British Airways Boeing 777 Archives

BA’s New Club Suite On The Boeing 777-200

A word of caution before booking Boeing 777-200 flights that may feature BA’s new Club Suite.

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British Airways Club World Suite (Image Credit: British Airways)

BA is due to take delivery of its first Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, G-XWBA, this coming Friday 26 July 2019.

This is much anticipated as it will be the first aircraft to feature BA’s new Club Suite.

It has also been known for some time that BA is to begin retrofitting the Club Suite to four class Boeing 777-200ER aircraft this year, of which there are around 23 based at London Heathrow.

At the same time, BA will reduce the number of First Class Seats from 14 to 8 and increase the number of seats in World Traveller from 9 to 10 across.

Two aircraft are planned to be refurbished this year and seat maps for some flights are showing as operated with refurbished aircraft.

These include select flights to New York JFK from late October 2019 and a random assortment of flights through until early 2020. You can tell if your flight is operating with refurbished aircraft as the seat map will show Club World seats in 1-2-1 configuration, labelled A-E-F-K from rows 5 to 17.

The Club Suite is much anticipated on the 777 as the current Club World cabin is one of the least favoured on any BA aircraft.

However, a word of caution should be sounded before booking Boeing 777 flights that show as operating with the Club Suite.

Historically, BA has always prioritised “blu riband” routes when retrofitting new Club World seats to aircraft. This used to mean retrofitting high premium seat configured Boeing 747 aircraft first.

As these aircraft used to operate all flights to certain destinations such as New York JFK, Hong Kong and San Francisco, BA used to be able to publicly guarantee refurbished aircraft would operate on certain routes.

The position with the Boeing 777-200 aircraft is quite different. It’s a versatile aircraft that tends to be paired and swap with Boeing 747 and 787 aircraft on many routes. From a cursory scan of historical flight data, on many flights to New York JFK the Boeing 777 and Boeing 747 operate the same flights on different days of the week. Boeing 777-300 aircraft can also pop-up now and again.

It’s certainly a safe assumption that BA will want to put refurbished Boeing 777-200 aircraft on New York JFK as soon as it can, not least because Virgin Atlantic is using its new Airbus A350-1000 on this route.

Also based on the experience of the Gatwick Boeing 777 refit programme, whilst seat maps for future flights were a reliable indicator of the general plan for the refurbishment, refurbished aircraft operated on many routes before seat maps indicated so.

There are of course also a multitude of factors that can result in last minute aircraft swaps on the day.

Put simply, until there is a critical mass of refurbished Boeing 777 aircraft in service, it is not possible to give a reliable indication of which flights they will operate. Passengers should certainly not make purchasing decisions without specific guidance from BA.

BA’s 10 Abreast Economy Boeing 777 May 2019 Update

An update on the progress of the refurbishment of British Airways Boeing 777 fleet at Gatwick.

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BA World Traveller cabin on LGW based Boeing 777 aircraft (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways is now approximately two thirds of the way through the refurbishment of its fleet of Boeing 777-200 aircraft at London Gatwick.

The primary reason for the refurbishment is to increase the number of seats in the World Traveller economy cabin from 9 to 10 a row.

As at November 2019, ten three class Gatwick Boeing 777-200 aircraft (registrations G-VIIO, G-VIIP, G-VIIR, G-VIIT, G-VIIU, G-VIIX, G-YMMB, G-YMMC, G-YMMD and G-YMMF) have been refurbished as have three four class aircraft (G-VIIV, G-VIIW, G-VIIY). BA is expected to complete the Gatwick refurbishment this year.

On three class aircraft, BA has installed a new seat in a now larger World Traveller Plus premium economy cabin. It has decreased the number of Club World business class seats. The in-flight entertainment system has also been upgraded and it is a radical improvement on the previous system.

The remaining refurbished aircraft are four class Boeing 777-200 aircraft. The overall change in seating configuration is much more modest.

This year, BA will also begin refurbishing its Heathrow based Boeing 777s. Two four class aircraft will receive a full refurbishment. This will include a smaller First Class cabin with 8, rather than 14, seats and an entirely new Club World cabin.

BA’s 10 Abreast Economy Boeing 777 2019 Update

An update on the progress of the refurbishment of British Airways Boeing 777 fleet at Gatwick.

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British Airways is now more than half way through the refurbishment of its fleet of Boeing 777-200 aircraft at London Gatwick.

The main reason for the refurbishment is to increase the number of seats in the World Traveller economy cabin from 9 to 10 a row.

On three class aircraft, BA has installed a new seat in a now larger World Traveller Plus premium economy cabin. It has decreased the number of Club World business class seats. The in-flight entertainment system has also been upgraded. On four class Boeing 777-200 aircraft, the overall change in seating configuration is much more modest.

Given BA sees the need for seating configuration in World Traveller to be “competitive”, it’s expected that many more 777s will be refurbished.

Refurbished British Airways Boeing 777 World Traveller Cabin (Image Credit: British Airways)

Seat maps for 3 class Boeing 777 aircraft

If you are flying on a non-refurbished 9 abreast 3 class Boeing 777 at Gatwick you should see the following seat map (pictured left below) for your flight in the Manage My Booking tool:

Club World – Rows 1 – 11 (48 seats)
World Traveller Plus – Rows 12 – 14 (24 seats)
World Traveller – Rows 16 – 40 (3-3-3 configuration)

If you are flying on a refurbished 10 abreast 3 class Boeing 777 at Gatwick you should see the following seat map (pictured right below) for your flight 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)

For passengers travelling with infants it is important to note that the refurbishment of aircraft does change the location of bassinet seats.
Continue reading “BA’s 10 Abreast Economy Boeing 777 2019 Update”

BA’s 10 abreast economy Boeing 777 September Update

An update on the progress of the refurbishment of British Airways Boeing 777 fleet at Gatwick and the routes on which refurbished aircraft are expected to operate.

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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.

The main reason for the refurbishment is to increase the number of seats in the World Traveller economy cabin from 9 to 10 a row.

At the moment three class Boeing 777-200 are being refurbishment. For these aircraft, BA has also installed a new World Traveller Plus premium economy seat and increased the number of seats in this cabin. It has decreased the number of Club World business class seats. The in-flight entertainment system has also been upgraded. Four class Boeing 777-200 aircraft will also be refurbished, but the overall change in seating configuration is much more modest.

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 around four to six weeks.

The initial plan was that up to 25 Boeing 777s will be subject to “densification”. Given, from anecdotal evidence, there appears to be no adverse customer reaction, it is highly likely that this will be extended to many more aircraft. Heathrow based Boeing 777s are expected to be refurbished in 2019.

Seat maps for 3 class Boeing 777 aircraft

If you are flying on a non-refurbished 9 abreast 3 class Boeing 777 you should see the following seat map (pictured left below) for your flight in the Manage My Booking tool:

Club World – Rows 1 – 11 (48 seats)
World Traveller Plus – Rows 12 – 14 (24 seats)
World Traveller – Rows 16 – 40 (3-3-3 configuration)

If you are flying on a refurbished 10 abreast 3 class Boeing 777 you should see the following seat map (pictured right below) for your flight 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)

For passengers travelling with infants it is important to note that the refurbishment of aircraft does change the location of bassinet seats.
Continue reading “BA’s 10 abreast economy Boeing 777 September Update”

British Airways orders 3 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft

British Airways has ordered 3 new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft which will join its 12 strong fleet at London Heathrow.

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British Airways Logo (Image Credit: British Airways)

Boeing has today, Thursday 19 July 2018, announced that British Airways has committed to ordering an additional 3 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

The announcement was made to coincide with the Farnborough Air Show. These aircraft will be leased from an undisclosed third party lessor. They will join BA’s 12 strong fleet of Boeing 777-300ER aircraft at London Heathrow. These were delivered to the airline from 2010 to 2014. 3 of these aircraft are leased and 9 are owned by BA.

Based on plans published by BA’s parent company International Airlines Group at its Capital Markets Day late last year, it is expected that these three aircraft will replace three of BA’s oldest Boeing 777-200 aircraft. These were delivered to the airline in 1995 and operate principally to the US East Coast and the Middle East.

BA has not made any comment on the announcement. The planned configuration of the aircraft is not known. The current fleet of Boeing 777-300 aircraft all operate in a four class configuration. BA is in the process of “densifying” its existing Boeing 777 fleet so these aircraft could well arrive with 3-4-3 seating in World Traveller economy. The delivery dates are also not known.

The BA Boeing 777-300ER currently operates from London Heathrow to Beijing, San Diego, Sao Paulo, Singapore-Sydney and Tokyo Haneda. It also operates selected frequencies to Boston and Hong Kong. It has also previously operated to Rio de Janeiro. Please see here for our full guide to BA’s fleet.

BA Gatwick 10 abreast economy Boeing 777 Update

BA is progressively the number of economy seats on Boeing 777 aircraft at Gatwick from 9 to 10 seats a row. Here is an update on the progress of the refurbishment.

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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.

The refurbishment programme includes new seats in World Traveller and World Traveller Plus, new in-flight entertainment systems and cabin interiors. Most importantly of all, the seats in World Traveller are increased from 9 to 10 a row.

Please see here for images of the first refurbished aircraft which were unveiled on Monday 5 March 2018.

At the moment only three class Boeing 777-200 aircraft are being refurbished. 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 around a month. Once the Gatwick fleet is complete, BA will then refurbish some Heathrow aircraft.

Seating Plans Of Refurbished Aircraft

BA has updated the seat maps on its website to include the new cabin configuration.

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)
Continue reading “BA Gatwick 10 abreast economy Boeing 777 Update”

BA Unveils Its “Densified” London Gatwick Boeing 777

British Airways has unveiled images of its refurbished Boeing 777-200 aircraft at London Gatwick, which will operate on all long-haul routes from the end of 2019.

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British Airways has today, Monday 5 March 2018, unveiled images of its refurbished Boeing 777-200 aircraft which will operate on all long-haul routes at London Gatwick from the end of 2019.

BA took delivery of its first refurbished aircraft last week. It features an entirely new World Traveller and World Traveller Plus cabin. The first routes to operate the new cabin are Punta Cana, Cancun and Kingston. Please see here for full details of the expected routes for 2019.

When BA first announced the plan to densify its Boeing 777 fleet it said that 12 aircraft would be refurbished. BA has said today that 6 aircraft will be refurbished by the end of October 2018. The refurbishment will continue in 2019.

BA’s 10 abreast economy Boeing 777 at Gatwick in 2018

In 2018, BA will increase the number of economy seats on some Boeing 777 aircraft at London Gatwick from 9 to 10 seats a row. Here are details of the routes on which the reconfigured Boeing 777s will operate in 2018.

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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.

BA's initial plan to reconfigure London Gatwick Boeing 777s - November 2016 (Image Credit: International Airlines Group) — BA’s initial plan to reconfigure London Gatwick Boeing 777s – November 2016 (Image Credit: International Airlines Group)

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)
Continue reading “BA’s 10 abreast economy Boeing 777 at Gatwick in 2018”

BA to increase economy seat density on selected Boeing 777s

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British Airways has confirmed at the Capital Markets Day of its parent company, International Airlines Group, that it is to increase the density of seating on selected long-haul Boeing 777 aircraft from 9 to 10 seats a row in its World Traveller economy cabin.

This move will be implemented on 25 Boeing 777 aircraft which is understood to be all of BA’s Boeing 777s at London Gatwick and selected Boeing 777s at London Heathrow. It will add an additional 36 economy seats to the aircraft.

BA will also reduce the size of the Club World business class cabin from 40 to 32 seats and increase the size of the World Traveller Plus premium economy cabin from 24 to 42 seats on these aircraft.

The reconfigured aircraft are expected to enter service in 2018.

This is in fact not the first time BA has implemented 10-across seating in World Traveller economy as many Gatwick based Boeing 777 aircraft had this configuration in the 1990s.

There are no plans to increase the density on other long-haul aircraft. However, you can be confident that BA will be monitoring closely passenger feedback and the financial performance of routes with the increased seating density.

This is no doubt a competitive response to both the growth of Norwegian at London Gatwick and many other airlines which have similar configurations on Boeing 777 aircraft.

Whilst the airline will no doubt say this is a necessary competitive move, it will mean a more crowded cabin, less overhead baggage space, lower crew-passenger ratios, and more queues for the washrooms.

On a similar note, BA also hints that its long-haul economy product may be “unbundled” with separate charges for items such as checked bags for certain fates, as has happpend on short-haul. If this does happen, it is likely to operate on a trial basis, initially at London Gatwick.

You can view the full slide deck from the Capital Markets Day here.

Update February 2018: Here are details of the routes on which the densified Boeing 777s are expected to operate.

BA to reconfigure selected Boeing 777s at Heathrow and Gatwick

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British Airways Boeing 777 at London Heathrow (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways has today announced, at the annual Capital Markets Day of its parent company International Airlines Group, that is to reconfigure selected Boeing 777 long-haul aircraft at both its bases at London Gatwick and London Heathrow.

At London Gatwick, on five Boeing 777-200 aircraft the size of the Club World business class cabin will be reduced in size from 48 seats to increase overall seating capacity on the aircraft by 10%.

IAG has not yet specified how many Club World seats will be removed and how many additional World Traveller Plus premium economy seats and World Traveller economy seats will be added.

However, it seems that BA has ruled out increasing the density of the World Traveller economy cabin from 9 seats to 10 seats per row. IAG has not stated whether it will also make any other changes to these aircraft, such as upgrading aircraft interiors and in flight entertainment systems.

At London Heathrow, nine four class Boeing 777-200ER aircraft will be converted to three class aircraft. The first class cabin will be removed to increase the overall number of seats by 25%. Again, IAG has not yet specified how many seats will be added to each of the other three cabins. Nor has IAG stated which London Heathrow routes will have first class removed.
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