Which aircraft will be used on my flight - Any way to tell?

[legallooptheloop]

Hello,

Is there any way to tell in advance which specific aircraft will be used on my BA flight (BA 0143) to Delhi tomorrow? My main concern is whether the aircraft will have decent IFE (AVOD or non-AVOD). I've heard that some of the BA fleet have a pretty archaic IFE system in economy and was hoping that this flight would not be operated by one such aircraft.


Many thanks for any help,

Legallooptheloop.

[Lotpax]

I can't help you with your qestion, but will offer some advice if I may.

Any seat can have a non functioning IFE unit, so on a long haul flight, I'd recommend a few countermeasures, just in case, such as keeping the following in your hand luggage


a fully charged MP3 or iPod
a fully charged MP4 unit with a couple of movies
a book (or ebook)That way you will always have something to occupy yourself if that worse day happens.

If you get the poor IFE on your flight, you have the means to ignore it and if you get the good one, you will be pleasantly surprised.

I hope you have an enjoyable journey.

[Capetonian]

Is it really important? It's an 8 hour flight, surely you can read, relax, sleep, chat, daydream, eat, or look out of the window.

I find it hard to believe that someone would choose an airline on the basis of the IFE, or worry about it, when this seems to so trivial. When I fly I hardly ever use the IFE, I find it hard to concentrate with all the movement around, the screens are too small to enjoy a film, even in the premium cabins, the sound is lousy and you have to put up with all the extraneous and ambient noise. Perhaps it's just me but I think IFE is a complete waste of time, and its importance totally exaggerated.

[ConstantFlyer]

Well said, Capetonian. In my day, in-flight entertainment consisted of chatting to fellow passengers, reading a newspaper and the in-flight magazine, and watching the propellors and clouds out of the window. A pocket chess set is also good for passing the time.

However, legallooptheloop asked an interesting question. There are a number of ways in which one can find out which aircraft is going to operate a particular service. In the absence of a direct line to those within an airline who allocate the aircraft to particular flights, it will mean a bit of homework, though.


Narrowing it down to type is fairly straightforward, as a quick look at the timetable will suffice.
Using an airline that has several bases means you can narrow the choice further, as generally only based aircraft will operate their sectors.
Another possibility is checking on the libhomeradar website to see which aircraft have operated that flight on previous days, or weeks, and if there is a pattern.Here is a practical examples to illustrate that:

Q: What aircraft is operating today's Newcastle to Stansted, U2514, leaving at 1805?
A: Working back through the timetable, and knowing that easyJet normally does 25-minute turnarounds, we can see that there is a 1740 arrival from Paris. That aircraft had previously left from Newcastle at 1355. A 1315 arrival from Palma had earlier left from Newcastle at 0700 this morning. A quick check on libhomeradar shows that the aircraft involved was A319 G-EZAJ.

Let's have a look at what aircraft might be operating legallooptheloop's flight to Delhi tomorrow. It departs LHR T5 at 1010, flight number BA143. From the timetable, it's scheduled to be a 777. That much we know. But British Airways has, I think, 47 777s. Three of those, 777-200s, are based at Gatwick, so can be discounted; 43 of the rest are 777-200ERs, and one a 777-300ER - all based at Heathrow. A look at the libhomeradar website shows that the flight has been operated by 777s every day for the last two months. BA 777 registrations fall into two main blocks, beginning G-VIIx and G-YMMx. With a few exceptions, the vast majority of BA143 flights in the last month have been operated by G-VIIx aircraft (which are the slightly older ones). Another trend is that on several occasions, the same aircraft has operated the service for two or three days running. As today's flight is being operated by G-VIIY, there is some chance at least that it could do tomorrow's as well. Others that have appeared very regularly on the route are G-VIIE and G-VIIU. G-VIIX even did four days in a row.

So, G-VIIY will arrive back at Heathrow as BA142 at 0645 tomorrow morning. If it's on time and fully serviceable, then there's a fair chance it could operate BA143 back to Delhi at 1010; if it's delayed, then that increases the chance that another aircraft will be allocated the service.

With whichever aircraft you fly, legallooptheloop, I wish you a pleasant and entertaining flight and a nice time in India.

[Andy_S]

I find it hard to believe that someone would choose an airline on the basis of the IFE, or worry about it, when this seems to so trivial. When I fly I hardly ever use the IFE, I find it hard to concentrate with all the movement around, the screens are too small to enjoy a film, even in the premium cabins, the sound is lousy and you have to put up with all the extraneous and ambient noise. Perhaps it's just me but I think IFE is a complete waste of time, and its importance totally exaggerated.

I disagree. A good IFE is a godsend on a long haul flight, and although I wouldn't pick a particular flight on IFE alone, it would be a consideration.

Regarding Legallooptheloop's query, though, since the flight is tomorrow I would suggest it's a bit late to be asking! Whatever IFE is used, you're stuck with it now. I would endorse Lotpax's comments - an MP3 player, a book and something to play your own movies on will help kill time.

[radeng]

Being somewhat old fashioned (and old!) I go with Capetonian on this. The only IFE I lkike is the map display.

But it's matter of personal preference.

[Shack37]

The ba website says it's a 777.


Arrivals and departures (http://www.britishairways.com/rtad/travel/public/es_es?searchType=searchByFlight&page=flightDetail&arrivalOrDeparture=Departure&date=2010-08-13&flightNumber=0143&departureAirport=LHR&flightDate=2010-08-13)

Don't know if the link will work and it's in Spanish but 777 translates easily.:ok:

[MIDLGW]

Erm, we have more than three B777 aircraft at LGW... Just thought I'd point that out. 2x 4-class (VIIA/B), 1x bunked (YMMx series) and the rest 3-class (VIIx series)

[Avman]

Chatting to your neighbour can be very interesting but equally extremely boring. To avoid the gamble I don't engage in any meaningful conversations with fellow pax anymore. As an "oldie" myself I actually enjoy IFE on longhauls (which I only fly in Business Class). It's the only way I can catch up with the movie scene. I equally enjoy reading a good book and always have one with me. Each to their own I say. In more recent years (again referring to C class only) I have found the equipment and sound quality to be very good.

[raffele]

Three of those, 777-200s, are based at Gatwick, so can be discounted; 43 of the rest are 777-200ERs, and one a 777-300ER - all based at Heathrow.

Erm, we have more than three B777 aircraft at LGW... Just thought I'd point that out. 2x 4-class (VIIA/B), 1x bunked (YMMx series) and the rest 3-class (VIIx series)

And I believe the 777-300 is yet to enter service.

Logging into Manage My Booking, or entering your flight into the timetable will give you the aircraft type.

By entering your route into the Highlife listings finder on BA.com shows that you are most likely to have their new(ish) video on demand IFE - click here for the listings (http://www.britishairways.com/travel/ifeoutavodlisting/public/en_gb?class=wt)

It says selected 777 aircraft - the reason for this is there are two engines running these - Rolls Royce and GE. I can't remember which one it is (I think it's the GE engines) but one of them can't provide enough power for the AVOD - you'll know when you board as I believe they also have the 'old' Club World fitted. Its a roughly 50/50 chance.

The 'archaic' 12 channel system isn't that bad to be honest - a fairly good variety of movies, music and television, and whilst on a loop and not on demand, you should have enough to keep you entertained. But it doesn't hurt to take a book or an iPod too

[wiggy]

I hear :ok: it's slated to be a four class GE aircraft - can't confirm the IFE fit though ( BTW I've never ever heard that there any power issues with the GE's running AVOD, AFAIK the IFE fit is simply down to history - the GEs are the older airframes).

[MIDLGW]

The 2 x 4-class 777s we have at LGW have got NGCW but not AVOD. The same might be on the 4-class 777s at LHR, although I'm not sure if it's all of them. I believe it's the GE powered engines that haven't got AVOD.