Sep 14, 2014, 8:13 am
Last edit by: gingeola
BA FLEET: NEW AIRCRAFT ARRIVALS AND RETIREMENTS WIKI
BA are in the mid-stages of a large fleet renewal programme. The new aircraft enabled BA to retire the 767 and 737 Classic fleets with retirement of the 747 fleet and selected 777/A319 aircraft currently in progress.
This Wiki has been divided into:
BA are in the mid-stages of a large fleet renewal programme. The new aircraft enabled BA to retire the 767 and 737 Classic fleets with retirement of the 747 fleet and selected 777/A319 aircraft currently in progress.
This Wiki has been divided into:
- Projected Fleet
- New Arrivals
- Retrofits
- Retirements
- Historical Fleet
(Click on the aircraft type, where there is a link, to go to the relevant details in this wikipost.)
Projected Fleet
This renewal programme, which is being complemented with a cabin refresh for some of the older aircraft, is expected to see the following fleet numbers at year end 2022.
Heathrow Fleet and Gatwick Fleet
Shorthaul
• A319: 9 (38 currently in fleet)
• A320ceo: 67 (67 currently in fleet)
• A320neo: 22 (12 currently in fleet)
• A321ceo: 14 (14 currently in fleet)
• A321neo: 13 (9 currently in fleet)
Midhaul
• A321: 4 (4 currently in fleet)
Longhaul
• A350-1000: 18 (6 currently in fleet)
• A380: 12 (12 currently in fleet)
• B747-400: 12 (30 currently in fleet)
• B777-200ER: 43 (43 currently in fleet)
• B777-300ER: 16 (12 currently in fleet)
• B777-9: 8 (0 currently in fleet)
• B787-8: 12 (12 currently in fleet)
• B787-9: 18 (18 currently in fleet)
• B787-10: 9 (2 currently in fleet)
London City Fleet
Shorthaul
• E170 / E190: 28 (24 currently in fleet)
Longhaul
• A318: 1 (1 currently in fleet)
New Arrivals
Airbus A320ceo: Ten A320ceos were delivered between June 2013 and October 2014, based at LHR. Ten second hand A320ceos were delivered to LGW between December 2014 and August 2016. Details are archived here.
Airbus A320neo: 35 A320neo family aircraft (25 A320s and 10 A321s) were ordered to replace 21 of the older A319 and A320ceos and add extra capacity. Deliveries started in 2018. In May 2019 three A320neos were converted to A321neo bringing the split to 22 A320s and 13 A321s.
G-TTNA - Delivered on 10 Apr 2018
G-TTNB - Delivered on 25 Apr 2018
G-TTNC - Delivered on 07 Jun 2018
G-TTND - Delivered on 26 Jul 2018
G-TTNE - Delivered on 21 Sep 2018
G-TTNF - Delivered on 27 Oct 2018
G-TTNG - Delivered on 29 Nov 2018
G-TTNH - Delivered on 17 Jan 2019
G-TTNI - Delivered on 20 Feb 2019
G-TTNJ - Delivered on 28 Feb 2019
G-TTNK - Delivered on 27 Feb 2020
G-TTNL - Delivered on 09 Mar 2020
G-TTNM - Due in May 2020?
G-TTNN - Due in Jul 2020
G-TTNO - Due in Sep 2020
G-TTNP - Due in 2020
G-TTNR -
G-TTNS -
G-TTNT -
G-TTNU -
G-TTNV -
G-TTNW -
Airbus A321neo:
G-NEOR - Delivered on 23 Nov 2018
G-NEOS - Delivered on 29 Jan 2019
G-NEOT - Delivered on 01 Mar 2019
G-NEOP - Delivered on 27 Mar 2019
G-NEOU - Delivered on 10 May 2019
G-NEOV - Delivered on 30 Aug 2019
G-NEOW - Delivered on 25 Oct 2019
G-NEOX - Delivered on 23 Dec 2019
G-NEOZ - Delivered on 17 Mar 2020
G-NEOY - Due in May 2020?
G-TNEA -
G-TNEB -
G-TNEC -
Airbus A350: BA ordered 18 A350-1000s for delivery between 2019 and 2021. They will all be based at LHR are being delivered as 3-class in a 56J/56W/219Y configuration. Deliveries started in July 2019.
G-XWBA - Delivered on 27 Jul 2019
G-XWBB - Delivered on 19 Sep 2019
G-XWBC - Delivered on 26 Nov 2019
G-XWBD - Delivered on 23 Dec 2019
G-XWBE - Delivered on 12 Feb 2020
G-XWBF - Delivered on 20 May 2020
G-XWBG - Due in Jun 2020
G-XWBH - Due in Jul 2020
G-XWBI - Due in Oct 2020
G-XWBJ - Due in Jan 2021
G-XWBK - Due in Feb 2021
G-XWBL -
G-XWBM -
G-XWBN -
G-XWBO -
G-XWBP -
G-XWBR -
G-XWBS -
Airbus A380: Twelve A380s were delivered between July 2013 and June 2016 and are based at LHR. Details are archived here.
Boeing 777-300ER: Six 777-300ERs were delivered between September 2013 and August 2014 and are based at LHR. Details are archived here. A further three were ordered in November 2018, and a fourth in December 2018. These final four are due to be delivered from Q3 2020.
G-STBM - Due in Jul 2020?
G-STBN - Due in Aug 2020?
G-STBO - Due in 2020
G-STBP - Due in 2020
Boeing 777-9: In February 2019 BA announced an order for 18 Boeing 777-9 aircraft plus 24 options which will be powered by General Electric GE9X engines. Each aircraft will be fitted with 325 seats in a 4-class, 8F/65J/46W/206Y configuration. The 777-9s on order will be used to replace 14 Boeing 747-400 and four Boeing 777-200ER between 2022 and 2025.
Boeing 787-8: Twelve 787-8s were delivered between June 2013 and November 2018 and are based at LHR. Details are archived here.
Boeing 787-9: Eighteen 787-9s were delivered between September 2015 and June 2018 and are based at LHR. Details are archived here.
Boeing 787-10: BA has 12 787-10s on order to be delivered between 2020 and 2023: Each aircraft will be fitted with 256 seats in a 4 class 8F/48J/35W/165Y configuration.
G-ZBLA - Due 24th May 2020
G-ZBLB - Due in Jun 2020
G-ZBLC - Due in Aug 2020
G-ZBLD - Due in 2020
G-ZBLE - Due in 2020
G-ZBLF - Due in 2020
G-ZBLG - Due in 2021
G-ZBLH - Due in 2021
G-ZBLI - Due in 2022
G-ZBLJ - Due in 2023
G-ZBLK - Due in 2023
G-ZBLL - Due in 2023
Embraer 190: Three more new Embraer 190s were delivered in May 2014 and September 2014. Details are archived here. Seven second hand aircraft have since been sourced. Two more are due in 2020.
G-LCYV - Delivered on 19 Dec 2015
G-LCYW - Delivered on 25 May 2016
G-LCYX - Delivered on 10 Jul 2016
G-LCYY - Delivered on 22 Dec 2017
G-LCYZ - Delivered on 17 May 2018
G-LCAA - Delivered on 23 May 2019
G-LCAB - Delivered on 21 July 2019
G-LCAC - Due into service June 2020 (currently at WAW)
G-LCAD - Due in June / July 2020? (currently at CAN)
G-LCAE
G-LCAF
G-LCAG
G-LCAH
Retrofits
A320ceo:
The A320ceos currently based at LHR are being reconfigured from CY168 to CY180. These feature Pinnacle seats throughout and still have tables in CE, (unlike the A320neos).
There are currently 55 completed.
Completed (CY180):
G-EUUA/D/E/F/G/H/I/J/K/L/M/N/O/P/R/S/T/U/V/W/X/Y/Z
G-EUYA/B/C/D/E/F/G/H/I/J/K/L/M/N/O/P/R/S/T/U/V/W/X/Y
G-MEDK
G-MIDO/S/T/X/Y
G-TTOB/E
The following aircraft are currently undergoing cabin refit at Madrid:
G-EUUB/C
A321ceo (Completed):
All 14 shorthaul frames have now been reconfigured from a CY205 to a CY218. These feature Pinnacle seats throughout and still have tables in CE (unlike the A321neos). The four midhaul frames remain unchanged in a 23J/131Y layout.
Boeing 777-200ER:
For full details on the complete refit plan of the 777s, see the following detailed thread: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...8-onwards.html
LGW Cabin retrofit of 777-200ERs with 10-across economy seating and upgraded Panasonic IFE. These do notfeature the new Club World seat. This commenced in January 2018.
There are currently 14 completed.
Completed (32J/52W/252Y): G-VIIO/P/R/T/U/X
Completed (32J/48W/252Y): G-YMMB/C/D/E/F
Completed (14F/48J/40W/136Y): G-VIIV/W/Y
The following aircraft are currently undergoing cabin refit at
Cardiff:
None
LHR Cabin retrofit of 777-200ERs with 10-across economy seating and upgraded Panasonic IFE. These feature the new Club World seat. This commenced in August 2019.
There are currently 6 completed.
Completed (8F/49J/40W/138Y): G-VIIB/K/L/M/N, G-RAES
The following aircraft are currently undergoing cabin refit at Cardiff
G-VIIF - Arrived at CWL on 14 April
G-VIIA - Arrived at CWL on 25 April
Boeing 777-300ER:
Cabin retrofit to commence in October 2020 in an 8F/76J/40W/130Y configuration with the new Club World seat.
Retirement
With all the new arrivals there are also some much loved/hated (*delete as applicable) older aircraft heading for scrapping. Until 2015 most of these ended up in Victorville (VCV) in California for storage and ultimately part out for scrap. Since then most ex-BA planes have been sent to St Athan (DGX) in Wales for scrapping. Recent 747 retirements have been to Kemble (GBA) in England for scrapping.
Airbus A319:
G-DBCI - Retired to MAD on 07 Mar 2018
G-EUPV - Retired to DGX on 01 Nov 2018
G-EUOH - Retired to DGX on 05 Sep 2019
G-EUPX - Retired to DGX on 07 Sep 2019
G-EUOI - Retired to DGX on 04 Nov 2019
G-EUPE - Retired to DGX on 11 Mar 2020
G-EUOC - Retired to DGX on 11 Mar 2020
G-EUOD - Retired to DGX on 11 Mar 2020
G-EUOB - Retired to DGX on 16 Mar 2020
The next to be retired (subject to change) are:
G-EUPA - Due to be withdrawn in Sep 2020
G-EUPC - Due to be withdrawn in Nov 2020
G-EUPB - Due to be withdrawn in Oct 2021
G-EUPF - Due to be withdrawn in Nov 2021
G-EUPH - Due to be withdrawn in Nov 2021
G-EUPJ - Due to be withdrawn in Nov 2021
G-EUPK - Due to be withdrawn in Aug 2022
G-EUOE - Due to be withdrawn in Oct 2022
G-EUOF - Due to be withdrawn in Oct 2022
Airbus A320:
G-TTOB - Due to be withdrawn in Feb 2022
Boeing 747-400: As of 27 April 2020, 29 747-400s have been retired from the original fleet of 57, leaving 30 aircraft in service. Of those remaining, 17 are "super high-J" aircraft (14F / 86J / 30W / 145Y). (Cabin refresh dates here). The remaining 11 aircraft are "mid-J" aircraft. (14F / 52J / 36W / 235Y). (Cabin refresh dates here). All remaining aircraft have been refurbished.
The current plan is for all aircraft to be retired by February 2024. According to the Capital Markets Day presentation in November 2019, BA plan to have the following amount of 747s in the fleet at year end:
- 2020: 25 aircraft
- 2021: 20 aircraft
- 2022: 12 aircraft
- 2023: 3 aircraft
Since then the following have been retired:
G-BNLN - Retired to DGX on 24 Jun 2019
G-CIVG - Retired to DGX on 25 Nov 2019
G-CIVM - Retired to DGX on 16 Mar 2020
G-CIVL - Retired to GBA 14 Apr 2020
G-CIVJ - Retired to GBA 15 Apr 2020
G-CIVN - Retired to GBA on 16 Apr 2020
For a further analysis of the fleet and retirement plans: see Globaliser's tracker.
The last known planned dates of the next retirements were as follows (but should all be regarded as subject to change). All the retirements will be of the "mid-J" configuration unless stated otherwise.
G-CIVI - Due to be retired in Apr 2020 [super high-J]
G-CIVD - Due to be retired in May 2020
G-CIVH - Due to be retired in Jun 2020 [super high-J]
G-CIVK - Due to be retired in Jan 2021
G-CIVF - Due to be retired in Jun 2021 [super high-J]
G-CIVB - Due to be retired in 2022
G-CIVC - Due to be retired in Nov 2022
G-CIVE - Due to be retired in Nov 2022
G-BYGC - Due to be retired in 2023 [super high-J]
G-BNLY - Due to be retired in 2023
Boeing 777-200:
G-ZZZC - Retired to DGX on 13 Jan 2020
G-ZZZA - Due to be retired in Sep 2020 [potential early retirement - stored at LHR 19 Mar 2020]
G-ZZZB - Due to be retired in Oct 2020 [potential early retirement - stored at LHR 20 Mar 2020]
Embraer 170:
G-LCYE - Retired to WAW on 07 May 2020
Historical Fleet
Boeing 737: The last remaining 737 was retired in Oct 2015. Details are archived here.
Boeing 767: The last remaining 767 was retired in Nov 2018. Details are archived here.
BA Fleet : New aircraft arrivals and retirements master tracker
Aug 25, 2019, 12:46 am
#3406
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 161
I fear it is. You only have to look at the A321neo numbers. Airbus have delivered 82 this year (up until the end of July) - fewer than 12 per month. They have a backlog of 2495 which at current rates is 213 months worth. They're chucking out the A320s but the 321s are stuttering badly. It's gonna take a while to catch up.
Is is it likely that once the holiday season is over that there will be a push to increase the A321 production numbers?
Aug 25, 2019, 2:09 am
#3407
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 399
The holiday season isn't relevant, because the two Airbus plants that produce A321neos, Hamburg and Mobile, don't have a holiday period shutdown. Toulouse used to, though I don't think it does any more, but in any case while it manufactures A320neos, the assembly line there doesn't handle A321s. This is one of the issues Airbus needs to address in order to increase the output of A321s, but current delivery schedules would have been made knowing that there would be output from only the two plants. It's quite likely that the delayed deliveries at the moment aren't caused by Airbus itself, but by the engine manufacturers who seem unable to deliver at the rate required.
Aug 25, 2019, 3:46 am
#3408
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 7,237
I don't know if it's relevant, but Air Astana's CEO was writing, on last month's issue of the in-flight magazine, that Airbus and the engine manufacturers have been having industrial issues and that was affecting their 321LR too.
Aug 25, 2019, 4:07 am
#3409
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 958
Deleted.
Last edited by TCX69; Feb 10, 2020 at 8:24 am
Aug 25, 2019, 9:25 am
#3410
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: London, UK
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 1,020
Can’t remember it being mentioned, but there was all talk when ZBJE, the last grounded 787 went back into service, but once again there is at least one totally engineless BA 787 (-8 I think) at Heathrow maintenance when I landed this morning.
Aug 25, 2019, 10:04 am
#3411
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 726
From a Reuters article -
" The planemaker has faced a string of industrial problems at the plant"
"There are staff shortages in Hamburg"
"The management has miscalculated the number of hours required for the aircraft"
"It is upgrading some temporary workers to permanent contracts to work on the complex A321 “Cabin Flex” variant."
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-a...-idUSKCN1SY22W
Last edited by Schind; Aug 25, 2019 at 10:10 am
Aug 25, 2019, 12:23 pm
#3412
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 2,220
The holiday season isn't relevant, because the two Airbus plants that produce A321neos, Hamburg and Mobile, don't have a holiday period shutdown. Toulouse used to, though I don't think it does any more, but in any case while it manufactures A320neos, the assembly line there doesn't handle A321s. This is one of the issues Airbus needs to address in order to increase the output of A321s, but current delivery schedules would have been made knowing that there would be output from only the two plants. It's quite likely that the delayed deliveries at the moment aren't caused by Airbus itself, but by the engine manufacturers who seem unable to deliver at the rate required.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-a...-idUSKCN1UW1VN
Aug 25, 2019, 5:04 pm
#3413
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 378
Good chance that the 787 you saw was ZBJE. The aircraft has been parked since late June
Aug 29, 2019, 8:39 am
#3414
Join Date: Jan 2019
Programs: BA Exec Club
Posts: 954
I’ve noticed that the A350 is replacing current 777-200ER routes. I think BA is testing the A350s performance on these routes. Is it tipped to replace the 777-200ER? Thoughts?
Aug 29, 2019, 11:22 am
#3415
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 726
No. According to the Capital Markets Day 2018 there are three 772s due for retirement in the next four years and four 773s due in. There are 17 more A350s due to be delivered to BA by 2021.
The numbers may have changed slightly since then - we'll find out more at this year's CMD.
Aug 29, 2019, 11:48 am
#3416
Join Date: Jan 2019
Programs: BA Exec Club
Posts: 954
No. According to the Capital Markets Day 2018 there are three 772s due for retirement in the next four years and four 773s due in. There are 17 more A350s due to be delivered to BA by 2021.
The numbers may have changed slightly since then - we'll find out more at this year's CMD.
Aug 29, 2019, 12:28 pm
#3417
Join Date: Feb 2009
Programs: BA Exec Club
Posts: 502
In terms of overall numbers there are currently 33 747s in the fleet, with a total of 18 A350-1000s, 18 777-9s and 4 777-300ERs (comparable size) on order as well as 12 787-10s (smaller). There are three 777-200s due to leave the fleet next year and I recall when the 777-9 order was announced BA said at the time they would replace a small number of 777-200ERs. Overall though there's obviously some scope for within this for fleet expansion and upsizing of aircraft on some routes.
It remains to be seen what will happen beyond that. That still leaves a large number of 777-200ERs to be replaced towards the latter part of the next decade. Some of those could be A350s (for which there are a further 18 options) either the -900 or -1000, though they could equally opt to take further 787s or new 777s.
Aug 29, 2019, 1:00 pm
#3418
Join Date: Jan 2019
Programs: BA Exec Club
Posts: 954
Aircraft deployment across the route network is always going to vary depending on demand, time of year, maintenance plans and technical issues. The A350 is also in an early life deployment and crew familiarisation phase so some of the routes may have been chosen for that reason. Then there's the point that it's the only aircraft initially that is guaranteed Club Suite so that may also be a factor in the early deployment decisions.
In terms of overall numbers there are currently 33 747s in the fleet, with a total of 18 A350-1000s, 18 777-9s and 4 777-300ERs (comparable size) on order as well as 12 787-10s (smaller). There are three 777-200s due to leave the fleet next year and I recall when the 777-9 order was announced BA said at the time they would replace a small number of 777-200ERs. Overall though there's obviously some scope for within this for fleet expansion and upsizing of aircraft on some routes.
It remains to be seen what will happen beyond that. That still leaves a large number of 777-200ERs to be replaced towards the latter part of the next decade. Some of those could be A350s (for which there are a further 18 options) either the -900 or -1000, though they could equally opt to take further 787s or new 777s.
In terms of overall numbers there are currently 33 747s in the fleet, with a total of 18 A350-1000s, 18 777-9s and 4 777-300ERs (comparable size) on order as well as 12 787-10s (smaller). There are three 777-200s due to leave the fleet next year and I recall when the 777-9 order was announced BA said at the time they would replace a small number of 777-200ERs. Overall though there's obviously some scope for within this for fleet expansion and upsizing of aircraft on some routes.
It remains to be seen what will happen beyond that. That still leaves a large number of 777-200ERs to be replaced towards the latter part of the next decade. Some of those could be A350s (for which there are a further 18 options) either the -900 or -1000, though they could equally opt to take further 787s or new 777s.
Aug 29, 2019, 2:25 pm
#3419
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 3,190
Fleet management and utilization is an art as well as a science. If one thinks that a particular new aircraft type has been ordered specifically replace a single old one then that is usually over simplifying things... by an order of magnitude or five! Obviously when BA retires a type, something is going to fly the routes that had generally been flying it. It could be a direct replacement, or a mixed replacement depending on demand (whether by day of week, or season, or whatever.) If there are multiple flights then there are more options - fly a larger plane and and a smaller plane... or two medium sized planes (and there's obviously a bit more to it than that!) And then there is class demand to complicate things even further. BA might deliberately "short" premium seats on one route to have more available on another, more lucrative (i.e. higher profit) route.
So while one could say that the A350s will replace the retiring XYZs (and BA has said some similar things in the past) it's never that simple, and type deployment is always going to be a somewhat dynamic thing with many factors involved!
rb211.
So while one could say that the A350s will replace the retiring XYZs (and BA has said some similar things in the past) it's never that simple, and type deployment is always going to be a somewhat dynamic thing with many factors involved!
rb211.
Aug 30, 2019, 7:19 am
#3420
Join Date: Sep 2018
Programs: BA, EI, IB, Hilton Honors
Posts: 550
NEOV on the way as BAW9251.