FlyerTalk Forums - BD LHR-MAN-IAD

Prelude - Flying British Midland is an excitement and I purposely add this side trip to Manchester, UK, just to fly the infamous BD's Business Class across the pond. It is also my first flight with the Airbus A330-200 and my first transatlantic flight. The domestic sector from London LHR to Manchester, UK, was amazing, especially a snack was able to be served with beverage cart and tea/coffee service. The transatlantic segment was amazing and once again, the chef was presented on our flight and the meals were carefully presented. Both the quality and presentation of the meals are definitely high class, and surprisingly the entertainment programs on the A330s are pretty nice. Even the overhead bin on BD's A330-200 is a bit different from CX's A330-300. The overhead bins on the middle aisle follow the Boeing 777's design - the bin dropped to the passengers, which save some head room, but preserve passengers' places for personal items.

March 12, 2002
BD 590 LHR-MAN Lv1650 Arr1755
Airbus A320-200 G-MIDX "Star Alliance paint"
British Midland is an excellent carrier and Terminal one is definitely nicer than terminal two at LHR. It is like a giant shopping mall with book shops, chocolate shops, "Body Shop," and the "Sock Place." The UK airports really are shopper's heaven. There are more shops to visit. Anyway, I went to the BD's check in counters and priority passengers got their separate check in counters. There was no line at all and a very handsome gentleman checked me in. My three bags got the Star Alliance priority treatments, but to be honest, it really does not matter. I was even allowed to check in my third piece. He found me a window seat at 1A, although the flight was pretty full. He told me where the lounge was and thanked me for flying BD. However, I found it strange that the agent did not check any ID or passport for domestic travels, even on the post-911 days.

Then I went through the security checkpoints and headed towards Gate 2. The lounge was located at Gate 4 and it was a very comfortable lounge with lots of desk station and sofa area. The décor was pleasant and there was a good selection of soft drinks, both sparkling and still mineral water, and a good selection of liquors. I had my ginger ale and got a few bottles of water for the road. There ware some snacks, like shortbread biscuits and mixed nuts called "nibbles." It was fine for a domestic lounge. I really like this lounge and enjoy watching the BD pier and the nearby BA domestic pier. Then the lounge agent announced boarding as 4:39pm arrived. There was a direct gate towards our jetway and my flight from London LHR to MAN was pretty full today. Business Class occupied about 1/3 of the plane and once again, it was the convertible seats. However, I found the BD seats to be wider and the legroom was definitely better than Austrian's Airbus. The seats are all in blue and business class got the yellow headrest cover. When we were boarding, the galley was still being refilled. Newspapers are offered on the jetway and inside the lounge (even Y class got newspapers), and due to late boarding time or domestic flight, no pre-takeoff beverage was offered.

Door was closed at 4:59pm and we pushed back immediately. A safety video was shown through the screens and the pilot announced that we are flying on 20,000ft and the flight to MAN was only thirty minutes. Of course, we had to wait a bit for take off on Runway 9R, and there are quite a number of European jets taking off. Finally we lifted off on a cloudy afternoon at 5:17pm. I guess the pilot signaled the F/As that it was good to work after a few minutes. The F/As had already put the scones to the oven prior to takeoff, and the meal trolley was out on 5:23pm. A full tray with three sandwiches (1/2 size) - ham, chicken and cucumber with mayonnaise, and salmon, and a warmed Sultana (Raisin) scone with double clotted cream and strawberry preserve, and a Polo "Smoothies" Strawberry and Cream's candy. The sandwiches were delicious and the scone was amazing - I hope it can be warmer, but you really can't expect much on this really short flight. Then at 5:28pm, the F/As returned with a beverage cart and soft drinks (mini 250ml) cans were passed out. The F/As did not open the can due to the short time. Anyway, it was nice and surprisingly, the came with coffee and tea at 5:33pm. The service was efficient, and the F/As then collected the tray and even had a short break for sandwiches and drinks. Then the descent began at 5:34pm and seat belt sign was turned on at 5:40pm. The gears were let down at 5:48pm and we touched down on R/W24R at 5:50pm. We passed by an assortment of British regional jets, BMI's A330-200, and a JMC's Neon green Boeing 757-200 G-FCLK, and lots of Monarch's aircraft, as we taxied into gate 18.

The service provided on this short flight was amazing and I highly recommend BMI to everyone. I will reserve some time to read papers and magazines at the lounge. It is not CX's the "Wing," but the LHR lounge is still comfortable and relaxing. The bags came off in fifteen minutes and I was off my way to the Radisson SAS MAN airport hotel, which was quite a hike from Terminal three. Anyway, the hotel was pleasant and the runaway café was nice.

March 13, 2002
BD 701 MAN-IAD Lv1225 Arr1535
Airbus A330-200 G-WWBB
Manchester airport was pretty pleasant and BD had its own check in area. There are lines in the economy line, as agents were required to check your passports and enter data onto the computer, as passengers entered the check in area. Please allow more time. For Business Class, the line was rather short and the agent politely asked me for my purpose of the trip and gave me the forms needed for entry into the United States. There are two c/n lines for J and one c/n line for new economy. A pleasant lady checked me in and assigned me 4A and promised to try to block my neighbor seat, as the load was half full this afternoon. I got an invitation to the Global Executive Suite lounge used by BD and number of European airlines, include BD, Luxair, and Lauda Air. The agent tried to give me the UA boarding pass onto SFO, but due to my upgrade, she was not authorized to print out the boarding pass. I said that I was okay and my bags were checked all the way to SFO anyway.

I first went to the duty free shops and continued to buy a few boxes of chocolates, including Benedict's mint chocolate. Then I went to the lounge, which was very nice. I got a Luxair's timetable and a copy of the Aer Lingus' magazine. It was a good and stylish lounge with sofa, dining tables, and bar stands. There was a self serving soft drink and liquor bars. I got my ginger ale and looked over the apron and runway. It was a beautiful and sunny day at Manchester, which was pretty unusual for Manchester residents. There are snacks, like crisps, tortilla chips, sliced cakes, muffins, fruits, Danish pastries, and pretzels. Then I headed off to the gate as 11:30am approached, as I knew that there was a second passport check. The boarding area was pretty crowded, as a Monarch's A330-200 G-SMAN was boarding for its flight to Calgary. They departed a bit earlier than us, but the boarding time was only a few minutes apart. Business passengers were invited to board first and I was the first passenger to arrive at the beautiful J cabin. The cabin décor was calm and pleasant with rows of blue color seats with the yellow cover. The seats had 55-60 inches of legroom with good recline and an interactive system. There were two magazine pockets for each seat. Claire, the excellent F/A, brought me to the seat and brought me a glass of champagne immediately. She brought out the glass and poured the champagne into it. An amazing experience… Then she came back with the noise-canceling headset and amenity kit, which was huge and nice. It was filled with SOMO's cosmetic products and other practical items. The color scheme was the stylish dark blue. Then more passengers arrived and more champagne was flowing through the cabin. After boarding was completed, the newspapers trolley was pushed around. Then I met our chef, Matthew, who was another handsome British man - god, am I in heaven? Champagne continued to flow through the cabin, even when we were pushing back.

Door was closed at 12:23pm and we pushed back in four minutes, as we were waiting the Monarch's Airbus to Calgary to push back in front of us. Then we began our taxing into R/W06L. We took off at 12:41pm after a Dragon Air cargo's Boeing 747-300F and a BA's Boeing 737 landed. What a beautiful afternoon. Once again, the BMI system came with a better and clearer nose gear view, pilot view, and sky map function. MAN was beautiful. Flying time was seven hours and thirty-three minutes and the flight route took us to Liverpool and Dublin, as we climbed to 11887m/36,000ft. Then we went to the Atlantic Ocean, and entered the North American continent through Goose Bay, Canada, Sept-Iles, and began our descent after passing Albany, NY. We only hit little turbulence after takeoff and the rest of the flight was smooth, until we began our descent to IAD, which was very misty this afternoon.

Cabin service began with the inflight service director shaking hands with each passenger and showing us how to use the entertainment system, which was pretty excellent with interactive menu and touch screen functions. The TV screen was pretty huge and it was a nice touch. Then beverage service was served with a snack bowl filled with nuts and Japanese crackers. More champagne for me and Claire was never tired in pouring champagne for us. Here is the wine list -
Champagne
Charles Gardet 1995, Chigny les Roses, Montagne de Reims, France (our selection this afternoon)
Tattinger 1995/6, Reims, France

White Wines
Wairau River - Sauvignon blanc Reserve 1998/9, Marborough, New Zealand - Chef's choice and I love it J!
Pascal Bouchard Chablis vieilles vignes 1997, Chablis, France

Red Wines
Chateau Le Caillou 1997, Pomerol - Bordeaux, France
Chateau Reybella 1998, Shiraz McLaren Vale, South Australia
Sagrantino di Montefalcon DOCG 1995, Castello Monte Vibiano vecchio - Umbria, Italy

Sanderman 20 Years old Tawny Port
Glenlivet 18 years
Courvoisier XO
Chivas Regal

The chef then passed out the menus and took our meal orders individually. I could not help in staring at his handsome face repeatedly. I am really ***** these days. After more beverage refills, the chef brought us hot towel placed a wooden tray. What a nice touch! Very fancy and stylish! Then the F/As passed out fresh linens to cover our tray, and then they rolled out the trolley with all the eating utensils and bread baskets. They set up our tables individually and we each got our bread basket, which consists of Foccacia bread, wheat rolls - 4 kinds in total. BMI had this a la carte service, like Lauda Air, and each course was presented with extra care, and I just love it. Here is the menu transcript!
Lunch
Parmesan bread pudding with shiitake mushrooms and garlic mayonnaise
Bloody Mary Prawn Cocktail - Excellent dish! The transparent plate came with 4 slices of ¼ sized wheat bread, shrimp salad, a real prawn in shell, a glass of Bloody Mary, and a bowl of hot water with lemon to wash our hands. What can you say about this presentation! Details are the keys…
Potato and Leek soup - A lovely soup!
Winter Green Salad

Roasted Corn fed chicken with sweet potato mash and Mediterranean vegetables
Atlantic cod, steamed with ginger, spring onions and wilted sesame pak choy, sticky coconut rice
Asparagus and artichoke risotto - lovely risotto and it came with nice chunks of vegetables. The rice was moist and I love it. Can't believe an inflight risotto meal can be this good.
Steak and kidney pudding with roast potatoes, buttered cabbage and baby carrots

Dessert
Hot cinnamon baked apple with custard
Chocolate orange fudge cake with mascarpone - Very nice cake!
British cheese plate, with celery sticks, gooseberry chutney, baby apple and biscuits - a very popular choice and it ran out when it came to me. I will recommend BMI had a cheese cart for lunch service, since it was a daytime flight and there was sufficient time for a lay back lunch!
Fruit plate - strawberry, white grapes, grapes, banana, peach, and mango - excellent fruit plate and I love it!

There is also an express meal option, which is actually not so useful for lunch service, but more so for the eastbound transatlantic flight. After the lunch service, I was not tired, so I stayed up for the rest of the flight, by watching the excellent US and British comedy channels. I really like the short features on this airline, and so I will give you the listing. There are als0 16 audio channels. Here is the list for US bound flights, but short features are the same for both ways:
1. Sport - Football Top 10 & Tiger Woods special
2. The Heist
3. In the Bedroom
4. Local Hero
5. Vintage Drama - Room at the Top
6. Bandits
7. Mulan
13. Kids TV - Clueless, The Worst Witch, & the Hardy Boys
14. British Comedy - Dinnerladies, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Alistair McGowan Big Impressions & Yes, Prime Minister
15. American Comedy - Will and Grace, Taxi, Just Shoot Me, 3rd Rock from the Sun, & Frasier
16. Alternative Comedy - Da Ali G Show, Trigger Happy TV, Comic Strips Presents.. More Bad News, & We are History
17. British drama - Clocking Off, & Murder in Mind
18. American Drama - The X-Files, Twilight Zone, & the Outer Limits
19. Showcase - Andrew Lloyd Webber - the Royal Albert Hall Celebration
20. British View - Amazing Adventures, Howard Goodall's Choir Works, & Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends

At about an hour and half prior to arrival, the mad-hatter tea service was served. Hot towel on the tray was served first, followed by linen, beverage, and individual set up. Then came the entrée with mini scones, sandwiches, and pastries, presented in a nice transparent plate. Here is the transcript -
Warm tuna melt - lovely sandwich
Smoked salmon and lemon pepper butter on brown
Gammon and tomato pickle on white
Florentines
Mini chocolate éclair
Mini Sultana and plain scones
Mini toasted tea cake
Strawberry Preserve
Cornish clotted cream
Fresh Strawberries
Freshly ground coffee
Twinings Tea selection

For your information, here is the snacks available listed under "Any Time"
Warm Bacon Butty
Warm Chicken and Leek Pie
Fresh Fruit Plate
Ice cream
Cappuccino
Expresso
Irish Coffee
Twinings tea selection
Hot Chocolate
Horlicks

Tea and coffee service was served after the meal, and hot towel served on individual tray once again made its way to our tray after the tea service. The service was perfect and I enjoyed this flight very much. The flight ended with a bumpy descent into Washington DC service. We touched down at 3:20pm and parked at Gate 27. However, the mobile lounges were here to pick us up from Door two. The international immigration facility was pretty packed due to the arrivals of numerous European flights from Zurich, Vienna, London LHR, Frankfurt, Manchester, and Munich. There are hiring signs all over the space for immigration inspectors. Very crowded airport! After custom, there are signs for passengers connecting to United's flight. There is a baggage belt for connecting passengers' bags, and there is a small lounge for us to wait for the mobile lounge to take us to Concourse C/D (well, a long walk for those in Concourse D). I will actually allow about two hours for connecting flights at this particular airport because of all the waiting. The mobile lounge service is not that frequent as well.

Carfield http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif