Upper Class Cabin - refurbishments

Hi all,

does anyone know the roll out plan for the new upper class suites. I fly the Narita to London route and wondered if there was a plan to upgrade theses anytime soon?

Thanks Tim

[Neil]

There aren't any plans to refurbish / upgrade the current fleet.

The A333's have the UCDS, and there should be a new UCS when the 787's come in to service, but the with the A346/747's leaving the fleet over the next couple of years there is no point upgrading them.

I thought they were going to do "something" about the UCDS/A333's as they will be staying - or was I imagining that? (removing a seat row to add more space was a possibility I thought?) - has that been ruled out now?

I certainly hope they will be doing something as to be fair, I will avoid the UCDS where possible to do so (though this is becoming trickier)... Even the cabin crew have been known to apologise for it.

[Neil]

I thought they were going to do "something" about the UCDS/A333's as they will be staying - or was I imagining that? (removing a seat row to add more space was a possibility I thought?) - has that been ruled out now?

I certainly hope they will be doing something as to be fair, I will avoid the UCDS where possible to do so (though this is becoming trickier)... Even the cabin crew have been known to apologise for it.

Rumours, but nothing official and knowing how long VS take to do such things I wouldn't expect anything any time soon.

I thought they were going to do "something" about the UCDS/A333's as they will be staying - or was I imagining that? (removing a seat row to add more space was a possibility I thought?) - has that been ruled out now?

.

No plans to remove any seat rows.

There are plans to make the dividers less transparent.

Re: NRT I believe this is one of the first LONG haul routes to get the new 787-9 in early 2015 so will have the UCS3.

I thought they were going to do "something" about the UCDS/A333's as they will be staying - or was I imagining that? (removing a seat row to add more space was a possibility I thought?) - has that been ruled out now?

I certainly hope they will be doing something as to be fair, I will avoid the UCDS where possible to do so (though this is becoming trickier)... Even the cabin crew have been known to apologise for it.

As the seats in every Upper Class cabin interlock with each other, removing a seat row in the Upper Class cabin would have the same result as removing a piece from a jigsaw puzzle, you just end up with an empty hole without actually giving each individual seat more space. The entire cabin would have to be stripped out and refitted with a brand new set of seats that have been redesigned to fit the cabin accordingly, not a cheap solution by any stretch of the imagination.

StarGuy - thanks -that does explain the situation well. Not going to be a cheap or easy fix.

Not going to be a cheap or easy fix.

= not going to be fixed !

Re: NRT I believe this is one of the first LONG haul routes to get the new 787-9 in early 2015 so will have the UCS3.

Great. I am flying in April so maybe they will be operational by then?

Maybe, although IIRC the first three will be used on the BOS, IAD and EWR routes which only need one aircraft each.

Longer routes like NRT need two so it could be several months before they have enough to roll them out to those.

Maybe, although IIRC the first three will be used on the BOS, IAD and EWR routes which only need one aircraft each.

Longer routes like NRT need two so it could be several months before they have enough to roll them out to those.

Should be 5 in the fleet from April.

In other news the first 787 flights will be updated in the booking systems from 26 June so you will be able to book on 787 services from then.

Will the seat map be revealed on (or before!) the 26th aswell?

I'm also flying UC in April to Narita. Is there something not good about the current UC service on this route?

Narita is currently mostly as 340-300 to my knowledge at present. The great old bed, but 1/4 of the fleet have legacy Vera reel (ie looped tape) IFE.

By next April it could well have changed depending on how the 787's go. I'd keep an eye - it's a bit early to be predicting what plane will fly the route now.

Thanks. Is the new bed not as good?

There are only 3 A343's in the fleet now, 2 of which are non-AVOD.

Will the seat map be revealed on (or before!) the 26th aswell?

No idea. IIRC correctly from the launch of the A330 with the new UCDS, the seat maps weren't available until about two months before the first flight and lacked significant detail (eg no bar). Those elements only appeared in the seat map when the publicity shots were released.

I have been caught twice on a flight from Narita to LHR in UC where the entertainment was Vera reel, luckily in UC they issue tablets with films pre loaded, not many films but it's a good excuse to hit the bar!! And after a few drinks the bed's all feel the same

I would really like to try the new UC but it seems it will be a while before this route gets the upgrade. Oh well only 9 days until my flight in US back to LHR, its the first time my wife has ever flown UC so it should make the flight a little more exciting

The Toolbox is a great source of information I have just found out! Narita flights have been 92% 340-600s. It would appear for the last month all have been 600s and overall only 5% of the flights have been reel to reel video entertainment.

Getting over-excited about my flights I think if I am studying route statistics! What a nerdy thing to

I had better calm down or I shall have burnt myself out by April

Thanks. Is the new bed not as good?

Which "new bed"?

1. UCDS
2. "new" UCS being implemented in the 787

If (1), then the general opinion is that as a bed the UCDS on the A333 is inferior to the UC on the rest of the fleet...

If (2), who knows.