Review of British Airways flight London Barcelona in Economy

Airline British Airways
Flight BA2710
Class Economy
Seat 09F
Aircraft Airbus A319
Flight time 02:05
Take-off 03 Jul 15, 18:20
Arrival at 03 Jul 15, 21:25
BA   #65 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 960 reviews
oriolgutierrez
Published on 4th July 2015
BCN - LGW BA2707 Y / AIRBUS A319-100 - 30/06/2015: http://flight-report.com/en/report-10734.html
LGW - BCN BA2710 Y / AIRBUS A319-100 - 03/07/2015: HERE

It was time to go back home after a few days in the UK. I did the online check-in 24 hours before through my mobile phone hoping to be able to select the emergency row seats but unfortunately they weren't available, I then selected two seats in row 9, the row in front of the exit row.
Being in Wimbledon, we took the Tramlink from Wimbledon Station to East Croydon which was a long trip with many stops along the way.
photo DSC_4788
We then took a train in East Croydon whose final destination was Portsmouth, one of the calls was Gatwick Airport, it was a fairly short ride from East Croydon to Gatwick. As you may know, Gatwick Airport's train station is located in the South Terminal so we had to use the driverless shuttle to get from South Terminal to North Terminal, where BA operates from.
photo DSC_4789photo DSC_4790photo DSC_4791
The shuttle ride is very short, about 2 minutes, here are some pictures that I took from the shuttle.
photo DSC_4792photo DSC_4793
We arrived to North Terminal shortly, it looked very modern and clean.

I noticed a Jaime Oliver food truck inside the terminal, didn't order anything but the bar really caught my attention.
photo DSC_4798
This is our flight, BA2710 departing at 18:20 towards Barcelona.
photo DSC_4799
Because I was about to run out of battery on my phone, we decided to use the check-in machines so that we could print our boarding passes instead of having to use my mobile boarding pass.
photo DSC_4800
The security controls were much more strict and long than in Barcelona, but the staff around the area seemed to be very effective making the controls easier and shorter for everyone. I noticed a giant screen with the departures at Gatwick, I believe it is the biggest I've ever seen at an airport.
photo DSC_4801
We then wandered around the duty-free and a whisky shop where we bought some gifts during our last visit to Gatwick, they had an excellent and big choice of whiskies from around the world. It was then time to head to gate 572. The whisky shop employee told us it was very close from the shop and that the gate was located in a new area of gates, he asked us if we wanted to try some whiskies and we did so, they were delicious.
Heading towards the gate I could spot a Thomson Boeing 737-800 with the new V shaped winglets.
photo DSC_4802photo DSC_4804photo DSC_4805
Some British Airways A319 and A320s.
photo DSC_4803
The first A319 was going to be the plane that would fly us to Barcelona, G-DBCF. It was again an ex-BMI 10.1 year old A319 but this time painted with BA's regular livery.
photo DSC_4806
I saw there an EasyJet A319 as well.
photo DSC_4807
It was time to start boarding. Crew members started calling passengers to board from the back to the front of the plane, so we were among the last passengers to board being in row 9.
photo DSC_4809photo DSC_4808photo DSC_4810
Once onboard the aircraft, the same EasyJet A319 was parked right next to our A319.
photo DSC_4811
We then started our pushback.

There was a Titan A320 parked just across our gate.
photo DSC_4817photo DSC_4818
We could see many airplanes during our taxi towards the runway, Norwegian 787, Thomas Cook A330 and some EasyJet airplanes too.

Gatwick Airport's air traffic control tower.
photo DSC_4826
I managed to take a picture of Gatwick's famous bridge and many EasyJet planes around the area.
photo DSC_4827photo DSC_4828
I also saw a plane spotter taking some pictures of us before lining up with the runway.
photo DSC_4829
We also saw some old scrapped planes before takeoff.
photo DSC_4830photo DSC_4831
Before lining up with the runway, we waited for a couple of EasyJets A320 to land.
photo DSC_4832photo DSC_4833
V1 rotate. Positive climb, gear up. Some pictures shortly after rotating.

Gatwick Airport seen from above.
photo DSC_4840photo DSC_4841
Crossing the English Channel.
photo DSC_4842photo DSC_4843
Beautiful clouds over France flying at 39000 ft.
We were served a Chicken and Bacon sandwich and a drink. I ordered a gin-tonic. The sandwich was very tasty. I forgot to take a picture of it.

Here's a picture of the legroom, it was pretty good bearing in mind I was seated in a regular seat. Obviously, the emergency seat I had been on the flight to Gatwick was much better but anyway, I think the legroom was pretty good.
photo DSC_4857
Views of the A319 cabin flying at FL390.
photo DSC_4856photo DSC_4858photo DSC_4859
Here are some more pictures before starting our descent into Barcelona Airport.
photo DSC_4860photo DSC_4861
Following the route we were following, I was sure we were going to land in runway 07L so we still had to fly towards the south of Barcelona and in order to line up with the runway, the approach would be much longer than if we would have landed in runway 25R. Views of the famous Montserrat mountain.
photo DSC_4865photo DSC_4867photo DSC_4870
Some more pics of our approach into BCN.
photo DSC_4871photo DSC_4872
Landing gear down.

Touchdown. Spoilers deployed. Landed one minute before our scheduled arrival time, 09:19 PM.
photo DSC_4881
Barcelona Airport's air traffic control tower with an EZY A319 taking off.
photo DSC_4882
This Vueling A320 landed just after we did.
photo DSC_4885
There was a Royal Air Maroc Boeing 737-800 pushing back close to our gate.
photo DSC_4886
Last views of this BA A319.
photo DSC_4888
I asked the flight attendant if I could go inside the cockpit and take a few pictures, she asked the captain if I could take some pictures and he agreed. BA's A319 cockpit.
photo DSC_4890photo DSC_4891photo DSC_4892
Last view of our plane from the finger along with another BA A320 heading towards Heathrow.
photo DSC_4893photo DSC_4894

That's all! I hope you've enjoyed reading my FR!
See more

Verdict

British Airways

8.6/10
Cabin9.0
Cabin crew9.5
Entertainment/wifi8.0
Meal/catering8.0

London - LGW

8.1/10
Efficiency8.5
Access8.0
Services8.5
Cleanliness7.5

Barcelona - BCN

8.2/10
Efficiency9.0
Access8.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness8.0

Conclusion

BA had set the bar high on my flight to London and I didn't expect them to provide us with such a good flight experience, this flight but, was again a very good overall experience. Legroom was very good taking into consideration the current standards in European airlines, on-time performance was again excellent as we landed one minute prior to our scheduled arrival time. BA's A319 are not brand new but are well conserved and their seats are very comfortable. I would truly recommend BA to anyone who wants to fly to the UK! Good job BA!

Related

4 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !

Login to post a comment.