Some more cheerless news about the new ‘densified’ British Airways short-haul aircraft

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• Tim M says:

  2 Jan2 January 08:48

  When an airline restricts sales of lucrative business class seats due to lack of storage space for associated food trays something is seriously amiss.

  How much do small LCD monitors weigh – half a pound? When will BA start weighing passengers and imposing a proportional fuel surcharge?

  • Nick says:

    2 Jan2 January 08:50

    The screens don’t weigh a huge amount… but have you ever seen what powers them? A full-size VCR-style unit at the front (or back). This costs fuel to carry around.

• Nick says:

  2 Jan2 January 08:48

  A proper ploughmans would be fantastic! Totally delicious. I think Rob’s point is that a Milanese businessman needs something more substantial for lunch.

  CE will not become a fixed length, so there’s no need to suggest putting in ‘proper’ seats. BA will still want the flexibility that comes from having a moveable curtain, just some of the ‘nicer’ (and I use that term loosely!) will be used for economy – presumably DYKWIA Golds.

  Do we know by how many the CE cabin will be capped? It’ll potentially have a big impact on fares 🙁

• Paul says:

  2 Jan2 January 09:00

  I’m struggling to get my head around this one (2 day hangover!)

  Reduced seat pitch but with slimmer seats that have a USB. To what extent do the slimmer seats negate the reduced seat pitch?

  Will CE all have USB as well?

  Has in flight WiFi been discounted/disregarded for short haul?

  • Andrew says:

    2 Jan2 January 09:40

    Indeed. Simply talking about seat pitch (the distance from the back of one seat to the back of the next one) is pretty useless when the seat thickness itself is also reducing. What’s important is the distance from the back of one seat to the front of the one behind.

• Leo says:

  2 Jan2 January 09:04

  It’s the legroom that gets me. Surprised no-one else really comments on it. HfPs readers can’t all be short? Anyway this is probably the death knell fot me. I’ll probably give up on avios given that I don’t fit in the planes.

  • Chris says:

    2 Jan2 January 11:05

    me too,

    Club Europe, sat right at the front is fine, i really struggle to fit my 6ft3 frame in 29″.
    recently flew to Cyprus with sleazy jet, they have thin seats that aren’t too uncomfortable, aisle seat was bearable on the way out, middle seat was bordering claustrophobic panic attack.

    When will BA learn that if people want EasyJet they’ll book EasyJet. I’ve been booking BA over the years as it worked out cheaper than easyjet by the time i add my bike, a suitcase a few beers and food in the plane.

• Ben says:

  2 Jan2 January 09:36

  With Buy-On-Board, charging for luggage and seat assignments and now 29” pitch, there are really very few differences between BA and their LCC compeditors unless you are BA Gold (which most people are not). I flew EasyJet twice over the past week and I’m liking them more and more (theyre the one LCC I havent been flying much for whatever reason). Both flights left and arrived on time, hand baggage was not weighed or measured and the new(ish) uniforms look very smart. I also LOVED walking across that skybridge thing at Gatwick North – the view of all the planes is incredible. Heathrow T5 on Dec 22nd was like the Seventh Circle of Hell – the Galleries lounge was disgusting.
  I still dislike Wizz and I’m still pretty neutral on Ryanair and Vueling but I have no issues flying Easyjet or Norwegian where they are cheaper than BA on the same route (which they usually are).

  • Optimus Prime says:

    2 Jan2 January 09:42

    Speaking of lounges – I was at Plaza Premium LHR T5 on 21st Dec and was quiet and peaceful…

    • Rob says:

      2 Jan2 January 10:33

      I haven’t got in there yet and the press event they promised has not (yet?) materialised, possibly because the showers etc are not yet open.

      • @mkcol says:

        2 Jan2 January 12:01

        I sent my mother in there on 22/12 & again on 28/12 on her way to/from Oslo from Edinburgh.
        She’s a critical old bird but could only give it a thumbs up each time, said the showers seemed to be in frequent use, liked some of the more private “booth style” seating for privacy when travelling solo & found it handy near the domestic gates A7/A8 area.

      • Phil Huff says:

        2 Jan2 January 23:23

        I was in the Plaza Premium lounge recently. There was literally nobody else there, I was all alone.

        Brilliant.

  • Wade says:

    2 Jan2 January 10:51

    A couple of times recently on EasyJet I’ve been far back enough in the queue (which wasn’t very far back at all) that they’ve made me check my hand luggage – not every time, often enough to be annoying but not enough to put me off if the price is right!

  • fivebobbill says:

    2 Jan2 January 14:56

    Gime a break mate, comparing BA with “SleazyJet”? Wait til you have a problem…
    SleazyJet is a very fitting name for this shower. If you have an issue with BA connecting, be it delays etc, at least they’ll get you there eventually. SleazyJet on the other hand are an “end to end” carrier, if one of their flights is delayed getting you to their connecting flight, you are on your own!
    And they’re worse than that, I had a time a few years back when I had booked Belfast – Luton, Luton – Warsaw. They emailed me 2 weeks before the flights to tell me they were cancelling the Luton – Warsaw flight, but that I could have a refund… but just for that leg, the Belfast – Luton leg I could “suck it up” as they are an “end to end” carrier, and they are 2 seperate bookings! I lost my money. even though the only reason I was flying to Luton in the first place was to meet the Warsaw connection!
    Unless my only other option in the near future is to swim, I will never fly with SleazyJet again.
    If you ever have to do a connect with this shower again, and value actually getting to where you want to go, BEAR THIS IN MIND!

• Malibu Stacey says:

  2 Jan2 January 09:40

  Pret do sell a cheese and pickle sandwhich aka a ploughmans.

  • Tommy Cooper says:

    2 Jan2 January 09:50

    I had a ploughman’s lunch the other day. He was livid.

    • Paul says:

      2 Jan2 January 10:12

      🙂

    • Worzel says:

      2 Jan2 January 10:15

      He’s with me now- fortunately it’s not too far to leg it out and get some Cheddar! 🙂 .

• Rich says:

  2 Jan2 January 09:47

  With the demise of Monarch (and the option of 34” pitch) there really are no good economy options left…. the thought of 4 1/2 hours back from Cyprus or similar in those seats is just grim. As somebody who is long of thigh my knees already touch the seat in front….

  • @mkcol says:

    2 Jan2 January 12:02

    This is where I’m happy to fly easyJet/Norwegian & pay for exit row, when I can’t get them on a BA RFS

    • Cate says:

      2 Jan2 January 12:52

      +1.
      To add with Norwegian you also get money back from previous flights (not much) to put against future bookings.

• Alan says:

  2 Jan2 January 09:56

  Did BA have to redo the “time taken to safely evacuate the aircraft” test?

  I’m presuming they did and it all went OK.

  Removing a toilet really does seem a bit of a bad idea. Whilst I don’t use toilets in SH planes, I’m concerned about sitting in seats after other people that usually do use the toilets but were unable to due to lack of availability!

  • Rob says:

    2 Jan2 January 10:32

    easyJet will have 6 more seats per identical plane than BA so won’t be an issue.

    • Tim says:

      2 Jan2 January 11:08

      but EasyJet have both front and back toilets available for everyone.

  • Andrew M says:

    2 Jan2 January 10:54

    Bring a bottle?

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