Anyone who has regularly read my flight reviews will know I frequently have Champagne piccolos to drink. These are the small bottles which are about a quarter of the standard size, which airlines serve in domestic business class.
British Airways have given these out to passengers on UK Domestic and short European flights for as long as I can remember, and Qantas do the same in Australia. They’re simple to distribute and you get two and a bit of the BA sized glasses out of the little bottle.
Oh where, oh where have my Champagne piccolos gone?
Apparently a service change went into place from 5 April 2023 and the Champagne piccolos are gone. All is not lost of course – you can still get bubbles, but a single glass is poured for you from the big bottles.
Longer European flights at the airline have always had Champagne served this way, so the change harmonises the product. Why am I making such a big deal about this then?
While that is not common (it’s usually six to eight rows – still 24 to 36 passengers) there are still usually a fair number of people on board. As all flights have a full meal service, having to pour someone a glass of bubbles rather than just handing out Champagne piccolos is time consuming. And good luck getting a second glass when the crew have many other people to give food and drinks to!
Overall Thoughts
I checked with BA on Twitter about this change and they have confirmed to me this is a permanent change. That is a bit of a shame as far as I am concerned, because I do rather like the convenience of the piccolos.
Clearly this is a first world problem, but at the same time business class can be expensive. Not being able to get a top up due to a busy flight doesn’t exactly feel premium. Especially with some of the prices being charged these days!
What do you think? Are you team Champagne Piccolos or is this a total non-issue for you? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
Like planes? See my “Does anyone remember” series.
Flight reviews your thing? Mine are all indexed here.
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
It sounds to me like another cost cutting exercise. Little nance of a second glass and possibly no chance of even a first glass in the larger business class cabins. Very disappointing.
Oh everyone gets a first drink and usually a second – the crew tend to hustle when it’s a big cabin. When I had my first flight without the Piccolos they were great at offering top ups, so hopefully that’s the way it’ll be. Fingers crossed!
Champagne Piccolos fan boy here … because it’s just enough for me (very light alcohol drinker here) and I don’t have to unnecessarily put more constraint on Inflight Staff when they’re busy trying to complete their service on short haul flights. Short sighted mistake BA
Someone mentioned elsewhere that they’ve done this before and ended up bringing it back, so who knows what the future holds here. Agree with you too!
That’s a shame. With the increased size of Club Europe cabins these days, you’ll be very unlikely to get a second glass.
I agree. The CityFlyer operation out of LCY still has the piccolos though, so maybe I’ll have to switch my flying a little bit where I can. #teampiccolo all the way here!
I travelled in the last two weeks from London City Airport to Ibiza in Club Europe. No champagne available outward bound or return leg. We weren’t happy ! Do you know if they’ve stopped it all together ?
That’s the first I’ve heard of it. Maybe supply issues? There certainly hasn’t been any communication that it’s been removed. I think there’d be an uprising if it was removed!
This was the same in June between Chania – LHR, the crew were highly embarrassed as they had hardly any options for food or alcohol, and had simply ran out of champagne!! Terrible considering the price of the Club Europe seats!
Yes, they should never run out, ideally!