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Old Jun 16, 2014, 6:48 am
  #45  
lhrsinsyd
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 399
Why are we refreshing our short-haul cabins?
As part of the focus on short-haul, we are introducing a newly refreshed cabin on our 95 Airbus A320 family aircraft. This will give us extra capacity on our aircraft, both in response to customer demand and to ensure that we continue to maintain a viable short-haul operation for the future. The first refreshed aircraft, an A320, will fly from Heathrow in early July 2014.

What’s changing?
We’re transforming 95 of our short-haul aircraft with a refined new interior and new lighter, slimmer seats, which are cleverly designed to maximise comfort.

Will there be more seats on board?
On our A320s, our most numerous short-haul aircraft type, the seat total will rise by six – from 162 to 168.

On the A319s, the total rises by 11 from 132 to 143. A320s (51 aircraft) and A319s (33 aircraft) make up nearly 90 per cent of the aircraft being refitted.

We also have 11 A321s, in which seat numbers will rise from 188 to 205, an increase of 17.

What is the leg-room on the new seat?
Our economy cabins will feel more spacious, thanks to slimmer seats that are better designed (for example, we have placed a hard magazine rack at eye level where it can accommodate a laptop, removing it from the knee area, giving more room to stretch out). Seat-pitch in Euro Traveller at present is 30” on most of these aircraft and 29” on the rest. That will stay the same after the refit.

Our A321s and A320s have a 30” seat pitch in EuroTraveller and this will remain the case.
33 of our A319s will move from a 30” pitch to a 29” pitch. We already operate a number of aircraft with a 29” seat pitch.

Aircraft type Number of aircraft being refitted Number of seats moving from Number of seats moving to Total increase in number of seats Seat pitch
A320 51 162 168 6 CE 30”
ET 30”
A319 33 132 143 11 CE 30”
ET 29”
A321 11 188 205 17 CE 30”
ET 30”

What do the changes mean for Club Europe?
Club Europe seat-pitch will change from 34” to 30”. This is the same as business class seat-pitch as Lufthansa.
We’ll be maintaining the 2:2 configuration in Club Europe and the ‘central console’ separating the two seats has been redesigned to be a more useful and functional space, with areas for items such drinks, snacks and devices in addition to the seat-back table.

Our Club Europe customers tell us that what they value most is the additional privacy resulting from the middle seat being empty. That will not change and the new central console will improve how that space can be used.

Club Europe customers will also continue to benefit from use of our lounges, priority boarding and disembarkation, more personalised service and full catering on board.

What about the seat recline?
We’re reducing from 4.5” to 2” in Euro Traveller and 3” in Club Europe. The seat will still be comfortable for those seated in it who wish to recline, but it will also enable anyone working on a lap-top to continue to do so, should the person in front put their seat back. As it stands, it becomes impossible for people to be able to work comfortably. On these short flights few people want to sleep but many people want to work.

Will you still be able to convert Club Europe seats into Euro Traveller?
Yes, the new seats can be converted from Club Europe to Euro Traveller, providing us with flexibility to meet different levels of customer demand for different flights.

If there are more seats on board, are you increasing the amount of hand-baggage storage?
The shape of the seat allows more space underneath to store smaller items of hand baggage.

We’ve added more information on to ba.com and at online check-in to remind customers of their allowance.

There are new gauges and signage at the airports to enable customers to check they’re within their baggage limits and we are issuing tags for hand luggage that should go under the seats at check-in and at the gate. These will enable customers to know where to put their bags and act as a flag to cabin crew.

Once on board, we’ve speeded up boarding by removing the boarding card check (customers’ passports are checked and boarding passes scanned as they go through the gate so no repeat check is required).

Will you have to put bags in the hold if the cabin is full?
As is standard practice, we will place bags in the hold if they require it.

How will the refitted aircraft have environmental benefits?
The additional seats will mean fuel burn per passenger is reduced. On average, we estimate this will reduce CO2 per passenger/km by about five per cent.

What are we doing with bassinets?
We will be removing the bassinets because they are very rarely used and we feel that the space could be better used for customers on every flight.

When will the re-fit be completed?
We’re aiming to re-fit the 95 Airbus A320 family aircraft over the course of about a year to 18 months.

The Boeing 767 fleet, which fly our longer European sectors to the likes of Larnaca and Istanbul, was revamped in 2012. Eleven of the A319s and five of the A320s that we received when IAG bought bmi were given a new interior when they joined the BA fleet and the rest (the 737s and one ex-bmi A320 are leaving the fleet in 2015).
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