Refitted A343 BOM LHR

Hi

I will be flying VS in Z class on 17 November BOM LHR. What do you think my chances of scoring a refitted A343 are. I will also be flying NZ LHR LAX then SFO AKL on the refitted 744 and 777.

Can't wait to check out VS for the very first time.

Hopefully by November, 5 out of the 9 A343s will have the Upper Class Suite so you will have a reasonable chance.

Whether you get J2000 or the UCS you'll never forget your first time

Do you think they will deploy those 5 aircraft on specific routes or not??

Thanks

airnewzealnd,
I doubt they will deploy aircraft on specific routes, that generally never works with such a large route network.

Cheers,
VS045

Hmm... some of the A343s are different -- some have the extra grunt to take off at higher altitudes and tend to be used on the JNB route, for example. So I think there could be some likelihood of some routes having more chance of UCS as they are rolled out.

BC

quote:Originally posted by airnewzealand
Do you think they will deploy those 5 aircraft on specific routes or not??

Hey ANZ,

I asked this same question here.

There would certainly seem to be a logic in planning them to specific locations as the configurations would be different in all cabins (40/28/187 to 34/36/171) and so selling would be more difficult

As BC states some of the 343s have CFM 56-5C4 engines which are more suitable to the challenging routes (In the past JNB/DEL/CPT but I guess BOM might be included in this list). Of the 5 due for UCS, 3 have these engines and the other 2 have C2's so not the best of correlations.

Phil (Buffy)

Buffy

Yes your point makes sense about selling of seats,etc and certain aircraft required for more challenging airfirlds like JNB, CPT, etc though not sure if BOM can be considered challenging.We shall have to wait and see. Also, my BOM LHR sector on my RTW will be my only chance flying VS so praying to get UCS. I rang VS Res and pre booked 3K in UC.

All LHR BOM LHR service for October and November will be operated by A346s when it reverts back the A343s when the service goes daily. Wonder why they have changed a/c - anything to do with the refit.?

Rang VS here in SYD who confirmed my BOM LHR in late November will be a A346 - hence: UCS. I am more than happy!

[Bazz]

FWIW "BOM" is 3000 26 feet above sea level. Should have read the whole piece instead of just the headline [:I]

Originally posted by Bazz
FWIW "BOM" is 3000 feet above sea level.

Uhhm, BOM is pretty much on sea level, I think.

And you should be lucky you don't get the green-engine rattle-trap on LHR-BOM that we seem to get on LHR-DEL.

Can't be more than a few feet above sea-level. Airport not too far from the sea either. All pretty flat around there as well.