A380 to JNB | a few images of the CW UD experience
Apr 13, 2014, 12:12 pm
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 12,046
A380 to JNB | a few images of the CW UD experience
I flew flight BA55 from LHR to JNB on 22/Mar/14 in seat 58K. This was my first experience on the A380 so I took a few shots to capture the moment and am sharing them here for your enjoyment and information.
Baggage wrapping
Due to a relatively high frequency of irregularities in the baggage handling process at JNB the Foreign Office recommends that passengers shrink wrap their luggage. At T5 this can be taken care of by the Excess Baggage Company, who have facilities at the north end or in the middle of the terminal at departures level.
This service costs GBP 10.00 including VAT and takes only a few minutes. The staff put your bag on a machine which wraps the bag through feeding plastic sheets onto a rotating mount. With my bag suitably wrapped I was ready to go:
Departure
Departure was from the C gates so after a trip to the Galleries North I headed over there to find G-XLEC waiting for me. Note the three air bridges - one going to the main deck's door 1 for the F passengers, another to the main deck's door 2 and a third to the upper deck:
Cabin & seat
Obligatory leg room shot - note the slightly different materials that comprise the CW seat shell:
The back of the seat is whiter than before, but with a certain amount of depth as the material has a design with criss-crossing ridges. Other parts of the seat are dark grey, which gives the cabin a warmer feel than before. There is still a handy jacket hook on the back of the seat in front.
The control panel is slightly different to before, containing a button to raise or lower the privacy screen (there is still a screen button on the top of the seat) but no buttons to fine tune the seat either forward or back. The buttons are raised and backlit during the dark stages of the flight. As before the flat bed, Z, TTL and dining position buttons are not presets and have to be pressed continually to reach the final position:
I noted that the headrest inflated much faster than in the older CW seat.
The IFEC controls and ports are much the same as on other equipment with the latest IFEC (see my report):
The placards are slightly different than before, incorporating a no smoking sign:
The carpet and seat upholstery are more grey/brown in line with the seat shell rather than navy blue in the older cabins:
The side bins have a noticeable slope in them and did not seem to be as big as the 747's:
Staircases
The stairs to the F cabin on the main deck are roped off at the bottom:
There is a handy placard telling us just how to behave on the stairs, no doubt for our safety...:
I thought that the view up the stairs was quite cool:
The BA logo at the top was quite nice:
As was the subtle design on the monument:
The spiral staircase at the back was gated so BA are evidently not keen on passengers moving between the decks.
Large forward lavatory
The A380 is famed for it's large forward lavatories. Here is BA's facility:
IFEC
The side bins are large enough to stow analogue and movable IFEC:
The screen is extremely clear, much like with the latest systems installed on selected 777 aircraft:
The moving map is interactive and informative:
Amenities
BA's latest amenity kit bag seems rather large for it's contents. I liked the design incorporating lotion bottles into a London cityscape though:
Eyeshades were offered separately. Ear plugs were not offered.
Here is the stuff that you get:
Dinner
The mushroom starter was tasty and exceeded my expectations:
The salad was standard (i.e. good):
BA were unable to accommodate my first preference request for a chicken main. The beef I had instead met my expectations. It was medium-well and the vegetables were well cooked:
The chocolate and chilli pudding was excellent, as BA's puddings always are in my experience:
On stand at JNB
It was a beautiful sunny day in JNB. Here is G-XLEC on stand:
Baggage wrapping
Due to a relatively high frequency of irregularities in the baggage handling process at JNB the Foreign Office recommends that passengers shrink wrap their luggage. At T5 this can be taken care of by the Excess Baggage Company, who have facilities at the north end or in the middle of the terminal at departures level.
This service costs GBP 10.00 including VAT and takes only a few minutes. The staff put your bag on a machine which wraps the bag through feeding plastic sheets onto a rotating mount. With my bag suitably wrapped I was ready to go:
Departure
Departure was from the C gates so after a trip to the Galleries North I headed over there to find G-XLEC waiting for me. Note the three air bridges - one going to the main deck's door 1 for the F passengers, another to the main deck's door 2 and a third to the upper deck:
Cabin & seat
Obligatory leg room shot - note the slightly different materials that comprise the CW seat shell:
The back of the seat is whiter than before, but with a certain amount of depth as the material has a design with criss-crossing ridges. Other parts of the seat are dark grey, which gives the cabin a warmer feel than before. There is still a handy jacket hook on the back of the seat in front.
The control panel is slightly different to before, containing a button to raise or lower the privacy screen (there is still a screen button on the top of the seat) but no buttons to fine tune the seat either forward or back. The buttons are raised and backlit during the dark stages of the flight. As before the flat bed, Z, TTL and dining position buttons are not presets and have to be pressed continually to reach the final position:
I noted that the headrest inflated much faster than in the older CW seat.
The IFEC controls and ports are much the same as on other equipment with the latest IFEC (see my report):
The placards are slightly different than before, incorporating a no smoking sign:
The carpet and seat upholstery are more grey/brown in line with the seat shell rather than navy blue in the older cabins:
The side bins have a noticeable slope in them and did not seem to be as big as the 747's:
Staircases
The stairs to the F cabin on the main deck are roped off at the bottom:
There is a handy placard telling us just how to behave on the stairs, no doubt for our safety...:
I thought that the view up the stairs was quite cool:
The BA logo at the top was quite nice:
As was the subtle design on the monument:
The spiral staircase at the back was gated so BA are evidently not keen on passengers moving between the decks.
Large forward lavatory
The A380 is famed for it's large forward lavatories. Here is BA's facility:
IFEC
The side bins are large enough to stow analogue and movable IFEC:
The screen is extremely clear, much like with the latest systems installed on selected 777 aircraft:
The moving map is interactive and informative:
Amenities
BA's latest amenity kit bag seems rather large for it's contents. I liked the design incorporating lotion bottles into a London cityscape though:
Eyeshades were offered separately. Ear plugs were not offered.
Here is the stuff that you get:
Dinner
The mushroom starter was tasty and exceeded my expectations:
The salad was standard (i.e. good):
BA were unable to accommodate my first preference request for a chicken main. The beef I had instead met my expectations. It was medium-well and the vegetables were well cooked:
The chocolate and chilli pudding was excellent, as BA's puddings always are in my experience:
On stand at JNB
It was a beautiful sunny day in JNB. Here is G-XLEC on stand:
Apr 13, 2014, 1:55 pm
#5
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges and Environmentally Friendly Travel
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London, UK
Posts: 22,212
Great pictures Sixth Freedom. So glad you chose not to include photos of the overstated green exit signs at the ends of each cabin. They’re a bit of an eyesore.
Apr 13, 2014, 2:25 pm
#6
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: London, Sth Africa or LAS
Programs: VS Silver, BA Blue - finally; but hotels.com Gold :)
Posts: 1,858
Many thanks 6F. Interesting and very nicely done.
So ... is 58K > or < the 64K on the return?
Interested in whether 58K hears any noise from the WT+ cabin, do you recall?
So ... is 58K > or < the 64K on the return?
Interested in whether 58K hears any noise from the WT+ cabin, do you recall?
Apr 14, 2014, 2:54 am
#10
Moderator: Qatar Airways
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: LHR/NCE/MIA
Programs: BAEC GfL & GGL, SQ Gold, Amex Centurion, Mucci des Chevaliers des Bons Mots et Qui Savent Moucher
Posts: 8,948
When I flew on the inaugural A380 flight to JNB, there were only 2 airbridges, and we exited between F & CW on the lower-deck.
I was in F, along with a few BA management who seemed a little surprised by this.
I doubt it has changed much in the last 2 months, but I'll find out again in a weeks time when I'm back.
I was in F, along with a few BA management who seemed a little surprised by this.
I doubt it has changed much in the last 2 months, but I'll find out again in a weeks time when I'm back.
Apr 14, 2014, 6:23 am
#12
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: UK. BAEC AAdvantage
Programs: Mucci Des Oeufs Brouilles et des Canards
Posts: 3,671
Great pics.
I had to go back and check. I had thought the the new loos had an a TV screen in it. That would really hold things up if it did!!
PS. What sort of irregularities is the Home Office referring to that they recommend you wrapping you luggage?
I had to go back and check. I had thought the the new loos had an a TV screen in it. That would really hold things up if it did!!
PS. What sort of irregularities is the Home Office referring to that they recommend you wrapping you luggage?
Apr 18, 2014, 10:06 am
#15
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: KUO
Programs: HH Diam, AY/AX/KQ/IHG/VISA Plat, SK/Bonvoy/Melia/Strawberry Gold, Radisson Prem, PP Prest
Posts: 2,265
Nice report and pictures! I and co booked flights to JNB in Club and a side trip to CPT next January. LHR-JNB-LHR will be onboard 380.
There was however something strange in the booking procedure informing that one of the connecting flights would end up to "different airport" and the transfer would not be included in the ticket price. We should be returning from CPT using Comair/BA 4 PM flight arriving at terminal B in JNB 6 pm to catch the LHR flight departing 8:15 PM from terminal A. Haven´t ever been there, so are there any concerns timewise with such connection? All in the same itinerary.
Best seats have been discussed elsewhere, but since these are night flights, we chose 50 A/B for both ways. Would there be any better alternatives? What might be the chances to be able to use Avios to upgrade to First? When would be the optimal time to try? MMB does not allow that now right after booking. Pricewise there was a huge difference between Club and First even ex-Finland.
There was however something strange in the booking procedure informing that one of the connecting flights would end up to "different airport" and the transfer would not be included in the ticket price. We should be returning from CPT using Comair/BA 4 PM flight arriving at terminal B in JNB 6 pm to catch the LHR flight departing 8:15 PM from terminal A. Haven´t ever been there, so are there any concerns timewise with such connection? All in the same itinerary.
Best seats have been discussed elsewhere, but since these are night flights, we chose 50 A/B for both ways. Would there be any better alternatives? What might be the chances to be able to use Avios to upgrade to First? When would be the optimal time to try? MMB does not allow that now right after booking. Pricewise there was a huge difference between Club and First even ex-Finland.
Last edited by TTL; Apr 19, 2014 at 5:48 am