Review of British Airways flight Amsterdam → London in Economy

Airline: British Airways (BA/BAW)
Aircraft: A320-232 G-TTOB (14.4 years old)
Flight: BA447 Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS/EHAM) to London Heathrow (LHR/EGLL)
Date: 26/03/16
Flight time: 56 minutes
Departed: 17:27 (2 minutes late)
Arrived: 17:23 GMT+1 (2 minutes ahead)

Arriving at Schiphol a few hours before my flight I spent some time on the viewing deck, enjoying the good weather that day


KLM B737-8K2 PH-BCE taxiing in

KLM B777-206ER PH-BQE taxiing to runway 24 'Kaagbaan'

The whale and the queen. Emirates A380 A6-EDS and KLM B747-406M PH-BFP

KLM F100 PH-OFE on the viewing terrace

With over an hour and a half till my flight I made my way through security which was very easy and took no more than 10 minutes. Leaving security I made my way to the food court to get some fast food for lunch. I then made by way down to my gate D28 which was quite a walk down the long piers at Schiphol. Arriving slightly earlier I watched aircraft taking off from Runway 24 'Kaagbaan' which can be seen from my gate. Boarding was started on time but was a bit sluggish. 5 minutes later I was onboard and found my window seat.


Air side inside Schiphol.

A320 G-TTOB on stand D28 waiting for return flight

Waiting area was rather empty

Air Bridge Cargo B747-8F and B747-400F loading up

EAT Leipzig A300B4-622F D-AEAG preparing to takeoff on runway 24

Boarding start prompty

My view from seat 15A

Push back began at 17:20 and theshort taxi began a few minutes later to runway 24. After a short hold, we rocketed down runway 24. Our ascent was a little turbulent. We turned right heading south-south-west across to Rotterdam and then across the North Sea. Cruising altitude was 29,000ft.


KLM B737-7K2 PH-BGX with Schiphol Control Tower in the background

Climbing out of Schiphol

Leaving the Dutch coastline

The interior onboard the aircraft is light and pleasant. The seats are very comfortable in economy with plenty of legroom. The service onboard is simple with just a complimentary drinks and snacks service due to the length of the flight but I am not complaining. The cabin crew were friendly and helpful.


seat pitch is very good

There were two in-flight magazines

Sick bag and Safety card

Enjoying a beer and some reading

Our descent began halfway across the North Sea. There were no holding delays for Heathro was we entered London air space for a straight in approach. We lined up for finals on runway 27L. There was heavy cloud cover over London and much of descent was in the clouds. As we dropped below the clouds for short final we experienced quite strong gusts. These gusts being caused by Storm Kate which was affecting the UK at the time. This meant for quite a bumpy approach. The landing in comparison was actually very smooth if a bit late. We quickly slowed down and vacated runway 27L, beginning the taxi to satellite T5B. The aircraft powered down and we were soon docked and disembarking. The journey getting from my gate in Terminal 5B to passport control was quite long. Passport control for me was no fuss, taking less than a minute. I soon found myself in the arrivals hall where I made my way to the underground station to head home.


descending through the clouds

Arriving on our stand alongside A320 G-EUUG

A320 G-TTOB parked up

British Airways B787-8 G-ZBJC

A320 G-TTOB being unloaded

making my way through Terminal 5 arrivals

Going home

Below is a video of the flight