British Airways A380 Y SIN-LHR-SIN on BA12/BA11

[yflyer]

I finally had the opportunity to fly BA's A380 from SIN to LHR and back again in late January this year, as part of a trip to the UK and North America.

BA flies to LHR from SIN twice a day, with BA16/15 operated by a 77W, and BA12/11 operated by the A380 on some days of operation.

I've flown BA's 77W to London several times in Y, PEY and J and was very happy with the experience. How would the A380 compare?

Note that some BA12/11 services are still operated by the 744, so if you value nostalgia and want to to experience the 744 while BA are still flying it, do check the schedule to see which equipment is operating your flight.

[yflyer]

Changi T1 these days is a bit of a construction site, at least on the outside.



At least inside, the renovations were completed a while back.

I still spend a few minutes taking in the "Kinetic Rain" moving art installation in the T1 departure area each time I come to T1.



Are these shorts-clad locals really checking-in for a flight to London? Do they have any idea what the temperature is over there this week?



I headed to the newly renovated BA Lounge to check it out before going to the gate at the far end of T1.

[yflyer]

Separate fast track queue at the security check for F, J and FFs...why doesn't SQ do this?



Today's BA flight from Singapore had LEE printed in large letters above the cockpit. Very appropriate for a flight out of SG.



Today's flight would be operated by aircraft rego G-XLEE (MSN148), a 2 year old plane.



I was in the Y cabin on the upper deck today...

[yflyer]

The upper deck on BA's A380 comprises Business, Premium Economy and Economy cabins.

Service in the J cabin was already in full swing when we boarded, with the cheerful cabin crew serving pre-take off beverages to the already seated J pax...



J on the BA A380 is configured 2-3-2 on the upper deck, and 2-4-2 on the lower deck.

The seats are the latest iteration of BA's iconic front/back lie-flat Club World seats, a generation ahead of the 77W J seats, and looked identical to the J seats on BA's 787.

Opinions on BA's Club World seat remain quite divided, at least for pax who fly into and out of SIN on other airlines.

I personally find these BA seats very comfortable, however many regulars in J have said that SQ's A380 J seating, with forward facing 1-2-1 lie-flat seats in J, much more spacious.



All the aisle seats face forward...



...with all J window seats (And the middle J seat in the 2-3-2 config) facing backwards.



The window seats and the middle seat are very private, as long as you don't mind facing backwards...

[yflyer]

The Premium Economy cabin on the upper deck is laid out 2-3-2, with very comfortable seats, which I find similar in spaciousness and comfort to SQ's PEY product.

[yflyer]

The Y cabin, laid out 2-4-2, occupies a fairly large section of the upper deck...





Upper deck emex row...



Large side storage boxes for the window seats on the upper deck. Notice that the windows on the upper deck were all closed, and remained closed during take-off unless the window pax opened the shades themselves.





Unlike SQ's A380 upper deck config, where the Y toilets are in the rear, BA has the Y toilets mid-way in the middle of the upper deck.





Seat recline was decent, although it is only the seat back that reclines...the seat cushion doesn't move forward slightly the way the SQ seats do.



I went down the rear stairs to the main deck to check out the Y cabin there, which was laid out 3-4-3. This was a very full flight, and the cabin was rapidly filling up downstairs too.



More on the main deck Y experience on my return flight...

[yflyer]

No large obstructions under the seats, although the bare metal IFE boxes didn't look particularly attractive.





My seatmate had her shoes off as soon as she boarded. I think it is perfectly ok (and much more comfortable) to take off your shoes during the flight, but for safety reasons, pax should keep shoes on during take-off and landing, just in case you need to head down the slides in an emergency. You don't really want to be stepping over all that debris in an emergency in bare feet. But most pax don't even think about these worst case scenarios. You would be lucky if they even watch the safety video.

[yflyer]

On the A380 upper deck, the overhead bins are very small in the rear of the cabin, so if you have a large roll-a-board, stick it in the overhead bins in the forward sections of the upper deck before you get to your seat in the rear.



Full AVOD IFE...



This is a touchscreen, although a controller is also provided. USB charging is available, as well as A/C power.





Headphones provided were the headband type, with single miniplug. These were of average quality, but at least movie dialogue was audible, compared to the muffled SQ earbuds which render dialogue all but unintelligible.



There was no wifi available on this flight.

[yflyer]

The IFE system is very impressive...about on par with SQ, although SQ's movie and TV selection is still much wider.



Video and audio quality were very good. Selections this month included Everest...



...and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.



TV selections include a full season of the series "Humans", a thought-provoking series about a future where realistic human-like robots have become part of society...



A very long flight today, with flight time of 13 hours and 40 minutes...

[yflyer]

Cabin service began with a round of drinks before dinner...

I had my usual gin & tonic, which came in a cup with ice and lemon, with a mini-bottle of Gordon's Gin and Schweppes Tonic Water to mix yourself.



The warm and friendly cabin crew also asked pax if they wanted a bottle of wine to go with my dinner later, and would give you a small bottle right then if you said yes.

Dinner service began shortly after. No printed menus, but I was asked if I wanted either chicken or beef -- I chose the beef.



Asian noodle salad as a starter...



The main course was quite good too...



...which I accompanied with a bottle of tempranillo...



Dessert...



Cheese and crackers...



And after dinner, I asked for a whisky, and was given two mini-bottles...this seemed to be BA standard practice...a double shot of your beverage of choice...it certainly made many of my fellow pax very happy....

[yflyer]

Our night flight took us over Pakistan and Afghanistan...



...then over Turkmenistan and the Caspian Sea.



Quite a number of views available on the in-flight map...

[yflyer]

Self service snacks were available in-flight during the night...



Breakfast was served just over an hour before landing...



You had a choice of omelette or full English breakfast. Both options sounded to me like very similar breakfast choices, but at least they were hot selections.



Cabin ambience in the upper deck Y cabin...



...and a peek through the curtains into PEY...



Bathrooms with black counter top. The only amenity provided in Y was a toothbrush.



We flew over the Netherlands and the English Channel for a smooth landing in LHR, still in the early morning darkness.



We landed at 5.20am in the morning, and there were minimal queues at that hour at T5 arrivals. I was through immigration and on the Heathrow Express to London in minutes.

[yflyer]

Overall impressions of my BA flight on the SIN-LHR sector? A comfortable flight, with a very good product in Y, both in terms of the hard product and soft product as well.

The BA Y hard product is very consistent across the A380 and 77W. The Y seat, AVOD and A380 cabin ambience are all top notch, and on par with almost anything on the market today. I found the cabin crew to be warm and attentive.

I think SQ's Y seat, catering on this sector are still better, but not by a huge margin. I did miss the inflight wifi though, which SQ and many other airlines do offer.

I spend the next few days in London and Reading, before heading across the Atlantic to Boston also on BA. I spent a week in the US, in Boston, Chicago and San Diego, before heading back to SIN from San Diego...via London . I plan to cover off the US leg of the trip in a separate TR.

[yflyer]

Just a few highlights of my visit to the UK before covering BA11 LHR-SIN...

I had a memorable dinner at St John, a restaurant at St John Street, across from Smithfield Market in London, not far from Barbican Centre.







No photos of the food, but this was a fairly unique restaurant, specialising in meat from "nose to tail"...



...which included dishes like pig's tongue, pig's head, beef bone marrow, ox heart.

A dinner like no other, and a restaurant which I would want to return to.

I spent a day in Reading, UK, less than an hour's train ride from London. I stayed at the Crowne Plaza Reading, a low-rise hotel set on the banks of the River Thames. A very pleasant hotel, which I would recommend to visitors to Reading.

While in Reading, I had dinner at the London Street Brasserie, a restaurant at picturesque spot near the banks of the River Kennet, right next to the main shopping mall in central Reading.



I ate a very good pan-fried fish topped with shrimp and capers...



...and for dessert, I ordered something from the menu described as a "Jamaican dark rum caramel banana meringue mess", which was both indulgent and delicious...



The next day evening, I headed to Heathrow Airport for my flight to the US, where I spent the next week before heading back to London for my flight back to Singapore...

[yflyer]

On this trip, I ate at Gordon Ramsey's Plane Food on both occasions that I departed from LHR T5, the first time was prior to my LHR-BOS flight. I dined there again prior to BA11 LHR-SIN.

This restaurant is located in the airside departure area of LHR T5, just after the security screening area.





There is a decent wine list, with many options available by the glass...



The menu comprises both Western and Asian/Fusion items.

On my first visit, I ordered the Braised Lamb with Swiss chard and heritage carrots. The lamb was tender and tasty, in a rich sauce (Maybe too rich for my Asian tastebuds!)...



...which I accompanied with a glass of Tempranillo.



On my second visit, prior to BA11 LHR-SIN, I ordered a 2-course meal from their Express Menu: I began with roasted pumpkin and coconut soup and had chicken curry with cashews and saffron rice as my main.

The pumpkin and coconut soup tasted good, although it was not served as hot as I would have liked it to be...



The chicken curry, which tasted similar to butter chicken, was quite delicious...



I washed the curry down with a glass of Spanish Albarino...



Overall impressions of Plane Food? To be brutally honest, I was slightly underwhelmed. While the food was competently prepared, and service and ambience were decent, I did not find the dishes I tried on this occasion to be particularly distinctive.

I enjoyed my meals there, but with a brand name and reputation like Gordon Ramsay's, I expected something more special.

Compared to Heston Blumenthal's Perfectionist Cafe in LHR T2, I would say that I much preferred the Perfectionist Cafe, which really delivered the goods in terms of mindblowingly well prepared cuisine.