#949156 by Sealink
08 Mar 2019, 22:34
BA1 is a very special flight operated by British Airways. It is unique.
 Operated with an Airbus A318 it is the only BA “mainline” service at London City (the rest is BA Cityflyer, with different in-flight service to the rest of BA - it's free in economy for a start) - and the aircraft is business class only, with just 32 seats! The aircraft has to touch down in Shannon to refuel. It’s there that passengers clear US immigration before boarding, and arrive at JFK as domestic passengers.

I used a combination of Avios and an American Express voucher for this trip, which while probably not the best use of miles cost 52,000 Avios and £652.14 per person. This is against the normal redemption value which would be 100,000 Avios and £652.14 - the extra charges are quite ridiculous aren’t they?

London City Airport is the closest airport to the centre of London, and is easily accessible by public transport, with the Docklands Light Railway Station right at the airport.

Check in is extremely fast, although my pals boarding pass had the dreaded SSSS on it - which just meant a couple of extra security checks and was no big deal.

BA no longer have a lounge at LCY (they had a ‘lounge-lite’ area at the gate, with some refreshments, but this has been replaced with a meal at Pilots Restaurant. More on that later.

Security at London City is excellent - and if you pack correctly, you can be through in moments. Today was no exception.

There are great views of the apron from the airport, and I love Embraers, the backbone of BA’s operation here.

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With boarding pass in hand, I headed to Pilots Restaurant, which looked nice, however… service was friendly but slow. The person who sat down after me and ordered after me received his food first, and it didn’t look good! It wasn’t all bad - the BA offer includes a meal and two drinks, or three courses and one drink, (or something like that) - so a decent coffee was served along with a big bottle of water. For breakfast I picked scrambled eggs on toast and it was poor. 
First, the portion size. If this wasn’t free, the restaurant was charging £9 for it. 
The eggs were incredibly dry, I think they weren’t made from fresh. And the bread portion was minute. I don’t rate this restaurant at all (indeed, last time I flew from London City I queued for about three minutes, ignored, before deciding to go to Caffe Nero instead!).

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Flybe (soon to become Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Connect) have flights from London City. I wonder if this is in preparation for their rebrand?

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I was actually late to Gate 21 - arriving there at 09.31 for a 09.50 flight. More SSSS questions for my pal, and then, excitedly, it was time to board.

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Club World on these planes is different from the rest of the fleet - for a start, all the seats are forward facing, in a 2-2 configuration.

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There is lots of legroom, and with eight passengers on board, felt very much like a private jet!

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The loo...

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A menu was offered, with the meal service served on both legs - a welcome drink with warm nuts followed by a starter on the London City - Shannon section, and the main meal and afternoon snack on the Shannon - New York JFK leg.

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Entertainment is via iPads - and this was the only disappointment, with only a fraction of the usual entertainment available.

At Shannon, there is another security check and then US Immigration - this was actually very quick and I thought Shannon Airport was pretty nice. BA have a small seating area by the gate, where the aircraft was being refuelled.

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Shannon was great for plane spotting - with lots of aircraft parked in various states of (dis)repair, or perhaps impounded with a few Primera Air and Small Planet aircraft parked.

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Shortly after take off the rest of the meal was served, and it was very good!

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There was some severe turbulence over Canada but the crew seemed calm about it, and so was I.
The rest of the flight passed uneventfully, with Afternoon Tea served, and some lovely views of the Atlantic Ocean.

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I then wandered down the back of the empty plane to take some pics.

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We landed on time, in a cold New York, as domestic passengers. A very short wait for luggage and in seconds we were in an Uber heading to the city!
#949159 by pjh
09 Mar 2019, 01:37
It’s no wonder it was quiet, as at first glance one of the pictures seems to feature Hannibal Lecter at the back of the plane...except it is someone’s shiny head at the front of the plane...
#949175 by buns
10 Mar 2019, 07:29
Sealink

Thanks for the detailed TR and super pics.

Whilst it was a probably a bargain for you using the avois, the premium price for the route must make folks wonder if it is worthwhile.

From your TR and what others have said, I suspect this route will not last long :-(

Thanks once again

buns
#949177 by tontybear
10 Mar 2019, 12:23
Not always a premium fare Mr B. It’s even included in the BA sales. I’ve priced up £1300 for next January and it’s the same price as LHR and LGW. Though as always you need to be flexible on dates to get the bargains.

Because of the timing of the BA 2 which departs / arrives far to early for me I end up flying back in to LHR as I prefer a few extra hours in NYC! Have not done the BA flight into LGW as I'm not sure they put a new plane on it and they have a habit of cancelling it,

That £1300 is the same price as my first ever BA1 in 2013 so still a good price even after the APD increases the last few years!

Oh dang i want to book it now when I was only looking!

I think BA will wait until cross rail has been running for a bit to see if it changes the load factors. Everyone says it will mean people will just go to LHR but CR opens up an easier route to LCY for many people who don’t like LHR. I think there are also some corporate contracts that BA is still tied to as well. CC have told me that loads can be very busy Sunday-Tuesday with city folks and tail off later in the week and Friday can be busy too with the leisure crowd. I tend to fly on Wednesday or Thursday so it is quieter.
#949178 by pjh
10 Mar 2019, 13:44
tontybear wrote:


I think BA will wait until cross rail has been running for a bit to see if it changes the load factors. Everyone says it will mean people will just go to LHR but CR opens up an easier route to LCY for many people who don’t like LHR.


But there’s no CR station at LCY and the maps I have seen mark no station for a connection as they do for Luton, Stansted, Gatwick and Southend.

I’d still look to this to get through US immigration at Shannon though, given the nightmare experiences of the last couple of trips.
#949180 by tontybear
10 Mar 2019, 15:29
The CR station is at Custom House with a shuttle to LCY.

Not ideal but it will work for a lot of people.
#949181 by gumshoe
10 Mar 2019, 15:58
I suspect Global Entry hasn’t helped the BA1. For those with GE - surely most of the business travellers the service is aimed at - the BA1 now has little to no advantage over LHR-JFK with its frequent schedule and lounge provision. If you have GE, deplaning and reboarding at SNN is now just a hassle rather than a timesaver.

(Plus, of course, the reduction in TPs from 210 to the standard 140 has killed off the BA1 TP running market!)
#949184 by Hamster
11 Mar 2019, 03:10
Thanks for the TR! Taking this route for the first time soon, looking forward to it!

Have heard the BA2 does a lot better for the airline than BA1 does
Virgin Atlantic

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