Review: British Airways Business Class Airbus A319 (GVA-LHR)

Sounds like a great product for Europe, but the WiFi pricing sounds strange. I can’t imagine you could use the WiFi for more than 1hour but the price for full flight is more expansive. In general, I would appreciate if WiFi pricing would also consider the time of availability as I often purchase it and then can only use it for a fraction of the time due to satellite problems (or in this case start + landing)

I always find British Airways to be pretty reliable as far as inflight service is concerned. Their product is a bit basic on short haul, especially with seat comfort in both classes and inflight service for Economy (it used to be a lot better before 2016), but it still makes for an uneventful service.

Heathrow really needs to find better solutions to their continuous delays, which only inconveniences travelers, especially those connecting.

Interestingly, the Aeroflot plane stuck at Geneva Airport on your picture made it to the runaway, but never took off as it missed the clearance by a few minutes when Europe shut down its airspace to Russia

I often fly a BA route that is slightly shorter than this (average flight time of around 1 hour and 10 minutes) and they have recently removed the 1 hour option and only offers the full flight option at £ 4.99 still.

I believe that this may have been changed after Lucky’s trip in March, so could have changed on the Geneva route too.

Club Europe is my favourite shorthaul business product outside of Asian airlines (and TK), and one of the very few I'm willing to spend money on. However I avoid it on morning flights because Brits can't seem to be able to wrap their heads around the concept of continental breakfast. I know the cold platter option is supposed to play that role but that's once again loads and loads of heavy stuff. How they manage to offer three different choices without offering any light option that is actually edible at 6 in the morning is beyond me... Cultural differences I guess 🙂

I think they are rolling out free messaging to exec club members and iberia had it this week for ib plus too (a use for that account I only had for thr 90k bonus a few years back!!!).

What is the fare difference between Club Europe and Club Traveller on this intra Europe leg? For a reheated omelette on a one hour flight, I likely would not spend much to "upgrade".

"Boarding started at exactly 5:55PM"
Ruins the narrative flow of the lounge not opening early in the morning

BA are very inconsistent but when they are good they are a genuinely great airline to fly with. My trip with them in F back in 2016 was atrocious, service was bad to the point I would be upset at a medium scale restaurant let alone a First Class airline flight. Staff would disappear for hours at a time, I remember asking for a tea, waiting an unreasonably long time for it, then asking for sugar, waiting even longer, only to not be given a spoon or stick to stir it with, so I stirred it with the handle of my dinner fork.

Fast forward to 2018 and I fly MUC-SEA via LHR and have an awesome time. Flight attendants from Munich to London were beyond friendly, service was quick, and the food was quite good. IDK why but Club Europe seats feel more comfortable than Air France or Lufthansa Business seats. Even in the old Club World layout my flight from LHR-SEA was great too. Service was substantially better than my flight in F. I remember asking when the cabin lights would be turned off, and being told that they were left on for daytime flights but that since meal service was done they would be happy to oblige anyways, and dimmed the whole cabin on request. All three flights were mixed fleet crew too.

I fly short-haul business class in BA quite often, and I am always impressed by service. Do&Co catering then it’s the cherry on the cake. Once, on a 2h flight to Southern France, I think they refilled my Champagne glass 4 times. The crew is most of the times very friendly and attentive.

Nice review, thanks!

A couple of questions:

When did you book (I.e how many days before departure).

I’d close in, did you have a back up?

So no mention of the "seamless" (Not!) transfer between BA T5 and AA T3 (and vice-versa) security/passports/long walks/etc? One good reason to avoid transfers between BA and AA at LHR.

Depends on the days and times, but for pax without status it includes priority boarding, security and lounge access. Business class in europe is more about the experience on the ground, and even better that status passengers get 90 percent of the experience in cheap Y tickets

Sure but, if you're flying BA GVA-LHR-LAX, for example, it's worthwhile having the Business Class experience throughout. Personally, I'd never upgrade for such a short flight on a standalone basis.

It is usually between 100 usd and 200 usd more per leg on this route, but with Swiss it goes as low as 50 usd, not bad particularly if you have large carryons

BA short-haul business is usually good and worth spending Avios for. (not to be mistaken for BA Cityflyer, which is a no-go in business class!!!).
With the introduction of Elisabeth Line the Heathrow Airport became more appealing as well.

I saw that Aeroflot A321 there last August. I’m surprised the lessor hasn’t taken it.

Your BA experience is also spot on. Not exciting but does the job.

I actually find transiting LHR with an US passport isn’t too bad if you don’t have any issues getting a gate. It generally is simple going landslide and doing fast track security vs. taking the bus unless if one quickly appears

Ben, luckily you missed the human being ingested by a KLM aircraft at Amsterdam?

It's not a fixed ratio, but in general you'll pay 2-3x the Basic Economy (hand baggage only) fare for Club Europe. Similar to "First" (business) for intra-US journeys.

For status holders TBH there's not much point unless the CE fare is cheap, in which case it's potentially worth it to accrue Tier Points. The only real benefits are the onboard F&B and sitting further forward for a quick getaway - though unless you can book row 1, you'll get less legroom than in the emergency exit row (which is usually part of the economy cabin).

For non-status holders, getting fast track security, lounge access and priority boarding in addition to the onboard catering means there's a decent business case for it.

The other advantage is being able to make a Free Change on the Day to another flight under certain circumstances, i.e. confirmed standby, which otherwise doesn't really exist in Europe (outside of IRROPS).

There's no passport control for I-I transfers at LHR if you use the signposted "Connections" route. You do unfortunately have to go through security, which is ridiculous considering almost all other European countries trust (as a minimum) other European countries' security screening.

Some BA short-haul routes operate into T3 so the transfer is less painful that way.

I think it would make the posts more interesting if the two of you did not order the same dishes. Furthermore, do you really care about the tray in the middle for an hour flight. Consider how after you got up in the air, several minutes later they started to land.

I agree the lounge should be open before any and all departing flights. I wonder if the wifi fee includes landing and taxi until you are at the gate. For such a short flight, the minutes matter to the cost.

The tray is always useful and especially on short flights where the service is kinda rushed. It's very practical for drinks, etc.

Upcharge at BA is almost never 2-3x the economy fare. I normally see upcharges of 80-120€ in my route (VIE).

...plus if there isn't much of a difference if you're connecting in Business Class to a long-haul flight.

Flew on a BA A319 in Club Europe from KRK to LHR five years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Choice of meals, free-flowing champagne, and excellent crew.

Let's note that, as of September 2024, BA has 29 Airbus A319-100s (in service + parked) in its fleet.

Dr. Güntürk Üstün

As known, lounge access, bigger seats and free champagne are definitely popular with BA's pragmatic Club Europe business class.

Dr. Güntürk Üstün