Wozza2404

EK manage 14 F suites (double doors, desk, mini bar, etc.) with 2 shower suites in the F cabin, plus 76 J seats and the bar area at the back. If BA had wanted to put J and F upstairs, it would have been perfectly possible.

Sixth Freedom

LOPA modelling is an extremely interesting optimisation problem!

You have to aim to maximise revenue subject to the forecast demand over a long time period, space constraints and the sizes of the seats.

The demand forecast debate, especially the correct balance of each cabin, is fun enough.

But more fun comes when you can consider adjusting the size of the seats (e.g. 2-4-2 vs. 3-3-3)!

Behindthecurtain

Don't mention 3-3-3.... There will be tears before bedtime if you do

inkiboo

Yes, really and this is coming from someone who is due to hit Gold in two months.

I fly BA because I live 10 minutes from Heathrow and rather than spread my flights over a number of different carriers, I fly BA to pool miles and tier points. If I were picking purely on product, I wouldn't fly BA.

Premium Economy - Virgin and NZ are far better
Business - I prefer the bed of Upper Class and like Business First from United (although having to cross people's feet annoys me on both BA and United)
First - BA First really isn't that special

I thought BA would have taken this opportunity to use a new aircraft, with new economics and space, to try something different.

inkiboo

Couldn't agree with this more.

I've spent 5 years as Virgin Gold and in two months will be BA Gold. I don't fly BA through choice but comparing lounges at T5, the Club lounge is YEARS behind the Virgin Clubhouse at T3. It's just a dull place to sit and get free drinks and food whereas the Clubhouse actually adds to the experience.

Now with the A380, we aren't seeing anything new. Shame.

Wozza2404

I agree with the sentiment, but don't get too wrapped up comparing VS and BA. VS has no F, so comparing the Clubhouse to the CCR suddenly offers a very different winner.

I think you're either VS or BA. It's unusual to find someone who regularly flies both. Personally I like the VS experience (particularly the CC!), but the BAEC and the ability to aquire Avios almost at will makes BA a logical choice for me.

That said, if I want something truly luxurious, I'll just fly EK F; which smashes both of them out the park.

gum

No, am convinced it´s not as silly as you may think. Many reports in newspapers stated that the A380 provides a significant reduction in cost for the air carriers.

Therefore it´s a completely legitimate question: Who has the greatest profit from the new economies of scale? Only F pax with a four abreast seating and lots of space or does BA invest in a new cabin layout also for Club World, World Traveller Plus and World traveller. Do customers honor that?

One example can bring light to the calculation. By chance I have searched for a flight from Munich to Hong Kong for a date at the begin of July 13. (Therefore not the highest season in Germany).

It delivers the following prices for MUC->LHR->HKG->LHR->MUC.

For an easier calculation just have stated one way prices.
WT: 526 Euro
WTP: 796 Euro
CW: 1.596 Euro

So the price hike from WT to WTP for the two longhaul sectors LHR->HKG->LHR is more than 33 %. For that price you will get some inches more legroom and only 7 instead of 8 seats per row. No own dedicated facilities like lavatories or a tiny version of "raid the larder":

Due to the economies of scale the costs of every WT and WTP seat are much lower than with the actual fleet of e.g. B747-400.

Therefore noone of the lower/non-premium classes profits by the usage of the A380. It´s just like a larger package size. Therefore I am convinced BA has missed the chance.

E.g. by a Premium UD with a 1-1-1 layout for First, a Club layout and WTP with less than 7 seats per row or dedicated facilities. But that´s just my opinion of how I would introduce a new tyype of a/c.

nh1980

Disappointing layout on the A380, just looks so crowded and they are still keeping rear facing/alternating CW seats?! Would have preferred a premium only upper-deck but in the current layout I hope they can sell at least one of the upper deck CW mini-dorms as child-free.

I haven't been able to see much detail from the diagrams but I really think F and CW should have separate airbridge (how great would it be to have this bridge direct from a new T5C lounge which has got to be coming surely? Makes no sense people having to leave the T5A lounges so early or endless musical lifts by going to T5B), but assuming they only have two bridges (one for upstairs, one for downstairs) then this would be a bit disappointing

Steve_ZA

I think that this would often be the case. I personally would pick the LD with the EF pair when traveling with Mrs & Mstr Steve ZA - I'm sure others would do the same.

lovejapan

JAL and ANA currently fly in the 2-4-2 layout, but it looks as though one of them will go 3-3-3 soon.

Jimmie76

I fly BA amongst other things because they don't make claims that subsequently fail to live up to the hype. Did you ever see what VS and SRB claimed was a double bed. Just removing the centre divider from two suites at 90 degrees to each other isn't what I would think of as a double bed. I can't wait to see the casino, gym and beauty parlour on the VS A380 fleet but I won't be holding my breath I'm told that the LHR Clubhouse is fantastic and full of fun things to do, and you may enjoy spending hours there. However the lounge is just a place to wait for the main reason for the trip to LHR which is the flight.

Yes they could have done something different initially for the A380 but we don't know that they are going to stay with the same seats for the long haul (pun not intended). Also the public seem to still be flying with BA so it can't be all bad.

globalste

I personally think it will be better in that middle seat, quite nice and private.

Having economy upstairs I am certain that ba will charge more for selecting a seat that is upstairs rather than downstairs, so it could be a revenue maker. I can't think of any weight or balance issues that could occur. They probably couldn't fit all club and wt+ seats up there

I am dissapointed that WTP in the 787 will not be 2-2-2, I was really hoping for more cabins like the 767 with the new seats

Wozza2404

What would have been everyone's preference? In a nutshell...

For me:

"Family friendly" CW section in the nose.
F and remaing CW upstairs. "Premium deck".
WTP behind the downstairs CW cabin.
Y at the back.

Flexible preferences

How about

F upstairs in the nose, stairs behind (so no through traffic)
CW rest of upstairs
CW downstairs in front section
WTP downstairs just behind CW
WT rest of downstairs

Sixth Freedom

To be honest I would have filled the upper deck with CW, put F on the lower deck to take advantage of the opportunity to offer angled seats, put WT+ behind F and filled the remainder of the lower deck with WT.

I would then where necessary have used CW as virtual WT+ and WT+ as virtual WT in RM optimisation processes and upgraded accordingly.