Review of British Airways flight London Edinburgh in Economy

Airline British Airways
Flight BA2936
Class Economy
Seat 18A
Aircraft Boeing 737-400
Flight time 00:35
Take-off 05 Aug 14, 07:25
Arrival at 05 Aug 14, 08:00
BA   #65 out of 95 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 960 reviews
Jett Tyler
By GOLD 3439
Published on 9th May 2015
British Airways has operated the Boeing 737 since 1977 and has subsequently operated the 737-200, -300, -400 & -500.
In 2012 British Airways merged with BMI and sped up the retirement of their BA 737-400 fleet, the rest of the 737 types were retired between 2001 & 2009. I booked for a spotting trip to Edinburgh and specifically chose to go on the BA 737-400 from London Gatwick instead of my local Heathrow.



For me this would be my first Domestic Flight and my first flight alone. So I was excited & nervous. I tried not to think about what to expect on board as for me, doing this makes my flights more enjoyable if you get something unexpected or better.

I arrived at London Gatwick around 6am to check in. Security was quick to get through as I only had hand-luggage & I checked in online prior. I was dropped off by my dad, being 17 I had only began to learn driving. Hence the 0 scores on parking.

As soon as I got Air-Side I found where the Cafe Rouge was and beelined for it in order to get a good hour of pictures of London Gatwick spotting prior to boarding.



At 07:15am the gate was announced and I went to board British Airways flight 2936. It turned out to be a Boeing 737-400, as I hoped, in the form of G-GBTA.

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We taxied ontime and I got some pictures of aircraft parked around us including a Vietnam Airlines Boeing 777-200, Thomas Cook Airbus A330 and a stored McDonnell-Douglas MD-82




When the flight departed, the take-off role and lifting felt more powerful than on Airbus A320's I'd flown on in the past. But the Boeing 737-400 was (with respect) older and smaller so you felt it more.

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The flight was not full, but definitely about 75%.

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For breakfast I chose the regular option which was a Sausage, Bacon, Tomato, Mushrooms, a roll, an egg, orange juice and a choice of Tea or Coffee. For reason I don't really know, I cut the sausage in half and put that the bacon & egg into the roll. I liked it. I enjoyed the orange juice & tea with it. Not a lover of Mushroom or Tomato so I left them & as for the sachets of marmalade & butter, After putting the hot items in it, I felt it would be too far to add the last two item to it. I was not expecting this sort of meal, thinking I was only going to get a tea/coffee with a croissant or pot of porridge. I was impressed.




London to Edinburgh, like most European domestic flights, is not too long (around 45-55 minutes) and we descended into Edinburgh Airport quite quickly. It was an enjoyable flight. We parked at EDI next to the BA LHR & LCY flights which were respectively operated by an Airbus A320 & Embraer E-175.

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However… As an aircraft enthusiast I didn't stop there. I waited for most the passengers to get off and I made my way to the flight deck to get some pictures of the classic Boeing flight deck. I also got my picture taken in the co-pilots seat which I wasn't expecting, but a nice gesture. To end an amazing flight.

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Verdict

British Airways

6.8/10
Cabin8.0
Cabin crew7.0
Entertainment/wifi3.0
Meal/catering9.0

London - LGW

6.8/10
Efficiency9.0
Access5.0
Services9.5
Cleanliness8.5

Edinburgh - EDI

9.6/10
Efficiency10.0
Access9.5
Services9.5
Cleanliness9.5

Conclusion

Definitely would fly British Airways again domestically. Was worth the money (£88 return). Shame it won't be on one of these old ladies again, the Airbus A319/A320/A321 will replace the last one due to leave in July 2015.

Related

9 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 135918 by
    Mathieu 2067 Comments
    Hi again Jett,

    Thanks for sharing this report.
    The breakfast was quite copious on this domestic flight :)
    Your Youtube video is also very interesting :) (I've watched it in the past).
    Nice pic in the cockpit, lucky guy !

    See you, and welcome on board !
  • Comment 135920 by
    NGO85 SILVER 1963 Comments
    Welcome to the site and thank you for sharing this report!

    The interior of that B734 is sure showing its age, I guess there was no point in refurbishing them if they are only going to get sold off soon. Those seats look classic, but I'm sure they are comfortable.

    That is a very good meal service in Y on a short intra-UK hop, I would have thought the meal service would be drink and small bagged snack only.

    I didn't know VN flew to LGW, thought they flew to LHR.
    • Comment 315563 by
      Jett Tyler GOLD AUTHOR 356 Comments
      Glad you like it. BA is getting rid of the last B737-400 in July 2015, the two I flew (G-GBTA & G-DOCY) were retired in Winter 2014. Not long after I flew them. I will be doing 7 more reports this year and then it will be a waiting game for the next one. Thanks for the welcome.
    • Comment 315566 by
      Jett Tyler GOLD AUTHOR 356 Comments
      In regards to the Vietnam Airlines 777-200, they flew to Gatwick from 2008 until March 2015, they now use LHR- however its a recent change for them.
  • Comment 135921 by
    Alex Chan 12 Comments
    It is fabulous to visit the flight deck of a classic 737.
    Surprise to me that BA still serve full meal on domestic flights which i think most of EU carriers stop it for years
  • Comment 135925 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6668 Comments
    Hi there. Great first report. Been seeing you on twitter--nice to see you posting on here! That's cool that you got to fly a 737-400 before they leave the fleet. These birds are getting old but the older seats are much more comfortable than the newer ones. I've flown on former BMI birds and much prefer these old BA seats. Living in the US it's crazy to see a meal being served in economy on a domestic flight. Regarding the Access and Parking grade it is also meant for ease of access. For example, if it is convenient to get to an airport--either by car, train, or other form of public transport--you would grade higher for convenient access. LHR for example, has a plethora of ways to access the airport--the tube, Heathrow Express, Heathrow Connect, Motorway, buses, etc, so I would grade access high (like 8 or 9/10). Gatwick, I'm not so sure about. I guess it depends on where you live, but I think in general it's less convenient than LHR. So maybe like a 5 or 6? Either way you don't want that 0 there...it would mean the airport is inaccessible and offers no parking :-)

    See you soon for another report and Welcome to Flight-Report!

    KevinDC - Community Manager
    • Comment 315613 by
      Jett Tyler GOLD AUTHOR 356 Comments
      Thanks for the welcome :) I am going to do the return flight tonight. My Youtube channel has the other flights I'm yet to review. Thanks for clarifying the bit on access. Gatwick is 50 minutes drive from my place, Heathrow is only 15 minutes.

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