rhysflies

Zoom in far enough and you can see the little black box. It's fairly slim, admittedly, but it is still there!

opus99

A P Yu

The other refurbs are those to take the aircraft to 3:4:3 in economy and will not include fitting the Club Suite

AdamPD

I wonder when or if they'll replace the ageing 777 plane they use for direct flights to Tampa from LGW

Schind

The aircraft doing that route have all been refurbished in the past year or so. They're only 20 years old. They've got years left in them yet.

rockflyertalk

BotB

Some pictures with comments for those interested from the evening flight back yesterday (16th Aug.) 465:

First that lovely wing and sharklet:

taxiing out from MAD...


Tried to get a close up but the low light, vibration and my skill meant it was blurry...nevertheless...proper shark fin (and lovely reflection):


Coming in to LHR in the rain and cloud:


Some of the ambient light conditions at night:

First, this is the floor area in the suite with the seat at the top and the white curved wall at the bottom (the green line is the aisle markings for emergency): This shows that there is floor lighting in the suite that you cannot shut off or control for those that like or dislike such things:


Equally, there is an ambient blue light on in the drink holder by the seat that is not 'switchable'. The intensity is not as bright as the picture shows but you get the idea.


This was a big one for me, the 'white' welcome screen of the IFE from the seat in front (here 15K) if no one is there or it is not switched off...it is incredibly bright and a big source of light pollution if you want to rest and the person in front is not bothered...This was as I would see it while seated, if you sat up just an inch more then it was blazingly bright and you see the screen much more...


This was 15J from 16K with the blue welcome screen on during take off with the lights dimmed:


So, I guess I'm saying the suite door will be useful to help with some of these light issues...

Here the overhead lights that you can switch on via the hand controller. One intensity setting only. I didn't take a picture but the shoulder light in the seat is also controlled remotely via the touch screen pad and has 2 settings for intensity (or off).


They can control the 'mood' lighting for the cabin (but only as one block, so not one colour in the aft cabin and a separate one in the front CW cabin or so I am told)...it takes about a minute for the colour to come into effect but here you can see the blue mood lighting in the centre aisle overhead strips with the amber / orange lighting on the window strips...


More to follow in a separate post so I don't screw this up and delete them all in some random act!

BotB

Some more pictures with comments, hopefully of use:

Legroom in a suite: I'm 6'1" (185cm) with longer legs than torso and this is sat back properly against the seat back and legs extended as far as they go straight. There was still about 5 cm between my sole and the footrest when in 'take off/landing seat position).


One of the suite with a jacket hanging on the provided hook. I am told that only light jackets (read thin) or suit jackets will be allowed to be stowed this way, as bigger jackets could hamper an emergency exit so they will need to be stowed in the overhead lockers or in one of two wardrobe rail areas (by 15EF or in the upper section of the storage locker in front of the club kitchen on the K side) Pictures below for those storage spaces.


this is one of the places where crew can store jackets (K side of club kitchen, upper section only as lower section holds emergency items).


this shows the storage area in front of 15J (one by 15E as well of course) which has a rail to hang things as well as some space for crew to store their bags, or other items.


I wanted to show that even with the table down and a meal on it, you can access the storage bins as the buttons are still above the table surface (a nice touch), they've thought about this...


The crew turned on the club kitchen lights for me so I could get a photo of how it would be lit up at night (shame it wasn't stocked!)


A picture for those interested of the toilets in Club, this is the way the toilet looks for the two middle toilets, it is decent space but not large. I am told the forward loo is similar in size but is a different orientation (forward as one enters rather than side on...the biggest loos are at the back where they can convert two to become one for disabled pax.


The tap in CW, nice but after some time I suspect the touch pad will be abused and not very sensitive as it is not motion detection, rather a touch sensor in the middle and you know some chaps are going to push with all their might on this button....


I managed to snag a commemorative copy from the WT+ cabin (as it is not used by pax) with the Concorde...if you want a copy that is where to look as they Club cabin is cleaned out completely!


Now back in WT+ (they let me have a bit of a poke around)...

The leg room in the JK bulkhead side of WT+, couldn't stretch out completely so row 2 may be best for those with long legs...


the video screens still have a lock button to press to allow them to fold up from the bulkhead seats and are nicer and more 'streamlined' than the previous models we've seen. Note that the tray table is quite a bit higher than on other aircraft so it won't touch your legs now...they purposely made it about 2 inches higher than the previous models (you can see this when comparing it to the centre drink holder space.


The bassinet fixing points for WT+, the bassinet will have two rods that push into these holes and secure it I'm told...no straps or other means to keep it secured...will be curious to see that as the rods must be very strong then if they are going to support a baby...


End of pictorial review, hope it was of interest.

Safe travels everyone.

(I'm a fan of the new A350, and especially of the Club Suite). ^

morges1

Thanks, BotB, to think I couldn't join you and had to opt for champagne in the buddy seat of 1A to HKG with Tobias-UK. Will have to do better next time. At least I met the Aug 17 lot led by KARFA in the CCR!
Now waiting for a delayed QF flight to SYD where it seems they have high winds and had to use the cross runway - anyway it's the pretty VH-ZND.

Kruisler

Are the flights above still accurate? I'm looking at booking a business class ticket to DBX on those dates/flights and they still show as operated by other aircraft, e.g 777

opus99

flylikelinz

rockflyertalk

Kruisler

Around March-April 2020. I was doing a reward seat search. I looked again today:

• If I try to do a cash booking it does show the A350.
• If I try to do a reward booking, clicking on the flight number after a search now take me to a "new search" pop-up instead of the giving me the flight/aircraft details.

So I guess I've been hitting a website bug, and the A350 is indeed the right aircraft for those flights.

Kruisler

Now seeing the initial problem again..