BA fleet developments: unconfirmed updates, speculation, and general discussion - FlyerTalk Forums (2024)

Palty

Join Date: Mar 2018

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Mark Hopwood

Join Date: Oct 2022

Posts: 4

If you consider the issues raised here, recent IAG statements and decisions and the state of the two suppliers so suspect BA will want to split the risks it faces by placing Airbus and Boeing orders. I think they will also want to add resilience to the fleet and have scope for modest fleet expansion.

I would therefore not be surprised to see an order for 12 Boeing 787-10 with GE engines and the slightly increased range. Such aircraft could serve nearly all LHR long-haul routes with BA retaining the option to
allocafe 777x, 787-9 or A350-1000 aircraft to longer routes which shouldn’t be ignored but are not a significant proportion of the operation.

The 18 777x will add significant capacity when they arrive and preserve First class. BA would have to determine if they wanted to keep a common four class layout on 787-10 or specify the new batch to be J P Y only with more economy seats creating an additional subfleet at Heathrow but replicating the 777 fleet at LHR with no First class. Less sub-types at LHR would be good but BA commercial types may not want more first class capacity?

in order to spread risk I’d then expect BA to acquire, say, 15 Airbus A350s for LGW which gives scope for growth at LGW. There is some debate about whether A350-1000 can be accommodated at LGW but I think the 9 abreast A350 seating vs 10 on a 777 means they would want a -1000 version to replicate capacity.

BA might take the view that the 777x capacity increase might permit some 777-9s to be ordered as 777-200 replacements?

Watch out for curved balls like second hand A380s, moving 787-8s to MAN to reinstate long hail routes or even A321XLRs and 777-x order.

Pilot37

Join Date: Jul 2015

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I think the time for 2nd hand A380’s possibly coming into the fleet have past. TG, AF, EY, LH and MH all had cheap frames going post Covid and BA didn’t bite. I’ve heard of silly money being required to refit any A380 to another airlines interior specs, so that may have something to do with it.
MAN will be left to EI, they are slowly building a reputation with 2 long-haul routes and the A321XLR’s, when they arrive, definitely could see more destinations added out of MAN.
BA typically have not been an airline for buying used airplanes either. The 10 x Gatwick A320CEO planes aside, I can only think of aircraft in the fleet which were not ordered by BA arriving via another carrier being acquired, so I think they prefer to have the plane spec’d to their standards and then are very happy to sweat the asset for 25yrs+

Interesting times ahead for the long-haul fleet outlook!

Pilot37

Last edited by Pilot37; Aug 10, 2024 at 6:18 pm

BlueThroughCrimp

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Getting Northwest Airlines vibes with the BA 777s being the new NWA DC10s

JCO1406

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sigma421

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TedToToe

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For as long as LGW longhaul remains BA mainline, I cannot see the A330neo working as a sub-fleet and, no doubt, BALPA would resist any moves to switch it to Euroflyer!

KARFA

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your faith in BALPA's abilities to resist anything is, I think, overestimated

JCO1406

Join Date: Apr 2023

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They're more likely to order a new variant, such as the A359 rather than a new aircraft type. And why would they go for the A330neo when they already have the B787-9 which is the same in passenger numbers, but has more range.

opus99

Join Date: Jan 2019

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the -10 has the range to cover the vast majority of YMM routes

JW95

Join Date: Apr 2021

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Curious, re. the A350. Is this an issue specific to the gates BA use in the South Terminal? The A359 seems to operate without issue at Gatwick, and indeed we've had several airlines operate the type from both terminals - Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Qatar, China Airlines and Air Mauritius just to name a few. Regarding the A350-1000, again, VS had previously planned to station the leisure A350s at Gatwick to replace the 744s prior to LGW being closed. I don't recall any issues re. the aircraft being too long for gates being flagged up at the time, although like I say, I wonder if this is just a South Terminal-specific issue, rather than both terminals.

JW95

Join Date: Apr 2021

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Posts: 109

Agreed with Steve74. I think the days of BA considering a return to Bangkok from Heathrow are over. The airline struggled with this route towards the end, and signs of this were already on the wall (e.g. cutting the onward flight to SYD from BKK in 2012; down-gauging from the 744 to the 777-200 and eliminating First in the process; reducing frequency and making the route seasonal-only). They were also up against TG's double daily service (who operate newer 77Ws with F), plus Eva Air's service. The route- at least in BA's strategy, is far more leisure/holiday orientated now, hence the move to LGW. I think this was a sensible decision for the airline, BKK is a popular market for tourism, and the Y-heavy Gatwick 777s are seemingly a better a/c to serve it with versus the LHR long haul fleet. BA will also have no direct competition on LGW-BKK following Scoot's brief attempt at the route, so hopefully they can make it work. The route is already being increased to 5 weekly from January, so thats promising

Rubecula

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JW95

Join Date: Apr 2021

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I have previously also wondered about the possibility of BA selecting the A359 for its LGW fleet replacement. This aircraft has been phenomenal for many airlines, and as others have mentioned, it is flagged up by Airbus as a direct replacement for the 777-200. From a passenger point of view, I absolutely love flying on it, super quiet and comfortable, a joy to fly on So on that basis, that could well be tempting for BA. However, the big issue (and question) for BA, going into the long term is, would they be willing to sacrifice on Y capacity by going for the A350-900? Yes, there is now the option for 10-abreast Y seating in the -900, but this has not been widely taken up. The cabin of the A359 also isn't as wide as the existing 772 (I think), hence why BA were more easily able to switch from 3-3-3 to the current (and more narrow) 3-4-3. Prior to the 777 refurb, BA had operated using the 3-3-3 layout in Y for many years, so I think they will really need to think hard about whether they would wish to go back to that with a potential order for A350-900s, and lose out on additional Y seat capacity in the process.

etiene

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Can't find the more concrete discussion now, but the one post on the other thread did allude to length issues at destinations rather than LGW. Also lists the 78X as possibly impacted. Maybe those in the know can confirm - though as noted this discussion belongs in the [somewhat dormant] speculation thread.