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Feb 1, 2015, 12:52 pm

matthandy

Join Date: Jul 2008

Location: Kent, UK

Programs: BA Gold, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond

Posts: 3,809

British Airways First Class on the A380 – London to Hong Kong

After finishing my drink in the CCR it was time to head to the gate, a C gate, which meant a trip on the underground train (or a walk but I was too full of Champagne for that!). The train arrived pretty quickly and after a brief stop at the B gates I was soon off the train and making my way up the escalators to the C gates.

The place was so busy and I thought that priority boarding might be a bit of a scrum however, literally just as I arrived at the gate boarding was announced so I strolled up the desk to have my boarding pass and passport checked and then made my way down the air bridge to board. BA has a dedicated air bridge for First class passengers on the A380 which is a nice treat. I was one of the first in the cabin but it looked as though the crew had forgotten to turn on the welcome lighting, so everything was a boring shade of white. Once a few more passengers arrived the lighting was changed, unfortunately, with more passengers it meant that it was difficult to get photos. I'm not one of these people that shoves a camera in people's faces.

London to Hong Kong

Flight: BA25
Carrier: British Airways (BA)
Aircraft: Airbus A380-800 – G-XLEH
Scheduled Departure Time: 18:35
Scheduled Duration: 11h 45m
Scheduled Arrival Time: 14:20
Travel Class: First
Seat: 4A (seat map)

First impressions of the cabin? Well, it's huge! The First class cabin on the A380 has 14 seats, the same number that BA squeezes into the nose of the 747. The difference in space is significant. The suites are arranged in four rows, four suites by the windows and three pairs in the middle of the cabin. Row 4 is located at the back of the cabin, and therefore right next to the galley. The privacy is reasonably good but because the seats are not staggered in row 4, it is possible to look across into the middle pairs. Row 4 is certainly the worst row. Given that I'd received this upgrade for free though, I could hardly complain.

The seat itself is largely the same as on the 777 and the 747 however the space around the seat has been significantly increased, providing a storage cubby hole right next to the passenger. On my seat was a cushion and a pillow. This was large and deep and could more than take everything that I wanted for the flight. In addition, there was a large locker at the side of the seat which can take a standard size roller case. There are also the normal lockers above each window seat.

My seat, 4K

BA motif at the back of the cabin

Overview of the cabin from my seat

The locker by the side of the seat

The crew came around to offer pyjamas and an amenity kit and then a welcome drink, I decided to have some water. The menu was also handed out. On A380 routes out of Heathrow a tasting menu is offered and when I saw it on the menu, I decided to try it out.

Whilst everyone else boarded the Captain announced a flying time of 11 hours and 25 minutes.

We pushed back on time and then had a very long taxi around to the northern runway. I believe that this is due to the fact that the A380 is only cleared to use specific taxi ways due to it's size.

We took off at around 7pm. It was ridiculously smooth of course, to the point where you wonder if you are actually going fast enough to leave the ground.

Within 10 minutes or so the seat belt sign was off and the crew started the service.

Here is the menu:

I decided to start with a glass of Pinot Noir, which was excellent and then selected the tasting menu to eat. I asked the crew member if it was possible to only have a small glass of wine with each course as I didn't want to get too drunk before trying to get to sleep. The crew member obliged, and she asked after each course if I'd like to keep the wine or change it and whether I was ready for the next course or not.

Welcome drink and newspaper

Pinot Noir and nuts before dinner

Tasting menu – Crab, salmon and caviar starter

Tasting menu – Duck and mushroom consommé

Tasting menu – Sea bass

Tasting menu – Beef and oxtail

Tasting menu – Changed to the profiteroles

The starter was good, memorable, interesting and was well presented. The consommé was something else, it was absolutely stunning. I loved it and wish that the portion was larger. The sea bass was ok, nothing special really. The samphire was strange. I've never had it before and found that it felt like it had fish bones inside it. I left it. The beef was very good, and the oxtail croustillant was fantastic. For dessert, I decided to swap the mixed berry dome on the menu for the profiteroles which were very good.

The wine selection was also very good and was well paired with the food. Overall, however, I felt that the tasting menu was somewhat disappointing. The portion sizes weren't very big and I was left feeling a bit slightly hungry. For me, a tasting menu should be indulgent and this wasn't really. On inspection, the normal menu might have been better or perhaps and combination of the two, for example, having the soup between the first and second courses and the cheese to finish. Having said that though, I like the idea overall and I'm pleased that BA is trying to do something slightly different to the norm.

After dinner was cleared away I decided to go for a quick wander around to have a look at some of the other cabins on this aircraft. This was the fourth A380 that I had been on (in terms of airlines) and it was my impression that BA had done a very good job in terms of the overall design.

My first cabin visit was to the forward upper deck Club World cabin and the huge toilets which occupy the areas above the staircase. Interestingly, the Club World cabin extends right out into the landing area of the stairs, this is unusual. It has allowed BA to squeeze four rows of business class seats into the forward cabin whereas Qantas for example, has three.

Compared to the First cabin downstairs, the Club World cabin seemed positively packed! It looked a bit cramped actually, not something I would have said about the Qantas business cabin. It just felt like way too many seats. I had the same feeling on my return journey, where I was sat in 53K.

Moving back towards the rear of the cabin, I went through the galley and into the rear Club World cabin and then onwards to World Traveller Plus/Premium Economy. I very much liked the fact that BA had kept the design theme throughout both cabins, even including the BA motif on the bulkhead in the WTP cabin.

The famous front stairs of the A380

The forward Club World cabin – upper deck

The BA Speedmarque motif

The rear Club World cabin – upper deck

World Traveller Plus – upper deck

I didn't get past the premium economy cabin as there was lots of people queing for the toilets and it would have been very awkward so I made my way back downstairs. After asking a crew member to make up my bed and went to the toilet to change into my pyjamas. The toilets in First on the A380 are pretty disappointing, they are nothing special at all, basically just the same size as the economy toilets.

When I returned, my bed was made up and I settled down for the night, donning the ear plugs provided in the amenity kit.

I slept on and off for about 7 or 8 hours, mostly just dozing. It's very rare that I actually sleep well on a plane, even in First. I found the galley quite noisy with lots of rattling of crockery and glassware.

I woke up with about 1.5 hours to go before landing and found that it was lovely and light outside. I opened up the blinds slowly so as not to disturb everyone else.

First class cabin, before bed, looking rearwards

Bed all made up

Waking up – feet up in bed

The view outside

Overview of the cabin in the morning light

I went and got changed and in the mean time the crew cleared away my bedding and I took a look at the menu to decide what I wanted for breakfast. To be honest, despite saying that I was hungry after the tasting menu, my stomach hadn't yet woken up as it was very early in the morning in the UK.

There was a good selection available for breakfast and I decided to have some cereal to start followed by the full English.

Here's the menu:

View from the buddy seat

Relaxing before breakfast

Cereal to start

Full English

After breakfast was cleared away I packed up all of my stuff ready for landing and then filled in the immigration and customs card ready for arrival.

We had a beautiful approach into Hong Kong, the weather was excellent so it was possible to view all of the islands and coastline which is less well visited than Hong Kong island itself. We actually flew over the track called 'Dragons Back' which I'd be walking on the following day, although I didn't know so at the time.

The landing was very smooth and just slightly ahead of schedule. We parked up at gate 60 and with an air bridge attached to door 1 again, I was soon off the aircraft and into Hong Kong airport. After a short train ride and the usual 'no questions asked' approach to immigration I waited in the baggage reclaim for my bag. This didn't take very long. Then I took the Airport Express train to Central where I had planned to take a taxi. Unfortunately, it must have been shift change or something because I had to wait a whole hour. There were simply not enough taxis arriving quickly enough. At one point it was 10 minutes between taxis. Ridiculous.

I arrived at my friend's flat at about 4.30, almost two hours after landing. I was a little bit tired but ready for the celebrations ahead!

Dragons Back walking trail

Landing

Parked up at gate 60

Baggage reclaim

On the Airport Express to Central

Vedict

It was great the BA gave me the opportunity to try out First class on the A380 for free. That I am very grateful for. However, the cabin layout is such that my seat, 4A really is one of the worst, it is simply too close to the galley and the alignment limits the privacy available. 2A/K would seem to be the best seats for solo travellers.

The cabin and the seat itself were very good and a step up from the same product on the 747 and 777 particularly in terms of personal space.

The food was a little disappointing. There were certainly elements that set it apart as a 'tasting menu' but I felt that the presentation and the portion sizes could have been better. I did enjoy the wine though.

The crew were ok. The service was quite perfunctory, not rude but not particular warm either. When I boarded I was greeted and served by a male crew member but during the actual dinner service one of the Hong Kong based female crew served me. Perhaps there was a cultural difference which led to the change in service style.

Overall, it was an ok flight, certainly better than it would have been in Club World. I'm keen to try out First on the A380 on a daytime route though.

Up Next

Fireworks over the harbour from Wan Chai and exploring the Dragons Back walking trail.