In spring 2016 Mr. A and I flew in a full BA A380 ‘superjumbo’ from Singapore to Heathrow on the overnight BA12.  We were flying on a ‘former staff’ concessionary ticket which had First class entitlement, subject to load, but that cabin was full and we were seated in Business, or “Club World” as BA calls it.  The concessionary ticket doesn’t allow us lounge access, and at the time I didn’t have frequent flyer status high enough to get into one either.  But we didn’t have a lot of time anyway, so we just looked at a couple of shops before going to the gate and the long queue for the pre-boarding security checks they do at Changi airport (no fast track).

The gate lounge was heaving, as you would anticipate for a full A380, but they did at least offer priority boarding for First and Business.  Onboard we found that I was seated in an aisle seat (15G), with Mr A ‘kind of’ next to me in 15F, a rear-facing middle seat, so, in the ‘yin yang’ layout of BA’s cabin our faces had close contact. Nice if you’re facing a loved one, horribly uncomfortable if it’s a stranger!

In line with BA policy at the time, all of the window blinds were closed.  As well as feeling disoriented by not being able to see outside the aircraft, I felt a bit nervous sitting right over the main wing fuel tanks; more of that later.

We were given pre-take-off drinks (I chose Taittinger NV) but no cold towel. That came after take-off, which is odd and not so appealing as on boarding a flight from humid Singapore.  As soon as you try to make yourself comfortable you realise there is absolutely nowhere on BA’s Club World seat to stow your magazines or papers, or the blanket, eye mask or washbag they leave on your seat. And I’m assuming that the lack of personal stowage space is also why they don’t bother to give you pyjamas (as well as cost-cutting)!  I’m totally amazed how far behind its key competitors BA’s Business Class product is. They squeeze eight seats abreast across a cabin which most leading carriers place just four seats. That’s why there’s no stowage space around the seat!

I put in my order for an after take-off drink and went to one of the small lavatories to change into my Qatar Airways pyjamas.  When I got back to my seat the drinks had been served, and red wine had been spilled over the seat shell in front of me and over my foot space and shoes too!  No-one said anything to me, or attempted to clean the mess.

There was only a light supper service offered about an hour into the flight, which didn’t look at all enticing on the menu, but I, like many others, had already decided to get some sleep, with the local time passing midnight.  So I made my seat go flat, covered myself well with the supplied blanket (to try to get a modicum of privacy in an otherwise totally open space against the aisle) and tried to get off. I dozed for about an hour when they lady sitting in 14F, in front and to the side of my seat, first kicked my feet as she   tried to clamber over me to get to the aisle.  This happened a further five times during the long, long night.

Ten hours since leaving SIN breakfast was served. I was famished. Earlier I had been to the “Club Kitchen” next to the galley, where one is able to help oneself to snacks throughout the flight. A few packets of crisps and a mini KitKat was all that was on offer!  Abysmal.  And, sadly, breakfast wasn’t much better, featuring a very tired cooked ‘English’ breakfast, a floppy croissant and rather poor instant coffee.  Only First class passengers get a cappuccino or the like.

As we closed in on Heathrow, and with all the window blinds still closed, I followed our approach on the ‘moving map’ on my video screen.  On the map we were shown as still being over west London when I was jolted by the thud of us landing.  I was really unhappy that BA has a policy of not asking passengers by the windows to open their blinds for take-off and landing, because I genuinely felt uneasy sitting above the fuel tanks, unable to orient myself in the middle rows of a huge plane with 469 passengers. I strongly believe that in the event of a fire it’s safety critical to be able to see outside the plane, so you can see which side of the plane is safe to evacuate on.  In the eight weeks before this flight I had flown with Aer Lingus, Qatar Airways, ANA, Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines, and all of them made announcements to tell passengers to open their window blinds for take-off and landing – for safety reasons. So what’s BA playing at? I felt so strongly about it that I emailed both BA and the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) later that day.  BA “thanked me for the feedback” while the CAA told me there were no safety issues, BA wasn’t doing anything wrong in trying “not to distract their crews during busy periods of the flight”!  I do hope BA changes its mind before anyone is killed in a fire on the runway!

This was the most uncomfortable flight (physically and psychologically) I’ve ever had in a long haul Business class seat.  Sure I had a ‘cheap’ ticket, but I’m not prepared to put my life at risk with BA, so I will not be using my concessionary tickets again.  Neither will I ever pay to fly Business class on BA; it is shockingly behind its competitors! 1/10