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UPDATE 7 July 2016 – as of this week British Airways has further delayed the introduction of the 787-9 Dreamliner to the Mumbai route with the aircraft now not set to feature until 26 March 2017.
British Airways’ planned 787-9 Dreamliner service between London Heathrow and Mumbai has been pushed back by a couple of months with no reason for the delay forthcoming from the airline.
British Airways new aircraft was scheduled to take over one of the two daily Heathrow – Mumbai fights from 1 September 2016 but, according to the latest schedule update from BA, the service will now commence on 26 March 2016.
When the Dreamliner joins the route the full daily schedule will look like this:
BA139 LHR 10:30 – 23:55 BOM (Daily 777-200 service)
BA199 LHR 21:25 – 11:10+1 day BOM (Daily 787-9 Service)
BA138 BOM 01:55 – 07:00 LHR (Daily 777-200 service)
BA198 BOM 13:10 – 18:15 LHR (Daily 787-9 Service)
Check Your Reservations
As both the 777-200 and the 787-9 feature a four cabin layout there shouldn’t be too much disruption to those who already hold reservations on this route but, if you have a seat assignment on a flight that was originally scheduled to be operated by the Dreamliner, I’d check to see where you’ve been moved to.
The good news is that the 777-300 that British Airways flys on the Heathrow – Mumbai route has more First Class seats, more Business Class seats and more Premium Economy seats than the 787-9 so it’s not likely that anyone booked into a premium cabin will be displaced. The 777 does have five fewer Economy Class seats than the Dreamliner but I’d be shocked if that made any difference this far out from departure.
Economy Class on the British Airways 787-9 – Image courtesy of British Airways
The main things to check for are:
- If you’ve pre-selected an exit row are you still in a exit row?
- If you’ve pre-selected your seat based on proximity to/distance from a bulkhead/lavatory/galley/another cabin on the aircraft then are you still ok with your new seat?
- Business Class (Club World) on the 777-200 features center seats that can be good for a traveling couple – if you were originally booked on the 787-9 you wouldn’t have had this option so is it any good to you now?
- Premium Economy (World Traveller Plus) on the 777-200 features a 2-4-2 seat layout as compared to the 2-3-2 layout on the Dreamliner – if you’re traveling as a group of four you would not all have had the option to sit beside each other on the 787 but that may no longer be the case.
Bottom Line
As aircraft swaps go this one is probably not going to cause too many people an issue although if you’d booked the flight specifically to try out BA’s latest addition to its fleet you’re going to be disappointed (if you’re flying before 26 March 2017).
If, like most people, you really don’t care what aircraft you’re on as long as you get to your destination when planned and with all your luggage on the same aircraft then just makes sure you’ve checked your seat assignments…everything else probably won’t make any difference to you at all.
I had booked flights to India, in October 16 and come back Nov 16. Flying there on the 777 and scheduled to fly back on the 787-9 on 5th November 2016. Just by chance today I checked my flight details to find that on the way back, I’m now flying on the 777! When I rang customer services, they were USELESS and all they did was confirm that I am now flying back on the 777 but couldn’t say if it was the 777-300 or 777-200 as they “don’t have that information at the moment”. I was shocked to hear that I won’t be travelling back on the 787-9. When I pressed for a reason for the change, they couldn’t give me one!! Poor service! I was really looking forward to flying back on the 787-9 and now I’m very VERY disappointed about this!
If you’re flying back on 16 November and you say you’re on a 777 then it looks like you’ll be flying a 777-300 (based on the seat map currently loaded into ExpertFlyer)….although this could change.
As far as the Dreamliner service to/from Mumbai goes, it looks like it’s fallen foul of the aircraft changes that I mentioned in a blog post this morning (http://travelingformi.wpengine.com/british-airways-news-brief/) and I can’t see any Dreamliner service scheduled on this route at any point in the future.
Unfortunately the airlines are very careful to cover themselves in their terms of carriage and they make sure they say that neither the aircraft nor seat that you select are guaranteed – you’re just paying to be flown between cities.
As for the reason for the change….British Airways either felt they could make more use out of the 787-9 Dreamliner on another route or they needed more capacity on the Mumbai route (I suspect the former).
Hi Ziggy,
Thanks for the reply, great article. I think, from my seat changing (as I’d selected 21A in premium on the 787-9), I got switched to 22K so I’ve moved back a little and chosen 24K – hoping for nice views on takeoff and landing. Looking at the seat map on BA, I get the feeling I’m flying back -200 :). I’m flying back on 5.11.16.
Ahhh….I misread your comment (sorry). Yes, it looks like the 777 on 5 Nov is indeed the -200 variety.
BA have now delayed the 787-9 to Mumbai until Sunday 26th March 2017!! Sad times!! I was due to fly back on the 787-9 on Nov 5th 2016 from Mumbai to LHR but now this is no longer happening!
You beat me to it – just updated the blog above.