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British Airways is now more than a third of its way through the refurbishment of its fleet of Boeing 777-200 aircraft at London Gatwick.
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.
At the moment only three class Boeing 777-200 are being refurbishment. As at November 2018, six Boeing 777-200 aircraft, registrations G-VIIO, G-VIIP, G-VIIR, G-VIIT, G-VIIU and G-VIIX, have been refurbished. Each refurbishment takes four to six weeks.
Please see here for images of the refurbished aircraft which was unveiled on Monday 5 March 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 updated seat maps on its website.
If you are flying on a 9 abreast 3 class 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 3 class 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 app after checking in.
On which routes will the 10 abreast aircraft operate?
BA has not officially confirmed the launch dates by route. However, historical flight data does provide an indication of the routes on which refurbished aircraft are currently operating.
In addition, seat maps for future flights also show when routes are being sold with 3-4-3 seating in economy. However, it is important to emphasise these only show how BA is selling a flight. Based on the roll out of refurbished aircraft to date, these flights will be operated with 3-4-3 seating before then.
If you have already selected a seat on your flight BA should notify you by e-mail if it has changed your seat more than 48 before departure. If BA changes your seat closer to departure, it should show in the BA app on your smartphone.
Gatwick – Antigua to Providenciales, Saint Kitts and Tobago
Flight BA2157 / BA2156 – This route now regularly operates with a 10 abreast 777.
Gatwick – Barbados
Flight BA2155 / BA2154 – This flight ordinarily operates with a First Class cabin. Seat maps are showing 10 abreast seating for many flights from February 2019.
Gatwick – Bermuda
Flight BA2233 / BA2232 – This flight ordinarily operates with a First Class cabin. Seat maps are showing 10 abreast seating for many flights from around April 2019.
Gatwick – Cancun
Flight BA2203 / BA2202 – This route now operates with a 10 abreast Boeing 777.
Gatwick – Cape Town
Flight BA2041 / BA2040 – This route shows as operating with 9 abreast Boeing 777 for the winter season to the end of March 2019. It then resumes for next winter on Monday 28 October 2019 and shows as operating with a 10 abreast Boeing 777.
Gatwick – Fort Lauderdale
Flight BA2169 / BA2168 – This route now regularly operates with a 10 abreast Boeing 777.
Gatwick – Kingston
Flight BA2263 / BA2262 – This route now operates with a 10 abreast Boeing 777.
Gatwick – Las Vegas
Flight BA2277 / BA2276 – This route is currently shows as operating with a 9 abreast Boeing 777 up to April 2019. Seat maps are showing 10 abreast seating for many flights from early May 2019.
Gatwick – Lima
Flight BA2239 / BA2238 – This route is scheduled to return for the summer season from Sunday 31 March 2019. Selected flights show as operating with a 10 abreast Boeing 777 from early July 2019.
Gatwick – Male
Flight BA2043 / BA2042 – This route is showing as operating with a 9 abreast Boeing 777 up to its suspension for the summer on Friday 29 March 2019. It is scheduled to resume on Sunday 27 October 2018, from when it will operate with a 10 abreast Boeing 777.
Gatwick – Mauritius
Flight BA2063 / BA062 – This route is showing as operating with 9 abreast Boeing 777 for all dates up to June 2019. Seat maps are showing 3-4-3 seating for many flights from July 2019.
Gatwick – New York JFK
Flight BA2273 / BA2272 – This route now operates with a 10 abreast Boeing 777.
Gatwick – Orlando
Flight BA2037 / BA2036 – This route now operates with a 10 abreast Boeing 777.
Flight BA2039 / BA2038 – This flight will operate with a 10 abreast Boeing 777 on select dates when it resumes from Sunday 31 March 2019.
Gatwick – Punta Cana
Flight BA2205 / BA2204 – This route now operates with a 10 abreast Boeing 777.
Gatwick – San Jose, Costa Rica
Flight BA2237 / BA2236 – This route shows as operating with a 9 abreast Boeing 777 up to late June 2019. Seat maps are showing 10 abreast seating for many flights from July 2019.
Gatwick – St Lucia – Grenada / Port Of Spain
Flight BA2159 / BA2158 – This route now regularly operates with a 10 abreast Boeing 777.
Gatwick – Tampa
Flight BA2167 / BA2166 – This route now regularly operates with a 10 abreast Boeing 777.
Gatwick – Toronto Pearson
Flight BA2271 / BA2270 – This route is scheduled to resume for the summer on Friday 3 May 2019, from when it will operate with a 10 abreast Boeing 777.
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.