[Anonymous]

[Bunnahabhain]

LHR T5 – Athens, BA662

I arrived airside from my connecting domestic flight at 1045 for this 1210 departure; my hold bag was checked through to Athens though not priority tagged either for transit or reclaim, however previous experience of CE tagging was that it might be better without.

The flight was delayed by around one hour; the Galleries lounge wasn’t by any means busy but it was still difficult to find somewhere which wasn’t within earshot of a mobile phone conversation (and not all business related at that).

Boarding from gate A5 which is close to the transit point from domestic arrivals was efficient, and we descended to the air bridge connected to the N2 door. We were welcomed on board by two crew members. I had chosen centre aisle seat 1D which was available at opening of the free selection at 24 hours. It did seem slightly agoraphobic, feet almost into the front galley, however gives the combination of aisle access, the small space between yourself and seat 1F (which happened to be unoccupied) and no seat recline from in front.

Hot towels were distributed prior to take-off. My seat faced the CSD in her rear-facing seat for take-off and landing, at such a distance that it would be rather difficult not to engage in conversation if you so wished.

Crew were released quickly after climb out and passed through with a drinks round and hand out menu cards in Greek and English;

Main;
Chicken saltimbocca with Cafe de Paris gnocchi, roasted courgette and aubergine
or
Pudina lamb with tandoori gobi and turmeric rice

Selection of warm bread rolls

Dessert;
Apricot praline
or
Coastal Cheddar cheese with pear chutney and crackers

My choices of chicken then apricot praline were both available; service commenced from the front.

Lunch was accompanied by a second drinks round.

The rest of the flight was uneventful and we landed at Athens with a similar delay as departure. Disembarkation was from the N1 door so I was first off to the typical 20km walk through empty space marathon to passport control and baggage reclaim, which had by that time no excuse for not being on the belt.

Overall a pleasant flight, the extra space on the 767 compared with the A320 series welcome on these slightly longer European sectors; presumably they will eventually be replaced by A321s if 767 type capacity is required on certain services.

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