I've never flown trans-European business class before (with any airline) so I was really intrigued to see what BA's offering would be on board, especially knowing what the hard product looked like (and how it is regarded).
I was also excited as this is a 2000km+ trip, so I'd bag 160 Tier Points for it, pushing me nicely to Silver BA Executive Club/Oneworld Sapphire status for the first time.
Having arrived swiftly at Gate A23 from the BA Galleries lounge, I waited a short while before Group 1 was called for pre-boarding. It seems that now BA offer specific, cheaper hand-luggage only flights, an exceptionally large volume of people try to bring on bigger and bigger bags that there just isn't enough room on board to accommodate. This means staff to-ing and fro-ing having these bags sent to the hold which is a touch frustrating. Boarding this short hop over to Romania wasn't especially swift, but it was a busy flight, so this wasn't a huge issue, with good comms from crew and captain. I've always found that BA are always exceptionally good at this.
The Club Europe section was particularly busy on this morning's flight, extending a whopping ten rows back to the first emergency exit. I was seated in row 5F. After a short wait to get on to the runway (Gate A23 is right next to it), we whizzed along and were airborne in no time. We had fabulous views over London's centre thanks to clear skies and bright sunshine. Hot towels were offered by the crew after the seatbelt signs were switched off, and as with World Traveller Plus and Club World on BA's long haul flights, these are threadbare and tatty-looking, which isn’t at all premium. There were also no pre-departure drinks served for Club Europe passengers; I’m unsure if this is the norm on BA short haul flights now. It’s the small things.
The cabin is woeful for a ‘business-class’ offering, but on a par with other European national airlines, but still this isn’t an excuse for what’s on offer. That being said, the cost of the flight was very reasonable (via BA Holidays where I tagged on my hotel to the flight with BA's Centenary 100% extra Avios offer) and you get a full bar and meal service. I’m unsure as to why BA doesn’t up its game and fit A319s, A320s and A321s with 5/6 rows of the long haul World Traveller Plus seats to differentiate and give that extra bit of exclusivity. Obviously I understand route logistics and the benefits of a versatile cabin configuration, but an economy seat (albeit with a spare between) with economy legroom (which at 185cm in height isn’t great) doesn’t exactly scream premium. But, this isn’t news; the sub-par set up of these cabins is a commonplace gripe.
All that being said, the cabin was very clean, with only a couple of minor marks and scuffs to be seen around my seat. Even the carpet was spotless, which is something that bothers me on a lot of BA’s older long haul aircraft which are often very grubby. As this was also an older aircraft, you still received the middle seat table which is quite handy for storing phones, drinks etc.
There were no drop-down screens on this aircraft, so you can’t see route progress which is a shame; I do like knowing where I am.
Drinks service was swift and extremely polite, Dominic, our crew member serving D/E/F seats in Club Europe was really lovely. I was so pleased to see that there was a marked drop in the amount of single use plastic in the cabin, with things like drinks stirrers now being bamboo. I had a Tanqueray and tonic with some dry roasted almonds. It’s a shame these couldn’t have been served in a small dish vs. a packet to keep up a premium feel. Again, it’s the small things.
After much griping about the seat and cabin, it was time for a bite to eat with lunch being served from the selection printed on the rather cute A6-size Club Europe menu. I decided on a lighter choice of buffalo mozzarella, air-dried ham and sun dried tomatoes with croutons. Although wholly presented on a plastic tray, the presentation of the food itself (on crockery) was lovely, and it was incredibly tasty. It was accompanied with a starter of chargrilled courgette and a mini-plate of Stilton and Red Leicester (plus crispbreads and a fig chutney) with a DO&CO chocolate mousse which was topped with a tangy orange zest. Oh, and another Tanqueray and tonic, of course. I polished the whole lot off; it was genuinely a really lovely lunch and just the right size for the relatively swift hop over to OTP. The new DO&CO catering is great, and is apparently a marked improvement on the previous offering. It’s just a shame about the cheap plastic tray, which was the only let down of the entire service. The crew collected the trays in good time; I didn’t feel rushed nor did I feel I was sat around for ages waiting for clearance.
After lunch I relaxed with a(nother) Tanqueray and tonic and watched the world go by from the window. Mainland Europe was smattered with what I call ‘Simpson’s clouds’ because I’m not a meteorologist and I don’t know their fancy name, but you know the type I mean.
Given the tight legroom in the cabin, I decided not to recline my seat for the comfort of the lady behind me. There’s nothing worse than the person in front ramming the seat back into your face without (or even with) asking if it’s ok, so I decided to stay more-or-less vertical for the duration.
We entered a patch of high cloud and my view was obscured by a mildly turbulent mist, so I cracked on writing up this review and brushing up on things to see in Bucharest as well as trying to memorise some Romanian greetings and pleasantries.
We bumpily descended into Henri Coanda Airport well ahead of schedule, approximately 20 minutes early which was great. It’s certainly near the top of my list of ‘crappy airports’, along with London Luton, Toronto Pearson and Miami International.
I enjoyed this flight very much!
Having only hand luggage (for once), I breezed through passport control (though I’m disheartened every time I look at my passport, it’s new and therefore missing two key words for me; ‘European Union’) and out into arrivals to grab an Uber to my hotel.
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