Review: British Airways A320 Economy Class [2023]

We flew from Basel to London on British Airways in economy class…a comfortable flight with well-intentioned service, despite an annoying delay.

British Airways A320 Economy Class Review [2023]

I usually book business class for these short segments under 651 miles because the Avios required (7,750 for business vs. 4,000 miles for economy during the off-peak travel period) just makes sense for the extra space onboard.

Here, we decided just fly economy class since the flight time is usually under 90 minutes, we knew we’d have lunch in the lounge anyway (via Priority Pass) prior to the flight, and because we had dinner plans in London. Most importantly, the aircraft appeared lightly booked so we figured it would not be tight onboard.

Euro Airport, which straddles both Switzerland and France, is a very easy airport to navigate and we traveled from the check-in counter, through security, to the Skyview Lounge in under 10 minutes. Our flight was delayed an hour due to poor weather in London.

British Airways 755
Basel (BSL) – London (LHR)
November 2023
Depart: 3:40 PM [4:40 PM actual]
Arrive: 4:20 PM [5:45 PM actual]
Duration: 1hr, 40min
Aircraft: Airbus A320
Distance: 448 miles
Seats: 6A, 6C, 18A, 18C (Economy Class)

At check-in, the agent offered us two entire rows in economy class if we were willing to split up. This essentially gave us busienss class (blocked middle seat) at no extra cost.

I sat in row six with my daughter and my wife sat several rows back with my son. Both wanted window seats so this worked out perfectly.

Seats on British Airways in economy class aboard the A320 have 17.5 inches of width and leg room of 30 inches. This is a “variable” business class aircraft, meaning the partition between business and economy class can be moved depending upon the flight load. In our case, my daughter and I were seated in the first row of economy class (which often serves as business class when more premium cabin seats are sold).

I greatly appreciated that wi-fi was available onboard and each row had two universal power outlets plus a USB-A charging port.

It was a beautiful afternoon and we were treated to a beautiful views of Basel and the Alps as we took off.

My daughter promptly fell asleep and remained asleep for the duration of the flight.

Complimentary bottled water and a light snack (mustard-flavored pretzels) were offered one we leveled off.

I also ordered a Ploughman’s Meat Snack Box for £6.50 with contents including crackers, cheese spreads, chutney, and air-dried beef slices. It was highly-processed, but a decent snack.

I had ordered a box of crisps/chips for Claire Marie, but saved them for when she woke up.

As we neared London, the captain apologetically announced that we would be arriving to a remote stand and would be bussed to the terminal. Perhaps this was because we were late? In all my years of flying this route it was the first time we had ever been assigned remote stand.

Upon landing, we did indeed pull into a corner near Terminal 5 and were emptied into a single large bus before commencing a five minute journey to Terminal 5.

Passport control was thankfully quick and we soon had picked up our bags and were on our way into central London.

CONCLUSION

While the delay was not ideal, I greatly prefer taking British Airways from Basel to Heathrow than I do taking easyJet to Gatwick. That’s not just because of where I am going in London, but because I appreciate little extras like in-seat power and complimentary water bottles.

As long as I have family in both London and in the Basel area, I’ll be taking this flight regularly.

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