#62 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
967 reviews
Hello everyone, welcome back to another flight report!
I was flying from Hong Kong to Edinburgh, transferring at London Heathrow Terminal 5, as there are no non-stop flights between Hong Kong and Edinburgh. This trip report features the second leg of my journey as I fly from London Heathrow to Edinburgh.
Aircraft: G-TTNO (Airbus A320-251N)
Age of aircraft as of flight: 3.2 years
Flight number: BA1442
Scheduled flight time: 08:45 - 10:10 (UTC) | 1h25m
Actual flight time: 09:04 - 10:08 (UTC) | 1h04m
Seat: 17A (Euro Traveler/ Economy)
After deboarding from my last flight, BA28 (Hong Kong HKG - London Heathrow LHR), I followed the purple signs and proceeded to the transfer line. I was at the line of UK and Ireland transfers. I am unsure whether the details of the security check is disclosable, but the whole process took me a bit more than 50 minutes, from deboarding from BA28 to arriving at the gate of BA1442. Note that I do not need to collect my bags at LHR, they go straight to Edinburgh.
At one of the checkpoints, the machines didn't turn on, resulting in lines of somewhat 50-100 passengers in front of these machines. It was about 07:30 at the moment, with different domestic transfer passengers waiting to catch their next flight, going to destinations like Edinburgh, Newcastle, and Manchester. Some of their flights even depart at 08:05, takeoff time! The staff allowed the more urgent passengers to get in front of the line so they can transfer faster. Eventually, after waiting for some 10-20 minutes, the machines turned on once again and I can proceed with the transfer procedures.
As for the security check, all domestic, international, and transfer passengers at Heathrow Terminal 5 share the same security checking facilities. As it reaches peak hours, the facilities became quite crowded. The checking is done very detailly, so some waiting is required.
The security check is rather strict and safe. Some of the passengers were found to have water in their bottles. The staff would do everything according to procedure until they confirm that the liquid in the bottle is water. If that's the case, the passenger would be told to drink them all before proceeding, as no place is provided for liquid disposal at the security check. Please do not miss the bins on the way that allow you to pour unwanted water, or else you'll have to drink it all on spot. As for my case, I missed all the bins but realised that water is not allowed, so I had to drink it all before the security check. That is followed a toilet visit, obviously.
The signs at the transferring lines are easy to follow, which makes it passenger-friendly, but the transferring procedure may be time-consuming at peak hours. I would suggest that you reserve sufficient time for the transfer process.
Then, I proceeded to gate A11, which is located at the main building of Terminal 5, allowing me to get there quickly after all transfer procedures.
Boarding started at 08:15, which is 30 minutes before our scheduled departure time. Boarding groups are called out separately.
My boarding group is group 7, which is the final group to board. Boarding is done through one single jet bridge, which is mostly smooth and efficient.
The aircraft I'm travelling on is G-TTNO, an Airbus A320-251N delivered to British Airways in March 2021, making it 3.2 years old at the time of the flight.
The aircraft features a two-class layout: 48 Club Europe seats (Basically 3-3 configuration but blocked out middle seat, rows 1-12 which include 2 rows of overwing emergency exit), and 108 Euro Traveler seats (3-3 configuration, rows 13-30).
Below shows a picture of the Club Europe cabin.
My seat is 17A, which is a window seat on the left.
The seat design is rather simple, which features a coat hook, a non-foldable small table, a seat pocket, and power source is featured below the seat. THAT'S ALL! I think that is acceptable for a domestic aircraft which operates a flight with 1 hour in duration. A thing I like about the seat design is that it's all new, clean and simplistic.
Legroom is said to be 30 inches, which is rather averagely sufficient for me (around 5'7") flying for an hour for domestic.
The only thing I didn't expect is the size of the table - it's really small, don't think it can hold a tray. But again, this is a domestic aircraft, I guess that's only designed for holding snacks but not hot meals?
As for the contents in the seat pocket, I found 3 paper bags, a new safety card in very good condition, and a snacks and drinks menu. It would be more appreciated if an in-flight magazine is provided.
We began pushing back at 08:42, 3 minutes before our scheduled takeoff time. We then taxied to runway 09R, holding on the taxiway every now and then. As it was during morning rush, I saw a lot of aircraft going ahead of us and taking off, which include a Qatar A380, an Air India Boeing 787, an American Boeing 777, and a few more British Airways A320s.
Finally it's our turn. We took off from runway 09R at 09:04, turning left and North shortly after takeoff. Southern England was cloudy enough that day, so little can be seen after takeoff. But as we flew towards the North, the weather became better and I began to see the ground.
10-15 minutes after takeoff, the snack service is provided. Passengers may choose between an oat-bite (chosen option) or a pack of digestive biscuits. Along with that, a bottle of 250mL herrogate water is provided as well.
Personally speaking, nothing can really go wrong with a piece of packaged snack and bottled water, but I wish British Airways may provide a bit more than that.
Afterwards, the flight attendants pushed a trolley around, allowing passengers to purchase snacks and drinks that appeared on the menu. I saw some passengers paying with their credit card. The prices are about average to high.
There is no entertainment provided on this flight. But as an Avgeek, the best entertainment happens outside of the window :)
Here are a few pictures I took during the flight:
The descend began mid-way into the flight. The aircraft flew over the Eastern and Northern side of Edinburgh, before approaching runway 24. It was a sunny day so I took some wonderful pictures.
We then taxied to our gate.
We deboarded through the front door, which is connected to the jet bridge, as well as the back door, which is connected to the stairs. I made a quick visit to the cockpit, and had a quick chat with the captain. I really appreciate them providing such an opportunity, despite them having to turn around and continue onto the next flight.
I then deboarded through the front door and the jet bridge, finding that the passengers of the returning flight were already waiting at the gate. And at that moment I realised they had a tight schedule and needed to get ready for the next flight.
No security checking is required at the domestic terminal of Edinburgh. I could just walk down the stairs and go to baggage claim.
And here comes the most inefficient part of the journey - waiting for the baggage. I waited at the belt for 10-15 minutes before the luggage are put onto the belt and me getting back my luggage.
Then, I proceeded to leave Edinburgh Airport and continue my journey. Thank you for reading this short flight report, do stay tuned for the upcoming ones where I get home on the return flight!
Transferring at London Heathrow Terminal 5 is very passenger-friendly, but may be time-consuming. It's a good choice as a mid-stop of your journey.
As for the flight, this is a really simple and quick domestic flight experience. The seats, cabin and aircraft are pretty new. Some little in-flight snack is provided, and more can be purchased on-spot. The legroom is average. Overall, the experience is quite decent and enjoyable. British Airways can be a pretty good choice for a short domestic trip.
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 15 avis concernant 4 compagnies sur la ligne London (LHR) → Edinburgh (EDI).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Virgin Atlantic avec 8.2/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 1 heures et 14 minutes.
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6 Comments
Still, like you mentioned, this product is fine for a short 1h domestic hop, so not too much to complain about either.
Thanks for sharing!
It sounds like you have had some better experiences back then. Well I personally didn't find any extreme discomfort regarding the seat (probably because I'm too excited?), but one more thing to note about is that these new seats cannot recline backwards. I'm not sure whether BA uses this type of aircraft in longer flights, because if they do, let's say trans-European flights, it can be quite uncomfortable.
Thank you once again!
I really don't like how BA have installed these super basic slimline seats in the back on the NEOs--it really gives the impression of flying a whole other airline, when compared to the much nicer Pinnacle seats up front, which can still be found nose-to-tail on all of the CEOs. Several European airlines have done this in the last few years and I can understand wanting to differentiate the Economy product from Business class more---especially considering intra-European Business is just a blocked middle-seat---but depending on where the class divider curtain is located on any given flight, you can have cheap fares flying in good seats towards the front or people on high-fares (and/or with Elite status), stuck in the basic slimline seats out back. So in theory, it made sense, but in practice, it's not great.
Seat pitch is 30" only in rows 1-10 with the Pinnacle seats ahead of the overwing exits. It's a tight 29" seat pitch from row 13 on back. I guess the only bright side to that is that the slimline seats give more knee clearance at 29" than the thicker pinnacle seats, which feel way tighter at 29" pitch on the CEOs.
I do like that BA brought back free snacks in Economy last year, along with a free water, so that's a slight improvement in service on short-haul.
I'll be taking this flight for the first time later this year and am really looking forward to going to Edinburgh for a long weekend! Thanks for sharing!
Apologies about the legroom information. I'm not that sure about how much is the seat pitch either, as I copied from SeatGuru and it says 30".
https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/British_Airways/British_Airways_Airbus_A320-200_D.php
Thanks for correcting me on that. I think their domestic business still feels like Economy, though that's how thinks work in Europe.
Looking forward to your upcoming flight report on this flight, if you'll make one! Thanks once again!
20 flight reports that's a lot, sounds like you do fly very regularly haha. That's making me quite envious XD
But still, I'm looking forward to it, whenever you'll post it!
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