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-   -   Any flatbed between european countries? (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/oneworld/1676601-any-flatbed-between-european-countries.html)

leomcarmo Apr 30, 2015 10:52 pm

Any flatbed between european countries?
 
Every business class that i look for between european countries doesn't have flatbeds. I am making my itinerary for my trip in Europe and please if someone knows which airline or which itinerary has a business class with flatbed in Europe, let me know. Thank you!
P.S. Just in Europe

whimike Apr 30, 2015 11:15 pm

Any flatbed between european countries?
 
I flew from FRA-LHR on BA last year, and they were often using a 767 with a flat-bed business class.

paul4040 May 1, 2015 12:07 am


Originally Posted by whimike (Post 24748431)
I flew from FRA-LHR on BA last year, and they were often using a 767 with a flat-bed business class.

They don't often use 767s with flat beds.

That would have been due to an equipment change.

The usual equipment is an A319/320, or a short haul configured 767.

OP: Turkish run a few routes with a 777 to and from Istanbul (which is pseudo-Europe I guess), to places like London. Finnair also have a few A330/40 routes from Helsinki to the Canaries and Spain, too. Some of those have lie flats.

Europe is a small place and lie flat beds aren't really necessary on most routes.

francismc May 1, 2015 12:28 am

Any flatbed between european countries?
 
Iberia uses their A340 from LHR - MAD; which is long-haul configuration. Flat bed setup.

Mwenenzi May 1, 2015 12:39 am

leomcarmo Welcome to the forum


Originally Posted by leomcarmo (Post 24748374)
Every business class that I look for between european countries doesn't have flatbeds. I am making my itinerary for my trip in Europe and please if someone knows which airline or which itinerary has a business class with flatbed in Europe, let me know.

Do you realise how small Europe is? The distance between many airports is small. Which is why many European aircraft are a narrow body A320 B737 type. And trains are a better option than flying for many cities.

paul4040 May 1, 2015 12:44 am


Originally Posted by francismc (Post 24748575)
Iberia uses their A340 from LHR - MAD; which is long-haul configuration. Flat bed setup.

On a few rotations a week, yes. Occasionally it is an A330 which is also flat beds. It's a good product.

dvs7310 May 1, 2015 2:45 am


Originally Posted by Mwenenzi (Post 24748597)
Do you realise how small Europe is? The distance between many airports is small. Which is why many European aircraft are a narrow body A320 B737 type. And trains are a better option than flying for many cities.

I certainly have no patience for a train from say Madrid to Warsaw or Rome to Copenhagen for example. Short trips like Brussels to Frankfurt, Paris to Lyon, sure but Europe is not THAT tiny that planes don't make any sense.

Now, needing a flat bed, of course not. But a proper domestic/regional business class like in North America would be light years better than the half assed product nearly universally offered on the continent now.

Gamecock May 1, 2015 2:48 am

La. Mad-fra-mad

SPBanker May 1, 2015 4:34 am

BA at least used to have long-haul configuration between London and Moscow, LHR-DME.

dcjl May 1, 2015 10:30 am


Originally Posted by SPBanker (Post 24749112)
BA at least used to have long-haul configuration between London and Moscow, LHR-DME.

They still do. I flew CW from LHR to DME a few weeks ago in the 777, However, I've noticed on booking sites that they also operate the A321 on the route, which presumably is configured only for CE.

Also, there's some debate as to whether Moscow would be considered Europe. ;)

leomcarmo May 1, 2015 5:02 pm

I know that.

Do you realise how small Europe is? The distance between many airports is small. Which is why many European aircraft are a narrow body A320 B737 type. And trains are a better option than flying for many cities.[/QUOTE]

leomcarmo May 1, 2015 5:03 pm

thank you.

leomcarmo May 1, 2015 5:05 pm


Originally Posted by francismc (Post 24748575)
Iberia uses their A340 from LHR - MAD; which is long-haul configuration. Flat bed setup.

thank you

Traveloguy May 3, 2015 4:25 pm


Originally Posted by dcjl (Post 24750662)
They still do. I flew CW from LHR to DME a few weeks ago in the 777, However, I've noticed on booking sites that they also operate the A321 on the route, which presumably is configured only for CE.

Also, there's some debate as to whether Moscow would be considered Europe. ;)


I believe that 321 is the BA mid haul and therefore flat bed in J.

Margit May 14, 2015 2:26 am

Why do you need a flat-bed?
 
Like the poster asking "Do you realise how small Europe is?" I can't understand why you would want a flat bed when flying within countries in Europe. Most journeys are only between 1 - 4 hours flying.

Calchas May 17, 2015 6:18 am

Intra-European flat beds are rare because the market will no longer tolerate the accompanying prices.

Except for equipment swaps there are a small number of exceptions.

QR do ZAG-BUD and TBS-GYD on A320s as fifth freedom flights. These are sometimes flat beds and sometimes they are recliner seats. QR also used to do OTP-SOF but SOF recently received direct service from DOH.

LA do MAD-FRA.


Originally Posted by francismc (Post 24748575)
Iberia uses their A340 from LHR - MAD; which is long-haul configuration. Flat bed setup.

There is only one of these flights per day, so watch out. It's for the cargo capacity. Most flights are standard European business.


Originally Posted by SPBanker (Post 24749112)
BA at least used to have long-haul configuration between London and Moscow, LHR-DME.

Yes, the MOW-LON traffic will tolerate the cost.


Originally Posted by dcjl (Post 24750662)
They still do. I flew CW from LHR to DME a few weeks ago in the 777, However, I've noticed on booking sites that they also operate the A321 on the route, which presumably is configured only for CE.

It is in a "mid haul" configuration with flat beds.
http://www.thebasource.com/seatmaps/a321/23j131y.html

s0ssos May 17, 2015 7:03 am


Originally Posted by Margit (Post 24813364)
Like the poster asking "Do you realise how small Europe is?" I can't understand why you would want a flat bed when flying within countries in Europe. Most journeys are only between 1 - 4 hours flying.

Why aren't there many first-class flights within Asia? It is much bigger. Some flights are as long as New York to London.

It never is about "making sense".

creampuff May 17, 2015 10:16 am


Originally Posted by Margit (Post 24813364)
Like the poster asking "Do you realise how small Europe is?" I can't understand why you would want a flat bed when flying within countries in Europe. Most journeys are only between 1 - 4 hours flying.

Perhaps OP purchased a European business class ticket before and couldn't work out why they still ended up in economy class, only with a curtain behind them separating them from another part of economy class. So now they are asking if there is business class in Europe?

Non-NonRev May 17, 2015 10:21 am

The LAN flights MAD-FRA-MAD are on a 787 (through service to/from Santiago).

One note is that, although Spain and Germany are both Schengen, the flight is treated as an "international" flight, even if you are only doing the intra-European segment(s)

dvs7310 May 17, 2015 1:23 pm


Originally Posted by s0ssos (Post 24828303)
Why aren't there many first-class flights within Asia? It is much bigger. Some flights are as long as New York to London.

It never is about "making sense".

There actually are a fair number of routes between primary cities in Asia with F seats and service. CX, SQ, TG, CA, KE all come to mind straight away, then there are the 5th freedom routes on the overseas carriers, some of which have F. (Cheapest way to ride in EK A380 F for example). Then there are a few carriers like OZ who have F sections but don't sell it on intra-Asia routes so a few lucky C customers get those seats with C service.

Europe and Asia are very different markets, aside from just much greater distances between cities, there are also plenty of companies here who let their employees waste ridiculous amounts of money on premium cabins even for fairly short flights. A lot more business is done face to face here and in some countries takes more visits for relationship building before deals are made, so this supports a market with real premium cabins and no shortage of people to pay for them.

zrs70 May 20, 2015 8:45 am


Originally Posted by Margit (Post 24813364)
Like the poster asking "Do you realise how small Europe is?" I can't understand why you would want a flat bed when flying within countries in Europe. Most journeys are only between 1 - 4 hours flying.

If I had the choice between a flat bed and a regular seat, whether the flight is 30 minutes or 14 hours, I would choose the flat bed.

eefor jfp May 21, 2015 1:49 am


Originally Posted by Calchas (Post 24828164)
Intra-European flat beds are rare because the market will no longer tolerate the accompanying prices.

Except for equipment swaps there are a small number of exceptions.

QR do ZAG-BUD and TBS-GYD on A320s as fifth freedom flights. These are sometimes flat beds and sometimes they are recliner seats. QR also used to do OTP-SOF but SOF recently received direct service from DOH.
...snip...
http://www.thebasource.com/seatmaps/a321/23j131y.html

QR recently discontinued their ZAG-BUD flight. Now they go ZAG-DOH and BUD-DOH direct.

But back to the original issue, I think that except for places like Moscow and Istanbul, Europe isn't big enough to support the demand for fully flat biz seats. I understand that lie flat is almost always preferable to recliners or the economy seats with the middle blocked that most European airlines use, but since very few intra-European flights operate overnight, most people eat and work and read instead of sleeping on the daytime flights.

hillrider May 21, 2015 4:00 am

Not oneworld, but GA flies a 777 LGW-AMS with fully lie flat seats and has rights to sell seats on that segment.

It is obviously not there to serve local traffic. And the trend is going the other way: BA's new seating, which I just had the pleasure to sample, is Ryanair-worthy (not enough space to read a newspaper in business class!).

NYTA May 21, 2015 4:08 am

BA flies flat beds to TLV which is in Europe according to FIFA.

hillrider May 21, 2015 4:09 am


Originally Posted by NYTA (Post 24848368)
BA flies flat beds to TLV which is in Europe according to FIFA.

Hmm. Blatter is not a crook according to FIFA.

intuition May 21, 2015 4:59 am

Due to cargo requirements, Finnair on HEL-BRU once a week (thursdays IIRC) is A340 with longhaul configuration.

onobond May 21, 2015 11:41 am


Originally Posted by intuition (Post 24848468)
Due to cargo requirements, Finnair on HEL-BRU once a week (thursdays IIRC) is A340 with longhaul configuration.

Yes, first time pleasently surprised. After that I tried to schedule my BRU-HEL travel on thursdays. Last time, 4 weeks ago, the purser said the A340 occasionally does the same route on wednesdays too ^

hillrider May 24, 2015 7:55 am


Originally Posted by intuition (Post 24848468)
cargo requirements [...] HEL-BRU

I just can't fathom what kind of cargo traffic between those cities might require a 343 between those cities.

I understand that Eurobureaucrats are fat, but I didn't think it reached those levels! :D

Originally Posted by onobond (Post 24850290)
the A340 occasionally does the same route on wednesdays too ^

Indeed it's on the schedule for some Wednesdays as well.

intuition May 24, 2015 8:02 am

Naturally, using HEL hub to transfer cargo.
Has been done for a long time, started with MD11
AY has PHARMA certificate, presumably important to BRU:
http://www.finnairgroup.com/mediaen/...l_1700141.html

Calchas May 24, 2015 8:08 am


Originally Posted by hillrider (Post 24862052)
I just can't fathom what kind of cargo traffic between those cities might require a 343 between those cities.

MAD-LHR requires a daily 340 for cargo traffic


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