continentalclub

I'd like to say that I have better things to do with my time on a Saturday evening, but since that's clearly not the case, I think the answer is yes.

A quick bit of summery says that across SQ's F-carrying fleet of 744, 773 and 380, the absolute maximum number of seats they could have is 548, but I'm over-erring there because I'm not sure what the split between their three types of 773 is. They have some with 18 seats and some with 8. They have 19 in total on the fleet, so if you say it's 18 with 18 seats and 1 with 8, then you get the 548. JetQuay will, of course, bleed off some of those seats from the main terminal throughput.

Lufthansa operates F on 330, 343, 346 and 744. Again, I'm not sure of the splits - only one of two 346 versions carries F; two of three 343s. Again, erring on the side of caution and assuming that they only have one non-F 346 and one non-F 343, that gives a maximum possible number of seats of 952. Remember though that they're split between FRA and MUC.

British Airways, meanwhile, has 700 F seats on its 744s alone, all of which operate from Heathrow. The 777 fleet adds, I believe, 303 F seats, which gives a gross total of 1003. Some are indeed at Gatwick, or downroute on their way to and from SYD, but I don't think it's as great a proportion of the total than LH have at Munich of their combined fleet.

Now, of course, different airlines have different sector lengths and therefore the number of flights per day will vary but, broadly, it would seem sensible to suggest that BA's LHR F passenger count, or at least passenger-mile count, is probably double SQ's total and significantly higher than LH's at FRA.

However, I am one passenger and I can choose where all of my money goes, so whilst the above figures may suggest that BA has a bigger logistical task on its hands to process F passengers, that doesn't necessarily matter to me.

If I'm London-based (or terminating) then I may value direct service over a FRA connection, and SQ only have service to one BA directly-served destination, plus SYD if you consider a stop as tawdry as a connection. Taken together, and if there's little enough SIN/SYD traffic and enough London-direct demand traffic, then they BA don't need to worry too greatly about what LH and SQ are up to.

If, however, they have one eye on business that originates or terminates in the UK regions and which necessitates a stop which might just as (if not more) easily be at AMS, FRA, ZRH etc., or an eye on what Star may do at Heathrow, what open skies (the treaty, not the airline) may develop into and how many VS passengers they'd like to attract, then all of a sudden the prospect of a *A FCT at LHR could jolt BA from any complacency which might currently permeate the product departments (ground services division).

Personally, I can live with not having the direct route from F check-in to the CCR, but only if the wretched South Security is ripped out and replaced with tried-and-tested technology. And I can cope without a direct link from the CCR to the aircraft; I can even cope with being bussed to the outbound aircraft, but if I must be bussed inbound then it must be on a premium bus which leaves the aircraft the moment the last F passenger disembarks.

Neither of those two things would seem to me to be overly expensive; the persistence of the security trays smacks to me of BAA pig-headedness (or, more likely, a senior bod trying to cover his/her backside for a clearly farcical decision) - the buses, well, I just can't explain why anyone at British Airways thinks that the current set-up is in any way acceptable, even on an exceptional basis.

Heretical as it might seem, what I'd also like (if it's the only way to make it pay) is a JetQuay at T5 with absolutely anything any passenger would like, subject to nothing more than their own credit limit.

PS: I still love the new seat