THE FLIGHT: British Airways flight BA0962
in economy class departing from London
Heathrow's T5 at 10.30, arriving in Hamburg
13.05 local time. The flight was operated by
an Airbus A321.
THE AIRPORT : Wonderfully spacious T5 is a joy, and I had plenty of time, unusually, to
enjoy my passage through it – that is until
the self-service check-in machine decided I
didn’t have a booking. Several more
attempts using the flight reference came to
nothing. A member of staff at check-in – an
actual human being, no less – decided there
had been a cock-up internally and suddenly
the time to flight closure was the focus of
attention as she tried to find me a seat. She
did, and I ended up rushing through security
and to the departure gate.
THE SEAT: Quite honestly, any seat would
have done after that kerfuffle, but this was
perfectly adequate for the short flight. The
economy cabin was is in 3x3 configuration
with a small adjustment on pitch and highquality
leather upholstery. A moveable
curtain separates the business 'cabin' from
economy seating.
THE SERVICE: A friendly bunch of stewards
and stewardesses coped well with the tight
schedule of squeezing everyone’s carry-on
luggage in the overhead lockers, the flight
safety demonstrations and then the trolley
run of refreshments. A mid-morning snack
and drink was timely and well received on
this relatively short flight.
THE ARRIVAL: The flight arrived bang on
schedule and the wait in the baggage hall
wasn’t too long either.
THE VERDICT: An uneventful short-haul
flight of the type we’ve come to expect
within Europe: not all that many frills and a
basic service that does the job of getting
you to your destination on time and in
comfort perfectly adequately.
THE DETAILS: British Airways operates five
flights daily between London Heathrow and
Hamburg, operated by either A319 or A320
aircraft. Lead-in one-way fares start from
£65 including taxes. The airline's
reservations number is 0844 4930787.
See www.ba.com for more information. Gillian Upton
