British Airways (London Heathrow to Hong Kong) BA27, World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy Class), BOEING 747-436

British Airways B747-400 on finals: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh

British Airways is the national flag carrier of the United Kingdom, and operates fullinternational 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 their codeshare and franchise partners, British Airways flies to more than 300 destinations worldwide.

Route: London Heathrow to Hong Kong International Airport

Departure date and time of flight: 21:25pm on the 16th October 2006

Flight Number: BA0027

Flight duration: 11h 45 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:

By the time I had taken this flight I had already accumulated around 80,000 BA miles and a Silver Executive Card- so it was nice to use the BA Lounge before such a long flight. No check-in issues. Everything went perfectly smoothly at London Heathrow. Bearing in mind that this was not the evening rush hour so therefore Terminal One was reasonably quiet.

Comments regarding the pre-meal service:

Choice of various hot and cold drinks, and a selection of 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 22:30pm local time in London), and our plane was around 20 miles west of Brussels heading towards German airspace. Dinner consisted of smoked red salmon served with buttered mashed potatoes and peas. This was accompanied with a soft bread along with a bowl of fresh salad (consisting of feta cheese, cherry tomatoes, lettuce and cucumber all sprinkled with lemon juice).

Chocolate cheese cake topped with almond crisps and a dash of chocolate sauce provided the perfect dessert at 37,000 feet! In the Economy and Economy Premium cabins we had “Time Out” 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 (not to mention the rather long queue to the toilets so everyone can brush their teeth etc before saying goodnight).

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. I had to make the most of the food (OK, its only airline food), as I knew that this was perhaps the last British style food I would get for a long time. Western food in China is just not the same.

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 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 past Kunming in Yunnan Province and we were heading straight towards Guangdong. The flight took us over Guangzhou, then Zhongshan, Macau and then finally entering the Hong Kong Peninsula from the east to make a landing in from the south into Runway 25L at Chep Lap Kok.

There was a choice of either a Western breakfast or a Chinese breakfast. I opted 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 fee. The sausages, bacon and scrambled eggs all tasted as if it was freshly cooked. Oh, and that 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 12-hour flight.

Improvements that could be made:

This was a great flight. Everything was just fine.

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

The aircraft was clean at the beginning, however because the flight was full, so obviously at the end of the journey it needed a bit of a clean up. Other than that there were no problems.

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