British Airways using leased Evelop Airways A330 for Gatwick to New York flights
As British Airways continues to work through issues with the engines on some of its Boeing 787 aircraft, the carrier will use a leased A330 from Evelop Airways for London Gatwick to New York - JFK flights.
RoutesOnline reports the leased aircraft will operate from October 27 to January 12, 2020, replacing the usual Boeing 777-200ER for the route on the following frequencies:
- BA2273 London Gatwick (LGW) 4:45pm Departure ⇒ New York (JFK) 7:55pm Arrival (Daily, except Fridays)
- BA2273Gatwick 4:55pm Departure ⇒ JFK 8:05pm Arrival (Fridays only)
- BA2272 JFK 10:00pm Departure ⇒ Gatwick 9:50am (+1) Arrival (Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays)
- BA2272 JFK 10:05pm Departure ⇒ Gatwick 9:55am (+1) Arrival (Fridays)
- BA2272 JFK 10:10pm Departure ⇒ Gatwick 10:00am (+1) Arrival (Thursdays and Sundays)
The exact aircraft will likely be the same one that has been operating the route for Norwegian for several months. This is a two-cabin plane previously owned by Singapore Airlines. There are 255 economy seats laid out in a 2-4-2 configuration, which is more spacious than the 3-4-3 configuration on BA's Boeing 777 aircraft.
There is also a 30-seat Premium cabin, which Singapore Airlines originally used as a regional business-class cabin. Norwegian used this cabin for its Premium economy passengers, which represented a big upgrade over its 787 premium seats, as I found out recently.
However, British Airways has chosen to operate this cabin on the BA2272/BA2273 flights as business class.
This represents an overall inferior product for business-class passengers. Although the seats are in a relatively spacious 2-2-2 configuration (versus the 2-4-2 layout on British Airways 777 Club World), they do not go fully flat.
All passengers have the option of rebooking onto the frequent London Heathrow (LHR) to JFK services instead.
British Airways is currently operating its first refurbished Boeing 777-200 aircraft on the BA112/BA173 Heathrow to JFK rotations featuring its new Club Suite. If you are booked on the Evelop A330 in business class and can switch to the refurbished B777-200, this will be a huge product upgrade.
