I've found some time to do this quick (but long!) trip report, because I find myself in a 2 hour delay and want to rant about it...apologies in advance! Therefore, I don't have many pics.

BA1393
MAN-LHR
Airbus A319 - G-EUPM
Scheduled departure : 1310
Actual departure : 1311
Seat 1K

My journey starts at Manchester terminal 3 with what can be described as an uneventful check in and security clearance. I arrived well in advance at 1035 and was in the terraces at 1040. The good thing about arriving early is that check in is queue-free and the security queue was non existent, with no need to wait for check in, and only 1 person ahead of me in security, the formalities were over in a very short time.

The Terraces lounge at manchester is much preferable to the one at LHR terminal 1 where I will be in a couple of hours. Much brighter and with good views of the active runway, what is now 05L/23R. The active for today was 05L for departures when I arrived and became 05L for both departures and arrivals some time during my stay. It allowed me to take a comfy chair, sit back with breakfast/lunch and watch aircraft such as VS744 and EK77W taking off.

Boarding was called in the lounge at 1300, rather late for my liking, and everyone made their way down to gate 142. Everyone was on board in 10 mins and I took my seat at the window next to 2 empty seats, which was a nice surprise, especially as the captain made his regular, welcome aboard PA describing how the flight was pretty full. Eventually though, a BA F/A (who I can only presume to be non-revving) sat in 1D.

Taxi was quick and we past the MAN viewing park, a great place to go and home to BA Concorde G-BOAC. Upon reaching the hold, I spotted an aircraft on final which was an Air France A320, of which we were to line up and wait after he touched down. Take off was powerful and quick and very quickly we entered the clouds.

As soon as the thrust was reduced to CL, the F/As started the service for the very short 30 min flight. It was amazing to see how quick they work and you really get an appreciation of what a huge task it is to serve 100 odd PAX in about 20 mins. My respect for the crew helped me forgive the fact that I was missed out for drinks   until the F/A sat in 1D notified the relevant crew member! Sandwiches were served (the usual cheese ploughmans and chicken and bacon with breakaway biscuit!) and washed down with an OJ (eventually!) I counted 2 trolleys from the front and 1 from the rear in full service, with 2 F/As on each trolley and the CSD providing assistance by bringing full bottles and spare cans etc.

Soon enough, it was time for descent from our cruising level of FL190. Most of the descent was in cloud and nothing was to be seen until 1600ft where we broke out of the cloud and fog and landed on a damp rwy, followed by a very short taxi to terminal 1 domestic. I wonder if autoland was used, any ideas? Vis was pretty poor and the approach was quite smooth with not much movement in terms of roll.

The long walk to the international terminal reminded me of how desperate LHR is in need of a revamp. Small, dingy corridors that link everywhere together, but soon to be replaced with terminal 5.   

I arrived at the Terraces lounge and found my usual seat on the mezzanine level. Grabbed an apple juice and prepared to sit out the 4 hour wait.

BA025
LHR-HKG
Scheduled departure : 1840
Actual departure : 2030
Seat 13B

In my 4 hour wait, I made a lot of progress on work, made a few calls, watched an episode of Commander in Chief and had a bite to eat in the VERY warm lounge. It was like a sauna!    Probably not helped by being on the mezzanine level!



The time came to 1750 where I thought I would wander around the shops. It was then where I found the flight was delayed by an hour to 1940. A quick enquiry at the BA desk revealed that it was an engineering related delay. A little annoyed, I went on to purchase some smellies as gifts and a magazine, then back to the lounge to wait out another hour. More work was done and in no time at all, it was time to go as "Go to gate 27a" (a new gate for me being used to going to 50s) was displayed on the board. The walk felt more like a hike, and was down another of Heathrow's dingy corridors, made worse by there being no ceiling panels, exposing the pipes and cables. All down the corridor were artificial walls blocking off parts that were being renovated.

Eventually I arrived at the gate to find it crowded and full of fed up PAX. Boarding was announced at 1905 and in a huge scramble with no structure and no priority boarding for FIRST or Club World PAX.   

Entry was via 2L and the left turn was a relief to escape the mass movement of World Traveller PAX. My jacket was taken and my amenity kit was given to me as I settled in to my seat, with my magazine, book and iPhone to hand. As I waited for other PAX to board, I was offered a pre flight drink, options were OJ, water and the surprise return of the bubbly! I decided to go for OJ.

The time came to 1945 and we were still at the gate, not moving. The Captain announced that the delay was caused by a missing PAX, whom appeared to just be arriving at the gate as he announced. Eventually doors were closed and all PAX were now settled in and reading their books, mags, doing their crosswords etc. 2000 and the captain once again spoke on the PA about a missing cargo crate that had not arrived yet. He mentioned that the loadsheet and trim figures were now set therefore we might as well just wait for it rather than re calculate the mass and balance. This further delay allowed me to make a few final calls before shutting off my phone until Hong Kong. It also allowed the cabin crew to collect orders for dinner. The options were as follows;

Dinner

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Starters

Rock Shrimp and prawn terrine with lemon creme fraiche

or

Buffalo Mozzarella cheese with fresh figs and grapefruit dressing

Fresh seasonal salad served with vinaigrette

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Main

Shaun Hill's fillet steak with morel mushrooms and a mustard sauce

Salmon fish cakes with parsley and caper sauce

Hot and sour vegetable noodles

Main course chicken Caesar salad with sun-dried tomato bruschetta

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Dessert

Lemon and sultana cheese cake with raspberry coulis

Shropshire Blue and Tasty Lancashire cheese served with biscuits and butter

A selection of fruit


Chocolates

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Once the crate loaded, a further announcement was made revealing that we were now not moving due to high traffic movements behind us, preventing pushback. Finally, at 2030, chocks were away, park brake was off and push and start was initiated with the usual safety video.

Taxi was a long way to 09R and our routing would take us over the Potter's Bar area andthen towards Clacton in Essex. After the seatbelt sign was switched off, I lowered my footrest, reclined my chair and took out my headphones to watch and episode of Joey! Drinks were then served. This time I was not missed and my choice of a Kir Royale was quickly served along with the usual macadamia nuts.



This was followed by my starter of shrimp and prawn terrine which I chose on the ground and the seasonal salad. Then my plates were taken and my main of steak was brought for me. I was dissappointed that my favourite pasta dish was not there. I don't usually go for the steak. With airline food, (particularly in all classes apart form FIRST) keep things simple and it usually pays off. My rule was yet again proven as the steak was chewy and lacked flavour and the gravy was watery, resulting in my regret that I had declined the second round of the bread basket. The highlight of the meal was the cheese cake which was delicious. The service was at its usual impeccable standard, with smiles on all of the crew, friendly and warm service and being constantly being offered top ups, more drinks and if there was anything else.




Then the usual round of tea or coffee followed. Once everything was cleared away, I took the opportunity to make my bed and settle down for some sleep. I dosed off to Evan Almighty, a funny film, but nothing special. A good sleep was interrupted by some turbulence and the 'ding' of the seatbelt sign which woke me up after 3 hours and a quick check on the map showed us being over Novosibirsk. Here are some inflight pics:






Feeling relatviely awake, I decided not to go back to bed but to watch another film and relax with an OJ and some fruit from the Club ktichen.



I don't recall what I did to pass the time, but it went relatively quick and soon the cabin lights came on hinting that breakfast was imminent. Hot towels were handed out and breakfast was served;

Breakfast

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Starters

Chilled orange juice

An energising fruit smoothie of cranberry and raspberry

Fresh fruit appetiser

or

Birchermuesli

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Bakery

A selection of warm bread and breakfast pastries

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Main

Classic British breakfast of scrambled eggs, tomato, mushrooms, grilled bacon and pork sausage

Sharp cheese frittata with Mornay sauce

Apple and sultana crepes with cinnamon butter

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Drinks

Ground coffee, decaffeinated coffee or tea

Selection of herbal teas - green tea with jasmine, peppermint, blackcurrant or camomile and honey

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The fruit came first followed shortly by pastries. I love the little croissants so I helped myself to one, the F/A noticed the look of delight on my face as I took one that she refused to go until I took another one!



Once plates were cleared, the bread basket was brought around again (needless to say I helped myself to another croissant) as well as the choice of mains. A tray was brought displaying the frittata and the english breakfast of which I chose the frittata. This was excellent and thoroughly enjoyable.



Once everything was cleared away, it was time for me to freshen up and prepare for arrival. I was embarrased to find my hair in a state and was obviously like that from my sleep.

The descent into HKG was hazy and visibility was low but not that bad. Touchdown was at 16:24 with another smooth landing and taxi to the stand followed.

Immigration and HKG is never a problem for me thanks to a HK ID card and the new biometric system which means that I hardly ever have to queue. Sadly, I still have to wait at the otehr end for my baggage and once again, BA priority tags might as well be invisible. I was also surprised to see luggage remaining from BA031 which was scheduled for arrival 2 hours after us, however, due to the delay, it arrived before us and the remains of unclaimed baggage circulated the belt. After 30 mins, my 2 bags arrive next to each other which is nice. One thing I seem to notice, is when you're waiting for your bags, the belt sems to go so slowly and it seems to ake forever for the bag to go round once, but when you're trying to get them off the belt, it seems to go too quick!


This concludes my journey this time round. If I get enough requests, I'll put in the report for my return leg on the 19th December. Overall, a good quality product and outstanding service was sadly clouded by an unacceptable 2 hour delay.

Hope you enjoyed the report.

Comments always welcome

Gary

[Edited 2007-11-21 06:56:49]