Review of British Airways flight London → New York in Economy

British airways _ boeing 747-400 _ LHR to jfk

Hello and welcome to this flight report!

Before we start I like to thank you for reading this report. This is my second report made on this website. 

For more reports by me visit my profile:
https://flight-report.com/en/member/5799


Okay, lets begin!  

This flight is with British Airways from London Heathrow to New York JFK airport. The flight is operated by a Boeing 747-400 registered G-CIVA.
My first ever flight on a Boeing 747 aswell.

Me and my parents arrived at Heathrow T5 to see a full busy departures board. 

I enjoy looking at departure boards, it gives me ideas for future trips.

After check in and security which went smoothly, we made our way into a very crowded duty free area.

Terminal 5 at Heathrow is modern looking but in my opinion, to small and very crowded.

One shop you can find at T5 is the official Harry Potter shop!

Full off clothing, note books, bags, cuddly toys and chocolates! all themed in things related to the franchise.

Defiantly worth a look around if you do get the chance to fly from T5.

Terminal 5 consists off the main terminal with two extra satalite buildings. My flight departed from the B gated area building.

In the main terminal you can find shops such as Boots, WHSmiths, Pret a Manger, Starbucks Coffee and many high end clothing chains.

The only down side to this terminal being fairly small, it can over crowd in the shopping areas especially when they are situated in the same location as some off the gates.

After a little while we made our way to gate B39 for the flight.

On our way we noticed a little sign mentioning Concorde's last flight from Heathrow

Also we was very lucky to spot out three off British Airways retro livery designed aircrafts!

The BOAC designed 747 is my favourite out off all the designs.

Soon after waiting around at the gate, we boarded my first ever 747-400 flight.

After wanting to fly on one for over 20 years, I was eager to get this flight underway!

The process off boarding and loading baggage into the hold took a little longer due to several passengers not turning up to the flight. 

This resulted in causing a delay on departure to unload all the missing passengers baggage.

After over half an hour delay we had clearance for push back and priority take off.

The aircraft made a quick take off down runway 27R and flying over Windsor Castle.

Watching the 747 wing flex up when climbing was fantastic!

Like the majority off long haul flights, British Airways provided a pillow and a blanket.

The pillow had a little pillow case with aircraft engine propellers.

But the pillow itself wasn't that great as a head rest, although It did very well to cushion my back.

The blanket came in a clear plastic bag, you could tell the blankets are reused.

Although the blanket are obviously reused, it was surprisingly soft touched, thick enough to keep warm and big to wrap around to keep snug.

Soon after levelling out to an altitude off around 38,000 feet, the crew started the lunch food service. 

Starting off with a tiny packet off Penn State pretzels and a cup off orange juice. Virgin Atlantic also provide a little packet off pretzels as a quick snack fix on flights.

I was presented with a little tray holding the main, side, bread roll, crackers and a desert.

I try not to complain much on my reviews but I wasn't that happy with British Airways catering.

The side dish like many others on the flight did not touch, I took one taste and it was terrible! I can not explain what it could be other than a bowl off sick.

Now the bread roll was standard, rock solid with not much flavour unless filled with butter.

The desert was a little tub with a strawberry flavoured yogurt made by Pots.

Apart from the rest of the meal, the main wasn't to sad. It consisted off the chicken in the tomato sauce, chunky chips with vegetables/beans.

My mum got lucky, the crew ran out off the standard economy meals so they provided her with a meal from Business class!

Consisted beef, mash potato and vegetables topped with gravy placed on a white clean china plate.

Soon after the meal I decided to have a little wonder around the cabin. The 747-400 consists off a 3-4-3 configuration.

Also to note on this aircraft and the 777-200 for BA, they don't have over head air con units.

You can also see the over head storage bins are very old and spacious.

The rear aircraft galley for the crew is huge! plenty off space to prepare food and to stand around.

Drinks are available for passengers to get themselves.

I had a few whilst stretching my legs on this almost 8 hours flight.

This toilet out of 4 toilets at the rear off the 747 is very tight! 

Even though the aircraft has been refitted recently, it still has the original lights that was installed when the aircraft was made 26 years ago.

The onboard IFE flight entertainment system was fantastic! It had a wide selection of TV shows, Movies, news updates from around the world, games and my favourite the flight tracker. This was powered by Voyager 3D powered by Airshow.

With just under an hour left of flying the crew once again came through with a little snack before landing. consisted a bland chicken caesar roll with no taste and a little dairy milk chocolate bar.

Then afterwards with a surprise off a yummy icecream!

We slowly made our decent over Boston area and over Long Island NY. The views were spectacular.

Just before we land, lets look at the seat.

The seat comfort was better than I expected it to be, the headrest was a little strange but gave it the unique look.

Soon we was inline for a quick landing into JFK.

We had a very heavy drop in the sky to a smooth landing, feeling very excited!

I noticed this Delta Boeing 757-200, my favourite aircraft.

The aircraft parked up to a fellow sister plane at JFK Terminal 7. I was also very lucky to go upstairs to visit the cockpit! 

After clearing USA customs, we collected luggage and made our way to the air link to NYC.

And that was it!

My first ever flight 747 was over, we had a blast in the city and flew back home the following Sunday on a British Airways 777-200. that review will follow on here soon.

The flight with British Airways was to reasonable but not the standard I expected with the airline. I recommend this flight to anyone if they are interested in flying with BA. But do not expect much from the food catering.

Thank you again as always for taking your time to read this report. I have plenty more reviews coming soon including two flights with Flybe and future flights with Blue Island Airlines to Guernsey and flights with TUI UK to Corfu.

Until then, keep flying and smiling!