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British Airways To Add Extra Seat In Economy Class Rows
15 - Nov - 2016

British Airways to Add Extra Seat in Economy Class Rows

British Airways has proposed to add an extra seat into every economy class row of some of its aircraft. With the proposed arrangement, its Gatwick-based Boeing 777 aircraft could have an extra 52 seats, a 20% increase from the current 280. Currently, each row has nine seats.

A BA spokesperson said: "We are flying more customers than ever before to our expanding network of destinations.

"To meet this demand, we are updating our (Boeing) 777 cabins to bring us into line with many of our competitors and allow us to offer even more low fares.

"As part of the update, we will also be fitting new entertainment systems with bigger screens."

The Independent reports that Willie Walsh, the chief executive of BA's parent company, IAG, told investors that the airline was "responding to a market opportunity". 

BA also plans to add 12 extra seats on its short-haul airbus A320 which is currently based at Heathrow, a move intended to rival EasyJet’s fleet.

Furthermore, BA also plans to launch wi-fi on short-haul flights next summer, enabling passengers to connect to a 4G broadband network.

Willie Walsh said: "We are giving our customers the fastest connectivity you can get on any aircraft.

"Having announced wi-fi for long-haul flights earlier this year we are now equipping our airlines' short-haul fleets with inflight broadband access.

"Connectivity is essential because it's what our customers demand and IAG will be the first European airline group to offer high quality air to ground wi-fi on short-haul flights."

British Airways A321 will be the first wi-fi equipped short-haul aircraft, while AIG’s other airlines Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling aircrafts will follow later in 2017. They expect to have 90% of their fleets fitted with wi-fi by 2019.

Needless to say, BA is out to outsmart her competitors in the battle for supremacy in the sky.

By Airport Pickups London