Airbus A350 & A321LR Update | 2021

(TOP)
Airline - British International
Aircraft - Airbus A321LR | G-BLLA
Delivered to British International, 2021
Livery - Updated 2021
Country - Great Britain

(BOTTOM)
Airline - British International
Aircraft - Airbus A350-900 | G-BXIA
Delivered to British International, 2021
Livery - Updated 2021
Country - Great Britain

Due to the coronavirus pandemic and corresponding slump in air travel demand, British International has deferred its order of A321LRs to begin deliveries at the end of 2021, instead of the start of the year as originally planned. The 23 A350-900s on order - which were originally also meant to start entering the fleet in February of 2021 - have been slightly deferred too, so only three will enter service in 2021, to allow demand to recover somewhat before implementing a large fleet-wide capacity increase. Additionally, due to the 99% decrease in demand, the timeline of A330-200 and -300 retirements has been pushed forward, with 8 (out of 18) A330-200s and 11 (out of 19) A330-300s being withdrawn from service with immediate effect.

With the added time before A321LR and A350 deliveries begin, the BritJet Group now has more time to think through the details of this fleet expansion, and as such a slight livery update will be implemented on newly-delivered aircraft and repainted onto older ones as they undergo scheduled heavy overhauls over the next few years. This livery change consists of two subtle but important details - first of all, the 'British International' titling will be enlarged by around 50% to increase recognition, and secondly, the airline's legacy 'British' script will be added in silver metallic paint on the nose of each aircraft as a callback to the angled titling on the 747s it started out with. Additionally, because of expectations for air travel demand to bounce back fully within 2-3 years and to be stronger than it was before the crisis when it eventually does so, eight of the 23 A350 orders have been converted to the A350-1000, to begin entering the fleet in 2023.

Now onto the seatmaps. Slight livery update notwithstanding, the A321LR will be delivered with the same interior configuration that has already been published in the album, with eleven Business Class seats, 20 Premium Economy, and 126 Economy. It is included for reference at the top of the image below. The A350-900 will be outfitted with 46 of the same Business Class seat, 40 in Premium Economy, and 256 in Economy, for a total capacity of 342. This is a more premium-heavy setup than on the British International's existing A330-900neos (the carrier's current flagship), and the A350-900s will therefore be deployed on the most premium routes, such as New York, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong, when they are delivered. While the interior hard product - the seats in all classes - on the A350s will be the same as on the already in-service A330s (apart from slightly more seat width in Business Class), there will be a change to the on-board social space. Previously, British International has had some form of bar on all its long-haul aircraft since the 747-400, however with the introduction of the A350-900 this will be replaced with a lounge area for Business Class passengers. The rationale behind this decision is that the lounge will be more of a quiet zone providing a private and intimate experience for passengers to socialize, as opposed to a bar, which by its existence encourages more active, loud, rowdy behavior. Nevertheless, the plan is for there to still be an option to have drinks and snacks served in the lounge, if requested.