Appologies....

....if this has been asked and answered before... But. I'm on the 601 (346) in September so was wondering when the UC refits are starting on 346. I keep seeing the 744 and 333's listed as their refits are commenced, but not a lot regarding the 346. Fingers crossed we might just get one in September?

[Neil]

There is no schedule for the A346 to be refitted with the new UCS.

The 747 refits you see talked about are the LGW/MAN fleet, and they are getting new Y/PE seats, new IFE, but not the new UCS.

The A330 a/c that are entering the fleet from now, will be fitted with the new UCS.

The rest of the LHR fleet (747/346) will be fitted with the new UCS over the next 3 years, but that is all VS have said.

Neil

I imagine as the 787's start to enter service the 346's will start to leave the fleet.. Makes sense if you think about it, to not spend millions of pounds refitting planes with the new UCS and JAM IFE only to replace them all in a few years time anyway!

There is no schedule for the A346 to be refitted with the new UCS.

The 747 refits you see talked about are the LGW/MAN fleet, and they are getting new Y/PE seats, new IFE, but not the new UCS.

The A330 a/c that are entering the fleet from now, will be fitted with the new UCS.

The rest of the LHR fleet (747/346) will be fitted with the new UCS over the next 3 years, but that is all VS have said.

Neil

Thanks for the update Neil. Sounds like the current product for now then on the 346, which incidentally is not a bad thing to experience for 12 hours on the 601.

The first of the A340-600's leave the fleet in July!

Madame Butterfly (G-VSHY) leaves in July
Mystic Meg (G-VMEG) leaves in October
Cover Girl (G-VOGE) leaves in November
Silver Lady (G-VFOX ) leaves in December

Almost positive that the A340-600's won't see a refit as the A330's will start to replace them at LHR and hopefully the 787s will start to come online to replace the last of the A346 (the last one was only delivered in 2007).

The first of the A340-600's leave the fleet in July!

Madame Butterfly (G-VSHY) leaves in July
Mystic Meg (G-VMEG) leaves in October
Cover Girl (G-VOGE) leaves in November
Silver Lady (G-VFOX ) leaves in December

Almost positive that the A340-600's won't see a refit as the A330's will start to replace them at LHR and hopefully the 787s will start to come online to replace the last of the A346 (the last one was only delivered in 2007).

...exactly what I meant to say!..

The first of the A340-600's leave the fleet in July!

Madame Butterfly (G-VSHY) leaves in July
Mystic Meg (G-VMEG) leaves in October
Cover Girl (G-VOGE) leaves in November
Silver Lady (G-VFOX ) leaves in December

Almost positive that the A340-600's won't see a refit as the A330's will start to replace them at LHR and hopefully the 787s will start to come online to replace the last of the A346 (the last one was only delivered in 2007).

I would have thought the A340 300 would be the first to leave as they are the oldest as shown on the aircraft database.

It sometimes doesn't always matter about the age or type of aircraft. It can be sometimes when the lease is up. Granted the 4x A346's that I listed are the some of the very early A346 models built.

With regards to the A343's, I think a few of them are going to be around for a little while yet. Maiden Tokyo (G-VAIR), Molly (G-VFAR) and African Queen (G-VELD) have just been re-painted in the new livery. It's a shame as they will have the older IFE.