British Airways (Hong Kong to London Heathrow) BA26, Premium Economy Class (World Traveller Plus)- BOEING 747-436

8/10/2010

British Airways is the national flag carrier of the United Kingdom, and operates full international and domestic scheduled air services for the carriage of passengers, freight and mail and the provision of ancillary services. British Airways operates to 148 destinations around the world with a fleet of 245 aircraft. British Airways are one of the world’s leading scheduled premium international airlines. Their main principal place of business is Heathrow, one of the world’s premier airport locations, which serves a large geographical area with a comparatively high proportion of point-to-point business. Operating one of the most extensive international scheduled airline route networks, together with our code share and franchise partners, British Airways flies to more than 300 destinations worldwide.

Route: Hong Kong International to London Heathrow Airport

Departure date and time of flight: 23:25pm on the 1st October 2006

Flight Number: BA0026

Flight duration: 12h 50m minutes

Class: Premium Economy Class (AKA: World Traveller Plus)

Aircraft type: Boeing 747-400

Punctuality of the flight:

The flight was on time.

Any baggage issues:

No issues- the bags arrived on time and in one piece.

Comments on the check-in staff and any issues:

I love Hong Kong Airport. Consistently voted one of the best airports’ in the world, Hong Kong Airport never fails to shine when it comes to excellent customer service and an atmosphere that creates a certain smooth feeling for passengers. Indeed, as a major gateway for Asia, the airport is almost comparable to a small city- a futuristic city that is. One feels at ease once they are at the airport. Evenings are very busy at Hong Kong, with the majority of flights going to Australasia, South Africa, Europe and throughout South East Asia. The check-in process was smooth. BA are highly organised when it comes to making sure that passengers are not kept waiting for a long time.

Comments regarding the pre-meal service:

Choice of various hot and cold drinks, and a selection of Australian wines and Scotch whiskeys were offered along with a packet of “sea salt and cider flavour” pretzel nuggets.

Comments regarding the first meal:

Dinner was served around an hour after take off (around 00:30pm local time in Hong Kong), and our plane was somewhere over Guanxi Province heading north onto Xian, and then making its way into Russian airspace before entering Europe. Dinner consisted of roasted chicken breast served with buttered roasted potatoes and vegetables. This was accompanied with a soft bread along with a bowl of fresh salad (consisting of cherry tomatoes, lettuce and cucumber all sprinkled with lemon juice).

Chocolate cake topped with a large portion of crisps and a dash of chocolate sauce provided the perfect dessert at 37,000 feet! In the Economy and Economy Premium cabins they gave us “Kit Kat” chocolate bars, while in the Business and First Class cabins “Thornton’s Natural Delights” were on offer. All meals were generously served with a bottle of “Gleneagles Mineral Water”. Not a bad dinner before going to sleep on this long haul flight. The flight was not that full.

Comments regarding the drinks service:

A second round of drinks was offered after the meal- this included the complimentary selection French and Australian red and white wine.

Comments regarding the in-flight snacks (if any):

For the overnight flight, passengers were able to help themselves to a selection of “Hobnob” chocolate biscuits, various cereal bars and “hotpot” noodles from the galley. There was also the selection of complimentary drinks on offer.

Comments regarding the second meal (if any):

Breakfast was served around an hour and half prior to landing at Hong Kong International. Our plane had just passed Belgium, and we were going to make a straight in approach over Essex (Basildon, Dagenham) before entering the final approach over City Airport to land at Runway 27R.

There was a choice of either a Western breakfast or a Chinese breakfast. I went for the former as I knew I would be eating a Chinese breakfast everyday for the next few months! Nothing beats the feeling of eating microwave food at 37,000 feet (and yes airline food is all heated an hour before serving- so its not fresh!). The sausages, bacon and scrambled eggs all tasted as if it was freshly cooked. The strawberry muffin and the Muller corner yogurt were both sheer delights to have. Breakfast was accompanied with hot tea, and coffee, as well as green tea.

Comments on the in-flight system (if any):

The in-flight system was working without any problems. All BA flight begin with a minute long news update provided by a recording of the BBC World service. There are a selection of music and films and documentaries to keep everyone busy throughout the 13-hour flight.

Comments on the interior of the aircraft (including seat comfort):

The aircraft was clean at the beginning. Normally after a long flight one would expect the plane to be a bit unclean, however because the flight was not that full, so it seemed fresh!

Overall rating 1-10 (worst-best): 10