Review of British Airways flight London → Dublin in Business

Ghost Town- London Heathrow at 03:00am!

With a flight at 06:45am, I needed to ensure that I got a coach to London Heathrow from Bournemouth that wasn't going to be running too tight for time and allowed me a good time frame for the BA Lounge as I'd upgraded the flight to business class.

The best coach for me was a 1:30am departure getting to London Heathrow around 03:00am in the morning!

Given that I often see London Heathrow bustling with activity, it was weird seeing the place completely deserted. The airport felt like a ghost town, the closest I ever saw LHR T5 like this was during the height of the pandemic on the one occasion I flew somewhere during the Summer of 2020, even then there was still more people around.

Down by the arrivals at Terminal 5, there are two big arches with various Airport codes from around the world which look amazing at night all lit up. I've seen them during the day- whilst they still look nice, the night really does them justice.

Despite the non-spotter friendly fencing, I was able to get a picture of a single BA Airbus A320 on stand as it awaited its morning flight over to Europe that day. Given its position I reckon it was going to be on a UK domestic flight.

Upstairs was just as eerie, the BA Staff hadn't yet turned up for their morning shifts as they all come on duty at 04:00am as does security to activate the security check points.

Even the kiosks for self-service check in were closed down, I even had a quick look at the First Wing which was completely deserted and unoccupied.

Eventually the security lanes were opened up just after 04:00am, and people started to mobilise for the checks so they could get airside in time for their flights. It wasn't too busy, but I stayed landside a little longer to get two paper boarding passes as well as charge my phone up as the lounge wasn't going to be open until 5am.

I eventually decided to go airside at 04:30am, after clearing the very empty Fast Track Security, I overlooked a still deserted Terminal 5A!

I hope this gives you an interesting look at London Heathrow during the early hours of the "Calm before the Storm".

BA South Galleries Lounge

I opted to use the larger BA South Galleries Lounge for my visit today. I figured I would be able to do some filming and photography there a bit easier as its larger and I would be able to find a quieter space there as well as going for a shower to freshen up.

Sure enough I was correct in thinking about finding a quiet space as everyone took to the buffet and right side of the lounge, where as I turned left toward the side facing the South of the Airport.

I don't get to see the BA Lounge at T5 this quiet and empty, so I made the most of it.

The food options are self service and there is a nice mix up for the breakfast spread. I don't have any complaints on the offering- I always enjoy a cooked breakfast. I opted to round off my selection with a croissant alongside a coffee and orange juice, give me a boost for the day ahead.

I know I could have gotten a cheeky drink from the bar, but I opted not to do so just yet. I'd get back there a little later.

I quickly left the Lounge after having some breakfast to visit the Shower facilities to get a much needed refresh and clean up. Having gotten up for a 1:30am coach and opting not to shower at home to earn some extra time in bed meant this was a huge help.

I still had 10 minutes before the Gate was to be revealed, so I opted to get a Bulleit Bourbon Whiskey on the rocks as well as a small serving of pretzel snacks, before sitting down in one of the comfortable capsule seats overlooking some of the BA A320s parked on the Southern Gates at T5A.

Soon enough my Gate was announced as Gate A-15, which was only a short walk from the South Galleries Lounge, so I wrapped up the drink and left the lounge thanking the Lounge check in staff and wishing them a pleasant day as I left to find my Airbus A320 taking me to Dublin.

BA832: London-Dublin in Club Europe!

Today I was to be flying on Airbus A320ceo (G-EUYW), a very familiar aircraft to me as I've flown it twice before (LHR-DUB as BA832 in April 2022 and in October 2022 from LGW-GLA). The business class was quite empty, but I noticed it was quite busy in economy class. Two gentlemen in Row 6 (First Row of Euro Traveller) were moved up into business class by a cabin crew member after boarding was complete, my assumption is they were dead heading BA Employees.

Despite that I still ended up with Row 5 Seats A-C all to myself, which I was far from complaining about.

We had a slightly early push back and we were given the okay to go by London Heathrow ground controllers. It was just before 06:40am, so there was no need to hang around if we didn't have to do so. The joys of being on one of the first flights of the day out of London Heathrow.

We taxied to the South Runway nearest to T5A and took off from Runway 09R. Our flight made a right turn towards the South and we back tracked past London Heathrow and flew over the city of Reading heading North-Westerly for the Welsh boarder and the Republic of Ireland.

It was pretty much darkness the entire flight with a little bit of the dawn sunrise breaking through towards the journey which is to be expected when flying at such an early hour in January!

The crew began the breakfast service, obviously as the person at the back of the cabin, I had the longest wait time, but they still got to me in good time.

I opted for a tea and orange juice alongside the cooked English Breakfast offered on these morning Club Europe flights, this one was sided off with a nice fruit yoghurt and some warm and soft croissants.

I was about half way through the breakfast when the pilot came on to announce that we were commencing our decent into Dublin, so I had to hurry through a bit…

I couldn't get much in the way of photos of the arrival into Dublin as it was pitch black still. Our early push back and the fact we were one of the first arrivals into Dublin meant that we were able to get a direct approach without holding, a bonus of the Airport getting a new runway.

Our arrival into Dublin took us over the town of Bray, before flying south of Dublin city and making a turn around Celbridge and Maynooth before we lined up for arrival onto the newer Runway 10L.

Our scheduled arrival time into Dublin Airport was meant to have been 08:15am, but we actually arrived into Dublin at 07:45am, a good half and hour early- which is a great bit of efficiency on the end of the Flight Crew giving us a flight time of 45 minutes.

We had a brief taxi over to Terminal One before parking on a remote stand where the aircraft was prepared for disembarkation.

Considering Aer Lingus is firmly part of IAG, I am very surprised BA & BA-Cityflyer operate from Terminal 1 still and not from Terminal 2 where they can tie in easily with Aer Lingus and American Airlines for connections.

Even in the hours of darkness, I always find an open disembarkation a plus side when flying. I don't think BA have ever seriously used jet-bridges at Dublin Airport in the times I've flown with them.

January is a good time for Dublin trips on British Airways as its I got the two return flights in Euro Traveller for £52, this one way upgrade cost me an extra £90, but I was happy to pay it as it made the ground time at LHR a lot more enjoyable and relaxing given the travel itinerary I had, the breakfast given in Club Europe was also a nice bonus that I always have no complaints on.

After clearing immigration into the Republic of Ireland, it was time to go off and enjoy a day around the city of Dublin!

Hope you enjoyed the flight report, and I got lots of interesting European trips and flights to report on through the rest of 2024!