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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 October 2018, five Boeing 777-200 aircraft, registrations G-VIIO, G-VIIP, G-VIIR, G-VIIT, G-VIIX, have been refurbished. A sixth aircraft, G-VIIU, flew to Singapore on 7 October 2018 for refurbishment. 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.
London Gatwick – Antigua to Providenciales, Saint Kitts and Tobago
Flight BA2157 / BA2156 – Selected dates from late October 2018.
London Gatwick – Barbados
Flight BA2155 / BA2154 – This flight operates with a First Class cabin and these aircraft are not currently being refurbished. However, seat maps are showing 3-4-3 seating for many flights from around February 2019.
London Gatwick – Bermuda
Flight BA2233 / BA2232 – This flight operates with a First Class cabin and these aircraft are not currently being refurbished. However, seat maps are showing 3-4-3 seating for many flights from around April 2019.
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 winter season from Monday 12 November 2018 to the end of March 2019.
London Gatwick – Fort Lauderdale
Flight BA2169 / BA2168 – Selected flights from September 2018. A minority of flights have operated with a 10 abreast Boeing 777.
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 up to late April 2019. Seat maps are showing 3-4-3 seating for many flights from May 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 late March 2019.
London Gatwick – Mauritius
Flight BA2063 / BA062 – This route is currently 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.
London Gatwick – New York JFK
Flight BA2273 / BA2272 – This route is now operating with a 10 abreast Boeing 777.
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 Saturday 13 2018.
London Gatwick – Orlando
Flight BA2037 / BA2036 – A majority of flights are now operating with a 10 abreast Boeing 777.
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 up to late June 2019. Seat maps are showing 3-4-3 seating for many flights from July 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. However, seat maps are showing 3-4-3 seating for many flights from around December 2018.
London Gatwick – Tampa
Flight BA2167 / BA2166 – Selected flights from mid October 2018. A minority of flights are now operating with a 10 abreast Boeing 777.
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 12 October 2018.
More to read on British Airways at Gatwick
Here are our latest posts on BA at Gatwick:
- BA’s 10 abreast economy Boeing 777 September Update
- BA relaunches Kos at Gatwick
- BA launches winter seasonal London Gatwick – Cologne
- 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
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.