Stylish BA 787 First Class London to Muscat

I had really been looking forward to flying BA 787 First Class, having only travelled in Club world (BA’s Business class) prior to this.  As a child, they sure were my favourite airline! I was tempted to Fly BA First Class previously, but a 747 with older First Class  seats (this has a rather big 14 seat cabin and somewhat dated now) did not appeal when BA had already rolled out the newer First on the 787 dreamliner. So I was holding back for that to be rolled out more widely. When my travels plans for Muscat aligned along with a January sale, I booked this without a second thought!

Flight details

Route: London LHR – Muscat
Flight no: BA0079
Aircraft: 787-9
Departure time: 19:45pm
Seat: 1K Window & 2E Aisle (will explain the double seats below!)

BA 787 First Class Check in

I arrived at Terminal 5 about 16:15pm, a full 3 and half hours to enjoy the Concorde lounge and the pre-booked back massage. I headed straight to the First Wing, which was vast and looked empty, setting the scene of something special awaiting you.

As I went through the initial check point, I was warmly greeted by a gent while a check-in staff come forward to take me to check my bags. At this point I could see quite a few passengers checking in.

Lounge

Upon getting a physical boarding pass, I proceeded left into the lounges. After a brief passing visit of Galleries First lounge (which is available to First as well as BA Gold/OneWorld Emerald guests) 

I spent most the time in the Concorde Room reviewed separately here.

Boarding BA 787 First class 

As I started making my way to the gate around 6.45pm there was already a large crowd all lined up. Club World were already boarding so I headed straight through, and as they scanned my boarding card, I was momentarily perplexed by a beep, was I being downgraded?

Well this would normally be an exciting beep if you were in the back of the plane. So I already knew First cabin was not full, what could it be? Turned out there was a problem identified with suite 1K so I was assigned a new seat (at this point all other window seats were taken). The agent suggested I keep both boarding passes in case the seat issue can be resolved. This was somewhat deflating, since I specially called concierge to book seat 1K. Oh such First Class problems!

As I walked into the aircraft, there were a couple of crew welcoming us in, not sure if there was a First passengers right in front of me but I was not escorted to my seat.

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My host for the flight, Dan welcomed me to BA First and introduced himself, he explained the team were at our service for the entire flight and set a tone for the pampering.

BA First Class seat features 

The First class cabin consists of only 8 semi private suites, in a 1-2-1 layout, which helps to foster a more intimate and premium atmosphere. Each passenger has a large 23″ High Definition IFE, with an additional touchscreen controller. Sleek seat/cabin light control panel is located within easy reach, whichever position you are in. Connectivity wise, there are 2 USB points, a mains charging point. There were no WiFi available on the aircraft at that point.

A neat mini wardrobe is available to hang your jacket. A small compartment at eye level opens up as a vanity mirror. There are storage compartments by the seat on both sides as well as in front by the foot rest area. If this wasnt enough a spacious and stylish side console with a lamp, provides additional storage.

When in comes to dine, you have a large fold out table, big enough space for 2 to eat together.

Most of these are certainly an improvement over the 14 suite cabins of the 747 & 777s in BAs fleet. Though perhaps more evolutionary, than ground breaking.

I decided to have a quick look at my original seat to see what was wrong with it. There was no obvious signs, so I asked a First crew covering that aisle side if she could find out what the problem was. They must have got busy welcoming other First guests at that point but they did not come back to me. Rather swiftly, Dan came to offer me welcome drinks in 2E, along with warm nuts and a magazine.

* [ I should note, I found some small rubbish and used products from I guess, the passenger before me. Evidently BA do not do a through job of cleaning their First cabin even ]

Amenity kit & pyjamas 

Just after drinks were sorted, I was asked which panamas size I preferred, which were bought over along with the amenity kit.

While the pyjamas were not oozing luxury like Emirates ones, they were still very comfortable.

The amenity kit came in a patterned leather Liberty case (unpacked below), items inside included Refinary facial moisturiser, shaving gel, lip balm, mini deodorant, razor, toothpaste and brush, hair brush, eye shades and earplugs as well as a BA First branded pen.

Departure

As we were settling in, the captain then came on to announce that we expected to depart on time, and a smooth climb out . I love BA pilot announcements!

On-demand Service

I requested to eat about an hour after takeoff (its dine on demand in First class ), since I was not very hungry. I had pre-ordered the Arabic fish main. The meal service started with the Arabic meze starter with an assortment of breads fresh off the oven.

The fish main was amazing! Cooked just right, tender with lovely fluffy rice, this was paired with a white wine, the crew recommended. (I’m not the biggest wine person)

Next came the dessert, I ordered the chocolate blueberry cheesecake, which was just perfect.

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At this point I was very full, Dan came around to check everything was OK a few times with drinks tops up and then presented me with the cheese options.

I was reluctant yet simultaneously wanted to see how this compared, so I ordered the mix platter cheese board. This was ok, but I would not say it was as good as Swiss Business, which I adore. I had a few nibbles, and washed it down with the port. Then ordered a mint tea. Dan came along with some more chocolates. One of the perks of flying First, is that you really get to know the crew. There were only 5 first class passengers and 3 first class flight attendants. I learned Dan has been working for BA over 5 years, and First class for the last 2, and chooses to do 787 routes!

Entertainment & Bed

I was watching a movie, which I lost track off during the course of the meals but decided to finish it anyway. About half hour after, I decided I should try to get some sleep. I have to say I found the programming rather limited on choice, there were a handful of movies, but nothing I was really keen on. 

I went to the first class bathroom to change into the pyjamas. This is one area where BA have decided not to do anything special with, First cabin bathroom is just the standard 787 ones! With added toiletries, and fresh flowers. 

Meanwhile my bed was being prepared. BA First provides a full turn down service, I was asked if I would like to be woken up for breakfast. Dan also handed me some slippers and another bottle of water.

The bed was super comfortable with good mattress padding, thick duvet and a large soft pillow.

At this point it would have only been 10.30pm UK time, and not sure if it was just that it still wasn’t quite my normal bedtime yet or being too stuffed, I couldn’t really sleep. I stayed in bed for about 3 hours. Sometimes when you force yourself to go to sleep, its even less likely to happen!

When I eventually gave up on sleeping it was only 40 minutes to landing. About 30 minutes to landing, I was asked if I would like an express breakfast. I could not fathom eating anything at all so just ordered a tea and asked if they do anything to go, just in case I got hungry on way to hotel. It seemed this was not possible.

We landed at 7.10am local time, and it seemed like the whole flight lasted only a couple of hours.

Post Landing

On landing at Muscat airport we had a short taxi to a remote stand. I gathered all jet bridges were already occupied!

I’m not sure if I had missed something. There seemed to be no priority disembarkation for First passengers. So off we all went getting lumped into busses to take us to the terminal. There we had a rather long queue for the visa-on-arrival service.

Final thoughts

I have to admit, the flight ended in quite an underwhelming note. There was absolutely nothing premium about that arrival experience. Much less First Class.

The experience as a whole was broadly in line with what I had expected. One the one hand, service was for the most part, excellent. The crew were delightful and did spoil me with constant top ups, yummy chocolates etc.  The ground service could really be improved by offering First chauffeur service (not just connecting passengers in LHR, which BA does do now) Being bussed into the terminal with large crowds does not scream First class to me. I do really like the hard product, and can’t genuinely fault it.

Yes, its not as large or lavish as some other First products out there. But is the added opulence ever really necessary? If BA can address some of the service shortcomings, this has the potential to be a very solid product.

I would have liked to try this product on a super long flight or a daytime flight for this length, to really appreciate it fully. Flight timing itself is an important factor for some travellers. For a short night flight such as this, I would have thought a 9pm departure would have been better and more conducive to those that may want to sleep? What are your thoughts on this?

Check out BA’s latest luxury deals if you are interested in flying this product.