LGW-MCO which aircraft july/august 2020

[lam]

Does anyone know for sure, which actual aircraft will fly out direct from LGW to MCO july/august next year.

I want to check the seat maps for BA and Virgin(& any other airlines that do this route) for the widest economy seats with best legroom and/or a 2by2 seat configuration


I need info for seat guru.

Also does anyone know where I can check availability of seats BEFORE I commit to a booking?

Many Thanks

[loola30]

I'm not sure on BA, but I'm fairly certain VA will still be flying the 747-400s out of Gatwick next year.

[Bubba31]

It told me during the BA booking process that my aircraft was a 747 for Miami. Surely it would also tell you if you do a dummy run.

[nth09]

BA almost certainly the 777 with the 3-4-3 seating in Economy.

[ManCity]

Originally Posted by lam

... for sure ...

See more...

In the case of Virgin, you will find that 'Flight Schedules' under 'Destinations' on their web site will tell you which flights they are planning each day and the plane they currently plan to use. However, you said 'for sure' and even Virgin themselves don't know that for sure. They can and do change aircraft around depending on operational needs. The flights to MCO have traditionally been 747, and they have several of those, so you don't notice an aircraft swap when it is one of the same type. However on other routes they can and do change the aircraft type.

VA have 12 A350 on order with the intention of replacing all their A340 and 747s - i.e. replacing all their 4-engined planes with more efficient 2-engines ones. The timescales for this are not set in concrete and seem to be slipping a bit - possibly by the end of 2021 now. They took delivery of the first A350 about 2 weeks ago - it is currently in Glasgow doing pilot training. The first scheduled flight is Sept 10 from LHR to JFK - but that only appeared in the schedule in July - only 2 months notice. The next 3 aircraft enter service in late Sept, early Nov and early Dec on LHR to JFK - they were only added to the schedule two weeks ago. Those planes are built and undergoing various stages of test flights in Toulouse. The remaining 8 are not built yet. However, you might expect that when first introduced on the MCO route, there might be only a couple of months notice, once VA know for sure when they are being delivered. It is also rumoured that the 'leisure' versions of the A350 will have a different seat layout - but they haven't announced this. My guess is that next summer MCO it is odds on that it will still be a 747 - but if you can forecast that with any certainty, you can tell us what the exact exchange rate will be too!

You really can't do detailed planning a year ahead when the airlines themselves haven't finalised the basics!

[Peko]

Originally Posted by lam

Does anyone know for sure, which actual aircraft will fly out direct from LGW to MCO july/august next year.

I want to check the seat maps for BA and Virgin(& any other airlines that do this route) for the widest economy seats with best legroom and/or a 2by2 seat configuration


I need info for seat guru.

Also does anyone know where I can check availability of seats BEFORE I commit to a booking?

Many Thanks

See more...

As mentioned above, BA will very likely be refurbished 777-200 with 3-4-3 seating in economy. Those aircraft do have a few rows at the back with 2-4-2 seating, where the fuselage narrows.

Don’t waste your time with SeatGuru for BA seatmaps, theBAsource.com is more accurate. The above mentioned aircraft seatmap can be found here

thebasource/seat-maps/b777-200er/32j52w252y/

Of course, aircraft substitution is possible, but this is the more likely configuration for LGW-MCO next summer.

For seat availability, on BA.com you can check seat availability before paying for a booking. It allows you to choose and pay for seats during the booking process, so you can see what’s available, but you can still complete the booking without paying for the seats if you choose not to book seats at that point.

[lam]

Thank you o much everyone that is really helpful.

Just 1 more question.
What sort of prices are we looking at to book seats?
I just assumed if I paid for the next level up (ie NOT basic economy), it'd give me a bag allowance and a pre-booked seat!

Thanks so much