Last year we reviewed the seating capacity and premium economy products available between London and New York, using schedules and aircraft interiors data from FlightGlobal. Here, we update the report by comparing the available seat capacity of the same week in 2017
Six airlines operate on this city pair and all offer either a full premium economy product, or simply an enhanced economy offering. All flights featuring these cabins are accounted for in the following analysis.
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Overall capacity increased by 4.0% from 103,632 to 107,747 seats in the week commencing 3 April 2017.
Capacity available in premium economy cabins is also up marginally, by 983 seats, retaining a 16% share of capacity overall. Key to these increases are the alterations airlines have made to their schedules, and the aircraft types operating the services.
BA RETAINS LEADING SHARE
British Airways continues to provide the greatest number of available seats (36.5% of the total) and 154 flights in the week, far more than any other carrier. A big factor in the 6.3% increase in seating capacity is a new daily Boeing 777-200ER service between London Gatwick and JFK.. It competes with Norwegian on the route.
The low-cost carrier has also increased capacity by 8.8%, upgauging 787-8s to 787-9s.
STATESIDE MOVES
United Airlines has added five round trips between Newark and London Heathrow this year, a 12.5% increase in capacity.
A marginal increase by American Airlines means its available seats go up by 5.4%. Delta, meanwhile, will offer the exact same amount of capacity as in 2016, operating the same number of flights with Boeing 767-300ER aircraft in the same configuration.
Virgin Atlantic alone has decreased capacity, operating two fewer flights compared to the same sample week in 2016. The 4.5% drop also reflects an aircraft equipment changes, with the smaller Airbus A330-300 replacing A340-600s on 14 flights.
PRODUCT IMPROVEMENTS
Focusing on the premium economy cabins currently operating between the cities, none of the airlines have introduced any major innovations during the past 12 months. Although a couple of noteworthy passenger experience enhancements have been made to some aircraft operating on these routes.
British Airways has completed refurbishing 18 Boeing 747-400s into the "Super High-J" configuration. New Panasonic eX3 in-flight entertainment systems have been installed, also providing in-seat power through the integrated USB port. These aircraft operate the majority of the services scheduled with a 747 between Heathrow and JFK.
CONNECTIVITY ENHANCEMENTS
While American Airlines continues to reconfigure its fleet of 777-200ERs, the already completed examples will operate on services from JFK to Heathrow alongside 777-300ERs. The refurbished aircraft may no longer have a first-class cabin, but now feature Panasonic eX2 and eXConnect providing IFE and wi-fi respectively.
Wi-fi coverage is also increasing on Virgin Atlantic aircraft. The carrier is currently midway through installing Gogo's 2Ku system to A330-300s and A340-600s, which operate the majority of Virgin Altantic services from Heathrow to JFK and Newark.
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Source: Flight Daily News
