How much smaller is the British Airways long haul fleet post pandemic?

The British Airways long haul fleet is smaller than it was before the pandemic – but how much smaller?

As our other article today explains, British Airways is rumoured to be leasing an A330neo from Air Belgium to fly to Chicago for five months. Given the squeeze on the fleet, it has few options.

Routes such as Bangkok, Seoul, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Kuala Lumpur and Durban will probably come back to the British Airways network in time. The retirement of over 30 Boeing 747 aircraft during covid is causing severe issues, however.

British Airways currently has 15 fewer long haul aircraft than it had in March 2020. Average utilisation per aircraft is unchanged at 13 hours per day, meaning that there is a direct correlation to miles flown by the long haul fleet.

Here is how the fleet looked in March 2020 (hat-tip to Rob Walker on LinkedIn):

• 5 x A350-1000
• 0 x Boeing 787-10 (not yet introduced)
• 18 x Boeing 787-9
• 12 x Boeing 787-8
• 12 x A380-800
• 12 x Boeing 777-300
• 45 x Boeing 777-200
• 32 x Boeing 747-400

…. for a total of 136 aircraft.

Here is how it looks now:

• 13 x A350-1000
• 7 x Boeing 787-10
• 18 x Boeing 787-9
• 12 x Boeing 787-8
• 12 x A380-800
• 16 x Boeing 777-300
• 43 x Boeing 777-200
• 0 x Boeing 747-400 (all retired)

…. for a total of 121 aircraft.

Is British Airways going to fill the 15 aircraft gap with new arrivals? Not for a while. There are 10 x A350 and Boeing 787 aircraft to be delivered over the next couple of years – the 14th A350 is imminent. There will then be a gap until at least 2026 until the first of the Boeing 777-9 fleet arrives.

We’re probably looking at 2027 until the long haul fleet is back at 136 aircraft. This means that we may be waiting for four years to see a long haul schedule as varied as the one we had in 2019.

(In case you’re wondering, the narrow body fleet for short haul is pretty much as it was pre pandemic at 143 aircraft. Finnair and Avion are both providing additional resources at the moment with leased aircraft.)

Don’t get your hopes up too high though. In general, the new aircraft being delivered are smaller than the Boeing 747 aircraft they are replacing and this situation will only get worse if the A380 fleet is retired early. Even if the missing British Airways routes come back over the next few years, there may be a squeeze on the number of seats available.

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