Inside British Airways new A320neo aircraft with its super-thin seats and power sockets

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• Mark says:

  21 Apr21 April 05:29

  I’m excited to see some carbon reducing measures going in that hopefully won’t affect comfort much. What strikes me is those routes are all fairly long and presumably have strong demand to fill the extra seats.

  Slightly OT, but one thing i always liked about the Avios booking site was the ability to Carbon offset your flight during the booking process, i don’t think BA offers it yet.

  • Chris Palmer says:

    21 Apr21 April 09:31

    Ha, yes. Carbon offsetting. The ability to buy an indulgence so you can keep on sinning.

    • luckyjim says:

      21 Apr21 April 10:28

      We now have the opposite service too, where you effectively pay someone to produce more GHGs.

      It’s called Bitcoin.

      • Aeronaut says:

        21 Apr21 April 10:37

        @luckyjim – well said!

      • Lady London says:

        21 Apr21 April 20:31

        GHGs? Is that otherwise known as hot air?

  • john says:

    21 Apr21 April 11:09

    CO2 emission from global aviation account for under 2% of total man-made C02 emissions. Agriculture account for circa 51% (specifically due to meat consumption).

• Jonathan says:

  21 Apr21 April 06:22

  I always wondered what it would be like having a poo with my legs up. Guess I’ll need to try this plane to find out ????????????

• Catalan says:

  21 Apr21 April 06:39

  I’ve travelled on easyJet aircraft with those Recaro seats. They were surprisingly comfortable despite having no recline.
  With BA the disappointment for me is the removal of the centre console table in Club Europe. It was a differentiator when it came to Euro business class. Now they’re like the boring unimaginative Lufthansa, Finnair, Air France crowd.
  I wonder if they’ll have a rethink?

  • Taza says:

    21 Apr21 April 06:43

    With the removal of the console table, I’m assuming it’s been replaced with another seat?

    • Rob says:

      21 Apr21 April 09:37

      Seat will not be sold.

      • GUWonder says:

        23 Apr23 April 09:36

        … for now.

        I wouldn’t be surprised if BA tries to fill in those middle seats with passengers at some future point. SAS has already charted this course when it comes to the short-haul forward/forward-most premium cabin passengers.

  • Stephen Lee says:

    21 Apr21 April 09:07

    I see no point in paying extra for Business Class. I went to Budapest not so long ago by BA Club Europe. What benefit was there for me ? I did not need the food as I had eaten in the lounge. I could have access to a different lounge being an HSBC card holder. The seats were the same divided by a curtain. I could board earlier. um…..

    • Lady London says:

      21 Apr21 April 11:20

      There is still just slightly more grovelling in Business Class.

      • Lady London says:

        21 Apr21 April 11:21

        Oh, and more luggage if you want it. Until they reduce it to the old Economy level.

    • stevehh says:

      21 Apr21 April 11:36

      Tier points

  • flyforfun says:

    21 Apr21 April 09:30

    I too have flown Easyjet on the seats and it really depends on the length of flight. 3 to 4 hours going to Greece and Cyprus on them, it wasn’t comfortable after the 2nd hour. I take with me an inflatable headrest (especially as often these are 7am flights and I’m still asleep while boarding!) and ended up using the inflatable as a back pillow to get some relief.

    On flights to Amsterdam of less than an hour, I’ve got no issue.

  • Rob says:

    21 Apr21 April 09:38

    There is a weight issue with the new planes so probably not.

    • kovacsi76 says:

      23 Apr23 April 14:57

      They should have taken out the middle seats along with the console tables, would have saved a few more kilos 😛

  • Lady London says:

    21 Apr21 April 11:19

    I’ve travelled on those seats and believe me 2 hours is the limit.

• Taza says:

  21 Apr21 April 06:41

  I’m curious to know what the club Europe seats look like without the console table.

  What will be the benefit of flying club Europe then?

  • Geoff says:

    21 Apr21 April 10:02

    There always was a seat there, just covered by a tray insert, which will now just be an empty seat in the Club section. There will still be a seat-back tray in the middle seat which could be used but would have to be folded for the window occupant to get out. Club benefits remain as now – 4 per row instead of 6, more luggage space (or less luggage in the same space), additional tier points/avios, free food and drink as well as priority boarding/check-in/lounge access (assuming you don’t already have any of that from status).

• David Passmore says:

  21 Apr21 April 06:52

  It would seem you need to be a contortionist to use that toilet. I feel sorry for any ‘person of size’ who would need to use the loo.

• Nick says:

  21 Apr21 April 07:06

  I don’t know why BA don’t just put in some of the old bottom-punishing bench seating that we had in third-class train carriages in the steam age, and be done with it!

  • Jon says:

    21 Apr21 April 09:33

    Excellent idea. If they remove all the armrests (maybe except for the one at the aisle-end), not only will they save all that weight, but – just like those old trains at rush hour – I’m sure a seat designed for three people could be made to fit four. Instant 33% increase in passenger capacity. Yay. Never mind the quality, feel the width! Prrobably only needs one seatbelt across the whole bench, too, so more weight-saving. Ker-ching! (No-one at BA reads this forum, do they? Oh…. Oops. Sowwy 😉

  • Lady London says:

    21 Apr21 April 11:24

    ThamesLink have come close to that. Even the ride to Gatwick can be punishing if you’re not well padded.

    But commuters don’t have to worry – most of them will be standing not sitting.

• Graham Walsh says:

  21 Apr21 April 07:10

  Looks like it will be fun using the toilet with me sons. An adult and a 5 yr old in there at the same time!!

  • Stephen Lynn says:

    21 Apr21 April 07:33

    The two of you will not fit. It’s that simple.

    • Nick says:

      21 Apr21 April 08:21

      Yes, and can anyone (or did anyone at BA) foresee many parents having to attend to young kids with the door open as a result! This could result in more unpleasant odours than normal near the toilet, as well as potential safety concerns due to access blocking. Oh, yes, and wet toliet floors too!

      • Catalan says:

        21 Apr21 April 10:12

        The toilet is designed and fitted by Airbus. Perhaps they don’t have children

      • Nick says:

        21 Apr21 April 10:31

        The cabin crew are able to merge the two rear loos into one for passengers who require accompaniment and/or space to move around. But again, don’t let facts ruin a good rant!

        • Rob says:

          21 Apr21 April 11:34

          Should an overweight person really need to get the cabin crew to convert the two loos (not a five second job)?

      • ankomonkey says:

        21 Apr21 April 21:50

        This happened to me on a Thomas Cook flight with my 5 year old last year. He did an absolute stinker and we couldn’t both fit in the toilet. I had to hold the door shut from the outside and periodically check on him. The toilet was right near the galley where they prepared the food!!!

    • Lady London says:

      21 Apr21 April 11:25

      And to cover their a$$ against being accused of not catering for the disabled, they do have 1 toilet that’s closer to the space people actually need.

• FlyUpTop says:

  21 Apr21 April 07:28

  Looks uncomfy, let’s hope nobody gets the big guy next to them for the duration of the journey! ????

  • @mkcol says:

    21 Apr21 April 10:02

    As the seat width hasn’t changed, I don’t see how that will be any different.

    • Lady London says:

      21 Apr21 April 11:27

      Er… some people are wider than the space left around the seat in the new ‘tiny loo’.

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