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Flying BA’s Airbus A350: deliveries, routes, reviews and more

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Old May 17, 2019, 5:06 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: Scotflyer80
Best seats on A350 guide: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...on-thread.html
Future route speculation: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...my-flight.html
Background discussion on the Club Suites (historical): https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...on-thread.html
Madrid training flights - meetup thread (historical): https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...ps-thread.html

British Airways has revealed the configuration for its Airbus A350-1000 (56J 56W 219Y):
  • 56 business class featuring all-new Club Suites
  • 56 premium economy
  • 219 economy
  • (BA maintains that no A350s will have first class)
Familiarisation flights to Madrid (starts August 6th):
First A350 flights have also been revealed:
  • 02 to 06 Sep, 09 to 30 Sep, and from 08 Oct 2019 daily to Dubai (DXB) - BA107/106
  • from 01 Oct 2019, daily to Toronto (YYZ) - BA92/93
  • from 01 Dec 2019, daily to Tel Aviv (TLV) - BA163/162
  • from 01 Jan 2020, daily to Bangalore (BLR) - BA119/118
  • from 01 Mar 2020, double daily to Dubai (DXB) - BA107/106 & BA105/104








More pics and details at https://www.ausbt.com.au/british-air...ess-class-seat

Flights planned to be operated by a A350

Summer 2021 (Updated: 9th February 2021)

Austin - Daily
Buenos Aires via São Paulo - Daily
Denver - Daily
Dubai - 3 x Weekly (Tuesday to Thursday)
Las Vegas - Daily
Newark - 2 x Weekly (Monday/Sunday)
Vancouver - Daily

Winter 2021 (Updated: 9th February 2021)

Bangalore - Daily
Boston - 9 x Weekly
BA213/212 - Daily
BA215/214 - 2 x Weekly (Mon/Sun)
Chicago - 2 x Daily
Mumbai - Daily (BA139/138)
San Diego - Daily
Tel Aviv - Daily (BA163/162)
Washington - 3 x Weekly (BA293/292 Tuesday to Thursday)
Vancouver - Daily

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Flying BA’s Airbus A350: deliveries, routes, reviews and more

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Old Aug 4, 2019, 6:41 am
  #631  
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Originally Posted by avon75


That’s a nice optimistic response to my pessimism! I don’t think the A350 will hit my main TATL routes of SFO/SJC/LAS anytime soon, but you never know. I’m just struggling to see the benefits if you aren’t in the new Club suites and towards the front of the plane. But let’s see what the feedback is once the new planes have had some decent running in time.
The benefits are it’s not a well passed its best 744 or 772.
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Old Aug 4, 2019, 11:44 am
  #632  
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
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I really hope they dont get rid of First on flights to Dubai!
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Old Aug 5, 2019, 8:38 am
  #633  
 
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She just landed at MAD!



​​​​​​​
ubiest is online now  
Old Aug 6, 2019, 9:34 am
  #634  
 
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 4
¿Someone know why the BA A350 dont fly to YYZ in April?
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Old Aug 6, 2019, 10:29 am
  #635  
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Programs: BA Exec Club
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Originally Posted by PABLOEING
¿Someone know why the BA A350 dont fly to YYZ in April?
no A350 routes after 29th March because schedule hasn’t been updated. Will be updated soon
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Old Aug 6, 2019, 1:16 pm
  #636  
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Greetings from Madrid, and what a wonderful CWS we have here. Very positive first impressions, very sleek and private. More reporting to come, I am trying to take photos of areas that may get overlooked. Such as a brand new Moving Map!

Wi-Fi is working so if there are any questions please get them in.

Twelve CSMs on board! And four pilots.
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Old Aug 6, 2019, 1:28 pm
  #637  
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Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
Greetings from Madrid, and what a wonderful CWS we have here. Very positive first impressions, very sleek and private. More reporting to come, I am trying to take photos of areas that may get overlooked. Such as a brand new Moving Map!

Wi-Fi is working so if there are any questions please get them in.

Twelve CSMs on board! And four pilots.
Regarding the Moving Map, the BA A350 does not have an external camera. 🤔

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Old Aug 6, 2019, 2:28 pm
  #638  
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: London, UK
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Posts: 1,020
Originally Posted by BAEC
Regarding the Moving Map, the BA A350 does not have an external camera. 🤔
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Old Aug 6, 2019, 2:32 pm
  #639  
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That costs extra apparently, and adds weight.

But the views from the windows are good due to the seat's angle. Just had a good sunset as we approach Brittany.
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Old Aug 6, 2019, 2:49 pm
  #640  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
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Would you recommend your chosen seat location @corporate-wage-slave? Are you in the smaller of the 2 cabins? (I’d understand if you’d rather not say your seat right now!!)

(If so) Would you say it is on-par or beats the UD 747?
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Old Aug 6, 2019, 2:53 pm
  #641  
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I have taken an instant like to 16A and 15A too. I have some Dubai and Toronto bookings and I may well change them to the back cabin.
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Old Aug 6, 2019, 3:19 pm
  #642  
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Programs: BA Exec Gold, Marriott Platinum
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Flew out in seat 1K on BA464 this evening and I have to say it was the most wonderful experience. 20 crew on board with 10 working the outbound and 10 working back. Club Suite is very impressive, exceeding all expectations. Very comfortable, lots of space and love the door. Service was great (Club Europe food not CW), all crew very excited to be on board and chatting to all passengers constantly. Clearly they had great pride in the new delivery and the changes it will bring. WTP and WT also looks really nice and both sets of seats were comfy. Spoke to the crew at the back about the single galley for both rear cabins and they didn’t seem concerned. They mentioned they are going to introduce a new galley management process to keep those working in it to a minimum. All in all, the A350 is fantastic and can’t wait to fly her long haul!
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Old Aug 6, 2019, 3:40 pm
  #643  
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: in a cabin
Posts: 6,515
Originally Posted by IslingtonFlyer
Flew out in seat 1K on BA464 this evening and I have to say it was the most wonderful experience. 20 crew on board with 10 working the outbound and 10 working back. Club Suite is very impressive, exceeding all expectations. Very comfortable, lots of space and love the door. Service was great (Club Europe food not CW), all crew very excited to be on board and chatting to all passengers constantly. Clearly they had great pride in the new delivery and the changes it will bring. WTP and WT also looks really nice and both sets of seats were comfy. Spoke to the crew at the back about the single galley for both rear cabins and they didn’t seem concerned. They mentioned they are going to introduce a new galley management process to keep those working in it to a minimum. All in all, the A350 is fantastic and can’t wait to fly her long haul!
I've not yet tried the A350 on BA, however have done multiple sectors on the QR and AY variants. Very much agree with you. It is a lovely plane to be a passenger on. The Dreamliner feels quite cheap in comparison.
This plane makes me look forward to trying BA again (well also in F in the nose of the 747 which I can do often).
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Old Aug 6, 2019, 5:30 pm
  #644  
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Well a very good flight from a very motivated and enthusiastic crew.

And yes it's a very good aircraft, which I shall look forward to flying on for many years to come. Now this was just a short flight, so some things - such as atmosphere, noise, service - only become apparent when flying. But cautiously a positive endorsement from me.

The biggest drawback? The coffin shoe box. So if you are fully flat and sleep facing upwards, your toes will risk bashing the top of the box, under the seat in front. If you sleep on your side I can't see that being an issue.

Second biggest drawback is the very narrow aisles, some wider wheelies will need to be carried and passing someone mid aisle will be an intimate experience.

But there are all the pluses: direct access to the aisle for all seats; the seat door; the 4 storage areas at the seat; the gate to gate IFE in Club; larger, more functional IFE; the new seat itself; the solid, robust feel to the fittings; good window aspect, proper Club Kitchen area and many other aspects too. One big one for me personally is that it is now possible to use the laptop on the side area AND have the table out for food and drink, and since I need to work on board this is a biggy for me.

Front or back Club cabin?
This is going to be a matter of personal choice, all I can do is lay out the pros and cons. So this is the main cabin, possible an unflattering angle:



and here is the second cabin, with just 12 seats in it:



Plus points for the main cabin:
- Nearest the galley, so probably better food service and choice (particularly for any second meal).
- Further from the turbines, so quieter
- Only one bassinet seat so less likely to have grumpy infants
- I suspect more overhead cabin space generally
- View isn't obscured by the wing/turbines
- Middle of that cabin is the furthest away from the front galley on the one hand and the toilet/Club Kitchen area.

Plus points for the smaller cabin
- Very intimate and private, it's quite noticeably a small and discreet cabin, however if there are noisy infants in row 15 there will be no escape
- Easy access to toilets and Club Kitchen, given the narrow aisles
- Easy access to 2L, which I suspect will be the main door for entrance and departure. LHR is always 2L.
- Good window viewing except for row 17 which has a lot of wing and turbine in it. Row 16 has one window of turbine, one window with a clear view.
- More resistant to turbulence movement.

I haven't made a final decision, and of course I've not sat in the front cabin for any lengith of time, but I'm inclined to move my Toronto booking from 1A to the second cabin. The Dubai booking already has the front area booked out so I'm already 16A on that service.

The window seats remain the best available, in my view, in either cabin. There middle seats are better for couples, but the privacy effect is greater in the window seats.

Here is my big win - meal and laptop, this impossible on the old seat.



And here is the new Moving Map, love it!



The underlying database is extraordinary. When I zoomed into my farm, it accurately picked out a burn which while several kilometres long, only flows 6 months a year and is about 20 cm wide, 5cm deep.

===
I've taken over 50 photos, covering all sorts of details, so I'll have to sort through those, but here are a few to get going with. But here are some comments about WT and WTP:

WTP is a very good product and seems to fit in well with the space. The bulkhead seat have good legroom, not quite as good as the B787s and A380s but still generous. The IFE screen looks good, each seat has a good power arrangement, and a new drink holder. WT is better than the 787, more spacious in width, still not as good as the A380 upper deck, which is probably the best economy product in the mass market. There were lots of positive comments from the EuroTraveller passengers on departure, not surprising since the full IFE entertainment was also available.

In WTP - AVOID 21E AT ALL COSTS! Well, I guess it's ok for younger children, but this IFE box is huge. This is the only seat on board with anything like this, the rest of WTP is fine.



The front row of WTP and WT have small thin IFE boxes under them, which is in the feet area of the second row. The rest of the seating, WTP and WT has nothing there at all, and the WT row 2 isn't too bad anyway. This shows the thin dark box in some WT seats.



And this is what most WT seats have (and WTP is similarly clear):




So that was a starter, I'll put some more online later.

Prospero, PETER01, JAXBA and 11 others like this.
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Old Aug 6, 2019, 5:34 pm
  #645  
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Singapore
Programs: BA Gold. KrisFlyer Gold
Posts: 732
Originally Posted by BAEC


Regarding the Moving Map, the BA A350 does not have an external camera. 🤔

Oh, that's really disappointing, I use it on every flight where it's available.

is it also confirmed that there's no overhead air vents? Temperatures on board have become a real issue for me recently, and other A350s I've flown on recently have had really powerful, cool air flow from what I presume are newly-designed air vents.
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