British Airways is planning to "squeeze" economy passengers as it plans to add an extra 52 seats to its Boeing 777s at Gatwick from 2018. Travelers who are frequent cheap-seat flyers of the airline giant will find they have less space. Their nine British Airways 777 will have 10 seats each row starting 2018.
Mr. Willie Walsh, Chief executive of BA's parent company IAG, told the investors at a Capital Markets Day that the move is in response to a "market opportunity" of allowing British Airways to lower the average cost per seat, charge at lower price and eventually stimulate demand, as explained by Independent.
Based on the said report, the economy cabin will have new entertainment system with bigger monitor displays. There are some aircrafts that have direct competition with British Airways such as its main European rivals: Lufthansa and Air-France-KLM. Their competitor Lufthansa has expanded its subsidiary, Eurowings, to operate long-haul routes. While Air France, on the other hand, is planning to have a totally new airline so it will not be trailed behind with the ultra-competitive markets, as further explained by Independent.
However, when it comes to having low-cost, long-haul airlines, reports says that the Norwegian Airlines has been their main competitor. Having enticing promo fares has been believed as one way of poaching passengers from them. Furthermore, another 12 extra seats will be added by British Airways on its short-haul Airbus 320 that flies from Heathrow, in order to give the same seat capacity, just like with easyJet.
Based on the report in The Sun, a spokesperson for British Airways said that, "We are updating our 777 cabins to bring us into line with many of our competitors." Also, from next summer, the passengers of the airline giant will have access on Wi-fi for short flights. This will enable the flight passengers to stream Netflix, Skype and have Facetime with family and friends in multiple devices.
