Second leg of our trip around the world with Oneworld is done, and it’s on an aircraft in the Oneworld livery this time. Our flight from Heathrow was on one of British Airways’s two 777-200ERs painted in Oneworld colors, G-YMMR. The -200ERs are a major workhorse of the long-haul fleet at BA, flying to destinations in North America, Asia, and the Middle East. Hope you all enjoy!
Server: Solo
Airline: British Airways
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200ER
Origin: Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom (LHR)
Destination: Hamad International Airport, Doha, Qatar (DOH)
Flight Number: BA127
Route: EGLL-OTHH
Seat: 6A (Club World)
Time En Route: 7 Hours 19 Minutes
Waiting to board at Gate C52 on a mostly cloudy London afternoon. Our aircraft today has the new Club World suites that debuted in late 2022/early 2023 on the 777-200ER and despite having made several trips on BA’s 772s, we’ve yet to experience the new seating.
Taxiing by Terminal 4. According to the captain, we’re first in line for takeoff, so we probably won’t spend too long sitting on the taxiway. Regarding the new Club World suites, they’re miles ahead of their predecessor, being based on the Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seats. While the previous seats weren’t bad by any means, they felt quite dated for the 2020s, so these new ones are a breath of fresh air, comparatively speaking.
Hurtling airborne from Heathrow. Getting to sit in the section of the Club suites forward of the engines means we get to listen to that sweet, sweet Trent 800 growl.
Climbing out of London with the Dorney Lake rowing venue in the background
Leveled off at our cruising altitude of 35,000 feet south of Ostend, Belgium. Seems like this cloud cover we had back in London is blanketing much of the area around the Channel today. We’re going to spend the next few hours availing ourselves of the vast selection offered by the much more modern IFE system in the Super Diamond seat.
Nighttime over the far northeastern corner of Syria. We had the braised British beef for dinner a couple hours ago, served with ruby Port sauce, cavolo nero, baby turnips, and smoked fondant potato, which was absolutely delicious. British Airways definitely seems to be stepping their game up with not only their hard product but their soft one as well, at least on the 777-200ER.
Descending over Bahrain as we approach Doha. British Airways has a heavy presence in the Persian Gulf in addition to Doha, serving Dubai (DXB), Riyadh (RUH), Bahrain (BAH), and Kuwait City (KWI).
Arriving at Hamad International just after midnight on Runway 34L. As usual, the Super Diamond seats cushioned the jolt of touching down until the thrust reversers and spoilers actually deployed. Can’t beat the Laws of Motion, unfortunately!
Taxiing by a main terminal undergoing heavy construction as we head to our gate. The disappointment at having to leave our Club World seat is somewhat lessened by the fact that we’ll be flying to Australia in one of Oneworld partner airline Qatar Airways’s QSuites, but not by very much. The seat was great and the service was exemplary, harkening back to when British Airways was setting the standard for just about every other airline in the business.
Deplaned at Gate C11. British Airways’s new Club World suites are a game-changer for the airline, making it competitive with pretty much any other carrier flying into Heathrow and making a nearly 20-year-old Triple 7 feel like it rolled off the line at Everett last year. Definitely worth a revisit!