VS251 A343

A colleague came back on the VS251 from PVG on Monday and got one of the dreaded 343s. However all UC pax were given preloaded tablets as IFE. Always been aware tablets have been available in case a screen doesnt work but never seen them given out to a whole cabin. Crew apologised for the aircraft and hinted that this route would be one of the first for the 787-9 when it arrives in September. I had been wondering which routes this would go on first.

The 343s with Vera reel (not on demand) have Samsung tablets with pre loaded movies for every J pax.

Hi Markna,

Thanks for the update/rumour, loathe the A343, however the usual A346 on this route is my favourite aircraft in the fleet, the 787-9 would be a however be a worthy replacement.
Boeing currently up to 10 x 787s per month, so hope delivery stays on schedule

The 343 tablets were given out on my last return flight from Vancouver, but the films were about a year out of date, so I didn't even watch a single one. So don't expect them to be loaded with even the same stuff on vera reel.

Its a pity, I was so glad when I was given one, and disappointed when I saw what was on it.

I like the 340-600 aswell but Crikey your in upper, who watches films? Bar bar bed lol am I in the minority?

[preiffer]

It's been like that for a long while now - I do the trip quite a lot. The tablets are actually MUCH better in image quality than the standard IFE, so you can't really complain (apart from the limited selection of movies in comparison).

The dirt on the A343s and general condition of them, on the other hand...

(Oh, and 10% slower doesn't sound a lot, but on an 11 hour flight, that's another hour of your life lost to a cr@p aircraft)


The wider issue here, is that whether through cargo or pax, they simply cannot seem to fill a 346 on that route. To my mind (and I could be wrong) that DOES put it at risk of being axed. Sometimes it flexes back to the 346, but the 343 has been making a more frequent appearance over the past 1.5 years...

A colleague came back on the VS251 from PVG on Monday and got one of the dreaded 343s. However all UC pax were given preloaded tablets as IFE. Always been aware tablets have been available in case a screen doesnt work but never seen them given out to a whole cabin. Crew apologised for the aircraft and hinted that this route would be one of the first for the 787-9 when it arrives in September. I had been wondering which routes this would go on first.

The A343's are going this year. G-VAIR has been withdrawn and G-VFAR,G-VELD and G-VSUN will be withdrawn later this year in that order, so you won't have to dread any more once their all gone 1 A343 gone, 3 to go

On a side note the return flight was 14 hrs due to 100+mph head winds. This must be getting close to the limits of an A343 time.