BA314 (London to Paris) is one of the shortest British Airways flights that they operate, at just 45 minutes in the air. For comparison, the BA flight from Heathrow to Edinburgh takes an average of 55 minutes. This trip report breaks down everything from arriving to Heathrow to leaving Charles de Gaulle Airport. This flight took place on the 19th March 2024.
Arriving at Heathrow
Heathrow has multiple public transit options, as well as good road links and of course taxi services. On this day, I took the Piccadilly Line (Tube / Metro). Both the Railway and Tube stations are inside Terminal 5, where this flight departs from, with lifts taking you directly to the check-in concourse.
The Terminal 5 check in concourse is massive, stretching several hundred meters in length. It’s divided into sections, with each section being dedicated to a different group of passengers. Whilst closed at the moment for refurbishment, Terminal 5 has a dedicated check in and security area for First Class passengers. Business and Oneworld Frequent Fliers have their own area, families have another and so on. On each of the departure boards there is a list of which area is serving which type of passengers.
Terminal 5 has three different security check points: North, South and the First Wing. The First Wing is only for First Class passengers and some very high level status members. Everyone else uses North or South, with Business Class, Families and Frequent Fliers having a Fast Track entrance to both normal security check points. Outside each check point is a rough wait time for all security check points, it’s worth checking this as sometimes one of them is a lot busier than the other.
After checking in my case at the self service machines, which was surprisingly easy especially compared to some awful implementations out there (Qantas I’m looking at you), I joined the Fast Track queue for Security at 1030 UK Time. Just 6 minutes later I was topping my water bottle just passed security. The normal queue was also pretty short, maybe closer to 8 or 10 minutes.
The Lounge Situation
As the British Airways main hub, you’d expect the lounges to be top quality. Well, partly correct. It has the high density and variety of BA Lounges anywhere in the world but they are certainly showing their age. To BA’s credit, they are currently having some refurbishment with new seating in the Business Lounge.
There are 5 different BA Lounges, as well as 2 pay-to-entry lounges run by Aspire and Plaza Premium. The BA Lounges are as follows:
- Concorde Lounge (for First Class and BA Gold Guest List status only)
- First Lounge (for First Class and BA Gold / Oneworld Emerald)
- Club Lounge South (for Business Class and BA Silver / Oneworld Sapphire)
- Club Lounge North (for Business Class and BA Silver / Oneworld Sapphire)
- Club Lounge B Gates (for Business Class and BA Silver / Oneworld Sapphire)
All the lounges are located in the main terminal building (A Gates) with the exception of Club Lounge B Gates which is at the B Satellite Terminal. The B Gate Lounge is often the quietist lounge, but is only for passengers on flights departing from B or C gates. There is no (easy) way back from B or C gates to A gates.
For this trip, I was in the Club Lounge South. North, South and B gates are have the same design, food, drink and staffing.
I arrived just as breakfast was being finished, so I grabbed a small plate of Hash Browns, Beans and Sausages and found a quiet-ish spot to catch up with some work. BA lounges, like most Airline lounges (but not contract / pay-per-entry) have buffet food options and self service drinks. This includes alcohol, because of this no one under the age of 18 may enter the lounge by themselves.
Lunch was set out a little after I got there, I went for the Beef Madras option (see below) which looked a little bland but was pretty tasty and filling. It was washed down with my favourite drink (Bulleit Bourbon with Ice and Coke Zero, thanks for asking) as I waited for the gate to be announced.
Boarding
Gate A20 was the gate for todays flight, which is a normal gate with a air bridge. I headed down there once boarding started, which was in the same terminal but at the other end. A good 5 minutes walk from the lounge.
Boarding is done by boarding groups, as in the case with most airlines nowadays. All seating is allocated and displayed on your boarding pass, along with your Group Number. At Heathrow, if you’re part of Groups 1 to 3 you board first but you can also join the priority line to jump to the front of the queue once Groups 4 and onwards have been called.
On Board
The Aircraft today for the short hop to Paris is a 15 year old Airbus A320 (CEO), delivered new to BA in June 2008 and has been flying with them ever since. It’s MSN (Serial Number) 3499, registration G-EUUW.
BA have a confusingly large number of seat configurations, the reasons behind this would make the Lord of the Rings books look like a light read for a toddler. For Short Haul, there are currently 2 different seat types. The first is the older seat, with thicker cushioning, recline, a full size tray table and a full adjustable head rest. The second is a slim line design, with thinner (but still comfy) cushioning, no recline, a smaller tray table and no head rest. You do however get more legroom and knee space. Some aircraft have 1 type, some have both.
This aircraft had the older, legacy seats but since they were installed initially the aircraft has been ‘denseified’ with extra rows being added and the existing rows being moved closer together. aeroLOPA put the seat ‘pitch’ (gap between the seats) at 30 inches for rows 1 to 10, with rows 13 to 29 having a pitch of 29 inches. Row 30 has a pitch of 28 inches and no recline. The exit rows have a greater pitch.
This is where the slim line design excels, as you get much more leg and knee room. I’m 1.93m (6 foot 3) and legroom isn’t awful, but seeing as this aircraft can sometimes fly upwards of 4 or 5 hours it could end up being pretty uncomfortable. For short hops to and from Western Europe it’s perfectly fine.
Each row of three seats has two sets of two USB A power sockets. There is also WiFi fitted and enabled on all BA Short Haul aircraft, with the cost depending on the length of your flight.
Apart from the paid WiFi there is no In Flight Entertainment on any short haul aircraft. There is a free ‘High Life’ Magazine in the seat back if you didn’t pack anything. For a 45 minute flight the view from the window is more than good enough.
As for food and drink: in Business it’s fully inclusive but you do get a free bottle of water and (sometimes) a small snack in Economy. I say ‘sometimes’ as I missed the snack on both this flight and the return leg, possibly whilst napping. Normally it consists of a granola / cereal bar, a packet or nuts of a packet of crisps depending on the day and the mood of the caterers.
You can buy food and drink in Economy, and the prices aren’t awful for short haul economy. For short flights like this, you need to preorder food but for longer flights you can order on board. Preordering is strongly recommended by BA though for all flight lengths.
Remember that you can bring food from home, or from the terminal building. You can also being an empty water bottle and refill it post security. You may need to finish any fresh food before landing though, depending on Customs and laws of the country you’re landing in.
The Flight
Boarding was completed by 1312 (UK Time), and we pushed back at 1316. After a quick safety demonstration by the crew, done manually as short haul aircraft lack any passenger screens, we awaited take off on one of the taxiways. We then were cleared to take off and left the ground at 1338. The Captain estimated a 45 minute flight, with a few bits of turbulence along the way.
The flight was uneventful, apart from a little bit of turbulence as got closer to Paris. The seatbelt signs went on a little earlier than usual as a result.
We touched down at 1524 (French Time), almost exactly 45 minutes later. We were on stand by 1532 and doors open with passengers starting to disembark at 1536.
CDG airport is vast, and everything seems to be at least 15 minutes walk away. There is no monorail or other people mover inside any of the terminals.
Passport Control was a brisk 5 minutes walk thankfully through Terminal 2 at CDG, the queue was 5 minutes for me (UK Passport, manual passport control) with none of the queues being more than 10 minutes.
UK, US and Canadian passport can use the automated passport machines at CDG, with a boarder agent then stamping their passport afterwards.
The first bags arrived on the baggage belt at 1605 (slightly delayed according to their own display boards) with my bag arriving at 1611. I used the time waiting to check my route to the hotel on Citymapper and buying my weekly Navigo pass (check out our Disneyland Paris Travel Guide 2024 for more details about travel in and out the Paris area).
After going through customs, I headed to the Terminal 2 RER Station and caught the 1621 train (delayed to 1624).
Final Thoughts
I had access to a few ‘extras’ on this trip due to my BA Silver status, including free seat reservation, Business Class baggage drop, Fast Track Security, lounge access, Priority Boarding and access to the Fast Track passport control in CDG. That being said, during the low season you don’t really NEED any of those things. Heathrow Terminal 5 and BA are generally a very efficient operation however, save for the occasional IT Meltdown or Baggage Issues.
Paris CDG is a different beast though, and it’s generally regarded as one of the worst airports in Europe. During the peak summer season it can be hell, especially as they have Exit Passport Control and those queues can easily be 45 minute to 1 hour before you even get to security.
BA Short Haul is a pretty boring product over all, but it serves it’s purpose for connecting traffic and they are often price comparable to the Low Cost carriers serving the same or similar routes. It’s a flying bus, it’ll get you where you need to get with no frills (unless you have status).
If you’re coming from United, Delta or American Airlines then you’ll probably be disappointed about the lack of seat back monitors / streaming TV/Movies to a phone/tablet, lack of extra legroom options, no free upgrades and no comfy First Class seats. US Domestic Flying is a different class of flying compared to Europe.
It’s comparable to it’s competitors though, such as Air France, Lufthansa and EasyJet. At both ends you use the ‘proper’ airports rather than any low cost airports or terminals.
For this route, Eurostar offer a very good product which you should certainly consider. For getting to Disneyland Paris the Eurostar almost always is the better option.
