Courtesy of British Airways
In the past I’d get excited when a new airline took delivery of a Boeing 787 and announced the inaugural routes, though at this point I’m just confused. I’m not quite sure whether I’m supposed to be excited, and whether that excitement translates into the route going on my “gotta fly” list or my “no fly” list.
Anyway, British Airways is taking delivery of both Airbus A380s and Boeing 787s this year. They’ve already announced their A380 schedule, as the aircraft will originally operate to Los Angeles and Hong Kong.
They’ve also now announced their inaugural 787 schedule, as the aircraft will serve Toronto as of September 1, and service Newark as of October 1, 2013.
Their seatmap doesn’t look especially comfortable. They’re the only airline to have seven seats across in Club World:
Then they have seven across in World Traveller Plus, which doesn’t look bad:
And then a tight nine across in World Traveller:
Award availability isn’t amazing on either route, though I suspect it’ll improve as the departure date approaches. There’s definitely some business class award space out there, though, if you do want to “chase” their 787.
Club world should be no more than 6, Plus no more than 7 and Economy no more than 8. Any more is simple torture. I do not want to ever fly the 787 on BA.
If I ever do, 7 across Plus seems good enough for the use of Avios to upgrade.
@ Lantean -- Nope, no airline has first class on the 787 so far.
@ Bill -- Yep, they typically do release quite a bit more space as the departure date approaches.
BA award space has been pretty bad of late.
Does BA usually release more Premium space as a departure date gets closer. Have a travel for two ticket that expires 10/7 and there is 0 award space from any east coast gateways in Sep/Oct
@Bill
i could not agree more! club world sux.
@lucky
so there is no F at all? what the...?
Hmm... been planning a trip towards the end of this year, this may be another tally mark to return to Europe.
Strange how BA is using the 787 on their route to Newark- would have thought they would put this on one of their daily flights to JFK instead...
That middle seat in Club World looks very claustrophobic in the video on ba.com.
I find BA incredibly frustrating in terms of on board product. This was an ideal time for them to redesign their Club World cabin, which is far from popular with frequent flyers. It's been 7 years with a lackluster cabin; give us a new product!
@ Jonathan -- Touche. ;)
My guess is that at first they're choosing a route with another daily frequency in case there are any operational issues. Easier to have another 747 on the route to potentially rebook some passengers on (and rebook others on partner airlines), than keeping passengers stranded entirely if there's a mechanical or anything.
@ JA -- Just checked again and still see the business class award space there. One seat.
"They’re the only airline to have seven seats across in Club World"
Indeed. They are the ONLY airline to have Club World.
And doesn't Toronto/New York as a 787 route seem odd? Seems to be better paired to a place like Calgary, not Toronto? There are 7 non-stops per day on the route.
I checked September 7 on ba.com and it showed no availability.
The middle seat in the row of three probably faces backwards, so it should not be any less space than other BA J seats. If you think about it, BA 6 seats across in their 767s and 8 in their 777s, so with a fuselage width between the 767 and 777, 7 abreast makes sense.