[In and Out of the Reich] Review: Commonwealth Air business class Buffalo-London

Commonwealth Air 0225
Buffalo (BUF) – London (LHR)
Friday May 4
Depart: 8:19 PM
Arrive: 11:30 AM (+1 day)
Duration: 7 hr 05 min
Aircraft: Curtiss-Wright CW-942
Seat: 61A (Business Class)

Click here for part one of this review (LHR-BUF Business Class).

I reached the Greater Buffalo International Airport three hours ahead of scheduled departure. While Commonwealth in-flight meal service has improved tremendously over the last few years, my local hosts insisted I take the time to visit the Anchor Bar location at the airport and partake of Buffalo's famous chicken wings. As the Anchor Bar is in the (soon to be replaced) West Terminal and all long haul flights fly out of the North Terminal, I made sure to give myself plenty of time. As it turned out, it wasn't neccesary. For a Friday evening, traffic at the airport was surprisingly light. After dinner, which
was excellent, I took the inter-terminal train and checked in at the Commonwealth Business Desk in the North Terminal. On this leg of my journey, I had more time to admire the terminal and its Art Deco styling based on Buffalo's magnificent Central Terminal railroad station. It's refreshing to see a modern airport terminal in the Free World that doesn't resemble a hospital.

My airport experience wasn't unreservedly positive, I'm afraid to say. The gate area was clean, but cramped and lacking in some of the expected features such as charging ports and data pads. To be fair, the North Terminal is thirty years old and will be partially closed in 2018-2019 to allow for a long overdue facelift.

Boarding started about half an hour late owing to a delay in the previous arriving flight. Buffalo International, fittingly for a major Great Lakes airport, had an upper deck jet bridge. As usual, the lift up to the upper bridge made me feel as if I was heading into a small, separate plane all my own. Of course, Commonwealth Air was happy that I wasn't all on my own in the Business Class cabin. A group of City businessmen occupied most of the last two rows (organized in a 2-2 configuration), while across the aisle from me was a pair of newlyweds (one English and one a German defector) returning from a cross-country honeymoon.

No sooner had I stored my carry-on and taken a seat then I was offered champagne, water or juice by a very friendly stewardess. As usual, the flight crew was top of the line. I remain baffled by those who prefer 'European efficiency' to Anglo-Saxon charm. Okay! No politics.

Commonwealth 225 flies one of the airline's CW-942-300 jets and thus has the New Experience Business Class package. The cabin on the upper deck is small and intimate with subdued blue lighting on all flights, not just the overnights.

I settled into my seat and went through the amenities kit. This time, the eye mask wasn't defective. I snatched up the kit in the empty seat next to me (you're welcome, mum!) and then went over the menu. Standard Commonwealth fare. As I'd already eaten, I was mainly interested in the wine list. Spanish, Australian and Zambezian reds, American, Chinese and Canadian whites. I decided to try the Zambezian and was rewarded with a very nice, rather chocolate-y Merlot. Commonwealth's
sommeliers can't quite match those of Ala Littoria and TWA, but they're making great strides. I rather like that they take chances on more exotic wines instead of the standards.

While my fellow travelers settled in and made their dinner choices, I was engaged in plane-spotting. I saw a China National NanAir 5, an Eastern Air Lines CW-850 and a Lockheed Tri-Jet II without livery. (A bit of sleuthing back home in London told me it belonged to the Catholic Archbishop of Buffalo en route to some event in New York City.)

The flight crew was able to make up for some of our lost time and we took off at 8:19, not quite twenty minutes behind schedule. We had a smooth take-off and climbed over Lake Ontario and the southern reaches of Canada, reaching our cruising altitude not long after the stewardess appeared with my Zambezian Merlot (a 2015 Chateau Harvey, for the record).

The in-cabin leisure system was just as good as the one on the LHR-BUF leg of my journey, but I didn't do much with it. I sipped my wine and watched a little bit of some silly fantasy movie starring Katja Lotz, then put on my eye mask, lowered my seat into the bed position, and fell asleep somewhere over Quebec.

It was a smooth, quiet flight, and I probably would have slept clean through landing if my stewardess hadn't appeared to ask me what I wanted for breakfast. I went with bacon and poached eggs with a bit of toast on the side. Filling but not remarkable, the sad stereotype of Commonwealth Air cuisine.

The stewardesses had just collected our breakfast trays when we began our approach to Harlow. Luck and the tailwinds were with us, and we landed exactly on time despite our slightly late departure. Sadly, there was a bit of hassle on the ground, as the upper deck jet bridge in Harlow was out of order. We had to descend the onboard stairs to the lower deck, which was slightly annoying - the stairwell is quite narrow and the turn at the mid-point is a bit tricky with a carry-on in hand.

All in all, it was a pleasant experience. Commonwealth Business Class is making great strides since the reorganization and their in-flight experience is definitely a competitor globally speaking, even if not quite in the top five. No one, though, can deny that even at its worth, Commonwealth is light years ahead of Her Majesty's Customs at Harlow!
 
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