Trip Reports - EDI-LHR to see the British Airways Engineering Base incl the 787 Dreamliner Tour!!

Well, here is my 4th Trip Report and this one was very special indeed. Although it involved only a domestic return from Edinburgh to London Heathrow the whole experience, for me anyhow, was very memorable indeed.

I entered a draw on the British Airways forum which basically involved just posting your name into a draw for a day out at the British Airways Engineering base which is located at the eastern end of London Heathrow airport. The very special part was that we were all going to see and have a tour of the Boeing 787 which is currently working it’s way around the world on the Dreamliner Tour.

There were about 300 + applications for 30 spaces and due to another FT’r not being able to make it, as a reserve I gladly took up the offer. There were others there too including Boeing staff and included the Pilots, BA staff and representatives from the British Airways Executive Club amongst others.

After I was given my place I booked a miles flight (Avios Reward Saver) which cost me £27. I decided on a budget hotel which was the Jurys Inn which is located near to the base itself and very convenient for travelling between Terminal 5 using the London Underground.

I flew down the previous evening for a ‘pre-drinks’ meet up with other FTr’s, some who were attending the event itself and others who were Londoners who travelled just for the drinks part.

I am not a FF and have no status but decided to use the Servisair Lounge at Edinburgh Airport which is situated neat to Gate 3. I arrived in plenty of time for my teatime flight and discovered that there was an hour’s delay but hey-ho that would give me more time to use the Lounge and have a lengthy wander about the airport itself which has had a big expansion over the last few years.

The Lounge staff were welcoming but that is where any positives stopped. Although it was half full, I did manage to get a seat next to the window which looks out southwards and has a (slightly limited) view of the ATC Tower, the main entrance and the rolling Pentland Hills.

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There was a small amount of drinks on offer, you know the usual. I couldn’t find many newspapers at all, though and the one I did find was a bit tatty with a ‘DO NOT REMOVE FROM THE LOUNGE’ sticker on the front. The magazine selection was almost non-existant. I use Lounge courtesy of my Amex Gold Card which allows two free annual visits. You can pay to use it too at £15.00 per person but unless you were planning to have loads of drinks I don’t think it would be worth the money personally.

The flight down was uneventful but here are a few photographs from the Airbus A319 from row 3, from take off to landing.

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Taxiing out for easterly take off.
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I soon met the other FTr’s in the Sphere Bar at the Sofitel Hotel which is linked to Terminal 5.

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I have been to two FT Do’s before, both in Edinburgh, and I was met by the host BotB and others. Everyone (about 12 of us) mingled very well and the whole atmosphere was very pleasant and relaxed. I left about 1130 pm and got on the free bus which runs around the perimeter road. Check in was smooth and I was given a large room but due to a <cough> slight excess of alcohol I did not realise until the following morning that it was a disabled room and that is why the room was so large!! (Doh!)

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I woke up at about 6.30 am and went down for Breakfast which was very disappointing. There were quite a few tour groups and it was immediately obvious they were stealing all the fruit and bread and stuffing it into their bags. The place was heaving and it was only 7.05 am. The few members of staff on duty seemed very overwhelmed and there was no orange juice, eggs, mugs or glasses for the other juices. Well I should say only 1 juice left, Cranberry juice!

Tables were left for ages before they were cleared and I made my impressions known to one of the Managers. As I was limited in time I did e-mail the Hotel the next day to express my dissatisfaction but have yet to hear anything.

The room was spotless as was the rest of the Hotel but for me the breakfast part is a very important one and which gets you off to a good start. I did manage to get cereal, an English Breakfast and eventually a mug for a cup of coffee. So onwards and upwards and at this point I could feel the excitement of the actual visit.

It was only about a ten minute walk and on arriving I gave my name, showed my passport ( a pre-requirement to give these details and I was on the bus!) I saw a few familiar faces from the previous evening and off we went.
A few minutes later there we were at the old building which is actually listed!!

It has been reformed to allow BA to service their A380’s and to my surprise there was also another aircraft within. The very nice (some don’t like it!) G-EUOH which has a special paint job and it supposed to replicate a Dove for the Olympics.

Now I really did feel very lucky and privileged to be here at this point and we all mustered up for a chat before the event was opened by Gary Copeland, Director of Engineering at British Airways. It was, thankfully, a very short speech and it was announced that we would be split into small groups to tour the inside.

I was on the 2nd tour at 9.30 am and WOW! Onboard there were a few Boeing staff who were very enthusiastic in showing off all their aircraft, including a BA 777 pilot and one of the actual B787 Captains who was seated in the co-pilots seat. Both were extremely friendly and no question went unanswered.

First impressions on entering were one of space and calmness. The windows have 4 different settings all operated by a small control dial. Very nice indeed. Apparently there are 6 styles of economy seats to choose from and then each airline will then fit it’s own premium cabins.

I read in Business Traveller that the recommended seating by Boeing in Y is 2-4-2 but only ANA and JAL have taken this up. Most operators haven’t yet disclosed what their plans are but of the ones who have , Ethiopian, Air India, Jetstar, LAN Chile, LOT Polish Airlines, Norwegian, Thomson and United they have all opted for a 3-3-3 economy configuration.

The friendliness as we went through each cabin was genuine and after we exited via the stairs at the back we were given a few goodies including a very nice pen and pencil case, a Luggage tag made from the carbon fibre material and other bits and bobs. Some of the later tour groups got nothing as they had ran out of stuff to hand out which was a bit of a shame!!

Loads of photographs were taken throughout and there are much more here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1341209-ba-special-event-787-visit-pictorial-review.html)for those interested.

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Crew rest next to the cockpit

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Front forward Galley

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The Dreamliner seats. These are the Boeing ones and each airline will fit it’s own premium cabins here.

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These are the Boeing crew seats. Not the normal seat pitch may I add!!

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Well that’s all folks! Great to meet many other FT’rs at the Hotel and the event. ^

Hope you enjoyed this mini TR and another thanks to BAEC, BA and Boeing!!!!!

Special thanks to LisaJW for guesting me into the FLounge at T5. Just made my day, thanks!!!! ^

Again in case anyone missed the link upthread there are many more photographs here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1341209-ba-special-event-787-visit-pictorial-review.html)and far better than mine!!!!!!!!

Pete

Absolutely fantastic TR, so jealous! You guys were very lucky to get a tour like that.

The photographs were excellent too and I loved the way that they opened up the engine cowlings so that you could see inside.

If only they had taken you on a flight, that would have really topped things off!

Absolutely fantastic TR, so jealous! You guys were very lucky to get a tour like that.


+1

I was hoping to be one of the lucky ones, but not this time it seems. Thanks for posting this report PETER01

Not really my cup of tea unless I lived close to LHR.....but a very nice gesture from BA for offering Flyertalkers the chance of taking the tour.

Very good reporting of the event PETER01. ^

Great TR PETER01 ^

The style of your report and enthusiasm come across in the text as well as in person! Glad I got the chance to meet you at the DO the night before. ^

Hope to see many more trip reports in the future! ;)

Good read - thanks for posting. One Q for the OP though - you say that Boeing is recommending a 2-4-2 configuration in economy, but that looked like 3-3-3 in your photos. Am I missing something?

Absolutely fantastic TR, so jealous! You guys were very lucky to get a tour like that. The photographs were excellent too and I loved the way that they opened up the engine cowlings so that you could see inside.

If only they had taken you on a flight, that would have really topped things off!

Yes the engine cowling being open was a surprise. A flight on this baby is on my bucket list :)

+1

I was hoping to be one of the lucky ones, but not this time it seems. Thanks for posting this report PETER01

Yes, I was very lucky. Thanks for reading ^

Not really my cup of tea unless I lived close to LHR.....but a very nice gesture from BA for offering Flyertalkers the chance of taking the tour. Very good reporting of the event PETER01. ^

I am sure if you were here you would have went ;) It was an excellent gesture and hard to be topped!

Great TR PETER01 ^

The style of your report and enthusiasm come across in the text as well as in person! Glad I got the chance to meet you at the DO the night before. ^

Hope to see many more trip reports in the future! ;)

I hope there willl be many more TR's and curently planning my next one :eek::)

Good read - thanks for posting. One Q for the OP though - you say that Boeing is recommending a 2-4-2 configuration in economy, but that looked like 3-3-3 in your photos. Am I missing something?

Thats what I was reading in this months Business Traveller which I read after I came back from the event (Page 14, May edition). I think 3-3-3 will be the norm but a search brought up this. A very spacious ANA Y cabin. I am sure there was also an article in Airline magazine too but that was quite a while back.

http://cruisinaltitude.com/files/2011/11/nhb787dreamlinercabin.jpg


Thanks for all the comments folks, appreciated ^^

Great report. Thanks for taking the time to post it!

Great report. Thanks for taking the time to post it!

Thanks NYBanker ^

Hopefully get another one done soon after featuring Canada!

Wow! What a brilliant TR! I'm glad that you took 787 Tour. It's look so gorgeous! I like 787-8 Dreamliner. I can't wait go to SEA to see 787 Dreamliner.

Another brilliant TR - very special, thanks for sharing^

Great pic TR, so glad you were able to go to it, it looked very exciting and it is so nice to be able to meet staff who are so enthusiastic about this new aircraft. It could well sometime be on my hit list.^

PETER01 can you believe I won a ticket to do the same tour in BNE last Saturday!

Very nice craft.....really liked walking underneath her & kicking the tyres like a real pro:D