We booked BA332 from London Heathrow to Nice for a last-minute bank holiday weekend in Cannes. The timing worked, the flight was direct, and we paid 27,650 Avios plus £60 each, making the ticket worth roughly £336 return per person.
This was a British Airways A320neo in Club Europe, with 12 rows and 48 business class seats. BA used the familiar blocked-middle-seat setup rather than a dedicated short-haul business seat. The question was whether BA had stretched Club Europe too far.
In this review
Flight Details
Flight No: BA332
From/To: London Heathrow (LHR) to Nice Côte d’Azur (NCE)
Departure time: 14:25
Ticket Class: Business / Club Europe
Flight time: 2 hours 30 mins
Aircraft: G-TTNH
Aircraft type: Airbus A320neo
Number of Club Europe seats: 48
Seat: 8F
Position: Right-side window seat
Airport Experience
We started at Heathrow South fast track security, which was not having its finest afternoon. Staff moved passengers from the fast track lane into another security channel after an operational issue, which slowed the whole process and rather defeated the point.
Once airside, the screens showed both BA lounges running at more than 80% capacity. We chose South because it suited the gate, but the lounge felt tired and overcrowded. For the prices BA often charges for premium cabins, parts of the Heathrow experience still look scruffy.
Boarding & Welcome
Gate A18 sat directly below the South lounge, so we headed down around 30 minutes before departure. A late-arriving inbound aircraft delayed boarding, and once priority passengers passed the boarding scan, we still waited on the jet bridge while the crew prepared the aircraft.
The welcome on board was friendly enough, though the crew had the slightly resigned energy of people who knew exactly what they were facing: 48 Club Europe passengers, one forward galley and a short-haul aircraft doing a lot of premium-cabin heavy lifting.
Seat
We sat in 8D and F, a right-side window seat in the eighth row of Club Europe. BA keeps the standard 3-3 A320neo layout, with the middle seat blocked by a small table rather than installing a wider short-haul business seat. That table is useful for drinks and small items, and the empty middle seat gives some welcome shoulder space, but the underlying seat is still essentially Euro Traveller. Cushioning was firm, recline was limited, and the seat width did not feel meaningfully premium. Legroom in row 8 was acceptable for Nice, though not generous enough to feel special. Storage was also basic: a seat pocket, overhead bin space and under-seat room. Mains power worked, but the USB ports at both of our seats were damaged.
Which is the best seat on BA A320 12-row business class?
Rows 11 and 12 looked like the best picks if you value legroom, as both were exit rows. Row 11 would be our choice because it offered the exit-row benefit without economy directly behind.
If travelling as a pair, we would still choose a window and aisle across the blocked middle.
See the seating plan on AeroLOPA.
Onboard Experience
We took off at 15:20, around 55 minutes late. The cabin settled quickly, but the size of the Club Europe section shaped the flight. With 48 business passengers and one forward lavatory, the crew had a lot to cover. A small Club Europe cabin can feel quiet and exclusive; this felt like a long waiting room for the front washroom and trolley service.
Speaking of the washroom, it was kept clean and tidy throughout, and had White Company hand soap and moisturiser, the distinctive perfume of which wafts through the cabin. Queues were not terrible, but access became awkward whenever service trolleys filled the aisle.
The crew worked hard throughout. This was not a lazy or neglected service. The issue was rhythm: everything took longer because BA had stretched the cabin so far.
Food & Drink
Service began around 20 minutes after takeoff. BA used two trolleys, but it still took about 15 minutes to reach row 8. Water was the bigger irritation: none reached us until around 90 minutes after boarding, so filling bottles in the lounge proved wise.
The food was better than expected. The choices were a ploughman’s and a vegetarian ploughman’s, though the distinction seemed to rest mainly on a slice of cured ham. The scone, carrot cake and fresh raspberries made for a decent afternoon tea.
The Pannier Champagne tasted fairly sour. The Te Awa New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc was much better.
In-flight Entertainment
There was no meaningful built-in entertainment, so this was a bring-your-own-device flight. WiFi worked once it came online and was fine for messaging and light browsing.
The problem was timing. Internet and power came on quite late, which mattered on a relatively short flight. Under-seat mains power worked, but the broken USB ports meant you needed a proper plug rather than just a cable.
Arrival
We arrived in Nice around 30 minutes late. Given the late inbound aircraft and slow boarding at Heathrow, that was no surprise.
The aircraft emptied quickly once the door opened, and we reached a taxi within a few minutes of arriving at the gate. No extra bottleneck, no extended faff, and Cannes was still very much on.
BG1 Verdict
This was not BA’s strongest European business class showing, but the crew were not the problem. They worked hard to deliver a proper Club Europe service in a cabin that felt too large for the product.
For 27,650 Avios plus £60 each, or about £336 return, this was fair-to-good value. We got direct flights, lounge access, a blocked middle seat, a decent meal, and useful timings.
Had we paid a cash fare above £450, we would have been smarting. Twelve rows of Club Europe on an A320 is acceptable at the right price, but it is not a product to book blindly.
BG1 Tip
Check the seat map before paying for BA A320 12-row business class. If the fare is high and the cabin shows 48 Club Europe seats, think carefully before paying a premium for a diluted product.
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