A330 Refit Begins

My friend in the know told me that G-VWAG is on route to Minneapolis for UpperClass Retrofit. VS825 on flight aware.

Confirmed here by the looks of it!

https://www.businesstraveller.com/busin ... -retrofit/

Looks like I may have just flown my last leg on the UCDS. Sad that it came to this but it's probably for the best.

[mitchja]

Good news. According to that article they should be all done by the end of March as well so that means it should take just over a week to refit each aircraft at that rate.

[Darren Wheeler]

I think that article is very wrong. My information is that the refit is due to be finished in March 2018, averaging one a month with a break during the peak summer period.

Yes there's no way they'll all be done by march this year

Sorry to take this a bit off topic but I have just booked flights to UVF for the end of April. I am getting the 1-1-1 seat map on VS. How does this work? I am looking to find the best seats for a couple so was curious as to how the G seats are organised..do they face straight forward/ backwards or are they on a diagonal, in which case which way?

If there is a map someone could steer me to that would be very useful.
Thank you.
David.

I believe it is the same as the 787 (there is a 787 seat map in tools) with row 8 facing the backs of row G and G and K facing each other.

I'm not getting to the seat map on my booking on 25th March. I just get a greyed out screen with and small notice about sitting with children and I can't close that box.
Dick D

Sorry to take this a bit off topic but I have just booked flights to UVF for the end of April. I am getting the 1-1-1 seat map on VS. How does this work? I am looking to find the best seats for a couple so was curious as to how the G seats are organised..do they face straight forward/ backwards or are they on a diagonal, in which case which way?

If there is a map someone could steer me to that would be very useful.
Thank you.
David.

I assume the layout will be the same as other 1-1-1 configs, i.e. herringbone / diagonal with (for G) head in the centre of the cabin and feet at the aisle facing toward the front of the aircraft.

My recommendations for a couple would be A seats next to each other. If like other 1-1-1 then the same row G and K will be slightly staggered (not opposite) and your heads will be close to two body lengths plus the aisle apart.

Thanks Dick and Paul. So the Gs will face towards the K row. That helps as the cabin is showing pretty full at the moment so seats where we can have some sort of contact are limited.

Of course it might just be a "safe" seat map as at this time it is is perhaps unlikely VS know whether it will be a refurbed UC or not.

In which case I will have to keep regular checks on my booking in case VS forget to tell me it is changed to the old version.!

My recommendations for a couple would be A seats next to each other. If like other 1-1-1 then the same row G and K will be slightly staggered (not opposite) and your heads will be close to two body lengths plus the aisle apart.

Unfortunately , at the moment, all A seats are taken as are all Ks bar two...one in row 1 and one in row 10!!! There are G seats available, one behind the other. That is the outbound, I have grabbed a couple of As for the return.

The two LGW A330s will be the last to be reconfigured so may not be done until next year

The two LGW A330s will be the last to be reconfigured so may not be done until next year

I spoke to VS customer services and the chap said I was seeing the Dreamliner seating plan because that is what it was going to be. I pointed out that my flight information said A330 not Dreamliner and that this was perhaps because it was going to be one of the refurbs. He did not know about the A330 refurb of the Upper Class cabin.

I guess I will have to watch out for the seat plan to change to the old style. I assume VS will inform me of this? Maybe?

I guess I will have to watch out for the seat plan to change to the old style. I assume VS will inform me of this? Maybe?

I think the experience of V-Flyers related to aircraft change suggests that you've more chance of being called up by Keith Richards to appear as lead guitarist in the next Stones show.

I think the experience of V-Flyers related to aircraft change suggests that you've more chance of being called up by Keith Richards to appear as lead guitarist in the next Stones show.

What an extraordinary coincidence; Keef was just on the phone.

My flight has just changed to A330, What are good seats for a couple of adults? EWR to LHR in April. My seat map is showing "A G K" format but if a look at some seat maps on the web , 3A is beside 2G!

'A' seats, rows 1-6.

Looks like Lady Luck is going to the dessert this week, which will add pressure to the fleet, 2 others away on long term maintenance suggests this can only be done 1 a/c at a time. I suppose if each aircraft can be done in a week end of March may be achievable.

My A330 flights to/from LGW/BGI in May are both showing the A/G/K config in UC

The refits are actually been done in Xiamen with the first aircraft GVSXY flying out there today. I believe each refit is scheduled to take 38 days but there will be a break during summer as all aircraft are needed in the air that support the flying programme.

So assume WAG is just having a bit of a mechanical service type of thing, "C" check or what ever.

So probably only 4 (or 5)done before summer season assuming there is no overlap. Hope I get a new one in July

Great info VSSCC. Given that you specify a suspiciously exact 38 days I presume you speak with some authority. Can you shed any light on what else may look forward to on the aircraft when they return?

The UC refit is the headline item but 38 days seems quite lengthy for that. Could we perhaps expect some new IFE or refurbished seats in other cabins or something similar?

[mitchja]

I doubt it's a new IFE but could well be the on-board WiFi installation at the same time possibly? I believe the plan is still for all the current VS fleet to get WiFi at some point.

I was lucky enough to recently be working in XMN so was asking questions! I believe the refit includes Wifi installation, New UCS (same as 787) and new bar area. IFE and the W/Y cabins will remain untouched. I thought 38 days seemed pretty quick?

38 days to remove 37 seats and replace them with 27 (If I've counted the seats correctly) does seems like very slow going even if they are moving the bar! (yeah I know it's a tad more complicated than that but even so)

Even if they are doing one of the big maintenance checks it still is a long time for a plane to be out of action.

I thought it was 31 seats (compared to 33 now).