The final leg of this phase of the journey was the flight from Bahrain to London Heathrow. This departed at a punishing 01.50, which was not ideal as it left us with a lot of time to fill between hotel check-out and flight check-in. Fortunately, having the car meant that we could explore and have somewhere to keep our things.

We got to the airport at 22.00, which meant that we had a wait of about 50 minutes before check-in opened. We discovered, to our surprise, that our flight was an inaugural, of sorts, kicking off a new daily service for the winter season. This represented quite a turnaround from BA, who had indicated in autumn 2024 that they planned to drop the Bahrain route, only to reinstate a three-days-a-week service in spring/summer 2025, and then move to daily flights for autumn/winter season. Bahrain International Airport and BA were determined to make the most of the occasion, with a balloon arch and cake at check-in, and a small gift as we boarded.



There is a First and Business Class check-in area to the far left of the terminal, which checked us in very quickly once it opened, and this led through to a premium security lane with no queue.

Our Business Class tickets gave us access to the Pearl Lounge, which was a large and blingy complex of rooms. Crucially it had showers, which were a delight after a sweaty day of exploring, though water pressure was more dribble than torrent. It also had a very extensive food offering including (for me at least) a lounge first: a pizza oven. Given that it was now past midnight I did not indulge, and by this stage was really just keen to get my head down.



I hadn’t really expected this but the airport was really busy, with 29 flights departing between midnight and 02.30 - presumably with a fair bit of connecting traffic on Gulf Air. This makes for some uncomfortable flight timings - I wouldn’t be thrilled about departing Bahrain at 01.35 to arrive in Jeddah at 04.10, for example. The volume of departures also meant that the status of the BA flight wasn’t shown on the departure board, and getting a bit antsy by 00.50 we decided to walk down to the gate. Helpful that we did, as there was a secondary security check, with Mrs tomppa29 pulled aside to have her hand luggage searched.

Boarding started promptly and was carried out by group number. Having used our new Finnair Plus numbers rather than our BA Executive Club accounts we experienced the extremely slight mental adjustment of being in Group 2 rather than Group 1. Humbling.

The flight was operated by a 777-200ER with First and Club Suites. Having been unable to check in advance, we had been allocated a middle pair, though not having a window was not a major issue for this night flight. I still like the Club Suites seating - it looks smart, and the door helps me feel like I’m nesting when trying to sleep.



A light meal after take-off and a breakfast were offered, but I opted to turn in as soon as possible. I think I managed around four hours of sleep, which was okay but not ideal. We were rather disturbed by a toddler a couple of rows ahead who was very vocal. It is public transport, I told myself (through slightly gritted teeth).
That did mean that I was awake in time for breakfast. I couldn’t quite face the full English, it being around 4.30 UK time by this stage, but I did take the salmon starter, yoghurt and croissant. All fine, and enough to keep me going for the rest of the morning.


We had an on time arrival at 06.30, and with no luggage and no queue for the eGates, we were on an Elizabeth Line train into London just after 07.00 and at work before 09.00.

I would have enjoyed the flight more had it been at a friendlier hour, but my complaint there lies more with the concept of time zones, rather than with BA.