My travel agent raved about these special aircraft that BA had put on to attract more market share with QANTAS now sending most of its planes via Dubai. I'm here to tell you, they're a major disappointment.

Boarding was shown on the monitors at 19:30 for a 20:05 departure. But at that time the cabin crew had just arrived. Unlike SQ there was a priority queue for the "at gate" security. Passport and BP were checked, BP stamped then 2 steps later the BP stamp was checked. Boarding commenced at 19:47 with business and first class passengers. Both classes walk through the first class cabin.

Economy passengers then walk through the business class cabin. I guess BA are proud of their aircraft and are upselling their product.

Business is a backwards and forwards facing arrangement. Middle seats don't have direct aisle access and you are facing almost directly at a stranger, who in turn is facing almost directly at you.

FAs welcomed us very politely on board but looked with disdain upon my rather plain ARN issued BP. All the usual stuff was handed out.

There is very little in seat storage - just a (good sized) drawer at your feet. The problem is, you can't get to it with the seat belt on or with the seat in the reclined position. There was however plenty of power and USB options.

Captain Paul Ashby welcomed us on board and said despite the late departure he anticipated an on-time arrival. In the small section of 2 seats that have to climb over me I have two toddlers and their mum is seated further forward. Sigh.

But the cabin does look very new and clean.




The Amenity kit was provided in a soft cloth bag, maybe it's useful for an iPad but I doubt it. Ear plus and eye shades were handed out separately. Why?

Push back at 20:15

The IFE screens fold back into the compartment wall so they face the aisle, not you. This means the FAs have to come around and pull them out to the viewing position for the safety briefing, then return them to the other position for take off and landing. (It also means gate to gate IFE is never really possible.)




The screen itself is a fair size with good resolution and sharpness. With the seatbelt on you can't reach the magazine pocket, so once strapped in you can't peruse entertainment options or the menu.






















Take of 20:30

Maybe it's the seating arrange but the cabin seemed rather noisy (passenger voices) After take off the seatbelt sign was kept on for a long time despite FAs moving about the cabin for a while.

The seating arrangement gets even worse at meal time. This is effectively a 2-4-2 arrangement. The centre 2 innermost seats are served over their divider (so the FAs have to put it up and down each time) and the passenger sitting in the aisle. The couple in the seats next to me were a bit lovey dovey and they were often taken by surprise when the FA pressed the button to lower the screen. It's up and down like a bride's nightie.

Couples not in the middle will probably be almost facing each other near the window. Once such couple near me tried to hold hands which given the seat seemed like some form of duress torture.

Give me the SQ 1-2-1 anyday.

When the wine was served I was asked if I wanted to taste it. That's a first on a plane.

Entrée was an Asian crab salad but with a European salad (a cultural train smash) main was fish in red cutty (nice) with massively overcooked broccoli and baby corn. Again a clumbsy mix of Asian and European.







Dessert was a more traditional English Eton Mess and it was good.




Dinner was done at midnight, almost 4 hours after take off. Too long for a night flight leaving just 2 hours for sleep (if you want breakfast or are woken by light or people moving about the cabin).

The bed is flat, but short. I was a long way from being able to stretch out (I'm 192cm, 6'4".) and my knees were permanently bent. I couldn't find a place to hang the headphones.

Lights came on with 2 hours to go. Breakfast is fruit of muesli then a hot breakfast roll. Not too bad, but I was looking for to a good English fry up. Anyway - it was all tasty.







Landed 30 minutes early at 06:28. Gate 06:34. Through customs and landside at 06:55 with the new Sydney customs setup. Well done.

So, as you've probably gathered I'm not a fan at all of the BA business class seat arrangement. Certainly there's nothing here to tempt me away from Star Alliance.