Wednesday 23rd August and we were travelling on board BA Flight 0830 from Heathrow Terminal 5 to Dublin Airport.

We were due to depart at 15.10 and land at 16.40 a scheduled flight time of one hour and thirty minutes.

Boarding commenced at 14.30 and was completed at 15.05, the doors closed shortly afterwards and the aircraft pushed back 15.20, we were airborne sixteen minutes later, twenty-six minutes later scheduled.

We were informed that the delay in our departure was due to problems with Air Traffic Control. Also the expected flight time would be fifty-five minutes, it was actually just over an hour.

We were travelling as Club Europe passengers and we were seated in Row 2. We had three seats between two of us, the centre seat was filled in so that we could use it as a table. All very comfortable and plenty of legroom.

Around thirty minutes into the flight we were offered afternoon tea, which consisted of
salmon with cream cheese and a scone with cream & jam. We declined the afternoon tea, preferring to have a beer instead.

At 16.10, the Captain informed us that he had commenced his descent into Dublin. We landed at 16.35 with a good slam on the brakes. This was five minutes earlier than scheduled despite the delay at Heathrow, the wonders of Airline scheduling.

First time ever on British Airways. Went to Scotland to visit relatives for 7 weeks. I was pretty impressed with British airways. Nice meals and a great flight. Changed over in Heathrow and then up to Glasgow. Same on the return. All went smooth!! Would fly them again!

Okay, flights can be delayed.. but - to keep 300 or so people in a queue for 3 hours without bothering to tell them sorry or why their flights are delayed - to lay on 2 memebers of staff to sit at desks and s-l-o-w-l-y process one by one ... and the rudeness when you -finally- got to check-in .."passports!!" -not even a hello - sorry you've been kept waiting.
Frankly you would not treat animals the way we were treated ... no service what-so-ever. So.meone standing at the side with a clipboard - doing nothing.

Flew Club Europe (ie business class) to Larnaca and back. Seats cost a fortune compared to economy but have no obvious benefit, except for food which you used to get in economy before BA downgraded itself to a budget airline with a luxury price tag. Lounge at Heathrow was ok. Larnaca was busy and dirty with poor food selection. There was good priority boarding at Heathrow but awful at Larnaca, and cabin is exactly the same as economy. No extra legroom, no extra seat width, no entertainment, in fact nothing extra for the considerable extra cost! No point flying BA business in Europe. Therefore, it makes sense to find a cheaper airline where you’ll get a much better experience.

The Heathrow Concord Lounge was marginally improved than on our last visit in terms of staffing, food and furnishings (see my last report – torn seats etc).
We flew on a somewhat aged 787 with a total of 8 seats in First. Unfortunately BA staff mostly seem that they are just going through the motions, however this time the stewardess Katy was the exception being helpful and absolutely lovely. By coincidence, she was on our return flight and made a point of saying hello – a nice touch.
Incidentally the BA lounge in Dubai is very poor. First Class passengers are directed to a door within the small Business Class lounge which opens onto an even smaller area of identical format.
All in all hardly a premium experience.