Boarding started at around 10:30 and I was actually first on the plane and received a warm welcome from all the crew that I had flown out with.

My upgrade bid was obviously unsuccessful despite no notification to that effect and so seat 24H today on this 787-9. Supposedly the ‘newer’ cabin but I fail to see any substantive difference excepting for the number of seats and an annoying bracket in the footwell that I do not remember from the outbound.




All the same bits and pieces were on the seat with the exception that there was no amenity kit. Pre-departure beverages were the same choice of sparkling wine, orange juice, or water.

The menu and the safety card for this 787-9.






The flight was originally scheduled for 11:10 and retimed to 11:00 in a pointless exercise as we then pushed back at 11:10!!

Not too much of a ground delay and reasonably quickly in the air. My neighbour in 24J is a pleasant lady who tells me she is a bit of a nervous flyer, but seems to be taking it well so far.

Once we were on our way the drinks run kicked off at close to noon and I settled for just a coffee and an OJ for now, it feels too early to hit the JD, and the rest of the booze section has no appeal.




the meal service commenced around 1pm and I went for the chicken. This was a much nicer tray food across the board compared to the outbound and I really enjoyed it.





A few hours later into the flight I took a little (invited) wander into upper class to see the bar and menu on this 787. It is definitely a better layout than on the A330, and my eagle eye spotted the bottle of Woodford reserve bourbon in the bar area








I then headed to the back of the bus (also by invitation) to have a look at the economy galley and, no pictures as the team were setting up the trollies, but it is much more spacious than the A330. The 787 also has a separate crew rest area which is above the rear galley.




A quick photo of the 3-4-3 layout in economy.

With around an hour and three quarters to landing the afternoon tea was distributed. This was a bit of a disaster of a meal. The smoked salmon and feta was a nice bite, the chicken schwarma tart was horrible, the cheese and pickle sandwich was just cheese in dry bread, and the scone was a hockey puck!





Having drunk the plane out of Jack Daniels, it was time for a coffee in the lead up to landing

With 45 minutes to landing we had the standard pilots announcement including the good news that, LHR willing, we were going to be on the ground nice and early.

I cannot speak highly enough of the crew on these two flights, they have been an absolute delight to interact with and they have been constantly present in the cabins looking after everyone.

And now, finally, 9 hours later I’m on the ground at T3 and it’s time to head over to T5 and the sanity of the Concorde Room