A piece of normality: in the A380 from Frankfurt to London Heathrow

The A380-800 G-XLEF used for the test flight pulling in at Gate E2 in Frankfurt (Photo: Steffen Lorenz).
The A380-800 G-XLEF used for the test flight pulling in at Gate E2 in Frankfurt (Photo: Steffen Lorenz).

A piece of normality: in the A380 from Frankfurt to London Heathrow

The A380-800 G-XLEF used for the test flight pulling in at Gate E2 in Frankfurt (Photo: Steffen Lorenz).
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Thick clouds hang over the Rhein-Main Airport in Frankfurt on this Sunday morning when the four majestic Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines of the Airbus A380-800 appear on the horizon out of nowhere.

British Airways Flight 902 took off from its home base at London Heathrow with a delay of 47 minutes. “Heathrow is slowly filling up again,” said Captain White with his loudspeaker announcement: “As in London there was simply no pushback truck that could push this large aircraft out of its parking position on time, so we're a little behind schedule. “Finally, the“ Super Airbus ”reached parking position E10 at Terminal 15 at 20:2 a.m. with a delay of around 2 minutes Route from Frankfurt to London. "

By now, at the latest, it will also become clear to the last passenger that today's flight is a little special. I can hardly hide a small smile when the captain mentions in the course of his almost 5 minute speech that he can barely move in the cockpit today, as a total of 5 pilots are planned for this flight and distributed around him that day. There were also 18 flight attendants and 2 technicians on board to ensure that everything ran smoothly.

Arrival

British Airways has chosen to offer A380 line training on the routes London (LHR) -Madrid-London (LHR) - Course: BA462 & BA463 as well
London (LHR) -Frankfurt-London (LHR) - to conduct course BA902 & BA903. The journey to Frankfurt can be represented in different ways. With the regional and long-distance train stations, the airport has very good rail connections. Traveling by plane to Germany's largest airport is possible from all directions during the current winter flight schedule. From the DACH region, 18 airports are connected to Frankfurt with regular flights, Madrid can be reached from 11 airports. For my personal journey, however, thanks to the inexpensive entry ticket, I was able to travel by ICE.

Boarding

The document verification can be done in three different ways: Option 1: allows you to upload everything you need from home via the "Verifly App" in advance. If this works and you can see the green tick next to your picture, you no longer need to check the documents on the day of departure. Variant 2: is the variant that is often chosen at the check-in counter, where this check is carried out when baggage is dropped off. Variant 3: is the document check at the boarding gate for guests who are traveling with hand luggage and have not uploaded their data in advance to the "Verifly app".
Boarding for around 150 passengers that morning started on time and according to the boarding groups available for British Airways.

I reached the aircraft door as the fourth passenger. To my personal astonishment, boarding in Frankfurt took place via the foremost aircraft door, which had the positive side effect that it was possible to take a quick look through the open door into the cockpit and to take a short “walk” through from the very front First Class in the A380 blocked on this flight, past through Business Class on the lower deck into the back rows of Economy Class to my seat 41A.

The seat / cabin

Let us come to what is probably the most comprehensive description of this report. The A380-800 used by British Airways that day has a total of 4 seats in 469-class seating. There are pictures of all four seats / products offered in the slideshow.

Lower deck / main deck:
first class:
In the front segment, the cabin starts with rows 1-4 in 1-2-1 seating. This looks stylish and noble and is designed with black seats and a cream-colored shade in the cabin. Due to the small area, the cabin looks tidy and individual. As more and more airlines are enlarging the business class cabins, the impression of "mass handling" often arises. This feeling certainly does not arise in this first class.

Business class:
This is followed by a galley with the second entrance door and the magnificent front staircase to the upper deck of the "giant Airbus", followed by the Business Class rows 10-15 in a 2-4-2 configuration. As a little specialty, I found that all NON-GANG seats (!) Have been built against the flight direction - sitting backwards, so to speak. This applies to all window seats A and K in Business Class as well as seats E and F in the middle block of four. ALL aisle seats (B and J outside) as well as D and G are installed in the direction of flight (forward). The Business Class cabin and the associated seat come in dark gray tones and white, offer sufficient storage compartments and space to work as well as a large screen. Each seat can easily be converted into a bed with a lying surface of 1,83 m within a minute.

Economy class:
On the lower deck, the Economy Class follows in a 3-4-3 configuration, which offers space for almost 200 passengers. The standard Economy Class seat in the A380 is upholstered in light blue and equipped with an adjustable headrest. In the front seat there is a “mini iPad” size screen (approx. 8 inches) and a USB port and the GamePad are installed underneath. The seat spacing is absolutely acceptable at 76-78cm. There was still a hand's breadth of space from my knee to the seat pocket and the room feels bigger through the large windows of the A380.

Upper deck:
Business class:

The upper deck initially consists of further business class seats in the front part. These are "only" 2-3-2 seats, (rows 50-59) whereby the window seats are also arranged against the direction of flight. (A and K) In the middle only the seat E is opposite to the flight direction. All aisle seats (B, D, F, J) are aligned in the direction of flight.

Premium economy class:
The Premium Economy Class of the A380 in rows 60-68 is also seated like Business Class 2-3-2. In addition to the wider seat for a little more space, the cocktail table in the middle of the seats and the slightly larger screen, this product offers a total of 96cm of legroom and an adjustable footrest for an absolutely reasonable surcharge depending on the route. The additional storage compartments in the rows of windows are another plus.

Eeconomy:
The Economy is located on the upper deck in rows 70-83 and only has 2-4-2 seats. This has the advantage that when you travel with your travel partner you can book the outside seats without having to sit next to a stranger. Furthermore, the seats on the windows also offer the additional storage compartments built into the A380, but only on the upper deck. Since all window seats in Business Class were already booked and reserved at the time of booking and the OneWorld Lounge on BA early flights from Frankfurt is such a topic in itself, I decided on an Economy Class seat at the window and in the direction of flight forwards.

The flight (including food)

As an aviation enthusiast, one obvious fact can be anticipated: the flight was far too short. Even if Heathrow Airport "gave us" an additional 60 minutes in the Airbus A380 after landing, because the assigned passenger gate at London Heathrow had to be technically "reset", the journey should have been much longer than 75 minutes in the air. The cabin crew, some of whom spoke German on that day, and the A380, which was only about a quarter occupied and had enough space for everyone, created the feeling of a pleasant journey from start to finish.
To my shame, however, I have to admit that I can no longer fully understand the British Airways service concept. I remember my last four flights with British Airways from / to London City or Heathrow in 2019 and 2020. In the meantime, BA had switched in economy class to short-haul food for a fee (I mean, it was from M&S) . This could only be paid for by card or Avios (the frequent flyer unit at IAG). The exception was that there was still free service on all flights operated by British Airways Cityflyer with the Embraer. That's why I was a little surprised when the crew distributed a free sweet and salty snack and a small free bottle of still water that morning (see photo). This is now a little difficult for me to classify because I am unsure whether this is either due to the corona pandemic and the shortest possible guest contact, the A380 service concept or a withdrawal of "catering against payment". For the short flight of less than 1,5 hours, it is more than sufficient and a friendly gesture.

The entertainment (including wifi)

British Airways offers a very extensive entertainment program on the A380 according to current industry standards. The selection option “current films” also contained film titles from 2021, for example Cash Truck (original title - “Wrath of Man”) and therefore deserves the name current. Wifi is offered on board and also worked on the day of the test. As usual, the prices are set according to various packages and run under the "air" service. In addition, there are of course series, music, games and infotainment content which can be accessed via the free headphones and the monitor in the front seat.

The “Air” portal on your own mobile device also contains numerous features and shows not only the altitude and speed, but also other information about the flight. The connection was stable throughout the flight. The sockets under the seat had been turned on / off at each 10000 feet.

Screenshot of the BA Wifi Service "Air" which can be used on board on your own device for a fee (Photo: Steffen Lorenz).

Der Preis

On the test day on the flight from Frankfurt to London, British Airways offered only two classes, economy and business, analogous to the concept for European flights. In regular intercontinental use, the A380 is equipped with 4 classes, which are then marketed accordingly in the regular route network. In addition to Economy, there is also a Premium Economy Class (on the upper deck), and First Class is also available on board in the front segment of the lower deck. Since I still had a few bonus points available, I did not pay the full flight price, which would have been just under € 79 on the day of my booking in Economy.
The business class tariff with British Airways usually starts at around € 200 within Europe. It should be noted that when booking some C-Class tariffs with BA, an extra fee is charged for the seat reservation. On long-haul routes and the routes on which the A380 is actually used, around 8000 (!) Pounds one-way for a business class ticket from London Heathrow to Miami are currently due shortly before the holidays.

The author's conclusion

Since the beginning of the pandemic, one thing has become clearer from week to week: tourism continues to experience a dry spell of unprecedented proportions. It is all the nicer to see that after almost 2 years a (distant) light is emerging at the end of the tunnel. Weeks and months of sometimes complete standstill, airports that looked more like an aircraft graveyard than a traffic hub, all of this is becoming more and more of a rarity. With the opening of the extremely important US market a few weeks ago, another milestone was reached for the aviation industry. After 20 months, the industry is anticipating and is equally hoping that there will be a lot of catching up to do in terms of flights between Europe and North America. This is one of the reasons why British Airways has now decided to reactivate part of its A380 fleet.

In addition to the destination Dubai, which will be flown in direct and classic A380 competition with a golf airline, Los Angeles and Miami will be the first announced destinations on the flight schedule of the airline from the United Kingdom from the beginning of December. Therefore, from my point of view, this “A380 revival” is not only another and at the same time extremely important milestone, but also a signal of confidence. The highly motivated crew, this beautiful, quiet and spacious aircraft and a product that enables a pleasant journey in all 4 classes offered makes British Airways a clear alternative and choice in my opinion, especially on the routes flown with the A380.

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Editor of this article:

Steffen Lorenz was a flight attendant at various airlines for several decades and has been part of the Aviation.Direct editorial team since October 2021 in the areas of product tests and trip reports.
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Steffen Lorenz was a flight attendant at various airlines for several decades and has been part of the Aviation.Direct editorial team since October 2021 in the areas of product tests and trip reports.
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Nobody likes paywalls
- not even Aviation.Direct!

Information should be free for everyone, but good journalism costs a lot of money.

If you enjoyed this article, you can check Aviation.Direct voluntary for a cup of coffee Coffee trail (for them it's free to use).

In doing so, you support the journalistic work of our independent specialist portal for aviation, travel and tourism with a focus on the DA-CH region voluntarily without a paywall requirement.

If you did not like the article, we look forward to your constructive criticism and / or your suggestions for improvement, either directly to the editor or to the team at with this link or alternatively via the comments.

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