Round The World and other travels

Flight Log 1: BA1459

Edinburgh (EDI) - London Heathrow (LHR)

ABOVE: British Airways G-EUXM, an Airbus A321, prepares to operate an evening shuttle to London Heathrow

As the flight was to be operated by an Airbus A321, and given that I had some knowledge of the shape of BA's overall plan for installation of a new short-haul cabin across most of the fleet, it came as no surprise at all to find that this aircraft still had the 'classic' short-haul cabin featuring the familiar, relatively heavy seats that were now a couple of generations out of date. Trimmed in blue leather, these seats continued to be much loved by many frequent flyers, largely due to the way in which they could be converted for Business Class use, and their impending demise had been prompting outbursts of angst on a number of online bulletin boards. Personally, I felt that this type of seat had long since had its day and simply wondered, without emotion, whether this would be my last experience of this offering.

Following sterling efforts by both ground crew and cabin crew to achieve an efficient boarding process, we managed to get away six minutes ahead of schedule and were airborne within fifteen minutes of leaving the gate. The evening had turned beautifully clear after earlier gloom, and I was soon able to gaze down on the twinkling streetlights of anonymous communities far below. When cabin service got underway, I had a tomato juice, a tiny bag of crisps and a coffee. The juice had the customary ice and spice, but the third member of the trio - a slice of lemon - was conspicuous by its absence. I wondered whether or not I detected the hand of the BA bean-counters yet again.

I read for most of the time as the aircraft followed its usual route via Carlisle, Manchester and Birmingham. Just 42 minutes into the flight, the First Officer announced that we were over Oxford, having already descended to 14,000ft. No delays were expected, we had just 15 minutes of flying remaining and it would be a short taxi to our stand after landing. It all sounded exceptionally positive for an arrival into Heathrow!

It occurred to me at this point that the main cabin lights had remained off throughout the flight, which struck me as unusual. The clear conditions noted on departure from Edinburgh were also being maintained in the London area and I had stunning views of Olympic Park, the O2 arena and Canary Wharf before we made the inevitable right turn. (The best views of Central London were of course on the other side of the plane.)

As promised, we had a direct approach to the airport, touching down at 1941 on runway 27R. Despite earlier indications, it wasn't a particularly short taxi, but we still managed to park on a remote stand at the south end of Terminal 5 a creditable 13 minutes ahead of schedule.

Date: Thu 30 Oct 2014

Aircraft: Airbus A321

Scheduled dep: 1835

Actual departure: 1829

Scheduled arrival: 2000

Actual arrival: 1947

Cabin: Economy (Domestic Shuttle)

Seat: 1A

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