This is a pretty slick and thorough video tour of a British Airways Airbus A380. What’s fun about this tour is it not only shares the passenger cabin, but also some of the goodies for the crew, including the flight deck and rest areas.
Thanks to Victor for pointing this video out.
A British Airways Concorde visits SEA – Photo: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Today, Concorde is no stranger to the Seattle area — there is a British Airways Concorde sitting just south of Seattle at the Museum of Fight. But back in 1984, a Concorde had not yet visited Seattle. That all changed near the end of the year.
According to HistoryLink.org, on November 15, 1984, Concorde made its first trip to Seattle and it was for a special event.
It landed at Boeing Field (BFI) first to prepare for a special fundraising flight for the Museum of Flight. The plane arrived with a load of recently bottled Beaujolais nouveau wine and Seattle restaurant owner Mick McHugh along with a few guests. The wine was specially brought to Seattle as quickly as possible to be enjoyed, and what better way than via a Concorde?!
The First Class cabin of a British Airways 747-436 (G-BNLK) – Photo: Bernie Leighton | AirlineReporter
The entire reason I ended up in Poland was because my travel thought process doesn’t work like that of a normal person. If I see an enticing airfare, on a new airline or a new product, I tend to book it, then figure out the details later.
In this case, I had discovered that British Airways was offering some reasonable fares in their most recent Prime First product across the Atlantic. Better still, one leg (LHR-ORD) was going to be on a 747. In this case, G-BNLK.
I flew to Heathrow from Seattle aboard a G-VIID, a 777-236ER built in 1997. The only advantages I can point out between it and the 744 are the larger overhead bins and slightly more modern AVOD In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) system.
The legs to and from Warsaw were aboard an A320. Club Europe is a bit tight, but the lamb rogan josh was nice. What was not nice was arriving into Terminal 3. The flight arrived early, giving me a two-and-a-half-hour layover. Ample time to change terminals and go to the lounge, right?
Wrong – this is Heathrow! Having to walk half a mile from gate 24 to the transfer bus was the first nuisance. The second was the fifteen minute drive to Terminal 5. This was followed by another aimless walk to the connections desk and finally, Fast Track security. It is “Fast Track” in name only – I was stuck behind at least three passengers who forgot the 3-1-1 rule. Noticing that we were at gate B42, I realized that I would have no time to visit the Concorde Room (British Airways’ first class lounge), which I was really looking forward to.
Boarding was also a little odd. Instead of BA staff looking at IDs, security was inspecting everyone’s travel documents to confirm the ability to enter the United States. Evidently, he was either very suspicious or just slow. I shall stop dwelling on my sub-par airport experience and talk about the aircraft experience, as it was infinitely better.
British Airways Boeing 747-400 at Seattle
Although I know many readers of this site are more interested about the flight itself, I tend to be more intrigued with what goes one between searching for a ticket and stepping on to the plane. Odd for some, I know, but I wanted to share my own insight.
My most recent adventure started when I decided to go to Paris (CDG) from Seattle (SEA) for vacation. After some work, I narrowed my dates to flying out on a Thursday so that I could have a full weekend in-country. Last year, I made the same trip on Icelandair and chose that airline mostly on having the lowest fare. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go with the lowest fare this time; I was also interested in the experience, so I decided to start my ticket hunt early. This all resulted with me flying on a British Airways Boeing 747-400 out of Seattle.
British Airway’s first Boeing 787 Dreamliner (G-ZBJA) in full livery seen at Paine Field earlier today. Photo by Brandon Farris.
AirlineReporter.com writer Brandon Farris is currently tagging along with American Airlines to cover one of their Boeing 777-300ER delivery flights (story coming soon). During his adventure at Paine Field today, he was able to catch British Airway’s first Boeing 787 Dreamliner in full livery.
Previously, we saw this aircraft with a bare white fuselage, leading some (including us) to speculate that British Airways might had been planning a special livery. The sad side is it looks like they are keeping their standard livery, the good side is that livery looks amazing on the 787 Dreamliner.
But can you notice something a bit different from the majority of their current fleet? If not, check the photo below.
Closer shot of British Airways 787 Dreamliner in full livery. Photo by Brandon Farris.
The classic British Airways emblem is seen before the titles on the fuselage (and after the titles on the opposite side). Taking a closer look at the British Airways Airbus A380 that recently rolled out of the paint hangar half way across the globe shows the same thing.
BA has been starting the process of adding back their coat of arms to their fleet. It is not so obvious at first.