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NEWS: British Airways’ new hand baggage trial, Qatar’s Louis Vuitton lounge opens and Iberia to return to T5

  • 28/05/2023
  • Michele

In this post:

  • British Airways’ new hand baggage trial
  • Qatar’s Louis Vuitton lounge opens at Doha Hamad airport
  • Iberia to return to Heathrow T5

British Airways’ new hand baggage trial

If you have been on a busy BA flight on short haul recently, you will no doubt have seen the fun that crew and gate staff have trying to get all the hand luggage on board. Ever since the invention of hand luggage-only fares, pretty much all airlines have struggled to fit the volume of hand luggage onboard. BA often seems to be its own worst enemy here as I often see people with three bags, way over the limits, not being challenged at all. Or with wheelie bags very obviously way bigger than allowed. I would have thought actually policing how much stuff people bring on board may help. 

In order to solve the problem, BA has decided to trial ditching the usual yellow luggage tags that indicate the bag must be placed under the seat and try a blue tag that will be added to larger bags which must go in the locker. The trial is running now for three weeks from flights leaving from Amsterdam, Barcelona, Budapest, Dusseldorf, Madrid, Zurich and Newcastle. I’m slightly bemused as to how this will be any different from the yellow tags (which people have been known to take off). I flew Easyjet on Friday, and they were not mucking about in their policing of baggage. One passenger tried to sneak their bag on with the tag that indicated it had to be checked, and the cabin crew raced down the aisle after him!

With Finnair recently launching a Super Light fare where you are only allowed one small bag that fits under the seat in front, let’s hope if the trial is not successful, BA don’t get ideas from their oneworld partners!

While they are at it, perhaps they could trial sorting out the boarding process two. I just did six flights within the US, and somehow, they managed to do each one without the rugby scrum you usually get with BA. 

 

Qatar’s Louis Vuitton lounge opens at Doha Hamad airport

There was a big media event in Doha (my invitation seems to have got lost in the post..) this week for the opening of the Louis Vuitton lounge, which is within Qatar Airways’ new lounge complex at Doha airport.

 

This will be Louis Vuitton’s first airport lounge in the world. The lounge, located at Hamad International Airport, is as you’d expect a stylish and luxurious space that offers passengers a variety of amenities, including:

  • A restaurant with a menu developed by Yannick Alléno, a three-star Michelin chef
  • A bar with a wide selection of wines, spirits, and cocktails
  • A spa with a variety of treatments
  • A business center with Wi-Fi and printing services
  • A children’s play area
  • A duty-free shop

The design is inspired by the city of Doha, with elements such as Arabic calligraphy and traditional Qatari motifs. The lounge is also equipped with the latest technology, including a large TV screen and a sound system.

The opening of the Louis Vuitton airport lounge is part of the brand’s expansion into the hospitality industry. In recent years, Louis Vuitton has opened a number of restaurants and hotels, including a five-star hotel in Paris. The company is also planning to open a number of other hotels in the future.

 

Defining a new level of luxury with @qatardutyfree at the opening of the world’s first Louis Vuitton Lounge at @HIAQatar 🌍✨ #QatarAirways #HamadInternationalAirport #Doha pic.twitter.com/uv55fJP19i

— Qatar Airways (@qatarairways) May 23, 2023

 

You’ll find the new Vuitton Lounge easily as when you enter the new Al Mourjan Lounge, the first thing you’ll see is the Louis Vuitton store straight ahead.

The adjoining restaurant serves a menu curated by three-star Michelin chef, Yannick Alleno. Each dish served at the restaurant is made to highlight local ingredients. In this section, there are dining tables and more relaxed cafe-style tables. The Vuitton branding is hard to miss with motifs on the floor and even the food featuring the symbolic logo. There is also a more lounge-like area with cafe-style tables and relaxed seating. 

Like its handbags, some of the food prices are not cheap. But of course, you could just eat in the main lounge for free. The menu is mainly more cafe style, but there is a tasting menu for a mere £334, but it does feature caviar. There is also a more reasonably priced set three-course menu for around £80. In the a la carte section, it is more cafe-like with sandwiches, salads, pastries, caviar and sushi, although there are a few “main courses”. However, the cheapest sandwich starts at £4 which is reasonable. If you want to splash out, a hot lobster sandwich costs £16, which is a good price. 

Will you be visiting the Louis Vuitton lounge when you fly through Doha? Let us know in the comments below.

HT: OMAAT

 

Iberia to return to Heathrow T5

Prior to Covid, Iberia was situated within T5 at Heathrow, but last July it was moved out to T3, mainly due to concerns about strike action at the time. Now the musical terminals are back as from 1 June, Iberia will move back to Terminal 5 at  Heathrow Airport, relocating its flights. The check-in area will be in zone B as it was before. 

This is slightly concerning, seeing that T5 already seems overwhelmed by the number of flights judging by the amount of times I have been bussed to a remote stand at T3 from T5 on departure recently. Given that and the wait for a stand on arrival, I’m not sure that bringing another five flights a day is going to help the situation when it appears Heathrow and BA are already struggling. This will also mean more connecting passengers in a terminal where connections already are a pain, and there is usually no fast track any more. 

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18 comments
  1. William says:
    28/05/2023 at 5:02 pm

    I boarded the other day and the lady in front of me had 4 carry on items flying in economy. Wasn’t challenged and still managed to put her cabin case in the locker sideways instead of endways…

    1. Michele says:
      28/05/2023 at 5:05 pm

      Yup that’s exactly the problem!

  2. Jens Fallesen says:
    28/05/2023 at 10:02 pm

    I actually welcome the new Finnaiir hand baggage strategy. It could very well improve the cabin baggage situation on board.

    This is really an area where BA should learn from EasyJet.

  3. Jack Scott says:
    28/05/2023 at 10:15 pm

    BA should take after Aer Lingus. On short haul flights, make passengers travelling on Basic Economy tickets check there carryon in for free or pay to take it on the plane

  4. M Merry says:
    29/05/2023 at 7:28 am

    As former BA crew I can attest to the cabin baggage debacle. Boarding was the part of the job which I disliked the very most. Simple use of a sizing tool to place wheelie bags in would help. I know they are available. Ground staff need to use them. I truly believe the blue label vs yellow label is an exercise in futility.

  5. Bill Sanderson says:
    29/05/2023 at 8:13 am

    This is elitism and they pander to the business traveller and not the passengers who buy their own tickets. I’m sick of watching business travellers getting away with breaking the rules. The sizing bin would solve the problem immediately.

    1. The Swede says:
      29/05/2023 at 12:31 pm

      No they don’t – it is an unwillingness to address any passenger breaking the rules!

  6. BenJaMin says:
    29/05/2023 at 11:35 am

    I have seen some airlines have diagram placards in the locker lid showing best way to place the bags. I guess someone thinks swapping from yellow to blue is subliminal messaging but if no one paid attention to yellow, they sure are not going care about blue. BA needs a lot doing before it starts worrying about how to color code a problem. I used to think, and hope, that Sean Doyle would be able to make an impact on A Better BA but he’s as lost to the system and culture as anyone would be who is not free to get rid of a mostly ineffective middle management and bring in experienced, sector qualified employees from successful airlines.

  7. G says:
    29/05/2023 at 11:42 am

    Another 5 flights a day at T5 also means more pressure on the lounges which still remain ridiculously busy due to the covid-era status hangover, annoying!

    1. Michele says:
      29/05/2023 at 6:08 pm

      Yes that is also a good point.

    2. Steve williams says:
      29/05/2023 at 7:58 pm

      Yes good point.. I’m still BA gold from flights I took in 2019 and a bit mystified about it

  8. Simon Lane says:
    29/05/2023 at 12:30 pm

    Having recently travelled at an exorbitant cost in Club to Rome for what can best described as a return low cost airline “adventure”, I can attest that BA cabin crew are fundamentally unwilling to do their job properly. Aside from no Club service at all (menus on the way back, none on the way out {appreciate they can’t give out what they haven’t been provided with}, a ridiculous boarding buffoonery process out and back…and let’s not mention economy seats and no hot towels of old!), I raised with the “IFL” (code for a manager of the cabin team that won’t take ownership) on both legs the baggage issue; there was an abject failure and unwillingness to police those boarding with more than their allowed luggage and/or outsized luggage – e.g., one hat bag and one LV extra bag out of Rome…which were both purchased by Club passengers once airside…I watched them leave the lounge and come back with their new “purchases”. The IFL on the return told me the check in should do their job and they were too busy during boarding to have to do that aswell and then gave all manner of excuses about who was travelling with whom et al…the problem is this: people are selfish (regardless of whether they are travelling business, or economy) and become very indignant when they are caught out trying to break the “rules”; it is UK wide, people don’t think certain rules apply to them. I am fed up of getting to my seat and the locker above containing other passengers’ baggage – my wife and I were travelling and yet both ways people think it acceptable to clearly put items above a seat that they are not going to be sitting in. I pay to fly club and first to avoid the stress of mass boarding and no luggage space (plus the other “extras” of course, which are pretty non existent with BA – Rome lounge “no toilet” – the Dragon Pass lounge next door is better and has a toilet and shower!) How does anyone in BA think that is acceptable. Late departures on virtually all flights (Flight Radar is a great tool analyze where the problem started in the day! With usually no logical reason being given) and no compensation – e.g., my sister was delayed over 4hrs out of LHR to AMS and every twist and turn in the book from BA as to why they shouldn’t pay compensation… the impact of weather on flight operations … I am still fighting that one for her! Far too many excuses for my liking and having recently changed to use Qatar for the last year from BA, I had forgotten why I wanted to change from BA… luckily, I have reminded myself during my recent Rome trip! The laughable thing is when folk say it is a national disgrace… no it isn’t, it is a private airline owned by a foreign company…complaints fall on deaf ears!

  9. W Lynas says:
    29/05/2023 at 1:07 pm

    The low-cost airlines are terrifyingly strict about the quantity and size of carry-on luggage that passengers are permitted to take on board. If a bag looks too big, the customer is directed to the sizing cage and forced to check it in (at some cost) if it will not fit. These airlines do, however, have a slight advantage in that they force passengers to form one long queue to board the aircraft. A member of the ground crew then walks down the line counting carry-on cases, and, at a certain point, starts to hand out bag tags so that permissible, carry-on baggage can be carried in the hold for free. The ‘one long queue’ system also avoids a very unsightly scrum at the gate – the low-cost carriers have no expectations of passengers’ orderly behaviour. True, it’s dull standing in line, but it does have its advantages. Maybe BA could learn a thing or two from them.

  10. VL says:
    29/05/2023 at 5:12 pm

    I have literally just returned from several Budapest & Newcastle flights for positioning, I did wonder what happened to the yellow tag. The only difference I found is the label just been put on a different bag instead of the under seat one it is the over locker one instead. Anecdotally, I think it slowed the boarding process because people are despite to find space in the lockers tp put their case up.

  11. Damian says:
    30/05/2023 at 3:29 am

    No wonder people ignore the yellow tags. I was traveling in business class (Club Europe sadly) from CAI-LHR and the nitwits put a yellow tag on my backpack. It was my one and only piece of hand luggage. Sorry, not going to happen! Went in the overhead bin. That’s understandable if someone is taking a roller AND personal item, I was not, I’m not putting it under the seat and taking up my already non-existent legroom.

    1. Jack Hodgson says:
      30/05/2023 at 9:06 am

      I don’t think and I certainly hope BA don’t go down finnairs cheap approach of only allowing one item onboard it doesn’t solve any issues . People don’t follow the clear instructions when boarding which is what causes the issues though I agree some better enforcement is needed and charging those who carry on too much . They have size gauges at check in they should be used much more . Any small bags go under the seat which will not reduce legroom not everyone wishes to check items in for many reasons and there should be no charge to take 2 items if you wish but just stop chancing getting more onboard . Low cost airlines are not the same as a major carrier there is many differences and their approach of penny pinching and charging for everything should not be the way to go

  12. RG says:
    30/05/2023 at 11:47 am

    The worst was last December at Gatwick. As a Club passenger, and one of the first through the BP check in to the gate ‘holding pen’, I was told I had to put my standard size trolley bag in to the hold – along with a succession of pax behind me. After boarding, as I sat watching people board, it infuriated me to see the last 10-15 pax trundling down the back with as much hand luggage as they could carry!

  13. James Harper says:
    02/06/2023 at 12:51 pm

    BA need to recruit someone from easyJet to teach people to implement hand luggage restrictions and perhaps a purser I saw on Aegean a few weeks ago as an example. She stood at the plane door and not one piece of excess luggage got past her, there was quite a pile on the jetty by the time boarding was complete but it was quickly dispatched to the hold and pushback was on time.

    Why BA don’t have someone at the head of security particularly in T5 checking hand luggage allowences is beyond me, people with excess could be sent to pay to check their bag in and it’s an all round win and people who don’t like it can fly Ryanair the next time.

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