How is the British Airways Club Suite roll-out progressing?

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British Airways put out a press release offering an update on the progress of its Club Suite rollout across the fleet. We have used this as the basis for updating this article on the roll-out of the new seat, including a list of routes where it will operate in January 2022.

Club Suite is BA’s new business class seat, first unveiled in 2019 on the brand new A350s. It is a big step up from the now dated yin-yang layout first introduced in 2006. Our full guide to Club Suite is here.

With the worst of the pandemic now behind us, British Airways is once again able to shift its focus to customer experience and, in particular, the on-going roll out of its new(ish) business class seat.

British Airways Club Suite roll out 2022

All Boeing 777 will have Club Suite by end of 2022

The original roll out of Club Suite has been understandably delayed by Covid.

In 2019, BA had hoped that the Club Suite refurbishment program on the Boeing 787-8 would have started by now, with the Boeing 777 refurbishment program effectively complete.

That has not happened, for obvious reasons: covid thottled capital expenditure across the airline for the past 18 months and I wouldn’t be surprised if there were supply chain issues as well.

The good news is that British Airways has now announced that it expects the entire Heathrow Boeing 777 fleet to have Club Suite by the end of 2022. That includes the 29 777-200ER aircraft and the 16 larger 777-300ER aircraft which now form the backbone of BA’s long haul fleet. (A further 14 are based at Gatwick and are not expected to be refurbished for some time.)

How many aircraft have Club Suite now?

Here are the latest fleet numbers as of October 2021, courtesy of travel and data analytics expert Cirium and Flyertalk.

British Airways currently has 35 long haul aircraft with the new Club Suite cabin:

8 brand new A350s delivered between 2019 and 2021
2 brand new 787-10s delivered last year
20 777-200ERs that have been refitted
5 777-300s (which also feature the new First Suite)

This equates to 36% (35 of 97) total long haul aircraft that currently have Club Suite installed.

2022 will (hopefully) see a lot of more Club Suite-enabled aircraft

The prognosis for 2022 is good, however. In addition to its announcement that the entire Boeing 777 fleet will have Club Suite, which in itself would be just over half the fleet, we can be optimistic about further deliveries:

three further BA-branded A350s have been spotted at Airbus and are likely to be delivered soon
five 787-10s could also be delivered next year, if Boeing manages to sort out its fuselage skin problems

The 787-8, 787-9 and A380 refurbishment will likely have to wait a while longer and is unlikely to start until 2023.

Taken together, we might see a total of 53 aircraft fitted with Club Suite at the end of 2022, which would equate to 50% of the British Airways Heathrow long haul fleet. The full Heathrow fleet would total 105 with the above deliveries.

Whether or not British Airways manages to keep to its pre-pandemic target of having the entire fleet outfitted with Club Suite in 2025 is another matter. It wouldn’t be surprising to see this deadline slip although it could still be achievable.

Which routes will have Club Suite in 2022?

The good news is that British Airways is making good use of its Club Suite aircraft.

New York, BA’s most important route, now flies Club Suite exclusively (save for last minute changes), mainly on the Boeing 777.

I have done a bit of digging with the help of Cirium. Here are the routes currently scheduled to fly Club Suite aircraft in January 2022. There are 32 in total, although I may have missed some:

Abuja (777 most days)
Antigua (777, rarely)
Atlanta (daily 787-10, 777)
Bengaluru (daily A350)
Bermuda (777, most days)
Bridgetown Barbados (777, rarely)
Boston (daily 787-10 or 777)
Buenos Aires (daily A350)
Cape Town (daily 777)
Chicago (daily 787-10, 777)
Denver (787-10 most days)
Dallas Forth Worth (daily 787-10)
Dubai (Daily A350 and 777)
Grand Cayman (777 most days)
Johannesburg (daily A350 or 777)
Kuwait (777, some days)
Lagos (777 rarely)
Las Vegas (daily 777)
Miami (777 most days)
Mumbai (daily A350)
Nassau (777 every other day)
Nairobi (daily 777)
Newark (787-10 or 777 most days)
New York JFK (all flights)
Phoenix (daily 777)
Providenciales (777, occasionally)
Riyadh (daily 777)
Sao Paulo (daily A350)
Shanghai (A350 every other day)
St Lucia (777, most days)
Toronto (777, rarely)
Vancouver (A350, rarely)

You can find out if your flight has Club Suite by checking the seat map. If the Club cabin is in a 1-2-1 layout like the image below then it is currently scheduled to have Club Suite.

As always, schedules are subject to change and British Airways does not provide compensation if you do not get the expected aircraft. The routes above are simply our best guess of where we can expect Club Suite to be.

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Category

British Airways and Avios

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

paul says:

1 Nov1 November 08:23

Laughable that the route to Sydney doesn’t get it.
- Tom says:
  
  1 Nov1 November 08:47
  
  Why? Anyone that chooses to fly BA LHR-SYD is obviously choosing based on some factor other than seat currently, given there are about 10 other airlines that are one stop with similar journey times to BA.
  
  Also flying to SYD ties up a frame for a very long time that could do probably 3-4 return trips to the US East Coast in the same time instead.
  - Rhys says:
    
    1 Nov1 November 10:10
    
    I think Sydney ties up at least 2, potentially 4, aircraft.
David says:

1 Nov1 November 08:32

Several EWR flights in mid Dec are showing with 787s at present so presumably no Club Suite (I don’t believe they are -10 models); this seems at odds with the comment that New York is flying the new cabin exclusively (unless that is only to JFK?). In addition Orlando is showing lots of flights with A350s next year.
- Rhys says:
  
  1 Nov1 November 10:13
  
  JFK is all Club Suite. But EWR looks Club Suite heavy in Jan 2022 too.
BrotherBear says:

1 Nov1 November 08:40

We’re flying to St Lucia in a week’s time. Will this have the new club suite? Seat layout shows 2-4-2 but article says will have new club suite on all days (by Jan but I take that to be now).

Cheers
- Rob says:
  
  1 Nov1 November 08:48
  
  If it shows 242 it isn’t CS.
Tom says:

1 Nov1 November 08:45

All 5 of the 777-300ERs fitted with club suite also have the First suite and the remaining 11 will get the first suite when they get club suite.
- Rhys says:
  
  1 Nov1 November 10:20
  
  Yes you’re right – my mistake
Martin says:

1 Nov1 November 09:00

How do you view the cabin layout unless you have already booked and choosing seats? I find seatguru unreliable.
- Sarah says:
  
  1 Nov1 November 09:09
  
  Use the Expert Flyer Seat Alerts app – you can do basic searches for free which will show you the cabin and what seats are booked or blocked.
  - CarpalTravel says:
    
    1 Nov1 November 09:44
    
    That’s great to know, thanks! I was going to ask the same question as Martin.
- Rhys says:
  
  1 Nov1 November 10:27
  
  You can do a dummy booking
  - CarpalTravel says:
    
    1 Nov1 November 10:45
    
    What is the process for that? I have tried a few times and always get to the checkout and still don’t know the seat layout.
    - Rhys says:
      
      1 Nov1 November 12:50
      
      Weird. Normally it asks you before payment. Google Flights also lets you know – it will say ‘suite’ when you search.
      - CarpalTravel says:
        
        2 Nov2 November 09:12
        
        New day, fresh eyes – I’ve just worked out what you mean! Do a normal booking flow with the flights I am eyeing up for use as a reward flight and presumably that one will give me the opportunity to view the layout. Shows how often I do that!
George K says:

1 Nov1 November 09:02

Bagged a Cape Town ticket for next April, and indeed shows the CS. What’s weird is that the seatmap on both legs starts from a weird number. It starts from row 3 on the outbound, and 4 on the inbound (on what is a 777-200ER service, I gather). What’s weirder is that I’ve been assigned 2A on the outbound, but the map itself won’t show the actual seat (!).
- Lev441 says:
  
  1 Nov1 November 09:47
  
  Issue with the BA website.. I had the same with a flight I had yesterday. Only started in row 5 but I was assigned a seat in row 2.
  - George K says:
    
    1 Nov1 November 11:17
    
    I was doing some looking for South Africa and it appeared to me that JNB was getting the A380 as opposed to the A350 which features on this list. Did I get it wrong?
    
    Also, Hong Kong seems to be missing, in general. At the moment, it’s down for 777/787s I think, which probably means the 2006 J seat, maybe…
  - George K says:
    
    1 Nov1 November 12:29
    
    Sorry, the above was meant for general circulation, not a reply to Lev441. Many thanks for letting me know that the seatmap inconsistency is a common error!
Mikeact says:

1 Nov1 November 09:29

If original Club World is that bad , should I cancel Philadelphia next June (not on the list) and reroute ?
- Rob says:
  
  1 Nov1 November 09:31
  
  It’s flat, it does the job. If there was a direct AA flight with the new seat you may want to try that but I wouldn’t build in a connection to avoid it.
  - Mikeact says:
    
    1 Nov1 November 09:47
    
    Thanks Rob…agreed as it’s a daylight flight, a bit different if it was the redeye.
- CarpalTravel says:
  
  1 Nov1 November 09:48
  
  I wouldn’t say it is bad, it is just that there is a high probability you would want to pay for your seat to make sure you weren’t climbing over/cuddling up to a stranger, depending on circumstances.
  
  Given BA’s ridiculous pricing coupled with their T&C’s regarding refunds, I personally will use VA for non-CS kitted routes.
  
  This is a great article for me, thanks Rhys.
  - Catalan says:
    
    1 Nov1 November 11:21
    
    As long as it’s on Virgin’s A350 Upper Class suite. The current seat is just as bad as old Club World for different reasons. Minimum recline. Zero seatside storage. Requirement to get out of seat to flip into bed mode. Inability to look out of window without neck contortions. I could go on.
    (Nice salt and pepper shakers though)
    - CarpalTravel says:
      
      1 Nov1 November 12:05
      
      I have never had the joy of the window seat as my wife always gets that! As for the other bits, none of them have bothered me enough for me to even remember them as being a thing.
      
      The BA mid-air aerobics, being forced to sit alongside a relentless cougher and almost criminal seat reservation costs on the other hand most certainly have been a huge grumbles for me.
Roger says:

1 Nov1 November 10:05

241 VOUCHER expires at the end of January and don’t think I will use it beforehand.
Is using Manchester strategy still a go or should we expect BA to extend the vouchers soon enough?
- ChrisC says:
  
  1 Nov1 November 10:19
  
  I wouldn’t expect any more extensions.
  
  So yes useing the Manchester Strategy is the best way to extend the voucher.
  
  BTW you don’t have to use Manchester. Other airports are available. Share the love!
  - Anna says:
    
    1 Nov1 November 10:48
    
    MAN must be feeling very used and dumped just now!
  - Bagoly says:
    
    1 Nov1 November 10:59
    
    Calling it “Manchester Strategy” rather than something longer is a good example of how jargon can help communication.
    
    I did it by booking us on a flight to Europe that we might have wanted to take.
    Then BA cancelled that flight for us! 🙂