The first British Airways Boeing 787-8 with Club Suite starts flying this month

If all goes to plan, the first British Airways 787-8 to be refurbished with Club Suite will begin commercial flights next week on 15th June.

The launch was originally due last Autumn but the 787-8 refurbishment program has faced several delays, in part because Boeing is busy putting out fires on its MAX and 777X programs.

As the ‘first of type’ to be refurbished, aircraft G-ZBJA has had to complete additional certification. Once this first aircraft is approved others can follow more quickly.

Club Suite is BA’s new business class seat, first unveiled in 2019 on the brand new A350 fleet. 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.

British Airways is installing Club Suite on Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners

The Boeing 787-8 is the smallest variant in the Dreamliner family, and a whole 11 metres shorter than the 787-10.

British Airways uses its 787-8 for long, low volume, routes, predominantly to the United States. It is often the aircraft that British Airways uses to launch new routes such as Cincinnati, which was new last year.

Looking at the new seat map for the Club Suite refurbished 787-8 aircraft, British Airways is reducing the overall seat count in favour of installing additional premium capacity. There will be:

• 31 seats in Club World (business class) – down from 35
• 37 seats in World Traveller Plus (premium economy) – up from 25
• 136 seats in World Traveller (economy) – down from 154

As before, the 787-8s do not feature a First Class cabin.

It is not entirely surprising to see the business class cabin shrink as Club Suite is marginally less dense than the old yin-yang style seat. It also makes sense to bump up the premium economy cabin as this is usually the most over-booked, and indeed the most profitable cabin per square metre for many airlines.

Which Boeing 787-8 routes are getting Club Suite?

Flyertalk has created a handy list of flights where you can expect to find the newly refurbished aircaft. As always, things can change and the plane may need to be swapped out for technical reasons.

The first routes to get the Club Suite refurbished 787-8 will be Baltimore, Chennai and Montreal.

If you’re wondering how BA is managing to launch three routes with one aircraft, it’s because BA does not dedicate aircraft to particular routes but rotates them to maximise their flying hours. It will only operate selected services on each route.

Baltimore

Baltimore is the first destination to see the new aircraft with flights launching on Saturday 15th June. Currently the plane is scheduled to operate on flights to (BA229) and from (BA228) Baltimore on the following days:

• 15th June
• 17th June
• 20th June
• 22nd June
• 24th June
• 27th June
• 29th June

Chennai

Next up is Chennai. From Heathrow, you should find Club Suite on BA35 on the following days:

• 16th June
• 19th June
• 21st June
• 23rd June
• 26th June
• 28th June
• 30th June

On the return flight, BA36:

• 17th June
• 20th June
• 22nd June
• 24th June
• 27th June
• 29th June
• 1st July

Montreal

Meanwhile, Montreal is only seeing the new cabin on two days this month, with flights in both directions (BA95 and BA94) on the following days:

• 18th June
• 25th June

How long will the Boeing 787-8 Club Suite refurbishment take?

BA has twelve Boeing 787-8s in its fleet. At current rates, it would take just under a year for those aircraft to be refurbished. If anything, the refurbishment rate seems to have slowed in recent months. It is not clear if this is down to supply chains, engineering capacity or simply the extended certification process on this first aircraft.

It’s not clear what the delay to the 787-8 refurbishment will mean for the upcoming A380 overhaul.

How do I know if my flight features Club Suite?

By far the easiest way of checking whether you are in Club Suite is by checking the seat map on ba.com. Anyone on one of the affected flights should have received an email detailing a change of aircraft.

If the Club cabin is in a 1-2-1 layout like the image below then it is currently scheduled to have Club Suite.

Unfortuantely, with just one Boeing 787-8 currently refurbished, the chances remain slim. Hopefully, BA can refurbish the fleet faster than it has the Boeing 777 fleet.

If you want to find out more about Club Suite, and why it is a big upgrade over the old seat, you can read our British Airways Club Suite guide here.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (June 2025)

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 points worth 0.8 Avios per £1 on the FREE standard card and 1 Avios per £1 on the Pro card. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

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.