Widebodies on non-longhaul flights
 

As we're seeing AY increasingly utilizing their A330 and A359 aircraft on shorthaul routes, I believe a dedicated thread would be in order to gather all info and questions in one place. The wiki contains the current and planned schedule as well as service, and all shorthaul widebody related discussion could go below, instead of being scattered around several topics.

DXB is the odd man out here as it has traditionally been considered shorthaul in AY's books, and still is, sort of, but J service more resembles a heavily reduced longhaul than a shorthaul.

Now we need a thread for American Airlines operating longhaul flights with narrowbodies for oneworld fliers to avoid..

02APR19 and 04APR19 AY1337/1338 A359

Interesting point to note: AY seems to charge Golds for EconomyComfort seats even on shorthaul flights.

I booked AY1331 back when I was Plat. Now, flying as Gold, my App check-in went through without problems, seat 21A, but normal OLCI refused to print me a BP unless I paid €45.

I called AY and Janica verified that this is intentional, Y+ seats are chargeable even on short flights. However, she waived the fee for me this time (after talking to somebody else) so all is good.

Another interesting point to note: AY is selling cash upgrades on this flight for €200. Wow.

Booo, I'm flying on the 1337 on the 29th on the way back from ICN, a widebody would have made the final part of the journey a whole lot better...

I recall reading something about this perhaps a year or two ago. A magazine interview or something... I thought it was really surprising, considering how new the route is. 25k return award in J on the 359 doesn't sound too bad, although I don't really miss Iceland, which I visited in 1994.

DEL return running today so late that AY1337 switched to 32B and AY1341 to LHR is now A333.

And DEL is equally late every day. I sure hope Pakistan gets their act together soon. Will be flying DEL late April and again early May, and I'd be all in for a quick flight instead of 2+ extra hours...

Smart move from AY re:LHR. Most pax will get there on time, some might have to take the later flight. Cargo probably isn't bothered by a small delay.

OH-LGG, did you have the dates (season and days of operation) for Winter 19/20 widebody service to DXB? If yes, could you amend the Wiki? I just updated it.

Wiki updated (BRU & DXB)

Very infrequent AY flyer but took the A319 HEL-LHR (AY1335) followed by the A330 LHR-HEL (AY1338) in J over the last two weeks and enjoyed the A319 much more.

Apart from the Y seat and IFE, I found the A319 experience far better, probably aided by a J cabin less than half populated versus a full A330 J cabin on the return. The F&B service was far more personalised, thought the quality better (loved the smoked fish magnificent compared with the bland white-fish dish). Many revisits by the two dedicated A319 crew (I had to pare them back as I was driving ex-LHR).

Very efficient delivery of luggage at LHR (yes .... at LHR !!!) ex the 319 which I'm not sure you'd get with a WB.

The *only* downside for me was the use of a remote gate for boarding the A319 - on a very quiet Saturday afternoon - I guess AY don't make space at the non-Schengen gates for narrowbodies if they can park a WB there for the day.

That apart, and on the evidence of 1 sector each, give me a NB against a WB on EU routes everyday!

Regards,

BD

The reason for using remote stands on narrow-body flights to LHR is that if the plane arrives from a Schengen destination, it can't be parked on a non-Schengen gate.