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View media item 19713I started my journey at Leeds train station. TransPennine Express operates a direct hourly service to Manchester Airport and it’s a convenient way to get there from Leeds as the trip only take 90 minutes and then from the station its a 15-minute walk to either Terminal via the Skylink bridges though the walking walkways don’t seem to work a lot of the time. For this trip I was heading to Terminal 2 as British Airways now operate out of there and use check in zone E. There was no queue so checking in and dropping my bag off was quick. Short walk to security and I was through there with no problems in roughly 20 minutes. I’d arrived early so had some time to kill before my flight, luckily Manchester has a lot of variety of airlines to see. Gate was called and I departed from A11 which is the furthest gate in the furthest pier of the terminal. My flight was BA1369 which departed at 16.55 and the aircraft was G-EUYU a 9-year-old A320. The flight did depart late but after a quick 40-minute flight in what was a lovely day for flying we landed at Heathrow 5 minutes early and parked at one of the A gates at Terminal 5. The transfer was easy just followed the purple signs and straight into the terminal. I did notice that BAs short haul service now includes a free bottle of water and a snack which was good to see.
View media item 19714After 3 hours of waiting and relaxing in a very busy Terminal 5 watching the planes depart and arrive and experiencing the scrum of the transit train boarding was called at gate C55 for BA15 my flight to Sydney via Singapore. The aircraft that I was going to spend nearly 24 hours on was G-ZBKK a 9-year-old 787 9 Dreamliner. This aircraft has 8 First Class, 42 Business class (old non suite seat), 39 Premium Economy and 127 Economy seats. I would be doing this journey in Economy. Seat 40K would be my home for the journey to Sydney and waiting for me at that seat was a pillow, blanket and headphones. Departure time was 22.00 but we were about 15 minutes late which didn’t matter much as we eventually arrived in Singapore 45 minutes earlier than our scheduled time of 18.40.
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Service on this flight consisted of a snack service and 2 meals with snacks available in the galley as well. The first service was done not long after take-off was a drink service with a snack of pretzels. The main meal service was then done 2 and ½ hours after departure, I’ve not flown long haul since 2019 but that felt quite a long time to wait, meaning I didn’t finish the meal until over 3 hours into the flight which would have been past 1am UK time. The meal consisted of sweet and sour chicken accompanied by a couscous starter, cheese and crackers, a bread roll with butter, a bottle of water and a chocolate and salted caramel pot desert. I also had a diet coke as well. For an economy meal it was good even if I did feel the main part was a bit on the small side.
The second meal was breakfast. This was served about 90 minutes before landing. I choose the traditional breakfast. It consisted of a sausage, scrambled egg, tomato and beans and was accompanied by a chocolate chip muffin and a little fruit salad. I also had an apple juice with it. Again, for an economy meal it tasted good even if it felt a bit on the small side.
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View media item 19720During the flight I watched some TV on the IFE, though the best part was watching the inflight map. I was able to sleep for around 5 hours. Having the middle seat free helped with this but on both flights I struggled to get comfortable more so on the Singapore to Sydney flight where I didn’t sleep at all, middle seat wasn’t free for that flight.
After over 12 hours of flying via a route that took us over Europe, the Black Sea, parts of central Asia, India and the Bay of Bengal we landed at Singapore Changi Airport. We spent 2 hours on the ground while the aircraft was cleaned, refuelled and restocked with catering and we reboarded the flight and departed for Sydney. This flight was shorter only 7 hours.
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View media item 19723Service was the same as the previous flight but the main meal seemed to be served earlier, only 2 hours into the flight, shorter flight time a factor maybe? There was a snack and drinks service and then the main meal which this time I choose the veggie option. A mixed bean pasta dish with mushrooms and tomato sauce. It was accompanied by a couscous salad, cheese, butter and crackers and a strawberry mouse cake desert as well as a bottle of water and tasted good for an economy meal. Breakfast was served an hour and 15 minutes before landing and was poor. It was a chicken curry calzone pie, not something I’d pick as a breakfast item. After 7 hours of flying via the Java Sea and over the Australian outback we arrived in Sydney as the sun started to rise 20 minutes before our scheduled arrival time. Getting through the border and customs was relatively easy, it probably helped being the first international arrivals of the day, and I was finally on Australian soil after a journey of over 30 hours and headed to catch my hotel shuttle bus.
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View media item 19729Overall, it was a good trip with BA the cabin crew were friendly with good service on both flights. This was the first time I’ve flown long haul with them and in parts I enjoyed it and in others I didn’t but that may be down to flying economy on such a long route, but I did find them good enough that if the price is right I would consider flying them again on another trip in the future.
I've posted more about my trip to Sydney Australia on my Instagram
View media item 19714After 3 hours of waiting and relaxing in a very busy Terminal 5 watching the planes depart and arrive and experiencing the scrum of the transit train boarding was called at gate C55 for BA15 my flight to Sydney via Singapore. The aircraft that I was going to spend nearly 24 hours on was G-ZBKK a 9-year-old 787 9 Dreamliner. This aircraft has 8 First Class, 42 Business class (old non suite seat), 39 Premium Economy and 127 Economy seats. I would be doing this journey in Economy. Seat 40K would be my home for the journey to Sydney and waiting for me at that seat was a pillow, blanket and headphones. Departure time was 22.00 but we were about 15 minutes late which didn’t matter much as we eventually arrived in Singapore 45 minutes earlier than our scheduled time of 18.40.
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Service on this flight consisted of a snack service and 2 meals with snacks available in the galley as well. The first service was done not long after take-off was a drink service with a snack of pretzels. The main meal service was then done 2 and ½ hours after departure, I’ve not flown long haul since 2019 but that felt quite a long time to wait, meaning I didn’t finish the meal until over 3 hours into the flight which would have been past 1am UK time. The meal consisted of sweet and sour chicken accompanied by a couscous starter, cheese and crackers, a bread roll with butter, a bottle of water and a chocolate and salted caramel pot desert. I also had a diet coke as well. For an economy meal it was good even if I did feel the main part was a bit on the small side.
The second meal was breakfast. This was served about 90 minutes before landing. I choose the traditional breakfast. It consisted of a sausage, scrambled egg, tomato and beans and was accompanied by a chocolate chip muffin and a little fruit salad. I also had an apple juice with it. Again, for an economy meal it tasted good even if it felt a bit on the small side.
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View media item 19720During the flight I watched some TV on the IFE, though the best part was watching the inflight map. I was able to sleep for around 5 hours. Having the middle seat free helped with this but on both flights I struggled to get comfortable more so on the Singapore to Sydney flight where I didn’t sleep at all, middle seat wasn’t free for that flight.
After over 12 hours of flying via a route that took us over Europe, the Black Sea, parts of central Asia, India and the Bay of Bengal we landed at Singapore Changi Airport. We spent 2 hours on the ground while the aircraft was cleaned, refuelled and restocked with catering and we reboarded the flight and departed for Sydney. This flight was shorter only 7 hours.
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View media item 19723Service was the same as the previous flight but the main meal seemed to be served earlier, only 2 hours into the flight, shorter flight time a factor maybe? There was a snack and drinks service and then the main meal which this time I choose the veggie option. A mixed bean pasta dish with mushrooms and tomato sauce. It was accompanied by a couscous salad, cheese, butter and crackers and a strawberry mouse cake desert as well as a bottle of water and tasted good for an economy meal. Breakfast was served an hour and 15 minutes before landing and was poor. It was a chicken curry calzone pie, not something I’d pick as a breakfast item. After 7 hours of flying via the Java Sea and over the Australian outback we arrived in Sydney as the sun started to rise 20 minutes before our scheduled arrival time. Getting through the border and customs was relatively easy, it probably helped being the first international arrivals of the day, and I was finally on Australian soil after a journey of over 30 hours and headed to catch my hotel shuttle bus.
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View media item 19729Overall, it was a good trip with BA the cabin crew were friendly with good service on both flights. This was the first time I’ve flown long haul with them and in parts I enjoyed it and in others I didn’t but that may be down to flying economy on such a long route, but I did find them good enough that if the price is right I would consider flying them again on another trip in the future.
I've posted more about my trip to Sydney Australia on my Instagram
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