A couple of weeks ago, British Airways finally announced its new Business Class product, the Club Suite. The current Business Class cabin is among the oldest on the market and the upgrades that the airlines made regarding bedding and amenity kits can only compensate for so much. Consequently, this was great news to travelers flying BA from time to time.
As most BA enthusiast will know by now, the new Airbus A350-1000 should be the first aircraft that is outfitted with the latest premium class cabin. And the first official long-haul flights are scheduled to depart starting on October 1st, 2019. But it is standard procedure for most airlines to test a new product on short-haul segments to give crewmembers the chance to get familiar with all the innovations. And British Airways is no exception here.
The great news is that we now have evidence leading us to the flight schedule for British Aiways’ crew training flights on the new Airbus A350. Of course, we don’t know anything for sure, but it seems to be pretty reliable information that circles blogs and travel website at the moment.
So, if what we heard is true, then we can expect the first aircraft with British Airways’ Club Suite on board to depart from London Heathrow on August 6th, 2019. The destination of flight BA456 will be Madrid. Apparently, the airline wants to serve this route with the new Airbus A350 daily until September 28th, 2019.
Facts
- British Airways will operate an Airbus A350-1000 from London to Madrid on a daily basis. Flight numbers will be BA464 and BA465
- Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays you can expect two return-flights per day, adding BA456 and BA457 to the list of Airbus A350 routes
- There will be some black-out dates, including August 13th, August 31st, September 7th, and September 8th
- The schedule for the mentioned flights could be:
- BA464 London Heathrow to Madrid (4:45 p.m. to 8:05 p.m.)
- BA465 Madrid to London Heathrow (9:20 p.m. to 10:25 p.m.)
- BA456 London Heathrow to Madrid (6:20 a.m. to 9:40 a.m.)
- BA457 Madrid to London Heathrow (10:55 a.m. to 12:15 a.m.)
If this turns out to be the exact flight schedule, you could easily fly from London to Madrid and back again in one day. Or of course, vice-versa. Should that work better for you. Please note that the seatmaps have seemingly not been updated yet. Therefore neither British Airways nor Google Flights will show the A350 as the aircraft type at the moment.
Prices and Booking
British Airways is selling tickets for a round trip from London to Spain for prices around €500 at the moment. Not exactly a bargain for the ~ 2 hours flight. Still, if you want to test the new Club Suite, this will stay one of the cheapest options for a long time.
Another way to get to know the new cabin would be booking an award seat. The flights we checked show good availability. And one-way tickets can be reserved for only 15,000 Avios – plus fees and taxes. A round trip will then cost you 30,000 Avios and approximately €60. Now, that sounds much better and is definitely a great deal.
Conclusion
Even if this isn’t based on an official statement that the airline has made, we are quite sure that we can rely on the information provided here. Of course, things like this are always subject to change. Even if it has been formally announced there’s no guarantee that you’ll end up on board of an Airbus A350 since the carrier can make changes at any time and without a heads-up.
So you have to show some guts and some trust in internet rumors when booking your seat for one of the flights mentioned above. But waiting until everyone is sure about the schedule might result in higher prices and zero award availability. Your choice:)
Source: OMAAT – Thanks!
Cover Picture: © British Airways