Review of British Airways flight from Toronto to London in Economy

Canada 2025- The Whole Adventure!

Flying & Spotting from Toronto Pearson!

I got a ride over to the Toronto Pearson Airport Terminal 3 from my Airport Hotel using the complimentary shuttle bus service after I checked out of my room. As we drove down the main highway, I got a good view of the impounded Antonov AN-124 aircraft at Toronto Pearson which has been there since Spring 2022.

I was dropped off at Terminal 3 as that is where British Airways operate from, my inbound flight had only just left London Heathrow when I arrived into Toronto Pearson… why am I there so early? Well I fancied a touch of plane spotting from the Terminal during the day!

Security took me about 15-20 minutes to clear, I must have picked a good time to pass through. I wasn't stopped and questioned on my excessively early arrival, but once the formalities were done- I was now free to roam airside Terminal 3 between gates!

I was mainly looking at the North American traffic that I wouldn't see residing in the United Kingdom, which basically covered most of the Short-Medium Haul aircraft, I was also on the look for any special liveries I hadn't seen at London Heathrow or London Gatwick at the time!

Obviously the best thing about Toronto Pearson for the non-Canadian based AvGeek is you can see all sorts of the Air Canada fleet! At London Heathrow we mainly in 2026 only see the Boeing 777, Boeing 787 & Airbus A330… so to see more of the Air Canada Jazz and Short-haul Air Canada aircraft fleet was a treat, as well as spotting a few odd wide-bodies in their home turf!

No special liveries from Air Canada in YYZ that day for me, but I did spot a Boeing 767-300ER flying for Air Canada Cargo! I love the Boeing 767 and I used to get quite excited seeing these in passenger service at London Heathrow from Air Canada… it was also nice to see the Airbus A320-family as well given Air Canada stopped using the Airbus A319 on their St John-London Heathrow route when the Boeing 737-8MAX returned to service after the groundings!

Other assorted Canadian traffic included WestJet Boeing 737-800 & Boeing 737-8MAX wearing the "Old" and "New" liveries as well as the now defunct liveries of Swoop and Sunwing which are being integrated into WestJet. I also saw a handful of Airbus A320/A319 of Air Canada Rouge before the Boeing 737-8MAX transfers are completed and of course various Air Transat Airbus A321/A330, Porter Embraer E2-195 and Flair Boeing 737s- no hard feelings after the "Edmonton Saga".

I wasn't let down by Emirates when it came to special liveries as they sent over their Airbus A380-800 (A6-EET) adorned with the "Emirates Courier Express" livery! That was so amazing to see!!!

In terms of airlines from the USA, I spotted various American Eagle Embraer ERJ-170/ERJ-175 as well as a mix of United Express Embraer ERJ & mainline United Airbus A319 at YYZ, and representing South America and the Caribbean I saw an Avianca Airbus A320neo and Caribbean Airlines Boeing 737-MAX!

My flight was going to be arriving after dark, however at about 3pm local time, I did spot the earlier BA93/BA92 service arrive in from London Heathrow. Whilst the BA98/BA99 flights were operated by Boeing 787-family, the BA93/BA92 service at the time was alternating between the Boeing 787 and Boeing 777s… Though in the Summer Season it appears to be mainly operated by the Airbus A350-1000!

Some other long-haul traffic from Asia and Europe included a Korean Air Cargo Boeing 777F, AeroLogic Boeing 777F from Germany as well as Boeing 777-300ER from Air India, Air France and Qatar Airways. Overall it was quite a productive few hours where I could see things.

I enjoyed a final Tim Horton's for a quick lunch between the decent arrivals and departures, the departure boards around the Airport helped me navigate delays a bit more effectively as well as helping me know where a flight or aircraft was parked up or going to be parking up… however with it being November and the middle of Winter, I knew after 4pm the odds of getting any good photos would be slim.

KLM Crown Lounge at YYZ!

Once the evening fell and night arrived, I opted to enjoy my final few hours at the KLM Crown Lounge… a bit of an odd combination- Flying with British Airways but enjoying the KLM Lounge???

 I better explain myself!!!

KLM has its own Crown Lounge at Toronto Pearson. Unlike the Amsterdam Schiphol Crown Lounge which is also busy with KLM/SkyTeam Status holders and Business Class flyers- this outstation lounge gets very quiet when there is no KLM, Air France or Virgin Atlantic flights due, so they partnered up with Priority Pass and Dragon Pass to increase revenue and make the lounge more economically viable during down times… I am the custodian of a Priority Pass, and I couldn't resist enjoying the KLM Lounge, luckily my BA flight was leaving long after the main SkyTeam Airlines- so I had no issue getting in!

At New York JFK there is an Air France outstation Lounge with a similar set up, though bear in mind if you are trying to enter when there is a large number of SkyTeam or Air France-KLM Group flights leaving, they won't allow you access!

Entering the KLM Lounge, its basically a smaller version of the main lounges you can visit at Amsterdam Schiphol. The decoration is very KLM themed with white tables and the familiar light blue that adorns KLM aircraft. Various seating is available through the lounge and there is a window area with some private seating to allow you to see aircraft, which is probably more helpful during the day!

I set up base by the window in the funky seats you see below, even though it was dark- I did get a great view of the turn around of a Virgin Atlantic Airbus A330neo!

There was a good selection of food and drink from the main service area. A hot food station, self serve soft drinks, hot drinks and alcoholic drinks as well as cakes & fruits. So I went on the prowl for something to enjoy and get my moneys worth- all £24 I spent via Priority Pass!

There was some spiced chicken on offer which was tasty and I paired it with some basic rice, I also had a potato hash item to go with it. I grabbed a cola drink to enjoy it with and for when I was done, a serving of Canadian Whiskey- the KLM Crown Lounge at Toronto offered a brand called Crown Royal- which was pretty nice and I enjoyed it on the rocks!

I went to the toilet facilities during my stay, and when I was walking over I spotted that KLM had displayed at this outstation Crown Lounge a display of their famous Delftware Houses they give out to their business class passengers!!! Hopefully one day I'll do a KLM Business Class flight long-haul so I can earn my own personal house!

I grabbed a cup of tea from the hot drinks station- I will confess I did grab two extra tea bags to take home, as well as a small plate of snacks and a strawberry yoghurt. The cakes went down well with the tea, which I ended up enjoying a second cup!!!

I spotted my aircraft arriving into Toronto Pearson from the lounge, once it finished parking up- I took that as time to move on to the gate area. On the way out, I spoke to some of the staff on the Lounge Desk and they kindly let me photograph the KLM Boeing 777 model at the desk- it looked like an amazing model, much better quality than the ones I have in my bedroom!

Homeward on the Dreamliner- British Airways BA98 (YYZ-LHR)

The aircraft operating this "Red-Eye" flight across the North Atlantic was Boeing 787-9, G-ZBKL. This aircraft was built and delivered brand new to British Airways in July 2016, making it 9 years old at the time of filming. Just 2 months earlier it was involved in an inflight incident involving smoke in the cabin as it was doing a SYD-SIN flight. It was grounded at Sydney Kingford-Smith from September 8th-11th 2025 before returning to service… I didn't know this detail when I took the flight.

I was quite early boarding amongst the Group 4, as I walked through the cabin I grabbed a few cheeky cabin shots, I was kind of pleased to get one last look at the out-going Club World seats as I quite like the rear facing seats, these cabins will be gone by 2027… I believe the plane I was on is one of the last to have this cabin. I even got a shot of an empty row of World Traveller seats before they get occupied for the next 8 hours!

My seat for this Red-Eye Crossing from Canada to the UK was Seat 43B, which on the Boeing 787-9 with British Airways is one of the last two rows of Economy Class where the cabin narrows, so you only get two-abreast seating instead of the usual three seats. Now I love this seat and its the one for me, but I appreciate these seats are not for everyone. The extra space from the window seat Infront of you is a huge bonus!

The only risk with doing this is if the aircraft type changes, you could end up in a middle seat- which almost happened as the flight was meant to be a Boeing 787-10, when the aircraft type changed, I messaged BA on a social media platform and the person I spoke to very kindly moved me to Seat 43B which was the ideal window seat I was after…

We boarded promptly despite it being a very full flight that evening, we had a small delay leaving the gate, but we'd make that up as we flew across the North Atlantic. The crew did the safety demo alongside the safety video as we taxied out to the Runway, once the demonstration was completed- the cabin was duly dimmed for departure as we neared the Runway!

Taking off at night can provide some amazing views of nearby towns and cities lit up, and Toronto with its surrounding suburbs did not let me down that night! I lucked out given that November can provide some very cloudy skies in Europe and North America!

The inflight map showed the route we took on take off, meaning I lucked out by being on the correct side for views of Toronto! Once we had gained altitude, the pilots pinged the crew that they could get out their seats and at the same time they adjusted the cabin lights for the evening flight with this rather nice orange-red tinted mood lighting.

Being a reasonably new aircraft, this Boeing 787 Dreamliner was fitted with Wi-Fi. For a one-hour session of Wi-Fi, British Airways charged £4.99p (CA/$9.30) where as the whole 8 hour flight would be covered by a single payment of £14.99 (CA/$27.90). I don't think those prices are too extortionate if you want the Wi-Fi, but I didn't take up British Airways on this and left my phone on the free Wi-Fi offering basic access to the BA website portal… The IFE Screen was going to keep me entertained this evening!

About 30-45 minutes into the flight, the bar & snack service began. I opted for the savoury snack of sour cream and onion pretzel crisps and I opted to go "Old School" Jett Tyler by ordering a Screwdriver- Vodka & OJ with a cup of water… the crew gave me a second Vodka miniature, I didn't need it so I opted to put it in my pocket and take it home for a later date… six months later its still in my draw waiting to be used. 

The nostalgic reason I chose this drink is because 10 years ago on my 18th birthday this was the first legal drink I ever got, whilst on a BA 767 from London to Stockholm when BA offered free bar service on their European flights. I am not much of a vodka drinker, but the Screwdriver holds a special place for me.

A while later the crew came around with the dinner service, I opted for the vegetarian pasta dish for something different. It was basically a Mac and Cheese with some spinach alongside some sort of cous-cous salad, crackers with cheese, a strawberry cheesecake desert pot and a bread roll with a bottle of Water. 

I stowed my pillow and blanket in the seat back of the window seat in front of me, I was making the most of the extra space.

A while after the dinner service I went to use the lavatory. It was a more modern design compare to the Boeing 777 from the outbound flight, there was enough space available despite it being in the rear galley. A blue mood lighting lit up the lavatory. I spent a bit of time standing near the galley talking to some of the crew, a chance to stretch my legs a bit and move a little, I also grabbed a quick cabin shot of the rear economy cabin whilst I was there. To my right was the entrance to the crew rest area, a place I've only ever been inside when visiting museum preserved Boeing 747s!

Just before I went back to my seat, a crew member pointed out to me and another passenger the snack boxes they had in the galley. The selection included some popcorn, biscuits (mainly Custard Creams), Stroopwaffels and Old Fashioned English Sweets. I took a bag of popcorn and the sweets and enquired if there was a can of Speedbird Brewdog IPA available and was successful in acquiring one!

I took them back to my seat and enjoyed the Beer & Popcorn over an episode of Dexter Original Sin- I kept the sweets for later in the flight, just to save me disturbing my seat neighbour for another trip.

I tried to get a little shut eye on the flight, which I managed about an hour and a half of sleep. By the time I came too and enjoyed something else off the IFE selection (which was not as extensive as the 777s IFE) we were about 90 minutes left of the flight and coming up on Ireland!

I realised it was early morning outside, but sure enough the crew had put the windows in dimmed mode and was controlling it… a large annoyance of mine, I personally don't pay extra for a window seat for it to be blanked out by the crew!!! Its my pet peeve of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and I'm not the only one with this!

I asked a passing flight attendant politely if I could have my window returned to my control, which was accepted, so I was able to start getting views out! I got a few photos of the window with some of the tinting stages as it opened up, it does take a minute or two to "un-tint".

Whilst I was enjoying looking out the window properly for the first time since we left Toronto, it was time for breakfast! I opted for a tea and orange juice to drink, the food was limited to a single hot snack in the form of a breakfast wrap- its contents from my memory were bacon, scrambled eggs and cheese.

Once we flew over Ireland, we entered UK airspace over Liverpool where our decent began for arrival into London Heathrow, we then flew South towards Birmingham and the Midlands, before making our way towards Central London as we were going to be arriving from the East, we did had to make one or two turns in the hold near Luton and Watford, but we weren't held back for long.

We eventually lined up for our arrival into London Heathrow, as we approached Runway 27L I got a great view of the famous plane spotting location at Myrtle Avenue as we roared over Hatton Cross on finals! I love seeing Myrtle Avenue from an aircraft, especially since I have spent ages there watching aircraft from the other end!

Once we landed onto Runway 27L, it was a quick slow down before taxiing off the Runway, which luckily was on the right side and right direction for us to head straight towards Terminal 5. We passed the British Airways and IAG Cargo facility.

Much to the chagrin of 99% of the passengers we parked up on a remote stand… the 1% who wasn't disappointed by this development was obviously the guy writing this Flight Report Article!

As I was near the back, I wasn't rushing to get off, I took a quick photo of the IFE Screen which I had on the map, which showed our flight path into London Heathrow that morning.

Heathrow obviously wasn't expecting a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to park up on a remote stand, so there was a small delay getting buses over to us to disembark the aircraft. Obviously the First and Club World (Business) passengers were off first so they didn't have to mingle with the "Riff-Raff" from World Traveller Plus and World Traveller!

I think those of us at the back of the plane had to wait a good 30 minutes before we could even think of leaving the aircraft… I personally enjoyed standing up for a bit to get my legs moving and just stretch myself about a little.

When we finally did get the go ahead to leave, I made my way forward, I grabbed a photo of the Premium Economy Class… I personally don't rate premium economy class myself- I think its a waste of money and air miles for what the airline offers you… what do you make of Premium Economy products?

I quickly stepped out the isle to get a shot out of the window as well as get a photo of the older Club World seat, as I am fully expecting to never see these again when I fly British Airways long-haul. A lot of people hated these seats, but the very few brief times I flew in them, I have nothing bad to say myself.

Despite the wait on the aircraft, these views of our Boeing 787 Dreamliner once we left the plane made it worthwhile! You don't get to do open boardings or disembarkations at London Heathrow as much as the other London Airports, but its even better when you get this close to a massive airliner that can carry a good 250-350 passengers, certainly dwarfs the Airbus A320s on BA's European network!

The bus ride had a slight bonus over docking at the B or C Gates for T5 in the sense that we were driven straight over to Terminal 5A to clear passport control and customs. We had to go under a tunnel for most the drive, but we popped up and I was on the correct side to catch a few images of some Airbus A320s parked at T5A in-between flights.

Once we left the bus, it was a quick escalator or elevator up to the Passport Control, which we were dropped off right next to and within a good 5 minutes I was through into the Baggage Reclaim, not that I had to wait around and collect a suitcase. With that it was through to Terminal 5 arrivals and I went to get the Piccadilly Line TFL Train for the free transit offered to Hatton Cross where I would meet my dad, who came to pick me up… Heathrow Airport does not need a good £10-£20 off us in the Car Park when there are other methods!

A few weeks later my Tier Points and Avios went into my BA Account, and to my surprise- despite BA not charging me for seat selection due to my issues with the App before I did the trip, I earned extra Tier Points and Avios from the seat selection as if I had actually paid up front for them, which was a very nice touch from BA and something I did very much appreciate!