Hello everyone, in December 2018 I had another trip to Asia. This report will cover the first leg from Munich to London Heathrow with British Airways.
1. Part 1 MUC->LHR BA927: You are here!
2. Part 2 LHR->HKG CX250: Here!
3. Part 3 HKG->TPE CX464: Here!
4. Part 4 TPE->HKG CX421: Here!
5. Part 5 HKG->LHR CX257: Here!
6. Part 6 LHR->MUC BA956: Coming soon!
This is the second time I flew with British Airways for intra-European flight. On the day of flight, I arrived Munich Terminal 1 at 12:15pm. British Airways operates around six flights per day between Munich and London Heathrow. The check-in counters are located in Terminal1A. When I arrived, there were three British Airways counters were opened for all passengers. It took me about 15 minutes to finish the check in process. Since my gate was assigned at B08, I had to use the immigration at module B. Once I got there and there were bunch of people lining up in front of me. I was a little bit worried as the schedule boarding time at 14:00pm was approaching. Finally I managed to get through the security check at 14:05pm. Boarding wasn't started yet and I was thinking to buy something for the lunch but again, there were so many people in front of the kiosk next to my gate.
Luckily, gate B08 is just behind the security check so I can get there pretty quick. Boarding was called at 14:06pm for group 1,2 and 3. I was in group 4 and boarding started a few minutes later.
My ride to London, an A319-100, D-EUPS. The plane was delivered to British Airways in 2000, so she is literally 18 years old. There were 143 seats on the aircraft in 3-3 configuration.
View from my seat, 11F.
30 inches seat pitch
Leather seating are manufactured by B/E Aerospace.
Boarding was completed at 14:25pm but due to the strong wind in Munich, our departure time would be delayed for about 25 minutes. Flight time was expected to be one hour and 45 minutes. Meanwhile they were welcoming children to visit the flight deck. At 14:59pm, push-back finally started and safety video was then followed.
I would say this safety video is quite successful in getting my attention.
Entering the runway 26R
Before takeoff, the man sitting at the aisle seat moved away. We then lifted off at 15:15pm and the man sitting next to me moved to the aisle seat so I can enjoy and empty space in the middle seat.
Shortly after take-off, overhead monitors were lowered and airshow was playing throughout the flight.
After that I browsed through the on-board meal card to find some food for the lunch. The food and drinks are provided by Marks & Spencer.
At last, I decided to order the Honey Roast Ham and Farmhouse Cheddar Cheese with Highland Spring Sparking water. The price was quite reasonable and I paid them with my credit card.
At 16:36pm, announcement from the flight deck that we had commenced the descend into London Heathrow. The landing time would be a quarter past four.
Seat pocket Items.
As we were performing the typical holding pattern, Lufthansa A320 can be seen from the window. She was also flying from Munich.
After holding for a circle, we descent into London Heathrow Airport. Seatbelt signed was turned on.
Through the cloud, the O2 Arena and the Isle of Dogs can be seen.
At 16:13pm local time, we touched down on RWY07R. Total flight time was 1 hour and 58 minutes. After landing, it took a while to taxi to our final parking position in Terminal 5.
Thanks for reading!
Hi NGD16, thanks for sharing this first report in a new series of flights to Asia!
I guess since CX only fly to FRA in Germany (I think), it is easier to backtrack to London on BA to stay on oneworld--especially since the demise of Air Berlin, oneworld has a big hole in the route network in Europe.
I understand why BA decided to go to B.O.B. but it still feels so cheap for a flag carrier to do that. They could at least offer a small snack and also have B.O.B. options, like the U.S. carriers do. Having only B.O.B. feels too LCC. The tight 30" seat pitch is definitely LCC-like. The ability to earn BAEC or oneworld miles is the only thing that differentiates BA from an LCC on short-haul now.
At least the B.O.B. is reasonably priced and usually of good quality on BA, but I agree with you it would be nice if they had some hot options.
Nice view of Canary Wharf on arrival!
"May be I did not have much expectation before the flight, the overall experience with British Airways was not that bad indeed"
- The European and North American carriers have trained us all to have very low expectations as they've downgraded their short-haul products to copy LCCs. It's like I was saying in another report from Asia...there one can rate a hot meal with a low score on a short-haul because it's common to have hot meals and in the U.S. and Europe, we're happy to just have free soft drinks, haha. It's all a matter of expectations, and like I said, the US and Euro carriers have done a good job of lowering our expectations.
Thanks for sharing and looking forward to the other flights in the routing!
Hi KévinDC, Thank you for your comment. You are absolutely correct, that the reason to choose to fly with BA is about the Oneworld miles, otherwise you cannot tell the difference. As for the B.O.B, I just hope that this is not going to became the trend in the future., but we will see. Besides, I noticed several times that BA will force the passenger to check also the carry-on luggage at the counters if they think the flight will be fulled, which I am quite reluctant to that.
Hello NGD16!
This certainly looks like an interesting series on the longhaul from Munich to Taipei. I look forward to seeing how it unfolds.
Seat pitch doesn’t look great, although it looks better than some 30-inch pitch situations I’ve seen. I suppose that’s because it’s slimline seats.
Nice that they offered youngsters a look at the flight deck during the delay. That’s a little detail that goes a long way in my books.
A great window seat to have, though, right at the wing. And nice that you ended up with the empty middle seat. That makes a difference.
After reading through other reports of similar-length European shorthaul flights, it’s disappointing that it’s only BOB on BA. But I guess that shows where BA’s at today.
I look forward to the rest of the series! Thanks for sharing this segment, and happy flying!
Hello Hometoyyz. Thank you very much for your comment. Please stay tune for the rest of my reports.
Thanks for this FR.
Well nothing remarkable about BA short haul with the BoB but at least prices are reasonnable.