Welcome to my trip report on British Airways 2025!
This was my ride, G-ZBKC.
The last time I flew with this airline was more than 20 years ago when the airline was operating the likes of Boeing 747-400, Boeing 767-300ER, Boeing 737-400 and even the Concorde, yes that long! So when the opportunity arises to fly with this airline again, courtesy of my mum, I am more than happy to do so and to try out the airline's next generation aircraft, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. For a good number of years, British Airways operated the Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A380 to Singapore, one flight will fly onwards to Sydney while the other will rest a few hours at Changi and fly back to London later that day. However, at this time, the airline is operating the Boeing 777-300ER (BA11/12) and Boeing 787-9 (BA15/16) so that probably mean the load of the LHR-SIN-SYD route has declined since the smaller size Boeing aircraft was chosen. I am in fact happy with the idea of flying this long haul route with the Boeing 787-9 and that means it would be my longest flight on board this aircraft type.
So for this flight, my mum would fly on business class (she booked this months ago and the airfare was cheaper then) and I would fly on economy class. I was tempted to upgrade myself to business class but the airfare was ridiculously expensive and also how much they were charging for the premium economy class was not worth it. So with that, I bring you my BA’s economy class experience. What makes it more interesting is what kind of seat would I get at check in since I didn’t want to fork out more money for the seat selection. Do read on to find out.
For this trip report, I will include some photos photographed by my mum at the British Airlines lounge (South side) and the meals she had on board. (Thank you, Mum!)
So without further ado, let's begin this trip report.
About British Airways
British Airways is the national carrier of the United Kingdom is based in London, England. This airline was founded in 1916 and has a very interesting history from the start. It started off as Aircraft Transport and Travel and with a few mergers happening during its time, the British Airways branding was established in March 1974. This airline, along with Air France was also known to be the only 2 operators operate the supersonic aircraft, the Concorde which started commercial servie in 1976 and ended operation in 2003 due to the high maintenance cost.
British Airways Concorde in the old livery (Photo: Iain Mckenzie)
British Airways Concorde in the current livery (Photo: Johan Knijn Aviation Photography)
Currently, the airline has 2 hubs, London Heathrow and London Gatwick and operate a fleet of more than 250 aircraft. BA is one of the founding members of the Oneworld alliance which began in 1999 and is also the owner of BA Cityflyer. Currently, the airline is operating a fleet of Airbus A320ceo, A321ceo, A320neo and A321neo for its short and medium haul flights and the Boeing 787-8,-9 and -10 for the medium and long haul routes. For the bigger capacity aircraft, it operates the Boeing 777-300ER, Airbus A350-1000 and Airbus A380 for the high demand medium and long haul routes.
IAG Group
International Airline Group is a British-Spanish airline holding company registed in Madrid, Spain and has its own corperate headquarter office in London. This group was formed in 2011 after a merger agreement between British Airways and Iberia. The group has since expanded with more airlines being purchased and added into this group, the airlines are BMI, Vueling and Aer Lingus. Level airlines is owned by the group, was created in 2017, based in Barcelona.
This group will make the decision of all matters regarding the important matters of these airlines which includes fleet network and types. Recently the IAG group has placed some significant aircraft order to help with the airline's expansion and fleet renewal and one of them is the order of the Boeing 737 MAX which would be a new aircraft type for any of these airlines in the group as all of them are currently operating the A320 family for its narrow-body fleet apart from the regional jets. The decision has been made for which airline will operate the 737 MAX and that would be Vueling. This means for Vueling, the existing fleet of A320ceo would most likely be return to the lessor or transfer to other operators while for the A320 and A321neo, they would definitely be transferred to other airlines in the group. The next significant order for the airlines excluding British Airways is the order of the A330-900 neo which is a natural successor to the A330-300 aircraft and the group has decided that Aer Lingus, Iberia and Level will be operating the A330neo (A total of 21 + 13 on options for this model). Iberia will also take in another 6 more A350-900 aircraft.
As for British Airways, the group has ordered 18 additional aircraft for this airline which consists of 6 more A350-1000 and 6 more Boeing 777-9 for the airline. (September 2025 update)
My previous flight with British Airways flight 15 in the early 2000s
This is British Airways Boeing 747-436 (G-BNLK) (Photo: Andrew Hunt)
My last flight with British Airways was on this aircraft from Singapore to London and London to Singapore on the same trip and at that time the airline was operating more than 20 747-400 and what is the odds of me or anyone getting the same aircraft?
Whatever it is, many things have changed for the past 20 years and one thing for sure is I enjoyed my flights with this airline and back then this airline in the television advertisment was known as the world's favourite airline, do you recall?
This is the old cabin of the Boeing 747-400 (Photo: Rene Ehrhardt)
Booking of flight
I did my booking on BA's mobile app and while it is functionable, I find it the design of the interface very basic.
I was looking at the premium cabin prices and it was certainly a no from my wallet. The business class still features the old 'Yin-yang' configuration with the 2-3-2 and that is not something I want to splash a lot of cash on it.
So I settled for the Economy Standard. I thought most airlines that fly out of Singapore on 6 hours flight and longer offer luggage allowance on the economy basic class (excluding low cost carriers), but not this airline.
Some important information was provided to ensure that you depart at the right terminal and date/time.
Unfortunately during the check-in, I was left with 2 seat options, a middle seat at 31H or an aisle seat of the last row 44F. Of course I went with the aisle seat.
On the day of departure
After checking out from my Airbnb, I met up my mum at the apartment. We decided to take the Elizebeth line to the Airport. The journey from the apartment to the airport took about an hour and a half.
This is the Elizebeth line, we took it to terminal 5.
The spacious cabin with the side and forward seat configuration, making it a comfortable ride for the commuters.
Taking the lift to terminal 5 departure hall can be challenging due to the crowd and the luggages.
Welcome to Terminal 5 of London Heathrow!
This terminal opened in 2008.
The last time I used this terminal was a flight to Paris CDG on British Airways Boeing 767-300ER.
Usually I use the normal check-in kiosk for standard economy class check-in, but not on this flight.
I joined my mum to do the check in together as the airport staff confirmed I was allowed to do so.
The check-in process was fast and we were given our boarding passes.
I took a few more looks at the departure hall (landside).
This terminal is definitely bigger and more spacious than Terminal 2,3 and 4.
This is the airside of the departure hall.
It was quite crowded at this point.
You can see how crowded it is at this time of the day.
This is the Gallaries Lounge (South side)
I was informed that this lounge was not bad so I brought my mum here and she spent a bit of time in it and for me I went to look for food at a nearby Boot's shop to take advantage of the meal deal.
Later on I found out that there is a better lounge (Galleries Club Lounge) at Terminal 5B, perhaps next time.
There are also other lounges you can check out and for recommendation, you can check out Luxury Travel Diary's blog on BA's lounges in Terminal 5 over here.
Galleries Lounge (South)
Photos: My mum
For me, I went in search for food.
A lot of shops to check out.
I took advantage of Boot's valued meal and got myself a drink, snack (not shown) and a sandwich. I decided on Dr Pepper since this product is no longer available in my country.
There is even a kid's area.
I think some of the kids will love this playground.
I did a bit of walking to check out the other parts of the airside.
Once I received a text message from my mum that she is ready, I went back to meet her.
It was time for us to head over to the gate. Our aircraft was parked at Terminal 5C and we need to take the airport train over. This train connects you from the main concourse to 5B and then lastly to 5C.
Checking our flight's status, it was not shown yet but my Flighty app has already informed me of my flight's assigned gate.
There are signboards leading you to your desired lounge.
This is how the gate area looks like for terminal 5.
Sitting area at the main concourse.
Nero's coffee
Once you reached the basement level, you can follow the sign and take the train over to the other building.
This is the interior of the airport train.
The train will transfer you from Terminal 5 main concourse to 5B and then onwards to 5C.
This is Terminal 5C.
There are also shops at this building.
This is the assigned gate for my flight, C65.
Plenty of seating area.
As the boarding gate was not shown on the information board yet, we were the first to arrive.
That's my ride, a 9-years old Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
This time, the gate of my flight was published on the information board.
The queue has started to form for my flight.
After the passengers of group 1,2 3 and 5 boarded the aircraft, my group was finally given the green light to board the aircraft.
Time to go home! I find it surreal to be flying on a smaller size aircraft compared to my previous BA15 flight about 20 years ago.
Almost there.
This would be a long journey for those flying all the way to Sydney.
Here we are, welcome on board the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner!
Before boarding the aircraft, let me show you some of the aircraft I photographed.
BA A350-1000 vs B787-9
I hope one day BA will operate the A350-1000 on the LHR-SIN route.
Are you a fan of Korean Air's new livery? This Boeing 777-300ER was departing for Seoul.
Another look of my aircraft.
Flighty's information of my flight
Being a registered user of this app, I was kept well informed of my flight. So far the reliability to me is about 80%.
My ride: G-ZBKC (Photo: jjss)
Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
Leased from SMBC
Delivered in October 2015
Configuration: F8 C42 W39 Y127
Engines: 2 X Roll Royce Trent 1000
30th Boeing 787 Built
Age: 9+ Years Old
Built in PAE (Everett)
My flight route: LHR-SIN
Miles: 6,765
My seat: 44F (Photo: Aerolopa.com)
Date of flight: 13th July 2025
Airlines: British Airways
Flight: BA15
Route: LHR-SIN
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
Registration: G-ZBKC
Terminal: 5C
Gate: C65
Seat: 44F
Load: 100% in Y Class
Flight Time: 12 hours 30 minutes
Actual Flight Time: 12 hours 33 minutes
Schedule Departure: 2120
Boarding: 2030
Pushed Back: 2144
Take Off: 2203
Schedule Arrival: 1800
Actual Arrival: 1735
Departure Runway: 27L
Departure Weather: Partially Cloudy
Arrival Runway: 20C
Arrival Terminal (SIN): 1
Arrival Weather: Partially Cloudy
My Flight Experience
Boarding procedure took place about 50 minutes before departure and we boarded according to group number. However what was puzzling is that the group 1-3 boarded in order but then the number was skipped to 5. So for those in group 4 would have to wait and in fact we were the last to board the aircraft. Shouldn't it be the last cabin of the economy class passengers board first before those sitting in the middle cabin? Only the airline staff knows. Once on board, I walked past the yin-yang business class product , followed by the premium economy class and lastly the economy class cabin and all 3 of them have something in common, they look or in fact are outdated. Once seated at the last row of the cabin, I had an good view of the cabin but what caught my eye was the condition of the seat. Parts of the seat was peeling off, usb charging port (not working) and one of the button panels below the IFE screen display was missing. The seat was reasonbly comfortable but the Inflight Entertaint box was taking up a bit of my legroom space.
However the cabin service on the other hand was not bad. The Captain kept us well updated about our flight and the cabin crew were friendly so no complaints about the soft product. There is even an announcement about a nut allegy passenger present on the flight so we have to avoid eating nuts to prevent any allegy reaction from this particular passenger.
After push back, the lights were immediately dimmed off, that is quite strange. As for our flight , it was smooth for the majority of the flight with a few bumps across the Bay of Bengal and during our descending into Singapore and the weather condition described by the Captain was accurate. The inflight meals served on board was not too bad for both dinner and breakfast and comparing this to my last flight with Virgin Atlantic, I would go for British Airways with the better meal course meal, however for the seats and service, I prefer Virgin Altantic.
There was one incident that happened during the flight is that my seat mate accidentally knocked my cup of hot coffee over and unfortunately some of the content landed onto my shoe which absorb it and ended up my feet was slightly scalded. Luckily for me, I was wearing socks and one of the cabin crew handed me a sterile bandage to cover the scalded part of my feet. No harm done, at least the crew checked on me, grateful for that and for my seat mate, he was very apologetic and we ended up chatting a bit near the end of the flight.
Overall it wasn't too bad as I thought, I managed to catch a few hours of sleep at this last row of economy class. However, it felt quite cramp and often I had to switch my sitting position to make myself more comfortable. Still I had no regret upgrading myself to an upper class due to the big difference in price. I rather save that money for other things.
First Class
This is British Airways First Class cabin (Photo: Sam Chui)
You can check out One Mile At A Time's trip report on this class over here.
The seating map of the first class cabin (Photo: Aerolopa.com)
There are 8 suites in this cabin, configured in a 1-2-1 arrangement. These seats in the suites can be converted into a 79 inches long flat-bed.
- 22 inches of seat width
- 23 inches of HD Screen Display
- 2 USB A and 1 Universal AC socket
Club World (Business Class)
The seats by the window side face the rear.
With the privacy window down, you will see your neighbour. One has to bear with it if you are sitting beside a stranger before take off and during landing and on the ground.
In my opinion, this is a bizzare business class product.
The person sitting in the middle would have a troublesome time getting out on either side of the seats if the seats are on lie-flat mode.
Personally, I would choose the aisle seat by the window.
There is a folding foot rest which comes down after you adjust your seat into lie flat mode. This is where the window seat passenger needs to climb over in order to access the aisle. This folding foot rest might not be situable to use as a buddy seat in my opinion.
The best seats in this cabin? Row 7 by the window sides, you won't need to worry about stepping over someone's legs and also row 10.
One last look of the first row of the business class cabin.
The seat map of the Club World cabin (Photo: Aerolopa.com)
There are 42 seats arranged in this 2-3-2 configuration and there are alternate forward/rear facing seats which is also known as the 'Yin-yang' configuration.
- Seat width of about 20 inches
- 72 inches flat bed or 78 inches z-bed
- Retractable, double pivoting 15.4 inches HD touchscreen display
- USB A and Universal power sockets
These seats are introduced in 2010 and is considered to be an outdated business class product according to the business travellers.
Based on my mum and friend's experience, they told me that the seat is comfortable but the trouble of getting into the seat especially if you are seated in the middle seat can be troublesome which may involves stepping over your seatmate's feet if the seat is in flat-bed mode. As the video display can only be used for viewing from a certain angle, it has to be stowed to its orginal position during take off and landing. This is due to the video display being a double hinged unit.
I managed to sit briefly at the aisle seat of the window side, I find this seat arrangement very awkward as there isn't a lot of privacy with the see-through glass window partition between both myself and the window seatmate. However you can pull up the privacy divider after take off so for the majority of the flight, you won't see your seatmate until before landing. Another observation, if I am in the lie-flat bed mode, I would be worrying about my seat mate on the window side stepping on my feet by accident if they need to access the aisle. Overall, I didn't have a good impression on this seat product but I am glad I am able to see this product for myself before they are replaced by the new product. Right now, the update is the airline have started rolling gradually replacing this old cabin product with the new Club Suite and you can check out the airline's upgraded new Club Suite fleet on this website, click here for the link.
For more information on this business class product, you can check out The Points Guy's review on this product over here.
My mum's experience
As this was a long flight, dinner/supper and breakfast were provided. Of course there are also light snacks and beverages available anytime during the interval between the two meals.
For dinner
My mum had a choice of Tender Beef and broccoli stir fry, Grilled Scottish Salmon and Paccheri Pasta
This is the Grilled Scottish Salmon
served with Heritage roasted beetroot, baby artichoke, cavolo nero, Isle of Wight cherry tomatoes, artichoke cream sauce and basil oil.
This is the Proached prawn salad
served with Minted broad beans, peas, avocado cream and homemade lemon ketchup.
This is what my mum had for her choice of beverages and it comes with a snack bag. A cup of water and orange juice.
For breakfast
Fresh seasonal fruit
For the main course, there were 3 choices: Original full British Breakfast, Classic Chedder and asparagus omelette and handmade pancake.
As she was feeling full at that time, she gave the main course a miss.
World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy)
The legroom space and the wider seat width of the seat are certainly an upgrade over the economy class seats.
The overview of the world traveller plus cabin
This premium economy class is certainly dated in today's aviation world.
The seat map of the World Traveller Plus cabin (Photo: Aerolopa.com)
There are 39 Recaro PL3530 seats configured in a 2-3-2 arrangement with each of the seat comes with a 4-way adjustable headrest, retractable bi-folding table for each seat and an adjustable foot rest.
- Legroom space of 38 inches
- Seat width of 18.7 inches
- Seat can recline up to 10 inches
- 10.6 HD Touch Screen Display
- USB A and Universal AC sockets are available
Do note that row 16 seats have IFE screen display mounted on the partition between Club World and World Traveller Plus cabin.
World Traveller (Economy)
This is the class I am travelling in.
The 3-seater by the window
I could have been sitting at the middle seat of the 2nd row of the economy class cabin (below).
No thanks to the middle seat as I rather move on and grab my aisle seat at the rear.
Pillow, blanket and a pair of earpieces are provided for us.
This is the rear of the cabin and every seat was occupied.
This is the last row of the economy class, I was sitting on the right side.
The view from my seat.
Everyone more or less had settled down.
Do note: There is no individual air con vents.
The view of the cabin during take off
At least from this seating position, I got to enjoy the different beautiful mood lighting.
The cabin crew were doing the first meal service (supper/dinner).
Another view of the cabin (during descending).
One last look of the cabin before I disembark.
The seat map of the World Traveller cabin (Photo: Aerolopa.com)
There are 127 Recardo CL3620 seats configured in a 3-3-3 arrangement in this cabin. Each seat comes with a 4-way adjustable hammock-tyle headrest and a retractable bi-folding table.
- 31 inches of legroom space
- Seat width of 17.1 inches
- Seat can recline up to 5 inches
- 8.9 HD Touch Screen Display
- USB-A and Universal AC sockets are available.
Row 30 has video seats mounted on the partition wall for the middle seats and for those seats at the window sides have the retractable IFE screen display stored in the seat handrest area.
This is my seat - it was fairly comfortable.
Legroom space was a bit tight and there were a few times I had to stretch my leg out onto the aisle for a brief moment or two.
As you can see, I was a bit disappointed on how outdated the cabin product is. It is world's apart comparing this cabin to my previous flights with Qatar Airways (A350 and A380 flights).
At least I was able to recline my seat without affecting anyone.
The legroom space
The older generation IFE screen - this has definitely seen better days.
The remote control and the USB-A charging port.
The front view of the remote control
The rear view (keyboard pad)
The Universal charging port near the bottom of the arm rest area.
The only window view I get from this flight. (Emergency door window)
What's provided for each economy class passenger?
Donation envelope consisting of the earpiece.
A blanket
Safety Card
Disposal Bag
Dinner
I had a choice between the pasta or chicken option. Unfortunately the airline doesn't provide the standard inflight menu so the information of these meals is limited.
This is chicken and broccoli with rice. A bottle of water is distributed along with the meal.
Served with green peas
A sticky toffee pudding
A piece of bread
Crackers with butter
For the beverage service, I opted for a cup of coke.
Breakfast
I can't remember what was the other choice but I only know I opted for the English breakfast and so did my seat mates.
The English breakfast option
consists of the main course: Sausages, sauteed mushroom, scrambled eggs and tomato.
A piece of bread
A cup of fruits
I chose apple juice for my breakfast beverage.
Inflight Entertainment
This is the Thales i8000 system
The interface is simple and not difficult to navigate, however the touchscreen was slightly laggy.
Limited choices of blockbuster movies.
You are able to chat with another passenger on board this flight, useful for families or friends that are sitting apart.
Inflight wifi service was available on my flight.
This is the safety video.
Quite an interesting safety video. According to the airline, This video features more than 40 airline staff which was flimed across the country at grand country houses. It is inspired by the country's rich and varied history and this video is also based on the literature, TV and flims.
Imagine if we can go back to the past (Back to the future - flimmovie's inspiration), would there be anything of our history you like to change?
It's hard to imagine the people of the past getting to experience our aircraft of today.
This is the inflight map and at this point we had entered the Malay Peninsula.
Inflight Wifi
Only the first class passengers receive complimentary wifi.
For the rest of the passengers, you can choose which Wi-Fi packages you like to opt for, at a price.
If you have an electronic device, you are able to stream the airline's entertainment programmes onto it.
For the airline's frequent flyer program members, messaging is complimentary.
You can also check whatever is available on the in-flight entertainment program over here.
The app also shows you the weather of your arrival destination.
This is the prices for the WiFi. For non BA frequent flyer, you have to pay for messaging.
I sticked to the IFE screen in front of me as I wanted to rest for at least half of the flight.
The condition of the lavatory is ok.
My flight summary
Welcome to Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1!
Thanks for the ride, G-ZBKC! It would rest for a couple of hours before flying off to Sydney next.
This is terminal 1 departure hall airside.
The walk to the immigration took less than 10 minutes.
Hope you enjoy this trip report!
My ratings
Airline Website/Mobile App: 3/5
Airport Experience (LHR Terminal 5): 4/5
Inflight Service: 4/5
Seat Comfort: 3/5
Inflight Entertainment: 3/5
Cabin Ambiance: 4/5
Seat Condition: 2/5
Cleanliness: 4/5
InFlight Meal/Beverage: 3/5
Punctuality: 5/5
Overall Rating: 35/50
Percentage: 70%
Conclusion
The airline's Boeing 787-9 aircraft fleet is reaching mid-life and it was quite obvious when I entered the aircraft and seeing how dated the products are and the not so well maintained condition of the seat feels like I have gone back into the past especially after experiencing Qatar's cabin. Comparing this aircraft to Virgin's older A330-300 aircraft, I feel Virgin's aircraft is better maintained and the cabin interior is nicer in my opinion.
It feels like a culture shock after experiencing a good economy class product with Qatar and then it seems like I went back in time to experience an outdated economy class with less than ideal condition of my seat. However, this is part and parcel of travelling, you need to mix the good with the bad. Not saying that this is a bad product, but with the price I paid for my return flight ticket, I expect more. Hopefully the airline has made plans to upgrade the economy class cabin, make itself more competitive against some of the strongest rivals out there.
For those wondering how I felt after the 13 hours flight sitting at the last economy class row, I didn't find it that bad, in fact I was able to catch some sleep and use the lavatory whenever I have to. My seat mate on the other hand had to trouble the seat mate beside him and myself to use the lavatory quite often and that is why I avoid the middle seat at all cost especially if I have to use the lavatory often.
Overall, for the price I paid (about 1.5 times the standard fare), I didn't feel it was not worth the value experiencing BA's outdated cabin and with strong competition from other airlines offering a better economy class experience, I won't fly with this airline until they upgrade the cabin of all the 3 classes (except first class) but at least on the bright side of this flight, I was satisfied with the inflight meal and the service. Most importantly, I managed to grab some sleep otherwise the 13 hours would have felt like an eternity.
My next flight to London, I will be flying on a Middle Eastern Airline to London Gatwick in February next year. (Hint: A Skyteam member)
For my previous trip report (Qatar A380 DOH-LHR), click here
Coming up next: My 125th airline with Air Japan (SIN-NRT), stay tuned!
Have a good one!
Charles
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