The last British Airways A350 arrives: how is the Club Suite roll-out progressing?

British Airways will receive its final A350-1000 this week, completing a fleet of eighteen aircraft.

This completes an order first placed with Airbus in 2013, with the first aircraft delivered in 2019.

At the same time, British Airways is also in the final throes of its Boeing 777 fleet refurbishment program, installing Club Suite across the entire Heathrow-based fleet of 44 aircraft.

Both milestones mean it is worth taking another look at where we stand in the rollout of Club Suite as we push on into 2024.

Club Suite is BA’s next-generation business class seat, first unveiled in 2019 on the brand new A350s. It is a big step up from the now dated yin-yang layout first introduced in 2006. Our full guide to Club Suite is here.

How many aircraft have Club Suite now?

Here are the latest fleet numbers as of December 2023, courtesy of Flyertalk, adjusted the recent A350 deliveries.

British Airways currently has 66 long haul aircraft with the new Club Suite cabin:

• 18 brand new A350s delivered between 2019 and 2024
• 7 brand new 787-10s delivered last year
• 28 777-200ERs that have been refitted
• 13 777-300s (which also feature the new First Suite)

This equates to 59% (66 of 111) of the total long haul fleet at Heathrow that currently have Club Suite installed.

That’s a 7% improvement from January 2023, although the Heathrow fleet has also grown by seven aircraft in that time – in reality an additional 12 aircraft now feature Club Suite.

There are currently no plans to refurbish the Gatwick fleet. Three ex-Gatwick aircraft are currently based at Heathrow and are not included in the numbers above.

Which aircraft will get Club Suite next?

British Airways now says that it won’t complete its Club Suite rollout until the end of 2026. Assuming that is true, then it is “only” a year behind schedule – not bad given the global pandemic and subsequent supply chain shortage that has happened in the meantime.

The next aircraft to enter the hangar for refurbishment are likely to be the Boeing 787-8s. Work on these was due to start in 2023 but that was also delayed.

At current speeds, it would take an entire year to refit just the 787-8 fleet, before work is even started on the remaining 18 787-9s and 12 A380s. Clearly, though, BA thinks the pace is going to pick up in the coming year.

It will need to refurbish at least 42 aircraft in the next two years if it is to achieve its goal. This is even harder than it looks because the A380s feature massive Club cabins, as large or even larger than two of its other widebodies combined.

In the meantime, it will continue to receive line-fresh 787-10 aircraft in 2024 which come with Club Suite on board. At least five of these are expected over the next 12 months.

Which routes will have Club Suite in 2024?

With over half the fleet now featuring Club Suite, your chances are good that you will get it.

You can find out if your flight has Club Suite by checking the seat map. If the Club cabin is in a 1-2-1 layout like the image below then it is currently scheduled to have Club Suite.

The following routes are scheduled to have Club Suite for the summer 2024 season (April to the end of October). This is based on official BA information.

Club Suite destinations in North America

• Atlanta (some Boeing 777)
• Austin (A350)
• Baltimore (Boeing 787-10 only)
• Boston (Boeing 777 only)
• Chicago (Boeing 777 only)
• Denver (A350)
• Houston (Boeing 777)
• Las Vegas (A350)
• Los Angeles (Boeing 777 only)
• Nashville (Boeing 777)
• New Orleans (Boeing 787-10 only)
• New York JFK (Boeing 777)
• New York Newark (Boeing 777 and Boeing 787-10)
• Philadelphia (A350)
• Phoenix (A350)
• Portland, Oregon (Boeing 777 only)
• San Diego (Boeing 777 only)
• San Francisco (Boeing 777 only)
• Seattle (Boeing 777 only)
• Toronto (A350)
• Vancouver (A350)
• Washington Dulles (Boeing 777 only)

Club Suite destinations in the Caribbean and Latin America

• Bahamas (some Boeing 777)
• Barbados (Boeing 787-10)
• Bermuda (Boeing 777)
• Buenos Aires (Boeing 777)
• Cayman Islands (some Boeing 777)
• Rio de Janeiro (Boeing 777)
• Sao Paulo (A350)
• Turks and Caicos (some Boeing 777)

Club Suite destinations in the Middle East and Africa

• Abuja (Boeing 777)
• Accra (A350)
• Bahrain (some Boeing 777)
• Cape Town (A350)
• Dubai (Boeing 777 only)
• Johannesburg (Boeing 777 only)
• Kuwait (Boeing 787-10 only)
• Lagos (Boeing 787-10)
• Nairobi (A350)
• Riyadh (Boeing 777)

Club Suite destinations in Asia

• Bangalore (A350)
• Beijing (Boeing 777)
• Delhi (Boeing 777 only)
• Doha (Boeing 777 and Boeing 787-10)
• Hong Kong (Boeing 777 only)
• Hyderabad (Boeing 777)
• Mumbai (Boeing 777 only)
• Tokyo Haneda (A350 only)

As always, schedules are subject to change and British Airways does not provide compensation if you do not get the expected aircraft. The routes above are simply our best guess of where we can expect Club Suite to be.

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