Will I be on a rubbish plane?

[Neil]

Originally posted by stale
Have been tracking what aircraft will be flying VS9/10 LHR-JFK-LHR this summer. First it said 744/346, then 346/346, now 343/343. How come all those changes?? leaving 230608, returning 080708

It might have been best to start a new thread as your question isn't really related to the OP.

However, as I just mentioned above, a/c changes happen all the time and are influenced by many different factors. Maintenance schedules, load numbers etc and NYC is a route that uses all the configs VS have so if VS need to swap things about they will do so to best soon their requirements throughout the fleet.

I know VS have announced the VS9/10 will be operated by a 343 for a period throughout the summer so I guess your most reason change is due to this.

Neil

Sorry 'bout that, I just saw you comment in the post above But thx for the answer. Pretty annoying, as i actually booked the trip so that we would get a shot at flying two new aircraft we have never flown before..... Well, well, the holidays itself is almost as important as the type of aircraft, so I guess I will survive

At the moment the proposed config for the LGW based A343 is 10J 30W 225Y. It will retain the Etihad interior and IFE. During the period of the lease it may make an appearance on any of the LGW routes although as others have already said it will mostly be VS49/50 MCOs

[Neil]

Thanks for the info Jetstreamer[y] Pretty much as predicted but 10J seats, will be interesting to see what they are like.

Do you know if it is limited to LGW or might it end up ex MAN too?

Thanks for the updated into Jetstreamer - when you say the 343 will retain its current interior, do you know if that is the interior like the photo that Slinky posted? or like in the photo that Wiild posted?

Lets all hope its like Slinky's photo - doubt there will be any complaints from any passangers on any route flying PE if that's the case! [:D]

Dont know if this means anything, but when I did a check on my outbound flight on seat finder, it came up with the 343 aircraft - should I read anything into that? Its going to be torture waiting a whole week before I can access the seat plan - what's the betting we end up in the bubble on a 744 afterall???!!! [:o)]

Originally posted by Neil
Do you know if it is limited to LGW or might it end up ex MAN too?

It should only be ex-LGW but we all know how the fleet gets shuffled from time to time [:?]

Originally posted by Ptarmigan
Thanks for the updated into Jetstreamer - when you say the 343 will retain its current interior, do you know if that is the interior like the photo that Slinky posted? or like in the photo that Wiild posted?

I don't know what the interior will look like but will post an update if I see any pics. What dates are you travelling?

Originally posted by Jetstreamer

Originally posted by Ptarmigan
Thanks for the updated into Jetstreamer - when you say the 343 will retain its current interior, do you know if that is the interior like the photo that Slinky posted? or like in the photo that Wiild posted?

I don't know what the interior will look like but will post an update if I see any pics. What dates are you travelling?

That would be great, thank you so much, Im sure a lot of other people will be interested to see what the aircraft is like inside too [:)]

We are flying 18th Apr 09 returning 2nd May LGW-MBJ-LGW (VS065)

Originally posted by Jetstreamer
It should only be ex-LGW but we all know how the fleet gets shuffled from time to time [:?]

IIRC a previous poster (the rumours about LHR-PVG moving to MAN) said that the MAN CC aren't trained on the Airbus.

Hello,

I was messing about with the booking system for our flight (trying to see how many seats were left in PE & Upper etc) and I found this at the bottom of the page -

Upper Class seat

The aircraft we are scheduling for your flight is an Airbus 340-300 and does not have our Upper Class Suite on board. This means that whilst you will enjoy our usual excellent Upper Class Service, you will be travelling on a traditional seat-bed as opposed to our flat bed.

So thats that then - no bubble for me, we are almost certainly going on the borrowed plane. I know that the interior is also going to be left as it is until Aug from reading another thread, question is will it be the horrible interior like in Willd's picture?

I wont stress about it but I cant help feeling dissapointed [:#]

I thought you were travelling in PE? As previous posters said it's expected that if the plane truly is unaltered you will get about 48' of legroom plus the same IFE as the best of the rest of the fleet. I'd be singing down the aisles with that! You will still benefit from the PE food offer etc. I'd call this a result. Don't forget that until the A380 came into service the A340 had the title of the quietest cabin in the sky.

Originally posted by McMaddog
I thought you were travelling in PE? As previous posters said it's expected that if the plane truly is unaltered you will get about 48' of legroom plus the same IFE as the best of the rest of the fleet. I'd be singing down the aisles with that! You will still benefit from the PE food offer etc. I'd call this a result. Don't forget that until the A380 came into service the A340 had the title of the quietest cabin in the sky.

Ahhh believe me if we get that aircraft I will dancing the hoopla, the photo Slinky posted of it looks FAB. But - Willd said there is a possibility that we will get the 343 from Etihad that didnt get the upgraded seats and still have the old horrid camo seats, I dont know how to link to his post but if you go back a page you will see he posted a pic of it and its very different to Slinkys.

Anyways, we are going on a great holiday so I will count my blessings and not get worked up about it [:)]

just a quickie - what seats would you try and nab? I was thinking row 11 AC and 12 AC? close to the front, not to near the toilets and window seats - would you pick the same?

Actually it was the Etihad ac I was referring to - check out the specs! link

Diamond First Class = Upper Class
Pearl Business Class = Premium Economy
Coral Economy Class = Economy

VS A340s have 38' seat pitch in PE

Follow up link

Originally posted by McMaddog
Follow up link

You have been unbelievably helpful - I cant thank you enough, if we end up with seats like that I doubt I will want to get off the plane at all, just spend 2 weeks flying backwards and forwards [:o)]

Im scared to get my hopes up though incase we end up with seats like in Willds photo [:0] The photos you posted McMaddog look the same as the one that Slinky posted - fingers crossed we get that one!

Cheers!

Isn't Willd's photo the economy section anyway? 2-4-2?

Originally posted by willd

Originally posted by Ptarmigan

I have found another picture of what could be the PE seat (this is provided they dont change the interior) click here.

I think it is important to remember that at the moment we don't know where the a/c will operate to and what it will look like inside. If it does not change then it will look like the pictures above.

THis link has a large number of cabin shots of the plane as it is currently.

No this is the photo Willd posted in the quote above - thats defo not an economy seat, but it doesnt look like afancy 48'' business class seat either? he posted a different pic of the economy seats showing the seat back tv's because I wasnt sure if we would have them.

So it looks like maybe we will get this old aircraft, and in Aug Virgin will re-fit the PE and UC seats, Im sure they wouldnt bother re-fitting the PE if they were the great pearl business class would they? unless of course they could fit more seats in by re-fitting Virgin PE.....?

Anyway guys, Im sorry, I will drop this issue now I must be getting right on your nerves with it - Im even starting to P*** myself off! [:#]

[Scrooge]

Originally posted by Ptarmigan
I know I am totally getting very worked up about it [:I] dont get me wrong I am looking forward to the trip and very excited, but a 10K holiday is a MASSIVE deal to me, a total once in a lifetime splurge

Just to put things in perspective...10k is a lot of money to everyone, so you have every right to get a little worked up....but please remember, the flight is but a small part of the trip, enjoy it, tell us how it went, good or bad.

I'm not sure this is just the 'loan' of an aircraft, it looks more like the lease with EY has finished (delivery of new Boeing aircraft!!) & VS have completed a lease deal with Boeing (the owner) to lease as an interim until the 787's come on line. Either way it doesn't really look like an inferior product.

Assuming that plane has the SQ F seats I think it has (and it certainly looks like it from the photos), people are going to be disappointed. They recline about 70 degrees (so nowhere near flat and have a surprsingly tiny,crap footrest. Plus no DP/Krug a la SQ, just VS's cruddy wine selection.

The flip is for PE, where you get an old version of SQ's J seat (pre-Ultimo iirc). Very comfortable, loads of legroom, leg rest though similarly stupid footrest. Leaving aside the slightly funky camo style seat cover that is.

Both seats still in service on some of SQ's regional 777 fleet. Showing my increasing age, I can remember flying the A340-300 when SQ operated them.

The pictures that I posted are what the a/c was like in 2005. The question is then has it been refitted since. I am afraid I do not have an answer to that but given the fact that it was on a short lease from Boeing whilst EY waited for their ordered 77W's to arrive, I doubt it (EY have a history of not fitting out their short term leased a/c they used for the start up of the carrier).

The a/c is primarily being deployed on routes form AUH to BOM and DEL. This is a fairly shortish run for EY and is operated by EK in a regional configuration. I would imagine that the 343 is used on this route by EY as it has not been refitted since the pictures in 2005 and thus they can justify it as a regional layout.

Does that make sense?

The pictures that have subsequently been posted by others seem to be EY image library stock and thus we cannot be 100% sure they are on the 343. It is quite common for airlines (VS Included) to use pictures of the seats that are on the majority of their a/c. The only firm proof will be if someone posts a recent picture of the 343.

If I was you I would just wait until the day and if the service/seat does not match what you paid for then write a letter into customer services.