Hello from Goa everyone. A couple of weeks ago, Shipra & myself took off to Europe, on a trip that was primarily supposed to be to Dublin to watch U2 perform in their home town. We flew in on Air India’s 787 service to London. We tacked on a few days in London and stayed at the Marriott London Park Lane and Hyatt Regency London – Churchill, before heading up to InterContinental Dublin. While a full trip report will come up later, we’ve been sharing first impressions along the way.

On Friday, we flew back from London to Mumbai on British Airways’ 787-9 operated flight to Mumbai, in First Class. It was a product I was meaning to experience for a while, and they finally put it on the Mumbai route on the summer schedule of 2017. I was excited to be finally able to experience British Airways First Class.

We started the morning at Heathrow Terminal 5, walking into the First Class Check-in area. The check-in was quick and efficient.

With the new British Airways First Wing experience that launched in April 2017, we were able to pass through an exclusive security check for First and come out on the other side in 3 minutes as the agent promised. We walked straight through the British Airways First Class Galleries Lounge.

At the other end, we walked up straight to the Concorde Room to stow our carry-on bags.

We had pre-booked appointments at the Elemis Travel Spa, which the reception mixed up. I am told by other BA Frequent Flyers just to get a pre-booking is like winning the lottery. They only wanted to give one therapist to us at a time, while they had two different therapists available simultaneously for the both of us as we needed different services. Regardless, our therapists were very very good.

We headed inside the Concorde Room for some breakfast after. I went with the Full English Breakfast.

In a while, we moved to the Terminal 5 satellite C concourse, where we would board our flight to Mumbai. I loved the subtle grey hues of the cabin, of course with the Speedbird on the wall. Very classy.We got served the Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle to start.

I was seated in 1A. Shipra took 2A behind me. We both wanted window seats after all! So we passed up the centre of the cabin where we could have travelled together. The views were marvellous on these big windows, you only get on the Boeing 787s.

After take-off, service began right away. I asked to be served lunch one hour after take off, so I my glass of champagne was kept topped off through the time. Very attentive and impressive service by the flight attendant working my aisle. When it came to lunch, my first option was already taken, and so I went with my second option, the Indian vegetarian lunch.

The lunch was okay, not the best meal I’ve had on a plane. But the dessert was the bomb, to borrow from the millennial language.

To finish it up, there was the English Classic Tea. I think I must have had copious amounts of Chamomile tea on this flight.

I tried sleeping, so the turndown service was done and a bed was made up.

However, some onboard computer locked up mid flight, and I figured I did not have enough time to sleep anymore. I carried on watching movies, and eventually watched 3 of them on this flight on a 23-inch screen. Due to the lock-up, the flight maps and cabin lighting went for a toss, as did the call buttons for crew. However, the crew was on their toes all the time, and did a very good job at serving everyone. Good enough for me to hand over my Golden Ticket to the crew who worked my aisle, Ina Jones. 32 years at the airline, she was clearly good at what she did.

The flight arrived in Mumbai with a delay, and it was time to go. On this flight, the hard product was good, the crew was great, and catering is definitely an area of improvement. I did like the fact that the product was understated but chic, just the way I’d like it.

Have you flown the British Airways 787-9? How do you like their latest on-board product?