Its my final year at uni, and my friends and I arranged a graduation trip to spend a week in Malta. We are studying at Loughborough University, so ideally a flight from EMA would have been best however we went for BA from LGW. Air Malta flights to EMA were charters, Ryanair had the cheapest fares from STN whilst BA was slightly more expensive at £38 one way, already a pretty good price and a 'proper' airline at least, more important for the 3hr flight to MLA.

GATWICK - MALTA

Date: 05 May 2008
Airline: British Airways
Route: LGW-MLA
Flight No.: BA2872
Aircraft: 737-436
Reg: G-DOCW
Seat/Class: 3A Club Europe (Business)
Scheduled: 21:55 - 02:10
Actual: 21:50 - 01:47
Flight time: 02:42
Block time: 02:57

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Photo © Airwim

So we decided on BA and travelled down to LGW by train, arriving at LGW at 20:15 to drop off our luggage at the bag drop, having already checked in online and selected our seats on the first rows of economy (rows 6, 7 and 8).


The train station was located at the South Terminal so we had to take the people mover over to the North Terminal where BA operate from.



Whilst on the people mover, it was announced that you could upgrade to Club Europe for just £60, we decided to go for it. Once we got to the North terminal, we asked about it and we were told to go check-in as normal and tell the BA staff at the bag drop desk who will then re-issue the new boarding passes, after which to make the payment at the ticketing desk.






With that sorted out we went airside to check out the BA terraces lounge. Our flight was to be one of the last few flights out of LGW for the night so it was pretty quiet.




The lounge was also quiet with only 2 more BA flights going out that night (PMI and MLA) so the lounge only had some crisps, biscuits and fruit on offer for food.





View of the apron from the BA lounge


my boarding pass


at 21:15 we went down to the gate for boarding. Boarding started at 21:30.




View at the gate just before pushing back


Safety demonstration just after an early push back at 21:50 (21:55 scheduled)


After a long taxi to the end of runway 08R we took off at 22:02.

A short while after take-off the F/A came around with menu's and you choice of main course.
The menu:
Appetiser
- A selection of savoury appetisers
Main
- Spiced tomato and prawns with steamed fragrant rice and stir fried spinach
or
- Braised beef in green peppercorn sauce with fresh vegetables
Selection of warm bread rolls
Dessert
- Bourbon chocolate cheese cake with crème anglaise
- Coastal Cheddar and Blacksticks Blue cheese

the first drink + snack service was started quite late at 22:35, this was a packet of dry roasted and salted cashew nuts. This was the savoury appetiser.


The meal was served at 22:45, brought to each passenger individually in a tray.
I chose the prawns, and it was excellent. The cake was very nice too.


This was the economy class meal, not bad either.


After the meal I had a look at the magazines, chatted for a while, and tried to get some sleep.


some pics of the cabin, there was only 7 people in Club Europe.






the toilet, with old style flush.



Soon we were descending into MLA, landing was at 01:44 on runway 14 and was on-blocks at 01:47, 23 minutes ahead of schedule, on stand 3 in front of the non-schengen arrivals part of the terminal.
I got a quick visit to the cockpit before getting off the plane. The crew were to take a short rest before flying back to LGW at 05:25.


G-DOCW. notice the Volga Dnepr An-124 tail behind. This was going to be flying to N'djamena, Chad as VDA7704 at 05:00


Arrivals area just after passport control


MLA departures, even the An-124 flight is displayed here.


MLA baggage reclaim hall



MLA arrivals area


Some pics from Malta

Birzebugga






Old Malta buses




Valetta






Mdina




Gozo





Blue Grotto


Plane spotting at MLA
Emirates 777-300ER A6-ECA


Air Malta A319 9H-AEL


Catania






We probably went to the Malta at the worst possible time, we had about 2 and a half days of good weather, all other days were cloudy, rainy, windy... whilst it was hot and sunny back in England!!



MALTA - GATWICK

Date: 14 May 2008
Airline: British Airways
Route: MLA-LGW
Flight No.: BA2871
Aircraft: 737-436
Reg: G-DOCB
Seat/Class: 8F/6A/10F Euro Traveller (Economy)
Scheduled: 05:25 - 07:30
Actual: 05:23 - 07:51
Flight time: 03:13
Block time: 03:28


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Photo © Philippe Ballerstedt


Having just arrived back in Malta on the ferry from Catania at midnight, we were off to the airport at 03:00 for our 05:25 flight back to LGW.
The queue for the bag drop was short and we were through security and airside shortly.







As one of my friends knew the CEO of MLA we had been invited to Air Malta lounge. Here we had a bit of breakfast, with sandwiches, snacks and Maltese pastries and a wide selection of drinks.



MLA departures that morning


Queue for boarding


G-DOCB, my plane for LGW







view of the cabin



view from my seat 8F


as the flight was only about 30% full and so there were lots of empty seats, I decided to move to a seat on the left side of the plane so moved to 7A for the takeoff. I thought this would give me a better view if we were taking off on the usual runway 14 but we took-off on runway 32.


we were off-blocks at 05:23 but we held at runway 32 for over 5 minutes before starting the take-off run for some reason, we departed MLA at 05:34
video of the take-off:




the sun is rising shortly after departure




nice reflection of the fuselage on the engine



the breakfast was served about 20 mins after departure. This consisted of a ham and cheese sandwich, a cereal bar, some fruit and some orange juice. Tea and coffee was offered short after.



the sun is up


the Euro Traveller cabin


I had a nice chat with the purser during the flight about BA, flying and his job, later he came and brought me some extra magazines to read, then later about 10 packets of the cashew nuts I had on the way out in Club Europe, and then later a croissant, a danish, some biscuits and a hot chocolate which was really nice of him. Now that was really good service.


Flying over the Alps




some nice cloud formations


After the passing the Alps I got some sleep as we flew over France

and already we're descending into LGW


a video of the landing


Touch down was at 07:47 and we were on-blocks at gate 106 at the North Terminal at 07:51, 20 minutes behind schedule.


Had another quick chance to take a look at the cockpit, turned out it was the same F/O as I had on the flight to MLA, he had already been flying the route a few times this week.
Didn't get a chance to take any pics this time though.

G-GFFD parked next to us on stand 105


Being on the 100 gates, meant going over the massive bridge over to the main terminal building. This is an excellent place to watch the planes.















LGW arrivals that morning


passport control was quick with no queues, and the luggage came out very quickly too ...maybe because I spent so long taking pics from the bridge.
LGW baggage reclaim



now a 4 hour journey back to Loughborough firstly on a crowded First Capital Connect train to St Pancras, then a 1hr delayed East Midlands Trains to Loughborough. Had to sleep as soon as I got back.

Overall flying short-haul on BA was a very pleasant experience, both in Club World and Euro Traveller. The upgrade was well worth it, although probably more so during the day when the lounge is better stocked, however the onboard meal was excellent and made up for this. The flight back in economy was also very enjoyable with the same nice leather seats, food could have been better but again was made up for with the extra service that I received.
Would definitely fly short haul on BA again!

One thing though, I didn't get any extra FF points for the LGW-MLA flight? do you not get the business class Executive Club points when you upgrade at the airport?


Hope you enjoyed this trip report, any comments are welcome!


Vin


my other trip reports:
- Qatar Airways (Y) LHR-DOH-HKG A332 A346 (162 Pics)
- Virgin Atlantic LHR-PVG-LHR Economy (lots Of Pics)
- Antonov An-26 Ad-hoc Cargo Charter EMA-RNS-VGO-MPL
- Photo Report Air Canada 777-300ER YYZ-LHR Economy

Very nice trip report!!!! Thanks.

I like Malta. I have been there so many times and I once used BA through GT and in Club Europe. It was great as well.

Very nice TR with amazing pictures.

The prawns look delicious. BA sure has consistency in their product whether it comes to food or service.

Malta seems like a beautiful island that would be fun to visit. You took some wonderful pictures of the island.

Nice report! Looks like we were there at the same time - I was there 7th - 11th May, flying on Air Malta (there's a trip report on here somewhere!)
I really must get around to uploading some photos...

EDIT: Here it is:
http://www.airliners.net/aviation-fo...ums/trip_reports/read.main/126022/

signol

[Edited 2008-05-20 07:46:49]

Very nice report, really enjoyed the read and pictures.

Malta seems popular now, 2 reports in what, 2 weeks?

After this and the other recent TR, Malta is on my hit list to visit, perhaps a long weekend at some stage.

Quoting 22886 (Thread starter): The lounge was also quiet with only 2 more BA flights going out that night (PMI and MLA) so the lounge only had some crisps, biscuits and fruit on offer for food.

- I'm on the PMI flight next month, at least I know what to expect.

Quoting 22886 (Thread starter): This was the economy class meal, not bad either.

- Very nice!

Quoting 22886 (Thread starter): there was only 7 people in Club Europe.

- Pretty low, though it seems the loads on both sectors were low.

Quoting 22886 (Thread starter): I had a nice chat with the purser during the flight about BA, flying and his job, later he came and brought me some extra magazines to read, then later about 10 packets of the cashew nuts I had on the way out in Club Europe, and then later a croissant, a danish, some biscuits and a hot chocolate which was really nice of him. Now that was really good service

- It's little things like this that go a long way, excellent customer service!

Quoting 22886 (Thread starter): One thing though, I didn't get any extra FF points for the LGW-MLA flight? do you not get the business class Executive Club points when you upgrade at the airport?

- Interesting, I figured you would but I guess if it is a cheap upgrade and at £60 it is, then no.

Good to see pic's of DOCB & W, flown on both of those birds before, thought quite some tiem ago!

Look forward to your next TR.

Regards

Mark

Quoting BA319-131 (Reply 4): Pretty low, though it seems the loads on both sectors were low.

Well how many Club seats were there on that flight. I remember GT having a maximum of 3 rows for Club which makes it 15 seats.

I guess flight loads and yields will improve when BA changes the flight times to day time. If BA were to cut frequencies on some routes this winter, they could move MLA to LHR to keep the slots warm and try another strategy for the route.

Does anyone has an idea on how the ex GT routes are performing?

Hi there 22886

Thanks for a nice trip report. Kind of like a trip down memory lane. You know the fourth picture you have from Birzebugga, with the sun setting in the background? My mum grew up in the third or fourth house on the left hand side. The building was the very first hotel ever built in Malta, Dowdall´s Hotel. Only the shell left now though.

Cheers,

William

Quoting AIR MALTA (Reply 5): Well how many Club seats were there on that flight. I remember GT having a maximum of 3 rows for Club which makes it 15 seats.

- Club looks like 5 rows on the outbound, ie 25 seats, however I'm actually talking about the overall loads on both flights which appear to be low. Hopefully this route will survive with BA as I'd like to fly it, though it's not likely until next year.

Rgds

Mark

Nice report....the prawns looked good, beats the usual salad served on my CE Thursday night flight into LHR.

Quoting 22886 (Thread starter): One thing though, I didn't get any extra FF points for the LGW-MLA flight? do you not get the business class Executive Club points when you upgrade at the airport?

No extra BA miles or Tier points with the CE upgrade at check in unfortunately. Miles and points are from your orignally booked fare code. The same scenary applies to the £150 WT+ check in upgrade on some long haul.

Excellent report. I love Malta and have many friends there. I have been a few times also and stayed with my mates family in St Andrews. The photos brought back memories. Will have to go back some time. BA service looks good also. Nice views from the bridge linking the gates in LGW.

Thanks for the great TR

OA260

Very nice TR with lots of great info and pics. MLA looks like a wonderful place to visit!

Best regards,

Tim

Quoting AIR MALTA (Reply 5): Well how many Club seats were there on that flight. I remember GT having a maximum of 3 rows for Club which makes it 15 seats.

Maximum seating in Club at GT was usually 25, though two A321s could accomodate 60 Club customers. These aircraft were usually used out of LHR.

Quoting AIR MALTA (Reply 5): I guess flight loads and yields will improve when BA changes the flight times to day time. If BA were to cut frequencies on some routes this winter, they could move MLA to LHR to keep the slots warm and try another strategy for the route.

Flight times are good for those flying MLA-LGW-MLA, but not neccesarily the other way around.

Quoting AIR MALTA (Reply 5): Does anyone has an idea on how the ex GT routes are performing?

I believe most routes are reasonably succesful, though certainly not cash cows for BA. BA were lucky in that there was an established customer base for "BA" built up by GT.

excellent report, very detailled and great pics.
I was thinking of taking a BA flight from LGW to ADB these days, but didn't know what to expect. To be honest, I expected a pretty old and worn out cabin. Now I know that they have at least comfortable leather seats in Euro Traveller. Thank you for sharing!

Thanks for the great trip report. Possibly the very best pictures on the site!

A great report to a fantastic island. MLA is a great place to visit alhough it has been a few years since ive been there.
Some great pics and Im glad you enjoyed the BA service

Quoting 22886 (Thread starter): One thing though, I didn't get any extra FF points for the LGW-MLA flight? do you not get the business class Executive Club points when you upgrade at the airport?

I was under the impression that you were entitled to the exact same points and miles as you would be if you'd booked CE originally. It seems wrong to penalise someone for paying for the extra service

Lee

Fab report mate. Love the pics, and nice to see DOCW as she was back then.

Quoting 22886 (Thread starter): Club World and Euro Traveller

Club Europe you mean