London Heathrow

After I entered terminal 5 C, I took the escalator down to the shuttle train to the main terminal and to immigration. I did not have to wait a long time, before the train arrives and I was on my way to the main terminal. The most passengers from our plane had not yet made it down to the train as the train departed to terminal 5 B and 5 A. I was in the first car giving me some advantage to reach the escalator upstairs in the main terminal.

I proceeded to the transfer counters and was invited to use the priority lane upstairs to the security checkpoint which was surprisingly not very busy and I was able to pass it quickly in less than ten minutes, this time without need for a manual inspection.

I had less than an hour to spend in Heathrow until it was time for my next flight. In so far I decided not to head over to the usual less busy lounge in terminal 5 B but approached the British Airways Terrace Lounge North and was granted access after showing by onward boarding pass. The gate was not yet assigned.

I did not expect to be able to take a shower but nevertheless approached the shower reception and asked about the waiting time. To my very surprise I was told, a shower was available right now. Well, being able to refresh right now seems a good plan and so I spend the next 20 minutes in the shower. After being refreshed, I head for a quick mug of caffeine and soon it was time to walk to the gate, which was now showing on the screen.

Boarding was about to begin for passenger travelling in Club Europe and British Airways Executive Club Gold Members and Emerald Status holders before Silver and Sapphire members were invited to board the plane ahead of the rest of Economy Class, which should board by zones.

At the gate was waiting an Airbus A 319-131 with registration G-EUOE, which was delivered to British Airways on September 05, 2001. It was equipped with 132 seats in a single class configuration.
This plane was involved in an minor incident on May 24, 2013, when during take-off in LHR both fan cowl doors detached on departure puncturing a fuel pipe. The plane was taken out of service and repaired and after a thorough inspection returned to service on September 18, 2013.

In the meantime, Sapphire members were called to board the plane and so I approached the gate.

03 November 2015
LHR – DUS
[London Heathrow – Dusseldorf International]
BA 938 (British Airways); Airbus A 319 (G-EUOE)
Gate A 11
09:20 – 11:45 [effective 09:20 – 11:27]
Economy Class
Seat 11 C

The plane was not yet fitted with the new seats but this does not result in more legroom as I had a seat in the part of the cabin, which had less seat pitch as it was not within the part of the cabin, which could be converted to Business Class (Club Europe) seats. Of course, not an issue for such a short flight. The flight was full and no empty seat, which means we were asked to store smaller items under the seat in front of use and only larger items in the overhead compartments.

Boarding was soon completed and the captain welcomed us on board. He told us, that we were able to depart on time and it was a quick flight of around 50 minutes to Düsseldorf and we could expect to arrive there ahead of schedule if nothing unforeseen happened while airborne. He also announced the safety video, which was started by the crew after he finished his speech.

While the video was shown, we began our push back and taxied to runway 09 R. At 09:30 the captain powered the two IAE V2522-A5 engines and we left Heathrow in direction towards the North Sea. We flew slightly northern, i.e. no direct flight towards Düsseldorf but towards Amsterdam, which means, that Düsseldorf was approached over the Ruhrgebiet and from eastern direction.

During the flight, a beverage service was done. I went for a sparkling water but refuse the snack, which was also offered. The flight was short and uneventful and soon it was time to collect the items from the beverage service and prepare the cabin for the arrival in Düsseldorf.

As expected we approached Düsseldorf from the east passing over river Ruhr and the Ruhr valley and touched down on runway 23 L at 11:24 and taxied for terminal A, which was still used at this time.

It took a few minutes before everybody in the rows prior to mine had left the plane and I headed towards immigration. All Easy pass channels were out of service and only one counter was staffed. As there were some issues with first two passengers in the line, a long line had formed quickly. Lucikly, a second counter was staffed a few minutes later and, the remaining passengers needed less time to be processed and I was on my way to the skytrain station to catch a regional train at the Düsseldorf Airport railway station.

Top

Conclusion