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Review: British Airways Club Europe, Airbus 320, Marrakech – London Gatwick

We departed for the gate at T-50. Boarding was set to commence at 12:50 PM as posted on the boarding card.

British Airways
BA 2667 – Business Class (U)
RAK – LGW (Marrakesh – London Gatwick)
Sept 16, 2018
1:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Booked: Airbus 320
Flown: Airbus 320 

After a last security screening checkpoint, we boarded along with priority boarding for all Club Europe and One World Bronze and higher members. The priority boarding wasn’t too successful as we were allowed on to the non air conditioned jet bridge and stood there in the heat for a good 5 – 7 minutes. It was long enough that the economy passengers that had filtered in behind us had started breaking out into choir like song.

On Board in British Airways Club Europe:

There seemed to be a lot of One World travelers since most early boarders streamed past us as they filtered towards the back of the plane. On board, we found our seats in 4A / 4C. The British Airways Club Europe is the typical economy class seat with the blocked middle. I still don’t know or understand how the European carriers get away with it for a 3 ½ hour flight or longer in some cases. I thought it was interesting that when I paid for the seat assignments for this flight, they were offering business class seats assignments all the way back to row 7 A/C. It turns out they didn’t sell more than 4 rows of business class today since we were in the last row of business class in Seats 4A/4C. It was also interesting to see that they were 2 families of 4 persons that were occupying 8 business seats in the cabin of 14.

There was no pre-departure beverage offered and we pushed back fairly quickly after all had boarded. I happened to see some airframes from Air Caribe and RyanAir as we left.

We departed eastward on Runway 10. I took a few last photographs of Marrakech and the Medina as we climbed out of the world of dis-order towards the world of order.

British Airways food and beverage:

As we got underway, printed lunch menus were offered. The menus offered a new Club Europe menu that was globally inspired and showcasing the best of the British Isles; whatever that meant.

I started with a proper glass of wine that was actually cold, along with almonds.

British Airways lunch service:

For lunch, I had Anti Pasti with macaroni pasta with Parmesan velouté and roasted chestnut mushrooms, along with a “celebration of British Cheese”. I was still feeling delicate at this point. I thought that I might have a mild bug from the driving and the way I was feeling. I didn’t know if I could measure up to such a rich dish but it really hit the spot. I had this with a Chatron et Trébuchet 2016, AOC M con-Villages, Burgundy France white wine.

Decompressing from that long car ride, I continued on with the Tanqueray and Fever Tree Indian Tonic as we cross the Gibraltar straights onwards towards the UK.

As we approached, the landing cards were were passed out. Most of the cabin seemingly being UK / EU residents didn’t need one. The contrast of landscape between Africa and the United Kingdom was apparent when we were on approach to landing. Everything was green.

Overall, a reasonable and comfortable flight that was complimented by fairly good catering and drinks that were tasty and cold.

In Summary:

Award availability was quite difficult if near impossible to find on this British Airways route. Despite this, there aren’t many benefits to fly Club Europe versus economy class. The only real improvements are open bar, a small meal, and a lounge that you may already have access to with the right credit card. Despite this, the service was pleasant and I’d consider flying British Airways again to Marrakech over the experiences we had with Iberia.

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