Ba Ncl-lhr

[go-egnt]

Am booked onto flight BA1321, the 6.30 dept. to LHR on the 16th of Feb.
This is listed as a A319, and i know it has been a A319/A320 the last few times i have been to the airport that early.

I have a couple of questions:
1. Whats the chance of a B757 (OR B767 i know almost impossible), like it was throught the summer?
2. What the best seats on the A319?
3. This flight is normally busier than the 9.20 departure so why is that listed as being a B757?

Thanks in advance

[GrahamK]

The 09:20am flight from NCL is the first arrival of the day from LHR which will probably be full of connecting pax from the USA, Canada and the Far East. As for the 319/320 on the first flight of the day, probably don't have enough 757s left in their fleet and other destinations will warrant the extra capacity more than NCL.

Someone can correct me if I'm talking a load of bull :ok:

[theskyboy]

Row 9 on the A319 has the most legroom and is next to the overwing exit. Just incase the sh!t hits the fan:D

[go-egnt]

Thanks for all your replies

Does the A319 that fly domestic have the drop down TV's that show you where you are?

Becuase i know the ones that fly shorthaul european routes do, but different aircraft fly the domestic routes dont they?

[theskyboy]

All BA A319/New A320's/A321 have the drop down screens showing the 'moving map'. You do however have to rely on the crew to switch it on:)

The a/c based at Terminal 1 do all work (European and Domestic).

[go-egnt]

Right, i thought that european flights had a business class or ' club europe' section onboard, while domestic flights were all economy?

So if they are the same planes, then do the first few rows have extra room?

[CentreFix25]

The 09:20am flight from NCL is the first arrival of the day from LHR which will probably be full of connecting pax from the USA, Canada and the Far East. As for the 319/320 on the first flight of the day, probably don't have enough 757s left in their fleet and other destinations will warrant the extra capacity more than NCL. Following on from what Graham said, the night stopping crew arrive on the afternoon flight (BA1328 i think). Which would mean that the quieter afternoon flight would also have to be a 757 which wouldnt be ideal.

[WHBM]

The BA short-haul fleet, like many in Europe nowadays, is fitted with seats in the forward cabin which are adjustable by mechanism from 6-across to 5-across for use on routes with business class. In addition these seats tend to have increased legroom. When in use as Y class seats they are changed to 6-across but retain the additional legroom. On European routes in Y, try to sit as far forward as possible for better legroom.
On BA it is I believe a ramp engineers job to reconfig the seat width but on other airlines the cabin crew do it.
The A319/320 fleet operates in a common pool, except that the oldest 320s with the CFM engines are kept on the shorter routes and do not operate from T4. The A321s are used exclusively on T4 routes and thus do not get onto the domestic network.
The last few A320s were fitted with full IFE equipment and were intended to be used on Istanbul and Moscow where the entertainment is advertised, but they seem to get mixed up more than desirable, non-fitted aircraft going on the long routes while fitted ones spend the day on domestics. I am sure ops have a reason. Sometimes I have known the crew show it on St Petersburg if they are so inclined and the tape has been left on board (Tape ? Maybe I'm showing my age and it's a DVD now).
It would be nice if it was an SOP for the Airbus fleet to show the moving map at all times.
Regarding the allocation of the Heathrow shorthaul fleet, this must be an exercise with infinite combinations for the different aircraft sizes, and although they seem to stick well to the plan (after all, if you are selling all the seats in an aircraft you pretty much have to), the plan itself seems to vary the types on each flight almost by the day, based doubtless on some demand optimisation routine that the commercial team have developed and refined over the years. You can't have all the early flights with a 757 and all the midday flights with a 319 !