The first British Airways A380 is finally here – and how to book on the training flights

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• James67 says:

  5 Jul5 July 07:28

  BA of old would have been a gamechanger with their a380 … this shows just how far they have fallen … 7 or 8 across in J compared to 4 on SQ and an even more impressive offset 4 on TG! BA clearly the worst a380 around, a retrofit must surely be inevitable already. Still, a good replacement for the fantastic 748s but BA needs more of them, 12 is a joke. I hope a350s will replace totally the horrible noisy 777s whicb has poor ambiance in all cabins but especially in economy with those airlines seating 10 across. As for 787, imo it is just too small and cramped for longhaul flights and with ongoing reports of safety issues I hope I dont have to fly it anytime soon. Keeping it a secret is a good idea.

  • Mark says:

    5 Jul5 July 10:30

    To be honest I find NGCW very comfortable (though F is obviously better :-). Having to step over someone’s legs to get out isn’t great, but if it the seating density helps BA to compete with airlines that have a lower cost base that’s a small price to pay. It’s not really 7 or 8 across in the sense that the Ying Yang configuration provides greater width where you need it, across the shoulders and when seated upright, at the expense of less where you don’t.

    The SQ seats are often said to be too wide when seated upright, and you have to sleep diagonally across them due to a much lower seat pitch (55 inches vs 73 inches for BA) so your comparison is not quite a fair one.

    The 787s will be great for emerging destinations where BA would not be able to fill larger aircraft. Small does not necessarily mean cramped, though I agree 9 abreast in Y is not attractive for a long flight. The small J cabins on the other hand are a definite plus. Size wise the 787-10s will be more similar to BA’s 777-200 fleet than the A350-1000s, the latter making good replacements for most of the 747 fleet where the an A380 would be difficult to fill profitably.

    • James67 says:

      5 Jul5 July 10:58

      Actually I am in agreement with much of what you say. I too find CW rather comfortable and enjoy the privacy it offers when flying solo. But it does have a cramped feel affecting cabin ambiance. I have flew the SQ a380 J seat twice and to be honest I dislike ot. The seat pitch to width ratio actually feels somewhat peculiar. As an averaged sized person I found the seat uncomgortable. Ot had zero contpurs and I slid all over it. I guess larger build pax make like it though. The SQ cabin though feels more spacious with nicer ambiance. I guess I am just disappointed we got nothing new from BA. I will try Thai for first time later this year. I tjink theor seat and layout looks impressive for both couples and solos. In Decber I will get to try MH which seems much more convenyional.

• Jules Verne says:

  5 Jul5 July 07:45

  This seat (from the photos links above) doesn’t look good:
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/businesstraveller/9206834315/in/set-72157634487851062/
  Two entertainment boxes underneath the one seat!..Really???!!

  • Mark says:

    5 Jul5 July 10:33

    Definitely not good. You’d think in this day and age they would have found a way to shrink them and/or put them somewhere that doesn’t impede on already limited passenger space.

  • xcalx says:

    5 Jul5 July 12:50

    Is the photo is of the economy seat ? It must be.

    • xcalx says:

      5 Jul5 July 12:55

      Forget the above I can now view the picture better. I had a senior moment (wrong glasses)

    • Mark says:

      5 Jul5 July 13:52

      Yes, looks like an upper deck economy seat with the side storage.

• Jules Verne says:

  5 Jul5 July 07:48

  Will be interesting to see how the people in the rear facing Business Class middle seat get served…looks like the crew will be doing a bit of leaning over the other passengers. I can’t tell if that would be a good seat or not.

  • Mike says:

    5 Jul5 July 19:55

    I believe the correct way to serve the window seat is through the divider, so no different to now. You do get some crew peering round the back wall but that’s not how they are meant to do it.

    They push the button, divider goes down, serve, walk off, leaving you to raise it again.

    I think the problem will be which side serves the middle seat and you end up getting forgotten about.

• Lady London says:

  5 Jul5 July 09:32

  2:3:2 layout in Business Class? I like 1:2:1 better!
  Is any other airline putting more then 2 seats together in Business Class on the 380?

  • Rob says:

    5 Jul5 July 09:38

    Emirates is 2x4x2 upstairs. However, the design is clever and the middle seats can be entered without climbing over the aisle passenger. The trade off is that the aisle seats have less leg room, to create a little walkthrough to reach the middle.

• Neil Clarke says:

  5 Jul5 July 13:19

  Going to miss the upper deck 747 experience though. I know people say it gets too hot and the 380 has an upper deck but its just not the same!
  Personally i will be booking as much 747 time as i can in the coming year because i will miss her.

• Thywillbedone says:

  5 Jul5 July 13:43

  Looks like same small PTVs in club…I have given up using these in favour of my iPhone as the pixelation is terrible and with reflections off the screen I start to feel I am going blind! New colour scheme looks better…hopefully the whole thing will feel less plasticky.

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