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British Airways has announced that it will be increasing capacity on the London Heathrow – Johannesburg route for the Southern Hemisphere summer by adding more A380 service to the South African city.
Before the schedule update British Airways was set to fly the A380 to Johannesburg on a daily basis with the second daily non-stop flight scheduled to be operated by one of the airline’s Boeing 747 aircraft. However, from 30 October, the second daily flight will see the 747 replaced by the bigger Airbus A380.
The schedule is as follows:
BA055 LHR 18:00 – 07:05+1 JNB (Daily A380 service)
BA057 LHR 20:50 – 09:40+1 day JNB (A380 service Mon, Wed, Sat)
BA057 LHR 20:50 – 09:40+1 day JNB (747 service Tue, Thur, Fri, Sun)
BA056 JNB 20:20 – 05:25+1 day LHR (Daily A380 service)
BA054 JNB 22:00 – 07:15+1 day LHR (A380 service Tue, Thur, Sun)
BA054 JNB 22:00 – 07:15+1 day LHR(747 service Non, Wed, Fri, Sat)
British Airways 747 vs A380
British Airways flys its 747 with a variety of seat layouts but, looking at ExpertFlyer, it would seem that the 747 on the Heathrow – Johannesburg route is one of the “High J” aircraft with 86 Club World seats.
British Airways 747 – High J SeatMap
With that in mind, and although the A380 replacing the 747 has 11 more Club World seats, the biggest difference in available seating in the premium cabins will be in World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy) – the A380 has almost twice as many World Traveller Plus seats as the 747 (55 vs 30).
Award Availability
Award availability is looking pretty good on this route for November onwards with 2 or more seats available in at least two of the three premium cabins for a wide choice of dates.
Fares
The British Airways sale doesn’t end until tomorrow (17 May) so you still have time to book a trip if the prices work for you….and they’re not particularly great!
First Class fares aren’t included in the British Airways sale and are coming in at an unexciting £3,182 ($4,615).
Club World (Business Class) fares aren’t in the sale sale either and seem to be fixed at £2,582 ($3,745) for just about any moth and any length of stay….
…and I would definitely not be buying at those prices and I’d be staggered if you couldn’t find fares from other European cities that are considerably cheaper.
World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy Fares) are actually in the sale and may offer the best value (relatively speaking) for anyone looking to fly to Johannesburg in a bit of comfort:
World Traveller (Economy Class) fares are in the sale as well and start at £498 ($722) if you’re happy to fly this month but, more realistically, start at £544 ($790) for travel later on in the year:
Bottom Line
With prices as they are and with award availability as it is I would definitely stay away from paying for First or Business class. If you absolutely have to travel on British Airways to Johannesburg in one of those two cabins I would purchase award tickets if at all possible – you’ll get a good return on your Avios (please don’t waste AAdvantage Miles on British Airways flights!) and save some cash into the bargain.
Featured image courtesy of Arthur Spring via Flickr
