Review of British Airways flight London Lyon in Economy

Airline British Airways
Flight BA364
Class Economy
Seat XXF
Aircraft Airbus A320
Flight time 01:40
Take-off 08 Jul 16, 20:40
Arrival at 08 Jul 16, 23:20
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
ChrisB
By GOLD 400
Published on 16th December 2021

MY BRITISH AIRWAYS ANALYSIS THROUGHOUT 2012-2019


Hello Everyone and welcome to this flight between Lyon and London, a routine that was about 7 years long.

I usually left from Heathrow, I had to go to the funerals of someone close to me, so it was a last minute flight and I did enjoy the cheaper fares from gatwick (BA opens also a route to Lyon from Gatwick in the winter for the Ski season).

You may have noticed I lived for a good couple of years abroad.
I have kept some pictures, emails and documentation of the flights throughout the years, and I have been flying on the same route, at identical periods (Christmas, Summer holidays, Easter…).

I thought I could do something different, instead of posting FR sporadically I am suggesting to pick up one flight per year, so that we are able to compare and note the evolution of the product offered by BA.

My aim is here to analyse the evolution of service legacies have offered over the years. 

For the 2012 report it is HERE
For the 2013 report it is HERE
For the 2013 incident report it is HERE 
For the 2014 report it is HERE 
For the 2015 report it is HERE 
For the 2016 report it is HERE 
For the 2017 report it is HERE 
For the 2018 report it is HERE 
For the 2019 report it is HERE 


photo 2016

At the time, the fare included (for free):
A cabin luggage
Complimentary meal and drinks (incl alcohol)

so free seat selection at booking and checked-in luggage no more! 


photo servicephoto seats-type

For the quality and level of service detailed above, the average price ticket I paid of a SINGLE flight on the LYS - LHR is:

£56 for 2012
£49,6 for 2013 (including a flight redeemed with Avios)
£57 for 2014 (including a flight redeemed with Avios)
£65 for 2015 (including a flight redeemed with Avios)
£50 for 2016 (including a flight redeemed with Avios)
£52 for 2017 (including a flight redeemed with Avios)
£17 for 2018 (including 3 flights redeemed with Avios) - hence the lower average ticket price
£94 for 2019 (including a flight redeemed with Avios)


photo price

the flight itself


In 2016, the terminal 1 was closed and the BAW flights that were departing from there were transferred to the T3.


Avios Miles earned with this flight: 250
Status earned: 5  


British Airways App was extremly robust, and I must say well ahead of its european competitors.


photo 20190822_123257

I - almost - always flew on the A320, BA very rarely operated any other A32X family members.


photo map-320-european-42073

at london _ heathrow airport


I arrived at London Heathrow with the Piccadilly line trains as usual; but unlike the T1 that was much closer to the tube station, there is a good 10 min wlaking distance from the tube station to reach the outside bit.


photo img-20160708-wa0011

But the good thing of the T3 is that the BA/Delta/Virgin check in counters are right passed the entrance doors.


photo drop-offf-97345

The FIDS displaying my flight.
As you can see I was super early! 


photo fids

And no unecessary wlaks to reach the security checks as it is just up this escalator.


photo going-to-security

But, like most airport noawadays, a compulsory walk through the duty free is compulsory.


photo duty-frree-55466

Finally arriving at the food court, where the offer is really large.


photo t3-departuresss

The great thing about the T3 is that you can get really close the birds and especially the queens!


photo 20180831_202219

onboard the a320


My partner and I were first seperated, he bought his ticket way after I did.
Nonetheless here is a left picture and with another A320. 


photo a320-1

Aircraft: Airbus A320-232
Registration: G-XXXX
Engines: 2x IAE V25200
Age: XX Years
Layout: Y180


But we managed to swap seat with a lovely Lady.


photo 20190822_124156

And I managed to swap seats with my lovely partner for the windows seat!!

Off we went taxiing. 


photo taxi

As you can see the flight wasn't full!


photo siegephoto taxi2photo taxi3

on the 27L edge.


photo taxi4

photo tkoff

amd take off!


photo tkoff2photo tkoff3

Impressive T5 buildings


photo tkoff4photo tkoff5

When you take off from this runway and heading south, there is a strange bit when the plane just stabilises at a given altitude before climbing further, it is to avoid flight paths from and to Gatwick.

Hence the first part of the flight at low altitude. 


photo cruisephoto cruise2

And the higher cruise


photo cruise3

Now over the channel when the service started.


photo cruise4

The service was complimentary, still for the last year. 

It included a ham and cheese croissant and a soft drink. 


photo ptit-dej

It also included some booze for free, if required.

We had a bit of a laugh with the crew and they even offered us to drink from a real glass glass. 


photo sauvignin

The super friendly crew.


photo crew-78358

Time for the magazines review: British Airways offers the Highlife magazine, an additional Business life and a last one for onboard duty free magazine.

Let's start with the duty free shop. 


photo 20211209_121525-43253

Even selling Marmite erk


photo 20211209_121549

And the usual High life magazine


photo 20211209_120939photo 20211209_121026

at lyon - saint exupery airport


And we arrived at the brand new terminal!


photo t1newwwwphoto crew-78358
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Verdict

British Airways

8.0/10
Cabin7.0
Cabin crew9.0
Entertainment/wifi7.0
Meal/catering9.0

London - LHR

7.8/10
Efficiency8.0
Access6.0
Services9.0
Cleanliness8.0

Lyon - LYS

7.9/10
Efficiency8.0
Access7.0
Services7.5
Cleanliness9.0

Conclusion

We are going to see that the level of service has been going down over the years, but not the ticket fare, all in the name of the free market and the high competition.

In 2016, on the LYS-LHR legs, I paid on average £51 for a single ticket, using a "free" flight redeemed with avios.
In 2015, on the LYS-LHR legs, I paid on average £65 for a single ticket, using a "free" flight redeemed with avios.
In 2014, on the LYS-LHR legs, I paid on average £57 for a single ticket, using a "free" flight redeemed with avios.
In 2013, on the LYS-LHR legs, I paid on average £49 for a single ticket, using a "free" flight redeemed with avios.
In 2012, on the LYS-LHR legs, I paid on average £56 for a single ticket (so £112 for return).

The new cabin was a bit more modern in terms of colours but the seats were less generous in terms of quality and pitch.
The cabin crew is a real plus, nothing too fancy but you know what you get on board BAW: no bad surprises of staff being grumpy (unlike AF at the time)
In terms of entertainments, there were a magazine, the screens in the cabin which were really strong for a 2012 product (I am not adding the Wifi criteria on my ranking)
Finally the food on board was free, generous with refill automatically offered,

Information on the route London (LHR) Lyon (LYS)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 16 avis concernant 1 compagnies sur la ligne London (LHR) → Lyon (LYS).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est British Airways avec 7.3/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 1 heures et 32 minutes.

  More information

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