NOW BOOKABLE: British Airways A380 flights to Frankfurt and Madrid

As we exclusively announced a couple of weeks ago, British Airways will be running A380 aircraft between London Heathrow and Frankfurt / Madrid in November.

This is being done to allow cabin crew to become familiar with the aircraft again after 18 months away. The A380 fleet will then move to the Dubai, Los Angeles and Miami routes, with Dallas Fort Worth also being considered.

Flights are now confirmed. If you’ve never flown an A380, or just want to get back in the air on a flat bed for the day, this is your chance.

What is the timetable for A380 flights to Frankfurt and Madrid?

This is what you need to know:

• Flights start on Monday 8th November

• Flights end on Thursday 2nd December, ahead of the start of long-haul operations

• A380 aircraft will operate seven days per week

Frankfurt (Sun-Fri):

You are looking for the BA902, departing Heathrow at 07.10 and arriving into Frankfurt at 09.55.

The return flight is BA903, leaving Frankfurt at 11.25 and arriving at Heathrow at 12.15.

Frankfurt (Sat):

The flight swaps to an afternoon departure, leaving Heathrow at 15.55 and landing at 18.40.

The return leaves Frankfurt at 20.10, landing in Heathrow at 21.00.

Madrid (Sun-Fri):

The outbound flight is BA462, leaving Heathrow at 15.15 and landing in Madrid at 18.45.

The return departs Madrid at 20.15 and lands in Heathrow at 21.30.

Madrid (Sat):

The flight swaps to a morning departure, leaving Heathrow at 06.20 and landing at 09.55.

The return leaves Madrid at 11.25, landing in Heathrow at 12.55.

Times may vary slightly from day to day.

Before you book ….

If you are thinking of trying one of these flights:

• check on ba.com that the flight is showing an A380 aircraft – you do this by clicking the ‘Flight Details’ button during the flight selection process. This should pop up:

• you have NO RIGHTS if British Airways swaps your flight back to an A320 and you lose your Club World flat bed – although you can of course take a ‘Future Travel Voucher’ and use that to rebook

• feedback on Flyertalk this morning (see here) is that you cannot book the Upper Deck in Club World – this may or may not be a bug, and may change based on customer demand and/or BA’s need for crew to get experience of working the Upper Deck

• you cannot book First Class

• this should go without saying, but in Business Class you will only receive standard Club Europe food – not the full Club World meal service

• there isn’t a huge amount of value in booking these flights in Economy Class, although obviously you will have a fairly empty cabin – the real value is the Club World flat bed

• no A380 aircraft have the new Club Suite

• there is a chance that the IFE system is not switched on, although you should be OK

Enjoy your trip! We may see you on one.

---

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.