Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau

I took the 747 bus from downtown Montreal to the airport and arrived there around 18:00 with plenty of time for my 20:50 departure, which was already showing as delayed. I had monitored the flight earlier and given a late departure with very strong headwinds the flight arrived 25 minutes later in Montreal. Strong headwinds are not uncommon for this time of the year and many flights are delayed. A colleague of me was traveling on Lufthansa out of Munich on Friday and arrived delayed. The flipside is that the other direction is usually quite fast.

I approached the British Airways check in counters. Four counters serving Economy Class passengers and two counters serving Business Class and oneworld elite customers were manned. My passport was checked and the booking was retrieved from the system. The agent confirmed that I was traveling to Amsterdam and that my luggage had to be checked to Amsterdam. She also informed me which lounge British Airways used for its customers and that the flight would depart delayed. Currently the flight was expected to depart at 21:25 in the systems, but the agent mentioned that they would try to speed the turnaround time and were expecting to depart earlier. They flight would be called in the lounge. And soon I was on my way to the security checkpoint. There was a long line which moved fast and it took not long until I reached the head of the queue at one of the many security checkpoints. A member of staff directed people to the checkpoint which were less busy. There was not dedicated elite line for British Airways customers, only Visa had a VIP line for those having an infinity card or had been invited to use this line.

There was a short delay in the process as the passenger ahead of me had a large bottle of liquid in a duty free bag, which was not sealed anymore and also not from Montreal. There was a short dispute and the passengers was offered the choice to throw the bottle away or check it together with the small backpack. In the end, he went back and checked the backpack … Otherwise it was not very eventful and I passed security quickly.

In the sterile area I headed over to the international terminals and the gates where the lounge was located. The Mastercard Lounge was busy, but I had no difficulties to find a seat. The lounge offered a good selection of spirits and wines as well as soft drinks and a coffee / espresso machine. Food offerings were a selection of wraps, sandwiches, vegetables, a corn salad and a soup. Cookies were also available as well as small packets of chips.

I also grabbed a Business Traveller Magazine and read a bit in the papers, relaxed and checked my e-mails. Time passed quickly and I wanted to stretch my legs a little bit and left the lounge earlier than necessary and walked to the end of this concourse. The Munich bound Lufthansa A 330 was in the final process of boarding and also delayed. A few other flight were also announced or not yet ready to depart.

The boarding announcement was made round about 20:30 for those traveling in Business Class and oneworld elites. An agent had prior to this asked passengers in which class they were traveling and directed them to the dedicated line but did not check the boarding passes. Finally boarding started with passengers traveling in Business Class or holding oneworld Emerald and Sapphire Status. Before I could enter the jetty, my boarding pass was checked against my ID and I was finally allowerd to board the waiting Boeing 777-236 (ER).

08 December 2014
YUL – LHR
[Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport - London Heathrow]
BA 94 (British Airways); Boeing 777-200 (G-YMMA)
Gate 59
20:50 – 08:20 [effective 21:16 – 08:09]
Premium Economy Class (World Traveller Plus)
Seat 12 G

I was greeted at the entrance of the plane by two members of the crew and given directions to my seat. During online check in I had noticed that the window seat was taken while more or less the whole section of middle seats was free. So I changed from 12 J to 12 G.

The cabin was again not very full. One passenger decided to use Avios and upgrade to Club World as he wanted to sleep. This was done by the gate agent while he was waiting on board the aircraft for his new boarding pass. Another passenger decided to move from World Traveller to World Traveller Plus, but was soon directed back to his originally booked cabin as he was not willing / unable to pay or use Avios for this flight.

While we were at the gate, pre departure drinks were offered and also a leaflet with the food options for today’s flight. Blanket, pillow and headphones had already been placed on the seat before we boarded as it was done on the flight from London to Montreal on Thursday. Pre-departure drinks were orange juice and water and I decided to take an orange juice. While I was sipping on my orange juice, the captain came over the intercom and welcomed us on board. He informed us about the reason for the delay (mainly strong headwinds) but expected to arrive in London on time if not ahead of schedule given that the strong headwinds now were strong tailwinds helping us to fly fast across the pond. The weather in London should be clear sky with temperatures around 0° C. He also announced the safety video.

As soon as he finished his welcome speech, the crew went to their station, meaning the made sure the screens of the entertainment system were out of their take off position. From my quick glimpse into the Club World Cabin the most passengers had done it themselves and even in World Traveller Plus most passengers in the first row had the monitors up.

While the safety video was shown we were pushed back at 21:18 and taxied to the runway 24 L. With no plane ahead of us, there was no waiting time and the captain powered the two Rolls Royce Trent engines. British Airways is using mostly Rolls Royce engines on his planes, whenever this is possible. They even had in the past adverts highlighting the fact that they use Rolls Royce engines.

Our Boeing 777-236ER was delivered as new plane to British Airways on January 07, 2000.It made its maiden voyage on August 31, 1999 and is equipped with 48 seats in Club World, 24 seat in World Traveller Plus and 203 seats in World Traveller. This means, the configuration of G-YMMA was the same than the one in the Triple Seven on my flights from London to Montreal.

In the meantime we had left Montreal in South-West direction toward the Lac St-Louirs and made a turn toward the East. While turning to the east, those sitting on the left side of the plane could enjoy some nice views of the night lights of Montreal. We flew in direction of Quebec and climbed to our cruising altitude of 35000 feet.

As the seat next to me was free, I had folded out the tray table of the seat next to me and also the in-seat monitor. Ten minutes after take-off the fasten seat belt signs were turned off and the crew closed the curtains between the cabins. Next a hot towel service was done followed by a beverage service using the cart. With the beverage came a small packet of sour and cream pretzels. I opted for a ginger ale and received two small bottles instead of one.
The items from the first round of beverage service were collected soon later. The World Traveller Plus Cabin is served by the same flight attendants serving the first part of World Traveller. This has also the advantage than one has the menu prior to World Traveller and thus could be an advantage if it comes to the usual rush for the bathrooms after meal service. Word Traveller Plus has no own lavatories but to uses those of World Traveller Cabin.

Time for me, to look at the menu (click on icon, opens new window)

First Meal Service

Rravioli trio with Asagio cream sauce
and spaghetti squash

The main meal service started 50 minutes after take-off. The options were beef or pasta and I went for the pasta and asked for a white wine but got a red one. This misunderstanding was actually not bad, as the red wine was a Chilean one and though a bit cold not bad. The meal came on the tray all at once. The main dish was served in porcelain while starter and dessert were served in plastic bowls. Rolls were also offered with the meal. The wine came in a plastic bottle, while the glass was a real one and not a plastic cup. It is only a small details but I prefer a glass for white wine over a plastic one.

The pasta was okay, though the filling a bit tasteless. The salad was okay while the dessert was too sweet for my taste. But overall it was eatable. Later tea and coffee were offered, but declined this offer. After I had finished the meal, I had already reclined my seat and wanted to make use of the remaining flight time to get some sleep.

In the meantime we had passed the Gulf of St Lawrence and were heading via Newfoundland towards the Atlantic Ocean in our cruising altitude. We were now also flying close to 1100 km/h or 590 knots and had only a little bit more than four hours left on our journey to London, which means the flight time today was nearly the same as from Montreal to Vancouver.

I was able to sleep with some interruption and even after 70 minutes prior to landing the lights were turned on, I dozed further until 40 minutes prior to our arrival into London Heathrow. I skipped breakfast, but noticed that the flight attendant placed a muffin at my seat, which was a nice touch and much appreciated.

We entered Europe close to the city of Dungloe in Ireland and passed Ireland towards the Irish Sea before entering British airspace south of Isle of Man and continued via Liverpool towards London. We had already left our cruising altitude of 35000 ft. and were now descending into London Heathrow.

The flight deck came over the intercom and gave us an update of our arrival into London. We could expect to arrive ahead of schedule as we had a more or less direct approach into London with one loop round about 15 minutes prior to lose altitude. We flew into Greater London Area from North West and turned to the West while flying over London, which means those passenger on the right side of the plane were able to enjoy nice views to the city of London. Especially the Shard and close by Tower Bridge were clearly visible, even for those sitting in the middle seats while the plane turned westwards. The approach into London is still one of my favourite’s landings if the view is clear and Heathrow Airport is approached by flying over the City of London, the other city is Hong Kong.

Wheels were down at 8:00 on runway 27 L we taxied to our gate at terminal 5B, where we had to wait a couple of minutes as our gate was not yet ready. The flight deck used this time to give us an update of weather conditions and the expected belt for the luggage. Finally at 08:09 the gate was ready and we pulled towards the gate. Only one jetty was used. It took a few minutes before the doors were open and I was on my way following the signs for international transfer passengers. Overall, this was the fastest transatlantic flight I have experienced so far.

next flight

Top