BRITISH Airways recently
showed off its new
A380 in Durban, Cape
Town and Johannesburg
to celebrate the February
12 launch of its rst
Superjumbo service between
London and Johannesburg.
Three A380 services will
be added to BA’s 11 existing
B747-400 weekly services
with the A380 services
increasing to six a week by
March 6, resulting in a nett
capacity increase on the
route.
Speaking in Cape Town,
Jamie Cassidy, BA’s area
manager: Middle East,
Asia Pacic & Africa, and
Ed Frost, the newly
appointed commercial
manager for East and South
Africa, said demand on
BA’s South African routes
remained strong despite
the weak rand. “Our
aircraft have been almost
continuously full north- and
southbound throughout the
season,” said Jamie. He
also believed there was
huge potential for BA and its
oneworld partner, American
Airlines, to market South
Africa in North America.
“It’s a very buoyant
market for BA globally
and in Africa,” said Jamie,
pointing to BA’s increased
freqencies to Ghana, Sierra
Leone, Kenya and Uganda.
In Cape Town, BA is adding
three more ights in May
increasing route capacity
by 30%.
The facts
BA’s A380 features 469
seats over two decks with
four cabins:
First – 14 seats
Club World (business
class) – 97 seats
World Traveller Plus
(premium economy) – 55
seats
World Traveller (economy) –
303 seats
In First, suites offer 30%
more personal space and
60% more personal stowage
than First suites on other
BA aircraft. Ergonomic seats
convert into fully at beds,
198cm in length.
There are two Club World
cabins – one on the main
and one on the upper
deck. There is a new seat
conguration – 2:3:2 – on
the upper deck. Rear-facing
middle seats on the upper
deck offer additional interior
storage space. It also
provides aisle access in
either direction.
Business-class seats
convert into a 183cm fully
at bed. Other features
include: personal in-ight
touch screens, two USB
sockets, personal in-seat
power socket, video RCA
connection beneath USB
socket to enable customers
to connect their own digital
equipment with the display
screen
In World Traveller Plus,
seats offer 20% more legroom
than World Traveller,
with a 97cm pitch.
There are two World
Traveller cabins, on the
upper and main decks.
Seats offer a 79cm pitch.
In all classes, on the
upper deck, side storage
areas run the length of the
aircraft, offering customers
in window seats extra
stowage.
