Review: British Airways Business Class A318 New York To London City

British Airways 2
New York (JFK) – London City (LCY)
Tuesday, November 6
Depart: 6:45PM
Arrive: 6:55AM (+1 day)
Duration: 7hr10min
Aircraft: Airbus A318
Seat: 8A (Business Class)

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I had taken this flight almost a decade ago when it first launched, and forgot just how damn special and cool it is. At the door I was greeted by the friendly cabin service manager, who pointed me towards my seat.

British Airways’ A318 has just 32 business class seats, spread across eight rows in a 2-2 configuration.

British Airways’ A318 business class cabin

This jet is so just so sleek and such an awesome experience.

British Airways’ business class cabin A318

I saw that the flight was less than two thirds full, so I assigned myself seat 8A (the window seat on the left in the last row), in hopes of getting an empty seat next to me.

British Airways’ A318 business class seats are different than the seats they have on all of their other planes. They have a “simple” 2-2 configuration with about 72″ of pitch.

British Airways Club World London City seats

British Airways Club World London City seats

While these seats aren’t ideal if you’re sitting next to a stranger, they’re perfect if you’re traveling with someone, or if you luck out with an empty seat next to you. Heck, they’re cool even if you’re seated next to a stranger, since you’re crossing the Atlantic with at most 31 other passengers.

British Airways A318 business class seats

British Airways A318 business class seats

For a bit more privacy, there is a partition that can be extended, which I’d probably keep extended even during the meal service if someone were seated next to me, since the armrest isn’t huge.

British Airways business class seat privacy partition

The seat controls were on the far side of the seats, and were easy to use.

British Airways business class seat controls

The tray table folded out from the center armrest, and could also be folded over in half.

British Airways business class seat tray tables

Also underneath the center armrest was a small exposed storage compartment, as well as a power outlet.

British Airways business class seat power outlet

There were two more power outlets underneath the center armrest at the front.

British Airways business class seat power outlets

As you can see, each seat has an ottoman that becomes part of the bed when the seat is fully reclined. There’s also some storage space underneath the ottoman, though the area isn’t huge.

British Airways business class seat ottoman

One other thing that makes this Club World London City service awesome is that they have individual air nozzles at each seat, which British Airways doesn’t have on most of their widebody aircraft.

British Airways business class individual air nozzles

Waiting at my seat upon boarding was the same bedding from The White Company that British Airways has on their other longhaul flights. There’s a “pouch” that has most of the bedding, and then the pillow just sits on top of it.

British Airways The White Company bedding

The full bedding set includes a pillow, a thick blanket, a light blanket, and a mattress sheet. British Airways has really solid bedding nowadays.

British Airways The White Company bedding

A moment after settling in, one of the three flight attendants came by my seat to introduce himself, and to offer me an amenity kit and bottle of water for the flight.

British Airways The White Company amenity kit

British Airways business class bottled water

A moment later I was asked if I wanted a pre-departure drink, and I ordered a glass of champagne. I finished that glass pretty quickly, and was immediately offered a refill. The level of service on this plane really feels more like first class than business class.

British Airways business class pre-departure champagne

A few moments later I was also presented the menu, breakfast card, and drink list for the flight.

British Airways business class menu & wine list

By 6:25PM, just 10 minutes after boarding started, it was announced that boarding was complete. There were only 18 passengers on this flight (plus the two pilots and three flight attendants), so it sure was a private way to cross the Atlantic!

At 6:30PM it was announced that a passenger onboard had a severe nut allergy, so they asked people not to consume nuts on the flight.

Then a couple of minutes later Captain Barry added his welcome onboard. He informed us that we’d be taking off into the Southwest, and that our flight time would be 6hr45min.

At 6:40PM we began our pushback, at which point a manual safety demonstration was performed. Around this time the crew also came around to take meal orders. Since there were three flight attendants and only 18 passengers, there was one flight attendant for every six passengers.

15 people went straight to sleep, so there was truly a one-to-one service ratio… in business class!

At 6:45PM we began our taxi, and at 6:55PM we were cleared for takeoff. That has to be one of the shortest waits I’ve ever had in the evening at JFK on departure.

While our takeoff roll was really quick, our climb out was gradual and really, really bumpy. Like, really bumpy, and I’m not someone who is usually sensitive to turbulence.

View after takeoff from New York

Despite that, the seatbelt sign was turned off just five minutes after takeoff. Then it got even bumpier, and despite that the crew started their service. The turbulence persisted for about an hour, and it was probably the worst turbulence I’ve had in a couple of years.

Just 15 minutes after takeoff the crew distributed portable entertainment devices. The A318 doesn’t have built-in inflight entertainment, so instead they pass out iPads and headphones.

British Airways portable entertainment system

Funny enough they’ve built “stands” for the portable entertainment, but the iPads actually don’t fit. At least that’s what the flight attendant told me. Very odd.

British Airways portable entertainment system holder (in theory)

The entertainment selection was reasonably limited. There were about 15 movies and about 60 TV shows, so I’d recommend bringing your own entertainment if taking this flight.

British Airways entertainment selection

British Airways entertainment selection

Unfortunately British Airways doesn’t have Wi-Fi on the Club World London City service. That’s not an issue for the redeye, but for the daytime return that’s more of an issue, especially as British Airways now has Wi-Fi on many of their other aircraft.

Right after that the meal service began. The menu read as follows:

The drink list read as follows:

20 minutes after takeoff drinks were served on a tray. Usually they’d serve nuts with it, but due to the allergy of a passenger, they didn’t. I had a glass of the New Zealand sauvignon blanc to drink, and some still water.

British Airways business class dinner — drinks

Just 25 minutes after takeoff the first course was served. This consisted of a tasty cream of mushroom soup with croutons, as well as a small salad and piece of bread.

British Airways business class dinner — soup and salad

Next up I ordered the antipasti plate, consisting of buffalo mozzarella, teardrop tomato salad, basil, roast beef, creamy mustard sauce, and grilled vegetables. It was also quite good.

British Airways business class dinner — appetizer

For the main course I ordered the grilled salmon with creamy spinach and sautéed root vegetables, which was also very good.

British Airways business class dinner — main course

Lastly for dessert I had the blackcurrant and lime dome.

British Airways business class dinner — dessert

The food quality was excellent, and the service was flawless and customized. Like I said, only three people were eating, so with a 1:1 service ratio, service was even better than I’ve ever had in British Airways first class. I was addressed by name with all interactions, and basically had one flight attendant taking care of just me.

I also appreciated how quickly the meal was served. My meal was cleared an hour after takeoff, and that’s in spite of the flight being really bumpy.

After the meal I checked out one of the lavatories. The A318 has two lavatories — one at the front and one at the back.

British Airways business class lavatory

The lavatories had basic amenities from The White Company.

British Airways business class lavatory amenities

I reclined my seat and slept really well. I love these types of seats when you have an empty seat next to you, because unlike some other seats, there’s no small footwell you have to squeeze your feet into.

British Airways Club World London City bed

I slept extremely well for about 4hr30min, and then woke up naturally about 80 minutes before landing.

Just as the dinner service was customized, so was the breakfast service, as most people slept right through it. Within a few minutes of waking up I was offered a drink. I ordered a cup of coffee and some water.

British Airways business class coffee

Here’s the breakfast card that I had filled out before going to sleep:

For breakfast I had a smoothie, greek yogurt with lime marinated banana, and the toasted panini with scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, and grilled bacon. I don’t eat bacon, so I just picked around it.

British Airways business class breakfast

One of the cool options that they have on this route is that you can basically get a “to go” breakfast, if you prefer to sleep in.

The cabin lights were turned on about 40 minutes before landing, at which point most people woke up. Around this time the captain also made an announcement informing us that we were to the northwest of Cardiff and that we’d be landing into the east at 6:35AM.

British Airways A318 cabin in the morning

About 10 minutes later we began our descent, and boy was it a bumpy one, just like our climb out. Despite that, the captain kept the seatbelt sign off until about 20 minutes before landing.

While the descent in general was rough, the last 10 minutes of the flight was even bumpier, as we were being thrown around like crazy — you could tell it was pretty windy.

View approaching London City

View approaching London City

The pilots really wrestled the plane down, and we had a very rough landing at 6:35AM. In fairness, City Airport has a short runway, so the rough landings aren’t too uncommon, since they have to get the plane down.

We then back taxied on the runway a bit, and five minutes later were at our arrival stand.

Taxiing London City

Arriving at stand London City

From there we deplaned via stairs, and were put on a short bus ride to the terminal. Since there were fewer than 20 passengers, immigration was a breeze.

British Airways A318 upon arrival in London City

While I didn’t use it, British Airways offers an arrivals service at the Radisson Blu Edwardian, which includes breakfast, a shower, access to the gym, shirt and suit pressing, Wi-Fi, and more.

Club World London City bottom line

I can’t believe I hadn’t taken this flight for almost a decade, because it’s such a treat. This flight is cool on so many levels — for the novelty, for the ease of boarding and deplaning, for the fact that it flies to London City (if that’s valuable to you), and for just how attentive the service is.

This is such a cute little plane, and crossing the Atlantic with so few passengers is almost surreal. These flights also have just about the best service you’ll find on any British Airways flight, given the great flight attendant to passenger ratio to begin with, and on top of that most people sleep.

I loved this flight, and can’t wait to take it again!