This part of the journey gets somewhat interesting. As said earlier, we arrived a little late, in the morning (around 7:30). Flight out was around noon sometime so I had time to kill. Being unfamiliar w/ flying BA often and never having been to the BA First Lounge, I will admit I was a bit confused as to where to go.
After figuring out I had to go to the EU domestic terminal (clear security again, what’s the point in priority security at LHR?). I finally made it to the lounge, where I had reserved a massage at the elemis spa and missed the appointment. I took an auto chair massage appt for later, really nothing to write about, so I won’t.
Figured I would grab breakfast—the Concorde room has full plated meals/waiter service, and I like a good English breakfast…Actually, it’s probably one of my favorite things. Tangent: I love this part of the world. Having spent quite a bit of time in Ireland last year (I KNOW, it’s not the same as the UK), I really want to spend an extended period of time in the UK.
Call me weird, but the weather, culture, and yes, the food too; it’s amazing to me. I can see myself living there down the road, and hope to do so, whether it be through work (25 year old consultant here), or in retirement, or both. Anyway, here is breakfast.
And some views from the lounge from the open-to-the-terminal terrace…
Another view
Nerded out big time when I saw these chairs from the Concorde, repurposed as conference room chairs in the lounge. Very cool.
Not a lot of pictures of the lounge, sorry…but there are plenty out there if you’re here for that. I was unimpressed with the bathrooms, they weren’t too clean. It also got quite crowded to the point that most of the chairs near outlets were occupied, not a huge deal as I would have power on the flight shortly. I think BA falls a little short here compared to their counterparts in France and Germany.
About 30 mins prior to boarding, I made my way to the gate area/terminal area (I had no idea how long it would take). As mentioned earlier, some awesome plane spotting out here.
Now that’s a jet bridge
My chariot awaits
Boarding was smooth, got to the plane and was shown to my seat. My first reaction was how much roomier the 777 cabin was. Not only the atmosphere overall, but (it seemed like) the “suites” were more spacious, although the same hard product. Now, there’s nothing like sitting in the nose of a 747, but BA really crams a lot in a small space—much better on the 777, and most likely the 380 as well.
Seat
Now, I will say, the middle seats seem to really have more space than windows, especially surface space on the arm rests.
PDB was served and refilled a few times—so begins another flight of too much champs and whiskey and wine…
Taking in the last bit of awesome planespotting before I return to the land of the maddog ^
Let the meal service begin, but first, an obligatory Kir Royale. Notice I did close the blinds—was trying to watch a movie and the daytime casts a huge glare on the IFE screen.
Menu
The service on this flight was great, as was the last one. F was probably 1/3 full, so the FA’s were quite attentive. At this point, I’m still wondering where all the contempt is coming from toward’s BA’s service (don’t worry, it all becomes clear on the next flight).
Here’s what I consumed in addition to copious amounts of alcohol:
Amuse bouche & bread, very good, and the bread probably has crack in it
To start, delicious Balik-style Scottish smoked Salmon
Salad
And for the main, I ordered fish, which I don't often do on a plane (usually stick to pasta or chicken). I wasn’t expecting much at all but was very pleasantly surprised. Not doused in sauces and salt (what’s up AA) and yet still flavorful.
Cheese to finish…Again, nothing extraordinary, but I like cheese
By this point, I’m several glasses of wine, many glasses of champagne, and probably 4 glasses of scotch into a food coma, or something, I think….I fell asleep in some half reclined contortion (sorry no report on the bed comfort, as I probably passed out before I made it to fully flat).
This prompted some sort of nightmare about angled lie flats and tilapia drowning in sauce. I don’t think there were linens in my dream either…it needed to end, fast. And it did.
The FA kindly woke me up from my drunken stupor to request I put my seat upright as we were going to begin our descent to make an “emergency landing” in Iceland. Wait the nightmare isn't over, or is it? We all have aisle access, so I’m not in J on an old 772….I guess I’m awake, what’s going on?
Then I start to smell fuel (maybe I was dreaming about an old 763...joking), I’m not sure what I thought at that point, considering I had no context of the situation. The captain then instantly came on the PA and informed us we were dumping fuel to land at Keflavik and not to be alarmed if we smelled fuel.
It was a medical emergency—and at that point, I had remembered part of the reason we were late deplaning in LHR from DXB was due to a medical situation where paramedics had to help someone off promptly…was this the same person? Why would you fly again if you’re at risk? All speculation, probably a coincidence.
Well, we descended into Iceland, and I was honestly excited at the prospect of potentially getting a day in Reykjavik. It’s been on my list for awhile now.
The weather didn’t seem ideal, I wondered if we would be able to get out of there, as visibility and winds were terrible on the way in.
The view on the way in
IFE Map
Smart@ss snapchat I sent to my friends and my boss (we had a relaxed working relationship)…keep in mind it’s June, lot's of flooding in DFW right before this.
At first, I didn’t realize we were at Reykjavik’s main commercial airport. We passed some “military planes” (small turboprops) and it was pretty deserted otherwise (the military airport is connected). When we finally parked on a open part of the tarmac, I saw in the distance, what looked like an A330 (or 757 or 767, it was far and essentially just a silhouette to me considering the visibility), taxiing, back and forth and back and forth. Ah, a ground hold.
I think they unloaded the passenger with the medical issues from 2L as I never saw anyone led through the F cabin. At this point, the captain came onto the PA and announced we would need to refuel to continue to the USA, but this wouldn’t be possible because they did not have the capabilities to refuel a 777 here. This was hard for me to believe considering Reykjavik does have some heavies (I think) fly in and out, not sure if BA does though.
Regardless, we sat on the ground for quite awhile with no information.There were comments made by the crew that implied the passenger was fine, but once a doc says they need to get medical attention, the airline almost have an obligation divert, which I understand.
Back when we touched down, I had turned my phone on and had about 10 messages from coworkers about our company being acquired by another, it didn't take me long to just shut my phone off after that... "I'm just going to enjoy this" I thought to myself (only an FTer would enjoy such routing complications in their leisure travel--so I hope you all can relate). This was turning out to be a heck of a day.
The captain then informed us we would just go back to London, as the gates were so far from where we were (a few miles, according to him) that it wasn’t worth wasting the fuel to go there, but there was a ground stop. He came around to all of us in the F cabin and I asked why he had decided to divert here. I was informed that they made this decision based on weather conditions at the time and had they known winds would be gusting to 50+mph risking our exit strategy, they would have most likely headed on to Greenland. Apparently it was even too windy to open the plane doors at this point.
My question to anyone who might know, is why did we have to dump so much fuel? I mean, I assume it was over half the tanks they dumped, and I understand the plane needs to be lightened, especially in a weather situation, to land soundly. But aren't planes designed to immediately turn around and land if needed upon takeoff, even at full weight? Was it just a precaution?
Anyway, there were more announcements with additional delays because issues with flight planning back at LHR & our communication with the contracted ground crews at Keflavik (who were apparently relaying messages via car back to the terminal).
This was my view for awhile:
Just for kicks, here’s an IG post I had made while I was at LHR before this. Little did I know..
Feel free to PM me if you want my IG username to follow, just don’t want my ID posted all over FT.
During all of this, the FA was very attentive and offered me food/drinks several times. She told me that they might have been assigned to fly the next day with us and instead of rebooking, they would just reschedule the flight as a whole.
Once we were back up in the air, I was offered the afternoon tea, but did not feel like it. She insisted I should eat something, so I obliged.
We made the quick hop back to London. Upon arrival, instruction was given to us about our flight the next day which would leave at 10, for everyone who was on board. Our accommodation information would be given at the ticket counters landside.
Passport control waits were nearly nonexistant. I got to the agent and here’s how that conversation went:
Agent: Where are you traveling from?
Me: Well, funny you should ask…
Agent: …
Me: London, we departed from London.
Agent: Uhm, sorry?
Me: Well, technically Iceland
Agent: Ah, you were the diverted flight
Stamped and moved along…I wasn’t exactly being accommodating between my hangover and my overall attitude at the time, but it was nice that the agent was informed. I could see that situation escalating into a security event if I had done that at the US border, maybe not.
I made my way over to the front desks where they were calling for F and J passengers at a different check in desk. We were handed a lengthy apology letter from BA highlighting the situation and then instructed (with voucher) to go to the Sofitel attached to the terminal.
Not a Super 8 off 635 near DFW?! Awesome!
I did notice Y passengers had to take buses to wherever they were staying. Not sure what the accommodation was there. The Sofitel was actually very convenient and pretty nice. They had reopened the restaurant (it was about 11PM at this point) for the passengers. I checked in, grabbed a bite to eat, then a beer at the bar.
Sofitel LHR
Eventually, made my way to the hotel room and pulled up my laptop in anticipation of missing yet another day of work, so I tried to get as much done as I could (luckily, workday was starting in the US so I made progress). No wifi on those BA flights was quite frustrating, and a surprise.
I made it a point to inform my friends (and my boss, again), that I’d be a day late getting back to Dallas. Also, one of the few hotel room pics I have.
The bathroom
After a good 5-6 hours or so of sleep, I took full advantage of the breakfast (of course) and headed off to try the flight out again.
A lot went on on this flight and since it’s been a few months and I wasn’t exactly fully there, some of the info is fuzzy, so feel free to ask questions or comment on the situation, because I may have left off details or gotten a few wrong. Jogging my memory might help.
Hope you enjoyed this. Overall, I thought BA handled the situation very well on the ground. We could have used better explanation while on the ground for quite awhile in Keflavik but being in F, it wasn’t too frustrating or uncomfortable. It might have been a different situation in the back of the plane.
I’ll get to the rest of the TR sometime this week, the final flight was uneventful and menu was the same.
Thanks for reading!