BA's new A380

[Flashback]

After having arrived in FRA it was straight off the plane to head to the lounge, however upon getting to the end of the jet bridge there was a chap standing there with a suitcase sporting the yellow FT tag. Fantastic I thought, would save me having to wander around trying to find him so I could guest him into the JAL Sakura Lounge. We all toddled off to the lounge in no time at all and met up with a fellow FTer who had been there all day since he came over on the inaugural flight earlier that morning, BA902.



We had 40 minutes or so which ended up going pretty quickly, as per usual EU lounge standards the food on offer wasn't terribly exciting with there being a few open sandwiches, meatballs, crisps and various nuts, etc. With the initial boarding call having already been made and it getting closer to the final boarding call, we decided to make a move for the plane as we didn't want to miss our chariot home! So we rushed over to the gate, went through the security screening again and made our way to our seats - this time 35K for me which was a bulkhead and did actually have a window.



We had a short delay once on-board, but eventually we pushed back.



The demo safety was done by flight crew again, as it was on the way over, due to the IFE not being 'ready' for use yet. As I would eventually find out also, the crew on the lower deck for this flight was different to the crew we had coming over - they were all hiding upstairs now!

 

[Flashback]

It was a bit of fun making our way to the runway, we had 2 groups of FRA ground staff take photos of our aircraft as it passed. First were these guys...


Then a group of guys who sped up in a van, jumped out, took photos, then ran back to the van!


You will see the LH plane just coming in to land as we were taking off.....


Who then decided to do a go-around!

 

[Flashback]

And off it goes again!


Evening was soon coming, so the sun was on its descent into the horizon as we flew out over FRA


I decided to go for a little explore on the flight back, noting that the toilet has a slightly different floor to it - let's see how long it lasts! I had to chuckle though, as I went down the back I saw people queuing for the toilets, not realising that the back wall also had some (I guess having not been on an A380 before!).. so in I slipped and took a quick photo. After I exited people soon realised and after feeling a bit silly proceeded to make use!


The bulkhead in row 35


The seat in whY. One thing to note is the headrest is very padded, quite comfortable. Another novelty of this seat... is that when you move the head rest up, it stays! Enjoy it while it lasts

 

[Flashback]

After having a quick explore of the cabin I then gathered with some FTers at the back near the stairs and proceeded to have a chat about all things A380, why they were on the flight, what other flights they had done, etc. and was surprised to find out one of the guys had spent some time in PER holidaying, so we had a good chuckle about the sleepy, but nice town.

As the flight was fairly short it was time to land, so back into our seats to grab some great shots of old London town on descent.

Long shot down the Thames, The Gherkin on the right of the river and the Shard on the left.

Close-up of Tower Bridge.

The Kia Oval where the fifth and final Ashes test will be played. Can you spot MI6 also?

The London Eye and Houses of Parliament, including Big Ben!

 

[Flashback]

Upon landing at LHR...

We stumble across our slightly older brothers (2x A3800

 

[Flashback]

Upon arriving along with the other FTers on board, a few German teenagers (who were en-route to Australia in fact!) and I were all treated to a behind the scenes tour starting with a look at the flight deck which was located on a half level between the lower and upper deck (not sure if this differs from QF or not!). Sorry, no photos allowed there!

After having a chat with the flight crew about various aspects, the excellent and knowledgeable CSM Louise proceeded to give us a quick tour of the upper deck.

The first class suite - fairly similar to New First on the 777 / 747 but with a slightly higher level of privacy.

The upper-deck Club World (Business) cabin, note the 2-3-2 layout as opposed to downstairs which is 2-4-2. The middle seat actually looks quite decent in the block of 3.

The WTP (whY+) cabin. Looks reasonable enough to try out. Everyone seemed very excited about it... I guess it is quite an improvement on their current WTP product though!

The mini whY cabin at the back of the upper deck.


We thanked the CSM for being able to show us the upper deck and finally made our way off the plane. What a great way to finish a great day.

All that was left for me was the usual shuffle through passport control. Having the right to use the EU lane but also the non-EU due to my Australian passport, I decided to use my fast track ability and go through the non-EU. Today it worked an absolute treat, there was no one in line! I was straight through after a few probing questions by border control.

I waited for the rest of the people I travelled with then we all parted ways with me heading back on the HEX to do the Heathrow shuffle to get back to the Central Bus Station, with the others opting to head for the Underground as well as their parked cars.

It was then the usual journey home for me after another day of flying, all in all I was glad to have made the last minute decision to jump upon the flight and try out the new bird.

If anyone has any questions about the flight or on-board product, please do ask!

Fin.

 

[whereiskym]

Thanks for the post and all the pics another A380 to add to my list to travel on .

 

[samh004]

Looks pretty decent. Odd that there are ashtrays.

 

[Flashback]

Looks pretty decent. Odd that there are ashtrays.

Yep, I did ask about that and was told "it's just in case someone does smoke.. there's a way to put it out".

 

[Flashback]

Mods, can this be moved to the TR forum please?

 

[samh004]

Yep, I did ask about that and was told "it's just in case someone does smoke.. there's a way to put it out".

The plane carries how much potable water they could use?

Is it one in every seat? Seems silly if so.

 

[Flashback]

The plane carries how much potable water they could use?

Is it one in every seat? Seems silly if so.

Nope, there was one on the crew rest door (which is just next to the curtain in front of row 20 (first row of whY on lower deck)), one on the toilet door on the other side of the cabin (J toilet) - didn't notice if there were any others. There were none on the seats though!

 

[samh004]

Nope, there was one on the crew rest door (which is just next to the curtain in front of row 20 (first row of whY on lower deck)), one on the toilet door on the other side of the cabin (J toilet) - didn't notice if there were any others. There were none on the seats though!

Oh that's not too bad then. I got the impression they had them in every seat

 

[Flashback]

Oh that's not too bad then. I got the impression they had them in every seat

Sorry, should have made the clearer! :mrgreen:

 

[anat0l]

...Fin.

Hey, that's my line :mrgreen:


Nice TR.

Brief points:

• Typical BA putting no air vents. Don't they realise that they actually fly to some countries where the season can actually be quite warm? Oh, wait a minute, what's the weather like in London at the moment? :mrgreen: And no, the English do not smell any better than all of the other countries in the world that a little air circulation would not help any given individual.
• Most people will gripe about CW like no tomorrow because it still requires you to hop over someone's feet to get to the aisle (for vv. if you are on the aisle). Sucks to be you if you're busting to go, you're in the middle seat of a 3 seater section and everyone's in full bed mode. On the other hand, the back row middle seats will be prime selections for single flyers.
• Funny how the WT covers are white and the WT+ covers are gold. The pillows reflect the class colours, too. They seem to use the same Recaro product that reflects QF's WT+. Definitely, on paper, looks like an improvement on the BA WT+ product of old.
• Was the plane full? Even though I assume there was the full complement of crew as required for the flight, it would still look amazing seeing the brief service done across the entire main deck - i.e. hand out crisps, serve of drinks, second serve of drinks and rubbish collection. Even more so for the Club crew. (Yes, it should be proportionally the same and possibly easier, but you're still asking quite a bit).

 

[Flashback]

Brief points:

• Typical BA putting no air vents. Don't they realise that they actually fly to some countries where the season can actually be quite warm? Oh, wait a minute, what's the weather like in London at the moment? :mrgreen: And no, the English do not smell any better than all of the other countries in the world that a little air circulation would not help any given individual.
• Most people will gripe about CW like no tomorrow because it still requires you to hop over someone's feet to get to the aisle (for vv. if you are on the aisle). Sucks to be you if you're busting to go, you're in the middle seat of a 3 seater section and everyone's in full bed mode. On the other hand, the back row middle seats will be prime selections for single flyers.
• Funny how the WT covers are white and the WT+ covers are gold. The pillows reflect the class colours, too. They seem to use the same Recaro product that reflects QF's WT+. Definitely, on paper, looks like an improvement on the BA WT+ product of old.
• Was the plane full? Even though I assume there was the full complement of crew as required for the flight, it would still look amazing seeing the brief service done across the entire main deck - i.e. hand out crisps, serve of drinks, second serve of drinks and rubbish collection. Even more so for the Club crew. (Yes, it should be proportionally the same and possibly easier, but you're still asking quite a bit).

While there are no personal air vents, there does seem to be some along the side of the plane (look like grills), so it's just main cabin temperature controlled from what I could tell.

Plane wasn't full, the cabin is only being sold as what would be a full A319 or 767 depending on the flight. Although there is a full 23 crew members on the plane, most of them are located upstairs training. Downstairs in whY there were 4 crew servicing us I believe.

 

[cove]

Would first class section suit Mrscove for a treat Flashback?

 

[Flashback]

Would first class section suit Mrscove for a treat Flashback?

I think it may just!

 

[Flashback]

It looks like only those of us who flew on the first day have been lucky enough to get the full tour