin crew tries making conversation with the American family on row 1. Apparently, they’re from South California and arrived earlier in the day from LA. I’m sure the cabin crew means well by trying to make conversation, but she’s completely not reading the room. The American family looks and sounds exhausted. No wonder. At some point, the dad even tries hinting at her that all they want is some peace and quiet, but she still doesn’t get it and keeps asking questions about their trip.

The Meal – Afternoon Tea

We depart with a delay of thirty minutes. But with a flight time of only eighty minutes, we’re still expecting an on time arrival in Basel. Of course, for the cabin crew that means that they have to be quick if they want to do a full tray service in the Business Class cabin with 36 passengers.

As usual on the afternoon flights, the meal is an afternoon tea. There is a vegetarian and non-vegetarian option. I go for the former to avoid the blood soaked roast beef sandwich. For the savouries, there’s a camembert canapé, a cucumber and mint sandwich and one which is a vegetarian version of a coronation chicken sandwich. The sweet thing is a kind of Christmasy fruit cake.

Arrival

At least the flight passes quickly, which is good given how uncomfortable the seats are. By the time we’re descending into Basel it’s already dark outside. We land at 18h00, and the captain is keen to point out that we’re actually running ten minutes ahead of schedule.

Conclusion

This wasn’t a bad flight with British Airways. The crew were friendly enough, albeit slightly socially awkward, and the meal service was nice. My only complaint, really, is the seating comfort. I think BA has now taken things just a bit too far. On a flight like this of only eighty minutes, it’s still manageable. But I’m not sure what I’ll do in January, when I have a flight of over four hours on one of these things coming up…