In Dublin I’m staying at the CitizenM near St. Patrick’s church. The closest bus stop for the Dublin Airport Express is just five minutes from here on foot. The bus runs every thirty minutes and takes 30 minutes to make the run to Dublin Airport. A single ticket to the costs EUR7.50.

Check-In

I arrive at Dublin Airport just after nine in the morning. British Airways checks in at Terminal 2, row 28. There is one counter for Club Class passengers, and three counters for Economy Class and baggage drop. I tried checking online for my flight, but kept receiving a message in the app that the route was not eligible and that I would have to check in at the airport.

From check-in at ground floor level I head up to the security checkpoint on the second floor. There is a fast track security lane available to passengers in British Airways Club Class.

Yep, definitely Ireland…

The Aerlingus Business Class Lounge

British Airways uses the lounges of its OneWorld partner Aerlingus. The lounge is located several floors below the public airside area. To be honest, the whole set up looks as though there was no lounge planned originally, and that it was added as a kind of afterthought.

The dining options are limited and the lounge is starting to look rather worn and grimey. The view from the lounge is quite good, though.

Boarding

Boarding for our 10h55 departure starts at 10h15. Apparently, the flight this morning is completely sold out. The whole boarding process is a bit messy. There are no separate lanes for the different boarding groups.

The Cabin & Seat

There are seven rows of Business Class on the flight today, for a total of 28 seats. I’m seated on 2A. While the seat pitch is tight, I think it’s slightly better than on the A 320. The two windows on my side are rather dirty. To take pictures of the outside, I have to angle the camera to avoid the worst of the smears.

The Service & Crew

There are four gentlemen working the cabin on today’s flight. With the exception of the purser they’re all quite senior, to the point that I’m wondering why they aren’t retired yet. But I’m not complaining. In my experience the more senior crews tend to have better social skills than their younger colleagues.

Boarding finishes on time, but we have a slot restriction that will not allow us to depart before 11h05. Nonetheless, the crew is expecting an ontime arrival in Heathrow. That’ll be the day… While we wait, the crew pass through the cabin with bottles of still water.

Eventually, we push off stand at 11h20 and make our way to the far end of the active runway for take-off.

The Meal – Light Lunch

The flight time to Heathrow is one hour. With 28 mouths to feed, the crew waste no time in getting started with the meal service. There are two options for the meal. One is goat’s cheese with beetroot salad, which is what I have, and the other is a king prawn salad. The meal is served with a roll and butter and a chocolate mousse with a speculatius crumble. While comfortable seating on short-haul may not be BA’s forte, catering definitely is, I think, and this meal doesn’t disappoint. It’s flavourful and nicely presented. And the chocolate mousse is simply divine and very rich.

Arrival in Heathrow

Of course we end up doing multiple orbits in a holding due northwest of the airport. Approaches are to the east, with the northern runway in use for landings. This brings us in right over Windsor castle.

Eventually, by the time we reach our gate it’s just coming up one o’clock in the afternoon. But I’m not complaining because it means I have a shorter transfer.