How Is The New Domestic Club Europe at British Airways?

Domestic Club Europe is a new beast at British Airways. Prior to 1 April 2017, all domestic services by British Airways in the United Kingdom were single class.

The introduction of buy on board catering finally forced the airline to harmonise the business class product. No longer would international premium passengers be sitting in economy on their UK connections. So, what is the new service like?

Domestic Club Europe

At Belfast City Airport, you board the aircraft directly from the British Airways lounge. This is a fantastic first impression that gives the new domestic Club Europe a real premium feel. Of course, this is limited to Belfast as far as I know, due to the arrangement of the airport.

BA1423 – Belfast City to London Heathrow (BHD-LHR)
5 July 2017
Airbus A320-200 – G-EUYG
Seat: Club Europe 1F
Departure: 09:10 Arrival: 10:35

Once all passengers are on board, the cabin crew hand out hot towels. I find the towels are never moist enough or hot enough on short haul British Airways services.

European business class cabins feature seating which is identical to economy class. The product differentiation is attained by leaving the middle seat free. At British Airways, the middle seat becomes a fetching tray.

Interestingly, domestic Club Europe appears to be popular. Today the cabin featured around 9 rows which is 36 seats available and most were filled.

Breakfast Is Served

Once in the air, there is a choice of a full English breakfast, an Omelette or the Continental breakfast. I chose the full English and I also like the Continental breakfast which features cold meats and cheese. I really don’t like the omelette because it’s always tasteless and awful.

Once the tray is delivered you are asked what drink you would like. Green Tea is always delicious plus I also like to make things a festive Champagne breakfast. Next, the crew offer a choice of bread from the basket. The croissants are scrumptious so I selected one. Would I like jam? Yes, please!

Let’s talk about the “scrambled egg”. Overlooking the fact it looks like baby spew, it is a completely tasteless lumpy wet mess. British Airways would do themselves a favour by switching to real poached eggs like they do at Qantas.

Everything else is delicious and the croissant is so good I snagged a second one when the crew passed by after the service. The aircraft starts to descend and the crew clear up the cabin and soon enough we land on time at London Heathrow.

Overall Thoughts

It is excellent that British Airways are now offering Club Europe on their domestic services. This means the entire product is now harmonised which is long overdue. As there is no difference to the service compared to the rest of the network, the service is comfortingly familiar.

I would recommend the service as the crew are friendly and polite and the extra space having the middle seat free is welcome. The “scrambled egg” is edible if you eat it with other portions of the meal which are all great. While I don’t like the vegetarian omelette option at all, the continental breakfast more than makes up for it. Breads and drinks are all excellent.

Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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