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A little over 12 months ago BA announced that it would, to use its lexicon, “densify” a select number of its Boeing 777-200 aircraft.
In short, this means that the number of seats in the World Traveller economy cabin would increase from 9 to 10 a row.
At the same time, BA will also increase the number of World Traveller Plus premium economy seats and decrease the number of Club World business class seats. The refurbished Boeing 777s are expected to enter operation at London Gatwick in 2018.
Initially, up to 25 Boeing 777s will be subject to “densification”. However, you can be confident that the financial performance of refurbished aircraft and customer feedback scores will be monitored very closely.
How do I know if I will be flying on a “densified” Boeing 777?
BA has not yet updated its general guidance seat maps on its website to include the reconfigured Boeing 777s.
Update: BA has not now updated seat maps on its website.
Update: Please see here for images of the refurbished aircraft which was unveiled on Monday 5 March 2018.
However, if you are flying on a 9 abreast Boeing 777 you should see the following cabin configurations on the seat map for your reservation in the Manage My Booking tool:
Club World – Rows 1 – 11 (40 seats)
World Traveller Plus – Rows 12 – 14 (24 seats)
World Traveller – Rows 16 – 40 (3-3-3 configuration)
If you are flying on a 10 abreast Boeing 777 you should see the following cabin configurations on the seat map for your reservation in the Manage My Booking tool:
Club World – Rows 1 – 4 (32 seats)
World Traveller Plus – Rows 10 – 16 (52 seats)
World Traveller – Rows 20 – 46 (3-4-3 configuration)
Can I change my booking if I will be flying on a 10 abreast aircraft?
Any changes can only be made in accordance with the fare rules at the time of booking. The one positive change is that as the number of World Traveller Plus seats will be more than doubled there should be good opportunities to purchase fixed price upgrades in the Manage My Booking tool and, possibly in the BA smartphone app after checking in.
On which routes will the 10 abreast aircraft operate?
As at 5 May 2018, two Boeing 777-200 aircraft (registrations G-VIIR & G-VIIX) have been refurbished. A third aircraft (registration G-VIIO) was sent to Singapore on 3 May 2018. Each refurbishment takes at least six weeks.
BA has not officially confirmed the launch dates by route. However, based on analyses of seat maps by route, refurbished aircraft will be used as outlined below.
Please note that this information has been sourced from a third party source of flight information and not BA. It has been and will continue to be subject to change. It should only be treated as indicative.
Also, as aircraft are not assigned to individual routes it is more likely than not that refurbished aircraft will, as they have already done, operate on some flights before the dates below.
We would of course love to hear your feedback when you fly on a newly reconfigured aircraft.
London Gatwick – Antigua to Providenciales, Saint Kitts and Tobago
Flight BA2157 / BA2156 – Selected dates from Sunday 28 October 2018.
London Gatwick – Barbados
Flight BA2155 / BA2154 – This flight operates with a First Class cabin and these aircraft are not currently being refurbished.
London Gatwick – Bermuda
Flight BA2233 / BA2232 – This flight operates with a First Class cabin and these aircraft are not currently being refurbished.
London Gatwick – Cancun
Flight BA2203 / BA2202 – This route is now operating with a 10 abreast Boeing 777.
London Gatwick – Cape Town
Flight BA2041 / BA2040 – This route is currently showing as operating with 9 abreast Boeing 777 for the entirety of its next winter season from Monday 12 November 2018 to the end of March 2019.
London Gatwick – Fort Lauderdale
Flight BA2169 / BA2168 – From Saturday 15 September 2018 for Thursday & Saturday flights.
London Gatwick – Kingston
Flight BA2263 / BA2262 – This route is now operating with a 10 abreast Boeing 777.
London Gatwick – Las Vegas
Flight BA2277 / BA2276 – This route is currently showing as operating with 9 abreast Boeing 777 for available dates up to late April 2019.
London Gatwick – Lima
Flight BA2239 / BA2238 – This route is currently showing as operating with 9 abreast Boeing 777 for the entirety of its summer season from Sunday 25 March 2018 to Friday 26 October 2018.
London Gatwick – Male
Flight BA2043 / BA2042 – This route is currently showing as operating with 9 abreast Boeing 777 for all dates currently available up to March 2019.
London Gatwick – New York JFK
Flight BA2273 / BA2272 – From Tuesday 10 July 2018.
London Gatwick – Oakland
Flight BA2279 / BA2278 – This route is currently showing as operating with 9 abreast Boeing 777 up to its suspension for the winter season from Monday 22 October 2018.
London Gatwick – Orlando
Flight BA2037 / BA2036 – From Tuesday 15 May 2018.
Flight BA2039 / BA2038 – This flight is currently showing as operating with a 9 abreast Boeing 777 for flights up the latest available flight on Saturday 10 November 2018. It operates with a 10 abreast Boeing 777 on select dates when it resumes on Sunday 31 March 2019.
London Gatwick – Punta Cana
Flight BA2205 / BA2204 – This route is now operating with a 10 abreast Boeing 777.
London Gatwick – San Jose, Costa Rica
Flight BA2237 / BA2236 – This route is currently showing as operating with 9 abreast Boeing 777 for all dates currently available up to late April 2019.
London Gatwick – St Lucia – Grenada / Port Of Spain
Flight BA2159 / BA2158 – These flights operate with a First Class cabin and these aircraft are not currently being refurbished.
London Gatwick – Tampa
Flight BA2167 / BA2166 – From Monday 3 December 2018.
London Gatwick – Toronto Pearson
Flight BA2271 / BA2270 – This route is currently showing as operating with a 9 abreast Boeing 777 for the entirety of its summer season from Tuesday 1 May 2018 to Friday 19 October 2018.
More to read on British Airways at Gatwick
Here are our latest posts on BA at Gatwick:
- BA Gatwick 10 abreast economy Boeing 777 Update
- British Airways London Gatwick Winter Schedule
- BA suspends London Gatwick – Oakland
- BA unveils its “densified” London Gatwick Boeing 777
- BA adds new routes and frequencies at London Gatwick
- BA’s 10 abreast economy Boeing 777 at Gatwick in 2018
- BA adds Las Vegas and Toronto at London Gatwick
- BA launches winter seasonal London Gatwick – Nuremberg
- BA suspends London Gatwick – Lima from Sunday 29 October 2017
- The delayed BA lounges at Gatwick are now open
777 3-4-3 is an absolutely horrible configuration, as can be readily seen by checking the overwhelmingly scathing reviews on seat map websites of other airlines which have been foolish enough to implement it.
Tip: flight search website https://www.routehappy.com/ shows the seat configuration right in the search results, so you can easily avoid the awful 3-4-3 777 config when planning your trip!
Back from a flight with 777-200 ER 3 cabin configuration from a London Lima flight and I have to say, those planes are so outdated! Just thankful did not spent extra upgrading on the World Plus cabin. IFE old style not working on both flight legs, only cyclic play if movies and on way back leg Lima to London 3 movies and not even Radio! Further on London to Lima, booked last 2 seats for which partner’s IFE screen was grey scale only (!) and my headphone jack was broken therefore could not insert the headphones in it. We were offered to swap seats in economy but does not justify the 5 month advance cost I paid to reserve those two seats at £118 (only on way from London to Lima). Do not get me tatted on their inability to load the plane correctly on way back flight! Pilot announced just before take off that 2 containers had been accidentally loaded in place and cargo was off balance (and London had notified them of this before taking off from Lima) – this is extremely dangerous and glad they spotted it before we were out of Lima, but all in all it contributes to a 4hr late departure from there on way back. My flight was on 8th of June with them. All in alll, BA do bit even wirth long haul flights anymore for me. Just use LATAM of Iberia for Latin America.