Flight Report :
BA 373 Toulouse - London Heathrow
8 Feb 2026
16:55 - 17:50

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Toulouse's airport is not that far from the city, but the airport tram line has shut completely due to construction for the foreseeable future. You have 2 options to get there. The more expensive way is to take the airport bus from the main railway station for 9 euros. I took the cheap way, which includes a few transfers between the metro, tram, and bus, although as long as they're all taken within an hour, it's just 1.8 euros and you can pay it with your contactless card.

I didn't mind the trouble since I only had a small luggage and plenty of time for my late afternoon flight back to London. At Arenes metro station, there are escalators leading up to the street level for the tram. After about half an hour on the tram, you cross the street to take bus 31 for the last leg to the airport.

The bus station is all outdoors and you have to walk a little bit to get under the terminal's canopy.

The departures area was fairly busy with 3 counters only for BA, and a long line snaking out. 1 counter was for Economy, another for bag drop, and the final one for Business Class. Staff seemed to work fairly slowly and I waited half an hour to get processed. Luckily, I went to the kiosk beforehand to get my boarding pass first but still needed to go to the counter to drop by bag as the kiosk doesn't spit out bag tags and there are no automated bag drop machines here.

The rest of the check-in area was relatively quiet with a few shops and seating area. I went into a convenience store and noticed the food on offer looked quite fancy. The French are picky with their food and eat well, which shows here.

The departures zone is across on the other side of the terminal though in what looks like a new addition with much higher ceilings and a brighter atmosphere.

There were plenty of lanes open at security so it didn't take long to get through. However, they still use the old scanners so I had to take the electronics out. Exiting airside, I was forced to walk through a big shopping mall along a curved path. I would feel for the older and less active passengers who can't directly access the gates.

There are local products available here, such as violet-based items and plenty of food options such as cassoulet glass jars and canned terrine. So you don't have to haul it from the Victor Hugo market anymore ...

Exiting the mall, I went looking for the windows to see if I can see the Airbus facilities that surround the airport. The factory tour I went to yesterday highlighted the Belugas used to transport aircraft parts and completed jets ready for delivery. From the terminal, I could see all these quite a bit closer than from the tour.

I continued to walk down the length of the terminal and into an older and more dingy section, where the windows open up and I could see the whole set of Belugas.

Satisfied, I headed to my gate and it was in a seemingly new pier that had a completely different architectural style, but there is a mesh that covers up the windows so it's quite hard to see the airport activity. I had to go to an emergency exit door for a proper window, with my BA plane surrounded by Ryanair jets. This section around gate 57 was quiet with rows of red chairs and a much more serene atmosphere.

From Heathrow, only BA flies to Toulouse but it is fairly frequently served with 3 flights a day.

Boarding was called timely although we were held at the boarding bridge for a while. Nevertheless, I soon settled into my window seat at the back of the plane. I picked the right side hoping to get an aerial view of the Airbus factory and museum site on departure.

The boarding complete announcement came at 4:53pm and we pushed back at 5:01pm for an on-time departure. It didn't take long to taxi to the other side of the airport and we took off 11 minutes later for the hour and a half flight.

The weather was surprisingly decent today and it started with lots of sun. Some clouds started rolling in at lunch time but at least it didn't rain as the forecast had predicted.

The Airbus factory around the airport is huge and the tour had mentioned the company has some 25,000 workers here, focusing on final assembly with manufacturing of the various parts primarily done elsewhere. Besides, Airbus, the supporting companies along the supply chain employ a lot more people in Toulouse as well.

I could spot the A380 and Concorde at the Airbus museum here.

Service was the standard snack and small bottle of water. The crew were friendly and diligently checked for seat belts during their safety checks.

The weather was still decent as we flew over western France but it got progressively cloudier as we neared England and started our descent above the English Channel, doing a short holding loop before final approach. The sun was setting and with very thick clouds, so there wasn't much to see anymore until almost touch down. We didn't fly over central London today, but came in from the west.

We landed at 5:43pm for an on-time arrival, parking at Terminal 3. BA runs a number of flights out of here instead of T5 across a spectrum of European short-hauls and also transatlantic long-haul routes.

Toulouse is quite a nice short-haul getaway from London. I felt safe, ate good food, and saw some incredible medieval history at Carcassonne. For aviation enthusiasts, a visit to the Airbus factory and spotting the Belugas are must-dos, and well worth coming here!