VS5 March 2026 - Aircraft Type Confusion (A333 or A339?)

Hi all, first time poster here and looking for some advice about our LHR>MIA VS5 20/03/2026 10am.

We are flying out to hop on BL, and decided to bite the bullet and book UC for the first time. From what I’ve seen this route is typically operated on the A339neo, right up until the day we fly where it changes to an A333.

I’m a bit confused as the seat map shows a A333 config, but the VS6 ( which lands around 7am) is scheduled to be on the A339. I’d have thought that aircraft would be turned around for the 10am VS5. For comparison VS118 is showing as an A333, and doesn’t land in LHR until 11:30am. Then VS117 departing at 2:20pm shows as the A339.

I’m hoping this might just be a scheduling quirk and may be updated in the future? Curious what others think about this and if there’s any tips for dates to check the layout so we can rebook our seats next to each other should the layout change? I have my fingers crossed we get to experience the new UC layout as opposed to the ‘coffin’.

TIA!

[mitchja]

Welcome to V:Flyer

In many cases an inbound aircraft that lands at LHR doesn't usually go back out to the same destination it's just come in from; that's not to say it doesn't happen as it does, just not very often. An incoming aircraft may also be taken out of service for engineering work etc once it returns to LHR.

Whilst the seat config is almost the same same on both those A/C, I believe an A333 has a larger cargo capacity compared to the A339 so VS will not only base the aircraft type on passenger numbers, but also cargo loads.

Until you are actually sat on-board an aircraft there's never any guarantees which A/C type you will get.

In all fairness as well there's actually nothing wrong with the old A333 Upper Class seat. Don't dismiss it until you actually try it for yourself. That seat is actually by far the best when in bed mode. It's the only seat that goes completely flat (the other seats all have cushion contours making the bed not completely flat) and it's by far the widest when in bed mode.

If required and depending on loads, you should be able to change you seats at any time between now and checking in. You wont get any notifications from VS if you flight just gets an aircraft type change though; unless it also comes with a schedule change. A good app for getting notified about A/C type changes is Flighty and it's pretty accurate most of the time.