Happy to post this on behalf of a passenger and follower of Joe Journeys that was lucky enough to fly British Airways on day 1 of operation, 4th commercial BA A380 flight from Frankfurt to London Heathrow.
The new A380 is now being deployed on short-haul flights in order to give cabin crew and ground handlers experience of the jet – starting with BA902 to Germany’s financial centre.
Instead of an old Boeing 767, passengers stepped aboard the Airbus A380, British Airways newest plane, for the 90-minute flight. Frankfurt was chosen because it is a high-frequency destination from Heathrow, and the airport is already well accustomed to handling the A380.
All passengers were accommodated on the lower deck; those carrying Club Europe tickets were able to enjoy lie-flat business-class beds on the short flight.
“The crew was visibly new, so all pretty excited and service wasn’t routine yet” said the flyer who regularly does this route.
“Economy cabin looked like the normal long haul product with Business the same (2-4-2 layout with some back facing seats)” commented the frequent flyer who wants to remain anonymous, “First Class and Upper Deck was sealed off and I wasn’t allowed to get in there. They seemed to have installed a few blue mood-lights (a bit like in new first), but apart from that the most striking difference was that the cabin was proper clean. Service was standard Club Europe, nothing exciting. though there were 23 crew members for what usually would have been an A319 load. The bird itself is fairly quiet and moves pretty softly” he said, “the engines move a lot, especially when there is a little wind. I’d imagine that to look scary during turbulence.”