In 2019, British Airways introduced an all-new business class product, which represents a massive improvement compared to the carrier’s previous product. As is often the case when airlines introduce new business class seats, the challenge is actually getting a plane featuring those seats (Lufthansa can tell you all about it!).
While the airline had at the time outlined a rollout schedule for this new product, as you’d expect, the pandemic delayed things a bit. So in this post, I’d like to take a look at the current state of British Airways’ Club Suites rollout.
What are British Airways Club Suites?
Club Suites is the name of British Airways’ new business class product. This cabin consists of reverse herringbone seats with doors — specifically, British Airways selected a modified version or the Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seat. This gives each passenger a fully flat bed, direct aisle access, and a privacy door.
This is an excellent product, among the better business class seats you’ll find out there. Read my review of British Airways Club Suites here.
While this is objectively a solid business class product, what makes it most exciting is how much of an improvement it is over British Airways’ old Club World business class. British Airways’ previous business class product consisted of seven to eight seats per row (depending on the plane and layout), and was among the tightest business class products out there.
You can always tell if your flight is scheduled to feature Club Suites based on the seat map. If you’re flying a wide body British Airways jet and the seat map shows four seats per row in business class, then your flight features Club Suites. Meanwhile if it shows more seats per row than that, then it doesn’t feature the new business class.
Of course keep in mind that last minute aircraft swaps can happen, especially for routes operated by planes that don’t have full product consistency.
Which planes have British Airways Club Suites?
Back in 2019, British Airways announced it planned to complete its Club Suites installation by 2025. At the time the airline shared the below graph about the rollout schedule.
As you’d expect, a lot has changed since then — British Airways retired the 747, the Boeing 777-9 is delayed until at least 2027, etc. So let’s take a look at the current state of British Airways introducing Club Suites by fleet type.
All Airbus A350-1000s have Club Suites
All British Airways Airbus A350-1000s feature Club Suites. This was the first plane to feature Club Suites, and all planes have been delivered factory fresh with the new cabins. The airline has a total of 18 of these in its fleet, and there are no additional A350-1000s on order.
All Boeing 787-10s have Club Suites
All British Airways Boeing 787-10s feature Club Suites, as they were all delivered with these cabins. Aside from the A350-1000, this is the only other plane to have 100% consistency when it comes to Club Suites. The airline has a total of 50 of these on order — 12 have been delivered so far, and the remaining aircraft will join the fleet in the coming years.
All Boeing 777-300ERs have Club Suites
British Airways has 16 Boeing 777-300ERs, and all of them now feature Club Suites. So this is the only aircraft type where all planes have been retrofitted with the new Club Suites product.
Most Boeing 777-200ERs have Club Suites
This is where it gets a little tricky. British Airways has 43 Boeing 777-200ERs — 31 of those are based at Heathrow Airport, while 12 of those are based at Gatwick Airport. British Airways doesn’t have plans to reconfigure the Gatwick jets anytime soon, since they operate leisure oriented routes.
The good news is that all Heathrow based 777-200ERs have the new cabins, so as long as you’re flying on one of these planes out of Heathrow, you should be good. Meanwhile it’s a different story out of Gatwick, where you’ll end up on the old product.
Most Boeing 787-8 have Club Suites
British Airways has 12 Boeing 787-8s, and this is the current focus for British Airways when it comes to introducing Club Suites. The airline now has seven 787-8 with the new Club Suites product. There are five more that need to be reconfigured, and this feels like it has been really drawn out. I would expect this project to be complete at some point in 2026.
No Boeing 787-9s have Club Suites
British Airways has 18 Boeing 787-9s, and none of them feature Club Suites. While the 787-8 retrofits are well underway, the 787-9s are way behind that. The first 787-9 is in the process of being reconfigured at the moment, but expect the certification process to still take some time. Maybe this plane will be in service before the end of 2025, but I’d expect it to be well into 2026 before several of these planes have new cabins.
No Airbus A380s have Club Suites
British Airways has 12 Airbus A380s. Currently, none of these planes have the Club Suites product. However, in 2026 these planes are expected to get an overhaul, including the Club Suite product, as well as an all-new first class product.
What about first class on planes with Club Suites?
This is a question that frequently comes up, so in the interest of being thorough, I’d like to address that as well. For planes that have been reconfigured with Club Suites, what’s the deal with first class?
Bottom line
British Airways has made good progress with rolling out its Club Suites business class, and at this point the airline offers the product fairly consistently, at least on certain aircraft types.
Currently you’re guaranteed Club Suites on all A350-1000s, 787-10s, and 777-300ERs, and on all Heathrow based 777-200ERs. Meanwhile as of now, a majority of 787-8s have Club Suites, while no 787-9s or A380s have Club Suites yet. At this point I’d expect that it’ll likely be 2027 before this project is complete, best case scenario. If you are flying British Airways business class, it’s definitely worth seeking out the new Club Suites product.
What’s your take on British Airways’ Club Suites rollout schedule?
