BA Club Europe - Short Haul "J" LGW-BCN

[yflyer]

Look at this picture...what do you see?



You would be forgiven for thinking that this was one of any number of LCC's operating a conventional 3-3 operation with minimal legroom.

But no, this is what counts for short haul, intra-Europe business class on many airlines. This is BA Club Europe, in the front "J" cabin of an Airbus A319. I took this flight last week after spending a couple of days in London.



To be fair, London Gatwick to Barcelona is a 2 hour flight, and what they do is that they block off the middle seat in each row, so that this is effectively a 2-2 config.



But legroom is still firmly in LCC territory, and the overall impression is of Y with an empty seat in between.

I was in the aisle. My seatmate in the window seat had just flown into London from San Francisco in long haul J, and this was his first intra-Europe J experience. He was underwhelmed by the hard product, to say the least. On his iPhone, he was on video chat with his wife and kid prior to doors closing, and he swivelled his camera around at this seat. "This is BA Business Class!" he described to his incredulous family. I'm not sure if they believed him...

But all was not lost, I told him...at least the food would be decent (At least that was my recollection, either from a previous flight, or from peeking through the curtain into the J cabin from Y, where I spend most of my time...).

[yflyer]

This was a mid-afternoon flight, so afternoon tea was served.



This was served on a large tray with proper tableware and cutlery.

I wonder why they don't get the cabin crew to spend a few more seconds to remove the sandwiches from the plastic before serving it the plate.

[yflyer]

The cabin crew came round with a basket of warm scones, with both sweet and savoury scones available.





The sandwiches were quite tasty...



But the standout dish on this flight was the scones...



These tasted wonderful. Warm scones, with real clotted cream and jam.

There was a good selection of beverages on this flight, including mini bottles of Heidsieck & Co champagne.

[yflyer]

I enjoyed afternoon tea on this flight. It was almost enough to take my mind off the rudimentary hard product on offer.

BA is not the only culprit. The short haul J product within Europe on Lufthansa and other full service airlines is similar.

I remain amazed that customers in Europe, including many business travellers who pay top dollar for their tickets, allow airlines to pass off this hard product as business class.

I have had wonderful experiences on BA in long haul J, PY and Y. I've been happy with BA's shorthaul Y product as well. But why can't carriers in Europe offer proper short haul J?

Scones aside, an unremarkable experience.

[SQGamespeed]

Interesting that you mention LCCs. I think competition from LCCs, including Michael O'Leary's one, may in fact be one of the main culprits, forcing cost-cutting measures on BA or LH, resulting in this pitiful "business" offering.

And routes from the UK to just about anywhere in Spain have an abundance of LCC flights being operated.

[9V-SIA]

Appalling product, which is why I fly Y on BA within Europe.

For that, they give you a chocolate bar or a bag of crisps, and a drink, for lunch

I look forward to the scones though when I fly long haul up front

[Sethor]

Interesting that you mention LCCs. I think competition from LCCs, including Michael O'Leary's one, may in fact be one of the main culprits, forcing cost-cutting measures on BA or LH, resulting in this pitiful "business" offering.

And routes from the UK to just about anywhere in Spain have an abundance of LCC flights being operated.

But none of those LCC's have a business product & none of them fly ex LCY or LHR. I can't see why they can't offer a similar hard product like the rest of the world, surely there is a market there for that product between the bigger cities. First time I flew BA business was ex LCY on the E-jets, no lounge with the same seat & pitch as economy.

[Guitarsingapore]

Yes, the intra-Europe J product is like that and I don't think they are changing it anytime soon.

I made a flight review video of a flight on BA, Dublin to London in J that I took a couple of years ago.

https://youtu.be/ceHSW8nRRYg

[schumaster]

I was on intra Europe Swiss J class last month and was very disappointed.

It was an early evening flight and they only offered one type of dish - fish.

I don't eat seafood, and the flight attendant offered me to take the bread and butter instead...pfft...