Review of British Airways flight from London to Madrid in Business

introduction

Hello and welcome to the next instalment in another series of transatlantic flights from San Diego. As a oneworld loyalist living part of the year in the US and part of the year in Europe, we shuttle back and forth across the Atlantic several times a year on both British Airways and Iberia. 

routing

transit & lounge

Love it or hate it, we transit through Heathrow Terminal 5 many times per year, so much so that my 4 year-old son knows exactly how to get to the lounge from security and knows his way around the Galleries First Lounge better than many seasoned adult flyers. 

Having arrived at Terminal 5 Concourse B, we took the underground train one stop to the main Terminal 5 building (T5A).

For a nice change, transit security was actually very fast! This is due to new machines being installed in some lanes, which allow passengers to keep all electronics and liquids inside of their bags. The end result was that the queue moved quickly and it was about as effortless as going through the TSA pre-check lanes in the US.

Please note that, at that time (Summer 2023), there were only two of these new machines installed at the far right end of the transit security checkpoint when facing airside. I was through LHR T5 again in October 2023 and this was still the case. I'll be through again next week so we'll see if there's been any progress since. 

T5 was well packed with summer crowds already. 

We made our way to the BA Galleries South lounges as usual.

Thanks to our oneworld Emerald status, we have access to the Galleries First Lounge. 

There's a fully staffed bar on one side of the lounge. 

The Galleries First Lounge used to be relatively quiet–or at least quieter than the Business class Galleries Club Lounge–but over the past year it's gotten more and more crowded. 

We used to enjoy sitting in this separate "terrace" part of the lounge as it was much quieter with sofas, which were perfect for families. However, sometime in 2023, the sofas were mostly replaced by more chairs leading to a much denser seating configuration. This section is now just as crowded as the rest of the lounge. 

There is a self-serve champagne bar in this section, which is nice.

For those who really need some quiet and rest, there is a quiet zone in the far back of the lounge, after the customer service desks, where one can find this zen space with sleeping pods. 

This area is generally quieter as it's a bit more isolated from the rest of the main lounge. 

As for us, we generally hang out in the children's playroom as there are plenty of activities here to keep our son occupied during a layover. I always appreciate play spaces in lounges as it's great for children to get out excess energy between flights without bothering other passengers. 

While in the lounge I noticed that the BA app was showing different seats from those on our boarding passes. Originally seated in the last row of Business class, the seat map showed they had removed our row and split us up in 2 different rows. Flying with a 4 year-old, this was obviously not acceptable so I went to the customer service desk inside the lounge to inquire. The agent was very understanding and contacted the gate–she advised that the gate agents would work on getting us seated back with our 4 year-old as it was their own policy to have children seated next to at least one parent.

boarding

The gate for our flight to Madrid was inside the same terminal, so no need to take the train. 

I was surprised to see that our gate was on the basement level.

And I knew what that meant…bus boarding! I don't usually mind bus boarding when not in a rush like today–it only makes me nervous when it happens on a short connection. That was not the case today, and we'd have time to enjoy the great tarmac views–it's definitely fun to get that perspective if you're an aviation geek!

The only problem is that these bus gates are so small and crowded. There was very little room to move around so I didn't even try heading up to the desk to ask about the last minute seat assignment changes. I figured I'd ask on boarding since we were in Group 1. 

Once boarding began, we were able to squeeze our way to the front. Our old boarding passes beeped and we were handed new seat assignments, which were now back together again in row 3. Great! I didn't have to ask about it–the gate had handled it; just as the agent in the lounge had said. 

Our bus drove right past one of the gigantic Qantas A380s on the way to our aircraft's remote stand. 

As it would turn out, our little A319 was parked right next to this beauty.

Now that's a nice view!

Our BA A319 looked tiny in comparison, but I do always enjoy the view when ground boarding. 

A quick look back at the Superjumbo at the top of the stairs. 

The cabin on this aircraft was a blast from the BMI-past! Our flight was being operated by one of the ex-British Midlands (BMI) A319s that never received the new standard interiors. The cabin of 20 year old G-DBCA is at least a decade old and really looked it. I assume that BA decided not to refresh the cabins on this handful of older ex-BMI frames as they intend on retiring them soon. 

The legroom is tight on this small subfleet–tighter than on A319/20/21 with the standard BA cabins. The seat pitch is the same at 30 inches, but feels tighter due to the thicker design of these older seats. It really felt cramped as if the seatback of the seat in front was right in my face. 

Also, the few ex-BMI A319s with older cabins don't have any USB or AC power, unlike standard cabins. Just kind of bad luck to get one of these–luckily, the flight to MAD is short, at just about 2h gate-to-gate. 

Boarding wrapped up pretty quickly once the last bus arrived, though we were running a bit behind schedule due to the remote stand location. 

From the right side there was a nice parade of wide-bodies taxiing past. 

the flight

Taxi time was short and we were off shortly after pushing out from the remote stand. 

About 20 minutes into the flights, cabin crew began the dinner service with drinks and took meal orders from front to back. There were printed menu cards with 3 options, but it looks like I forgot to take a photo. 

I selected the braised lamb and sweet potato mash option. I love lamb and appreciate when I see it on menus–a nice change from the usual "Chicken or beef". 

The lamb itself was delicious and very tender, but the sweet mashed potatoes were way too sweet and overpower even the strong taste of lamb. 

My son's child meal consisted of meatballs in brown gravy, mashed potatoes, and vegetables. Nothing terribly fancy, but perfect for a kid. As usual, the portion is too big for smaller children.

Cabin crew were friendly and proactive, making several drink runs during the flight. They also handed out a water bottle after the meal service. 

Arrival

Before we knew it we were already making out descent into Madrid Barajas. 

As the UK is outside of the EU/Schengen Area, London flights generally park at the Terminal 4S Satellite gates. 

It's a bit less convenient than intra-Schengen flights, which all park at the main T4 terminal. Arriving at T4S requires taking a train to the main terminal. 

Because of the distance from T4S it's always a bit of a wait for baggage to be delivered. Luckily, there are several playgrounds in the baggage area, which helps pass the time for the little ones. I love Madrid Terminal 4 for many reasons, and its family-friendly design is definitely one of them.