British Airways accidentally leaked the seat map of its reconfigured Airbus A380 superjumbos in a website snafu, which, as any frequent flyer with the Heathrow-based carrier will likely testify, is in keeping with the airline’s atrocious IT skills.
The seat map is believed to have been live for several days before anyone at British Airways realized the mistake and removed the diagrams from its official website.
Thankfully for British Airways, much of the information contained within the seat map has either already been made publicly available or has otherwise been reported from various sources.
What does the seat map tell us:
- There will be 12 new First Class suites at the front of the main deck (down from the 14 seats).
- The main deck will also consist of World Traveller Plus premium economy and World Traveller economy seats.
- There will be 84 World Traveller Plus seats.
- And 215 World Traveller seats.
- The upper deck will then be completely taken up with Club World business class suites, with a total of 110 suites running the length of the upper deck.
In total, there will be 421 seats, representing a 10% reduction in the current configuration of 469 seats, as British Airways seeks to capitalize on the popularity of its premium economy cabin.
The reconfigured A380s will feature a new design language that was first rolled out on some of BA’s most recent single-aisle jet deliveries, which includes faux wooden floors at boarding doors and in galleys, as well as boldred accents throughout the aircraft.
The A380 will also feature a brand new First Class suite that was first unveiled in November 2024. The suite concept was designed by Tangerine Design consultancy and will be built by Collins Aerospace in Northern Ireland.
The enclosed First Class suite was meant to take to the skies by mid-2026, although sources claim the retrofit project has hit a number of problems and that timeline could slip.
There are also rumors swirling that a major redesign of the seating layout could be in the works.
At present, British Airways has its World Traveller economy seats spread across cabins on both the main deck and upper deck, but the airline wants to consolidate economy seating to the main deck to make room for a dedicated Club World cabin on the upper deck.
Unfortunately, if the rumors are to be believed, aviation regulators are unhappy with this plan, and it all comes down to how cabin crew would deal with an unruly passenger on the upper deck.
BA’s passenger restraint kit is designed to secure a disruptive passenger to a seat, effectively strapping them down for the duration of the flight, but the kit is currently only approved for use on economy and premium economy seats.
If a Club World passenger became so unruly that they needed to be restrained, the question is how cabin crew would secure them to a seat without someone bundling them down a narrow staircase.
This could, of course, prove to be a red herring, with any delays more likely to be attributed to supply chain issues, especially with premium seating, which has caused headaches at a number of major airlines around the world.
British Airways has a fleet of 12 Airbus A380 superjumbos, and the first retrofit was due to be complete within the next few months. The entire project could, however, take several years to complete.
