Background:
This series covers a two-week vacation to Europe that will feature stops in SOF, BEG, TIV, LIS, ARN, and ATH. For background and planning, please refer back to Part 1. As a reminder, the routing for this series is:
Part 1 – IAH-IAD [UA 373, Boeing B767-300ER, Economy] – Here
Part 2 – IAD-MUC [UA 106, Boeing B767-400ER, Economy] – Here
Part 3 – MUC-SOF [LH 1702, Airbus A321, Economy] – Here
Part 4 – SOF-BEG [JU 123, Aérospatiale/Alenia ATR 72-200, Economy] – Here
Part 5 – BEG-TIV [YM 201, Fokker F100, Economy] – Here
Part 6 – TIV-BEG [YM 202, Fokker F100, Economy] – Here
Part 7 – BEG-LHR [JU 380, Airbus A319, Business] – Here
Part 8 – LHR-MAD [IB 3167, Airbus A330-300, Business] – Here
Part 9 – MAD-LIS [IB 3118, Airbus A321, Business] – Here
Part 10 – LIS-LHR [BA 499, Airbus A320, Business] – Here
Part 11 – LHR-ARN [BA 780, Boeing B767-300ER, Business] – You are here
Part 12 – ARN-BEG [JU 411, Airbus A319, Business] – Here
Part 13 – BEG-ATH [JU 512, Airbus A319, Business] – Here
Part 14 – ATH-IST [TK 1850, Boeing B737-900ER, Economy] – Here
Part 15 – IST-ATH [TK 1843, Boeing B737-800, Economy] – Here
Part 16 – ATH-FRA [A3 830, Airbus A321, Economy] – Here
Part 17 – FRA-IAH [UA 47, Boeing B787-900, EconomyPlus] – Here
This report will cover the flight from LHR to ARN on BA. This was part of a BA award ticket that covered LIS-LHR-ARN.
Pre-flight:
After clearing the zoo that is a transit in LHR, I am back in T5 in front of Numero_2’s shop.
I went towards the Galleries South.
There are enough pictures of this lounge, which is always crowded. Here is my breakfast offering. They didn’t put out any lunch items until right before I left.
My boarding pass.
40 minutes until departure and still no gate, but the FIDS says I will be leaving from an A gate.
Welcome to the zoo, I mean LHR.
At 12:45, my gate was finally announced.
My B763 sitting outside.
Spotting from Concourse A is terrible.
My twin taxing by.
——————————
British Airways, BA 780
Equipment: Boeing B767-300ER [G-BZHB, delivered May 1998]
Departure: 13:20 (ATD: 13:42)
Arrival: 16:55 (ATA: 16:59)
Flight time: 2:17
Boarding was called on time and it was down the escalators to reach the jetbridge.
Some trash, compliments of IB.
I was welcomed by some cheery Brits, and it was a turn left toward J.
The old school B763 J seats.
Seat pitch is actually decent, probably 34-35”.
Armrest/cup holder?
Antimacassar.
7 barf bags? Are they expecting a bumpy ride?
The safety card for this B763.
BA Magazines.
The jetbridge retracts.
We were given oshibori during the pushback, kind of weird since they are normally given before the aperitif service.
Pushback gives a glimpse of BA tails.
BA B744.
BA B772.
When DL met BA.
When DL met JU, DL is a little promiscuous.
Gorgeous BA B772 behind us.
JU A319 “Novak Djokovic” heading back to BEG. I’ll see this plane soon ;)
As Djokovic barrels down the runway, we align.
Our 20-year old frame rumbles down the tarmac giving nice glimpses of LHR as we lift up.
LHR expansion work.
Finally out of grey England.
Champagne, water, and nuts to start things off by a really lovely FA. She addressed me by name and did the “Welcome back, Dr. NGO85.”
The FA asked me if I wanted Asian stir-fry or something else, I immediately went for the Asian stir fry so can’t remember what the other option was. My tray.
This was pretty tasty with the right amount of heat. I really didn’t mind that there was no salad on this tray since that is always suspect on planes.
She kept the bubbly flowing, 4 bottles this flight.
Bread was offered twice from a basket.
BA loves its tiered desserts.
No oshibori was given before the meal, so I was resigned to the included packaged one.
Coffee and tea service was done after the meal.
Crossing over Denmark as the meal service wrapped up.
I went to the lavatory and then took a nap after an early morning in LIS.
I woke up as the captain made an announcement to prepare the cabin for arrival.
We approached ARN from the south given wonderful sunset shots over the city center.
BRA.
Coasting into ARN.
We touch down a little bit behind schedule.
The famous B747 Hostel.
DHL B757s.
We are in Sweden, so of course there are some Saabs sitting there.
We pull in next to an AY A319.
Fuselage shot deplaning.
Up to immigration.
Making my way to immigration, you get nice top down shots of KL and DY B738s.
Immigration was a little weird. The agent was definitely friendly, but the questions they asked confused me a bit. They asked me if this was my first time to Sweden and how long I was staying in the Schengen zone. Those are fine, but then she asked me if I’ve been to Europe before. This was after she flipped through all my visas (which contain several European stamps). Maybe she just had a list of questions she is required to ask, but they didn’t really make a whole lot of sense. I prefer the Italians who don’t even look at the ID page of the passport and just stamp it without looking up.
Baggage claim.
Checking out the Stockholm Hall of Fame while I wait for my bag.
I exit out to customs, pick up some SEK at the ATM, buy a 72-hour metro pass, and take the train into the city.
I’ll leave off this series here as I start my two-day stay in Stockholm.
The stupid British habit of displaying the gate number at ETD-30', the hassle of inter-terminal connections and the crowding of LHR's airspace are three good reasons for avoiding BA for a long haul destination, IMO.
Interestingly (or maybe not ^^), the packaged towel is identified as being made of paper 紙 for Chinese and Japanese travelers. It is full size in large print in English, and diminutive (mini-, -lein) in French and German.
Great view of Stockholm
The questions were obviously to check if you were an illegal migrant with a passport provided by your smuggler in LHR :)
Thanks for sharing !
"The stupid British habit of displaying the gate number at ETD-30', the hassle of inter-terminal connections and the crowding of LHR's airspace are three good reasons for avoiding BA for a long haul destination, IMO."
- Agreed, I don't have any interest in going through LHR anytime soon. It is a very stressful ordeal and one that detracts from the supposed luxury of the new LHR terminals. I'd rather fly through LGA than LHR^^
"Interestingly (or maybe not ^^), the packaged towel is identified as being made of paper 紙 for Chinese and Japanese travelers."
- Not too be confused with real cotton oshibori^^
"with a passport provided by your smuggler in LHR :)"
- Who would question the authenticity of my Czech passport?
Thanks for your comments Marathon!
Thank you for sharing this FR with us!
Nice shot with all the BA birds lined up at the terminal.
Great spotting shots at LHR!
Fantastic aerial shots.
I'm glad they still send the 763 to ARN but it won't be a thing for long.
Stunning shots of Stockholm and of Bromma Airport BMA.
Sorry to hear about your experience at immigration, I guess they're being extra catious with the current migrant situation.
I'm glad you visited my home city, even though summer is the best time to visit Stockholm. The sun never goes down completely in June/July (technically never night)
Have a good one, see you!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
"Fantastic aerial shots."
- Had to battle the glare, but we were lucky to land over downtown Stockholm. You can see all the snow and iced over lakes.
"I'm glad they still send the 763 to ARN but it won't be a thing for long."
- It's a rare chance to fly a wide-body on an intra-European sector even if it isn't a very comfortable cabin.
"Stunning shots of Stockholm and of Bromma Airport BMA."
- I almost went through BMA on this series, AY has the BMA-HEL service, but opted not to fly LIS-HEL-BMA on AY with my OW miles.
"I guess they're being extra catious with the current migrant situation."
- At least they are friendlier than the British immigration officers.
"even though summer is the best time to visit Stockholm."
- I got snow both days I was there, more can I hope for in Stockholm? LOL
That is very unlucky with the current weather situation in Stockholm. We don't get that much snow here anymore. We barely had snow during christmas. We had heavy snow from October to March three to fours years ago. Now we only have a little bit of snow for a few weeks in the winter season.
Merci pour ce FR. ^^
"Watches of Switzerland" -> It's a bit fancier than "Watches of Japan". :p
This Business class is even worse than the one of AC Rouge in the same aircraft. ;)
The main looks a bit weird : Asia taste of Britain. ^^
A professional and friendly crew always makes the flight better.
"It's a bit fancier than "Watches of Japan". :p"
- What about the "Watches of the US"?
"This Business class is even worse than the one of AC Rouge in the same aircraft. ;)"
- This is probably still the original business class that BA installed 20 years ago^^ The seats weren't too bad and I didn't get stuck with anyone sitting next to me.
"The main looks a bit weird : Asia taste of Britain. ^^"
- An homage to HK^^
"A professional and friendly crew always makes the flight better."
- BA seems to have very consistent and professional crews. Makes up for the depression caused by a layover in LHR...
Merci Clement^^
"They didn’t put out any lunch items until right before I left."
- Maybe they were just waiting for you to leave. :P
"Welcome to the zoo, I mean LHR."
- This should discourage anyone to connect through here.
"7 barf bags? Are they expecting a bumpy ride?"
- Perhaps they thought of the barf collectors. ;)
"When DL met BA...When DL met JU, DL is a little promiscuous."
- LOL. DL seems to like carriers with red/blue in their liveries. :P
"The FA asked me if I wanted Asian stir-fry"
- I usually associate Asian with Indian coming from the Brits.
"She kept the bubbly flowing, 4 bottles this flight."
- You can hold your alcohol.
"BA loves its tiered desserts."
- It keeps things neatly separated. ;)
Thanks Michael for sharing this nice FR with lovely shots as usual.
"Maybe they were just waiting for you to leave. :P"
- Or maybe they were being thoughtful and didn't want me to spoil my appetite for their on-board catering :P
""This should discourage anyone to connect through here."
- If I remember correctly, you like LHR...
"Perhaps they thought of the barf collectors. ;)"
- Are these people that collect the empty or full ones?
"I usually associate Asian with Indian coming from the Brits."
- Maybe it was in memory of HK?
"You can hold your alcohol."
- I needed to get ready for the snow in Stockholm, it was really cold there...
Thanks for your comments Adan!
"If I remember correctly, you like LHR..."
- Correction - I like(d) which is past tense. I kissed Executive Club goodbye a long time ago. ;)
It is true that BA has a pretty consistent product in J within Europe, but I would say that the 767 is the exception. With a 2-3-2 config, only middle seats in the middle section are blocked, so it makes for an inconsistent experience within the same aircraft. Did you not have a neighbor?
"DL is a little promiscuous."
- And yet DL sleeps with 2 Virgins :-P
The meal looks pretty good for short-haul J. BA crews can be hit or miss, but more often friendly than not. Sounds like you had a good crew.
Sweet spotting at LHR and great views of Stockholm on landing.
Thanks for sharing!
Lazarus is back from France!
"Did you not have a neighbor?"
- The load was light, the cabin was spread out into a 1-2-1 configuration where no one was forced to sit next to someone. I can imagine this is a hit or miss situation, but on this route the load was light. Even in Y, the back third of the plane was almost empty and you could have had a row to yourself.
"The meal looks pretty good for short-haul J."
- This was a pretty tasty meal from BA, and the way it is presented is night and day to what IB catering looks like. I wonder if BA/IB images will ever merge or there will always be an imbalance between the two carriers.
Thanks for stopping by Kevin!