From London with Love
Well, the day has dawned!
DLR: 23 minutes from Bank, 47 minutes from Hyde Park Corner and the regiment of self service machines welcomes me through the doors of London's super-efficient City Airport.
Passport scanned, flight number inputted, security questions answered and 90 seconds later the booarding pass bearing that most evocotave of British Airways service signifiers, BA1, appears. I wonder if that piece of card realises how much history it carries with it?!
Straight up the escalator, a BP check, no queue whatsoever at security, laptops and liquids out, belt off and through in 2 minutes.
Into the duty free shopping and dining area and then on to the Gate 24 lounge, via another BP check and random secondary security check. 3 minutes.
Down the stairs to the gate lounge and a welcome from the guardian of this 32-seater enclave with a wide-angle view of not just the A318, but also one of the forthcoming BA CityFlyer Embraers.
So, 35 minutes from Bank, just over an hour from Park Lane, and I'm sitting with an Ayala champagne cork being popped.
And yes, the lounge guardian is wearing: a hat!