British Airways New Club SUITE Routes & Aircraft

British Airways‘ new premium class product, the Club Suite, is laying claim to be one of the best – if not THE best – business class product on the European market. Especially the privacy that you will experience due to the sliding doors sets British Airways and its Club Suite apart from many other airlines. But there is one downer: only very little aircraft are already equipped with the new cabin, and therefore the chances are high that you will encounter the old Club World when flying BA.

So how can you find out on which routes British Airways will operate aircraft that are outfitted with the all-new business class? Since you’re here, you’ve obviously made the first step in the right direction. In this article, we will try to keep you up to date regarding routes and aircraft that will most likely offer you the Club Suite experience.

The Basics

As of now, we still have to fish in muddy waters regarding the deployment of the new Club Suite on BA’s aircraft. The only thing we can say for sure is that all Airbus A350 will have the new business class cabin on board. But the British flag carrier is also retrofitting some of its Boeing 777-200. And that’s where it gets a little tricky.

There is actually no way to tell for sure if the route you want to fly really offers the new Club Suite or still the old Club World business class. You can find out by having a look at the seat map. But this is often possible only after you’ve already booked your flight. An alternative here could be ExpertFlyer.com. Scroll down to learn more about the tool.

We will seperate the following destinations into two different categories: the routes that can be seen as reliable Club Suite routes. And the ones where the information about the deployment of the new business class product is not as solid. As soon as we can get our hands on new facts, we will update this article.

Officialy Scheduled Destinations

You can expect to experience the new Club Suite on flights to the following destinations with departure from London Heathrow:

Destination	Aircraft	Flight number
Bangalore (BLR) India	Airbus A350-1000	BA118/119 From January 1st 2020
Dubai (DXB) United Arab Emirates	Airbus A350-1000	BA106/107 From September 2th 2019
Madrid (MAD) Spain	Airbus A350-1000	BA464/465 and BA457/457 From August 6th 2019
Tel Aviv (TLV) Israel	Airbus A350-1000	BA162/163 From December 1st 2019
Toronto (YYZ) Canada	Airbus A350-1000	BA92/93 From October 1th 2019

Destinations Expected to be Scheduled

British Airways is planning on operating retrofitted aircraft on the routes mentioned below. But since no one can guarantee that the airline and its suppliers will really stay on top of their time schedule, it is uncertain if and when the new Club Suite will be available. Again: as soon as we have reliable information, we will update this section.

North America

Destination	Aircraft	Flight number
Boston (BOS) USA	Boeing 777-200	BA215/214 and BA239/238 From February 2020
Chicago (ORD) USA	Boeing 777-200	BA297/296 From January 2020
New York (JFK) USA	Boeing 777-200	BA173/BA112 From October 9th, 2019
Philadelphia (PHL) USA	Boeing 777-200	BA68/69 From March 2020
Seattle (SEA) USA	Boeing 777-200	BA52/53 From February 2020

Middle East

Destination	Aircraft	Flight number
Jeddah (JED) Saudi Arabia	Boeing 777-200	Unknown From February 2020
Dubai (DXB) United Arab Emirates	Boeing 777-200	Unknown From February 2020
Kuwait (KWI) Kuwait	Boeing 777-200	Unknown From February 2020
Riyadh (RUH) Saudi Arabia	Boeing 777-200	Unknown From January 2020

Africa

Destination	Aircraft	Flight number
Abuja (ABV) Nigeria	Boeing 777-200	Unknown From February 2020
Nairobi (NBO) Kenya	Boeing 777-200	Unknown From January 2020

Aircraft

Besides equipping every new Airbus A350-1000 with the new Club Suite, British Airways will also start to retrofit some of its Boeing 777-200 aircraft. We will maintain a list of all known registration codes so you’ll have one more point of reference when checking for Club Suite routes.

Airbus A350-1000

British Airways ordered 17 Airbus A350-1000, all of them will have the Club Suite on board. As of now, only one aircraft has been delivered. But three more should follow until the end of the year. British Airways will then operate them on the routes mentioned above. The known plans are:

• G-XWBA
• G-XWBB
• G-XWBC
• G-XWBD

Boeing 777-200

In addition to the brand-new Airbus aircraft, the British flag carrier is also installing the new business class on board of some of its Boeing 777-200s. Currently, this seems to be the case for two plans of that model. Please note that this assumption is based on seat maps only.

• G-RAES
• G-VIIA

How to Check for the New Club Suite

We’ve already mentioned, that the Airbus A350 is the only aircraft certain to have the new Club Suite onboard. So if you book a flight where the airline is planning on operating that model, your chances for the new business class experience are very high. But then there are the other destinations. Those served by a Boeing 777-200. Maybe one that is retrofitted, perhaps one that isn’t.

Now, if you have to be somewhere at a given time and have zero flexibility, you will go ahead and book your ticket anyways. Then you can check on BA.com if the seat map matches the Club Suite configuration. Here’s an example of what it should look like:

On the other hand, there also is a way to find out more about the seat map before booking your flight. You will need to sign up for an account on ExpertFlyer.com. The tool offers a lot of functions that can be very useful to frequent flyers. But, unfortunately, many of them are part of the Pro version. Consequently, you should check out the website before you opt to pay.

And still, there is good news: the Free version will suffice if you want to check for the Club Suite layout. Once you set up your account, go to the “Create New Seat Alert” section and fill out the data for the flight you are planning on taking.

Once you’ve hit the search button, the tool will return the seat map of the aircraft that will (most likely) be operated on this flight. So, if a 1-2-1 layout pops up, this means you’re looking at a Club Suite configuration.

The two screenshots above are from the same British Airways flight from London to Boston. But the one one the left is for a trip in January, the one on the right for February. That’s when BA is planning on deploying a retrofitted Boeing 777-200 on this route.