Review of British Airways flight from London to Toronto in Economy

Going back to the Beginning!

25 years ago in June 2000, I undertook my first ever flight from London Heathrow to Toronto Pearson. It was on a Boeing 777-236(ER) of British Airways (G-VIIM) and I was only three years old. Of course back then British Airways operated from Terminal 4 mainly back then as Terminal 5 was a "Twinkle in Heathrow's Eye"… Boeing 777-200ER were the new kid on the block for British Airways which mainly leaned onto the Boeing 747-Classic and Boeing 747-400 for their long-haul operations with a bit of help from the Boeing 767-300ER as BA had just retired their ex-BCAL McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 fleet in the late 1990s, as well as still flying the BAC/Aerospatiale Concorde!

With 2025 marking the "Silver Anniversary" of my first trip, and the fact I hadn't been back to Canada since then, I thought now was the time to get back to Canada and celebrate this milestone! So I booked a return trip with BA and ensured that BA93, the first flight I ever took, was the flight I would be taking. Initially a Boeing 787 was down to operate the flight, but about 8 weeks before the trip it changed to a Boeing 777… Someone is very clearly looking out for me!

I also booked a series of domestic Canadian flights that I'll eventually cover on here.

LHR-YYZ on a Boeing 777-200ER, I did it in June 2000 and I repeated it in November 2025- let's dive into this!!!

LHR T5 & Plaza Premium Lounge T5

I got dropped off at Hatton Cross train station for a quick run into London Heathrow Terminal 5… I detest the £6 drop off fee by London Heathrow, its the largest, busiest and most profitable airport in the UK- it DOES NOT need to be charging that fee as far as I'm concerned… However there is a small travel hack to be enjoyed whilst it lasts and that is you can get a TFL Piccadilly Line service to the London Heathrow Terminal Stations (Terminal 1, 2 & 3 *Central*, Terminal 4 and Terminal 5) for FREE from Hatton Cross Station!

After a 10 minute journey straight into Terminal 5, I arrived at the home of British Airways and saved myself £6! It was straight into the departures area to get a boarding pass. I wasn't checking any luggage on this trip of 10 days, I had checked in online the day before- however I wanted a boarding pass as a souvenir, which was easy enough to obtain from a check in kiosk! 

I got through security in about 10-15 minutes which is pretty good for London Heathrow, I'd obviously timed myself after the main morning rush but before the mid-day rush of long-haul flights. But I knew I wanted to be reasonably early as I had a Priority Pass and I was going to start this trip off with a visit to an Airport Lounge!

There are two Lounges at Terminal 5 not operated exclusively by British Airways and one of them is the Plaza Premium Lounge. This lounge can set you back a good £45-£50 to pre-book in advance, but a Priority Pass can get you in for £24- however they can refuse you on the door if its really busy and these two lounges can get busy as they are the only Lounges not offered by British Airways.

It was reasonably busy, but I was able to get a few discreet phone pictures, I do try to respect my fellow passengers best I can as no one likes a camera shoved in their face. The breakfast was in full swing so I had a few different items off the menu. The views of the aircraft at T5 were nice enough, but not easy for photographs and filming due to the metal structural beams, though it was a good opportunity to see the A320neo G-TTNA wearing its "BA Better World" livery, I had the pleasure of flying this A320neo back in 2023!

There was a manned bar offering various alcoholic beverages with some more premium brand drinks at an extra charge, but a Famous Grouse whiskey was offered complimentary so I had a single serving on the rocks towards the end of my stay once I had enjoyed my breakfast. Just a quick toast for the upcoming trip given its occasion to me!

Given it was just over a month before Christmas, Heathrow was getting in the festive mood and had this nice looking Xmas Tree displayed in Terminal 5 just ahead of the lift that takes you down to the B-Gates & C-Gates.

My flight was due to go from Gate B48, in the Plaza Premium Lounge I had seen my aircraft arrive from Boston Logan into London Heathrow, it parked up on B48 which I could see from the Lounge- which was handy! But I had to get the underground Monorail from T5A to T5B. It is easy enough to use. 

The B-Gates mainly see long-haul flights operated by Airbus A350-1000, Boeing 777s and Boeing 787s, but during early and late periods the odd European flight operated by an Airbus A320-family aircraft do turn up, however most the A380 flights fly from the C-Gates. Iberia often use the B-Gates for their Airbus A330 or Airbus A350 operated flights to Madrid.

I had about 30 minutes before my flight was due to depart and I was in Group 4 for boarding, so I used the time to get some plane spotting done from Terminal 5B as I got up close to some of these British Airways long-haulers! But before long it was time to board at Gate B48…

Now then… Let's get on with the flight itself!!!

British Airways BA93 (LHR-YYZ)

My aircraft for this flight was Boeing 777-236ER, G-YMMP, delivered to British Airways brand new in October 2001 as part of the fleet of Boeing 777 that replaced the aging Boeing 747-200 which retired quickly in the wake of the 9/11 Attacks in September 2001. This 24 year old Boeing 777 has always worn BA's "Chatham Dockyard" livery and in 2021 it was kitted with its current cabin layout which excludes the BA First cabin, meaning it only has Club Suites, World Traveller Plus and World Traveller (Business/Premium Economy/Economy).

Straight to the back of the aircraft for myself as I carefully selected Seat 42A for this flight… I know some of you are probably wondering why I chose to go right to the back of Economy Class, well on the Boeing 777 the last few rows by the Window are in a 2-seat layout rather than the usual three-seat configuration as the shape of the fuselage narrows- you can find the same on the Boeing 747 and Boeing 787 as well. 

Its great if you're travelling as a couple or flying solo, plus you get a good look at the wing as well as a decent clear view around you during take off and landing to see the sights as you fly over them, should you wish to enjoy that!

A fun story about my seating, I tried to reserve myself this seat and a similar one for my return flight- however the BA App failed and so did the Website when I went into my booking… I messaged BA over Social Media and they kindly allocated me my seating choices for free as I couldn't do so on the BA App or BA Website- and a few days later as the points went into my BA account- I noticed I got the Avios and Tier Points as if I had paid for the seating… Great save there BA!!!

Getting to my seat, British Airways provided me and the rest of the World Traveller customers (their branded Economy Class) three items for comfort during the flight: A Pillow, blue Blanket and a small envelope with basic Headphones, if you don't want to use your own. As we began to push back for an on time departure, the BA Safety Video was played alongside the crew giving an in person manual safety demo as well… If you like Period Dramas and stuff like Bridgeton or Downtown Abbey- then the new Safety Video will keep your attention!

As we made the short taxi over to the departure runway, which that afternoon was Runway 09R, we passed various other British Airways long-haul aircraft including the Airbus A380 and a few more Boeing 777s and Boeing 787s. We were prioritised ahead of an Air Canada Boeing 787-8 heading to Ottawa and a Thai Airways Boeing 777-300ER heading to Bangkok for a sharp departure for Canada, also behind them in the que I could see a pair of American Airlines aircraft (Boeing 777-200ER & Boeing 787-8) as well as a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 all coming from Terminal 3.

We started rolling out of London Heathrow, passing the growing line of aircraft where I got a quick glimpse of the Qantas Boeing 787-9 operating 17hr QF10 to Perth, which I flew on 2 years earlier (yes, I did a report on that!), we rotated off the ground by Terminal 3 just as we got to Terminal 2 where I spotted a brightly coloured Red & Blue Emirates Airbus A380 on stand at T3 which was painted to support a Football Team they sponsor.

I had some amazing views as always of the Terminal 2 piers and their traffic as well as the British Airways Maintenance area as we rocket out towards Central London, I do enjoy these departures as I can enjoy a gimmicky game of "Spot the Concorde" as British Airway's G-BOAB Concorde resides by the BA Facilities.

With a 7 hour flight ahead of me, I was keen to see what BA had on offer in its IFE System on the Boeing 777! No surprises to see that the Christmas Range was already fully uploaded… And I fully agree with the decision to include the original Die Hard film!

However I was more interested in the full range of Bond Movies that were present on the BA 777's IFE system, so I dived into three consecutive 007 Movies for the 7 hour flight starting with the Timothy Dalton "License to Kill" before following with my two favourite Bond films- "Tomorrow Never Dies" and "The World is not Enough".

Our departure from London took us out across the South-West of England, across Wales and over the Irish Sea and across the Southern Republic of Ireland before we entered the vast North Atlantic towards Canada and the USA! This picture I got of my IFE screen shows roughly what route we took.

As we flew over Ireland the initial snack service began with the standard BA offering of sour cream & onion flavoured pretzels and a choice to beverages from the bar, which I opted for a cup of water and a British Airways-Brewdog collaboration Speedbird IPA Beer, its got to be done when flying BA!

For the most part of the flight that autumn day, it was pretty lovely weather over the North Atlantic, I think we had a short 20 minute spell where the turbulence required the seat belt sign to be on, but it wasn't long from what I remember.

About an hour later the main meal service began, two options were available to those who did not pre-order a special meal request… I heard that a chicken curry was on offer and that sold me without needing to be asked a second time!

As you can see by the images of the meal service below- a side salad, a bread roll with some Anchor butter, Jacobs Crackers with a Cheese block as well as a Apple & Blackberry Crumble with Fresh Custard. A bottle of Harrogate Water was also delivered with the meal service. Overall it was quite tasty and well varied in flavours whilst keeping mostly to British tastes.

Of course if British Airways IFE isn't up to your personal taste, you can stream the internet! I took a screenshot of the fare bundles on my LHR-YYZ flight to show you what you might be paying for a similar long-haul flight in World Traveller. The prices aren't too extortionate, £15 for a 7hr flight seems pretty fair… I wouldn't do 1hr for £5 though… However bare in mind there are "Black Spots" in the signal over certain parts of the Atlantic Ocean.

I had to use the facilities during the flight, so here's a "Loo Review" snap of the BA 777 toilet… Its quite spacious for an airplane loo in economy class but it does the job, though some parts of this toilet do reflect the 20 year life of the aircraft.

Between Bond movies, I checked our flights progress on and off, eventually we crossed into Canadian airspace over Labrador, we flew to far South to see Greenland like you usually can on flights to the West Coast of America or Canada, we would also fly straight over Quebec as well before starting our arrival over Ontario.

Another bar service was ran through the economy class, so I opted for a Johnny Walker Red-label whiskey with Cola.

A hot snack was provided ahead of arrival, I got mine after I'd finished my drink off- British Airways on this flight offered a Cheddar and Caramelised Onion chutney Roll heated. It was quite nice and enjoyable as well as being quite ample for this last 2 hours of the flight.

Eventually our descent into Toronto began, our arrival bought us in over Downtown Toronto before making a turn over Lake Ontario. As we approached Toronto, I spotted an Airport which turned out to be the recently closed down Toronto/Buttonville Municipal Airport- Which used to be one of the main Airport's serving Toronto before the construction of Toronto Pearson and Toronto City "Billy Bishop".

Our arrival offered amazing views of the CN Tower as well as the Rogers Centre where the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team are based, Scotiabank Arena and the Toronto Union Station! You can even just about see the Runway threshold of Toronto "Billy Bishop" Airport.

After a quick cross along Lake Ontario we made one final turn to line up for our final approach into Runway 33R for a Northerly approach.

We had some pretty cool views of the nearby towns to Toronto Pearson, you could even possibly see Hamilton, Ontario off in the distance. But we landed on Runway 33R about 20 minutes ahead of our scheduled arrival time. 

Exiting the Runway we had to make a back track over to Terminal 3 at Toronto Pearson where British Airways operate from. As we passed the cargo area I noticed a sad looking UPS McDonnell-Douglas MD-11 parked up and grounded as it had been a month since the tragedy at Louisville Airport where another MD-11 crashed on take off, I hope that the remaining MD-11s will be returned to flight once the investigation wraps up as its one of my favourite aircraft.

As we closed in on Terminal 3 at Toronto Pearson, I noticed a few other notable aircraft parked up including a Condor Airbus A330neo wearing the "Golden Stripes" livery, a WestJet Boeing 737-8MAX in "Swoop" livery and most significantly a Hainan Airlines Boeing 787-9 wearing a striking Jade-Green livery promoting the IHG Company. I also spied an Air Transat Airbus A330 parked up, a sight I've seen many times around London Gatwick and Paris CDG!

We pulled on stand next to a Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300ER awaiting its return flight to Doha, quite fitting as both are OneWorld Alliance partner airlines and both use Avios as their frequent flyer currency.

I got a few cabin shots on the way out of the aircraft of the cabin as I saw on the way in that this was a refurbished Boeing 777-200ER, meaning it had the updated Club World Suites and Premium Economy (World Traveller Plus) with no First Class installed, I believe this is common on the G-YMM* fleet that they don't have a First Cabin as they're mainly deployed on leisure routes and often fly from London Gatwick… I noticed in the Business Class that one passenger didn't use their amenity kit and it was as it was during boarding, so I asked a flight attendant if I could take it as a keep-sake and I was kindly permitted!

I was also kindly allowed to make a quick flight deck visit at the end of the flight, which was really amazing! 25 years ago I had been allowed to visit the flight deck of G-VIIM mid-flight over the Atlantic, of course this is not a request that can be fulfilled in the post-9/11 World, but being able to see the Boeing 777 flight deck on the ground on this flight was a great cherry on top to end my flight with!

I thanked the crew and wished them a nice stay in Toronto, and I left the plane ready to take on a 9 day treck around Canada, as well as getting one last shot of G-YMMP as I left the jet bridge!

Overall it was a nice experience on British Airways, all my expectations were ticked. The food was nice, seat was comfortable and the crew were nice. What a kickstart to this trip and pay homage to the last 25 years of my travels!