British Airways has confirmed that it will be operating short-haul crew training flights to Frankfurt and Madrid with the Airbus A380 in November. The flights are now bookable as Airbus A380 flights on ba.com. They come ahead of the airline, resuming long-haul flights with the giant of the skies in December.

Lufthansa's final Airbus A380 left Frankfurt Airport earlier this summer. However, that wasn't the end of the type's involvement with the airport. Emirates is currently flying daily to Frankfurt with the A380, a service set to become twice daily on October 31st. Now, British Airways will also fly the A380 to Frankfurt.

What's the plan?

As first spotted by Head for Points, British Airways will operate two daily rotations with the giant of the skies from November 8th. From Sunday to Friday, the jet will fly to Frankfurt and back in the morning, heading to Madrid in the afternoon. On Saturdays, the rotations will swap. These flights will run until December 2nd according to the following schedules. It should be noted that the times may change slightly depending on the day.

Sunday to Friday

  • BA 902 - London Heathrow (LHR) 07:10 - Frankfurt (FRA) 09:55 - 01h45m
  • BA 903 - Frankfurt (FRA) 11:25 - London Heathrow (LHR) 12:15 - 01h50m
  • BA 462 - London Heathrow (LHR) 15:15 - Madrid (MAD) 18:45 - 02h30m
  • BA 463 - Madrid (MAD) 20:15 - London Heathrow (LHR) 21:30 - 02h15m
British Airways, Airbus A380, Frankfurt, Madrid
The crew training flights will go to Frankfurt and Madrid. Photo: Cirium

Saturdays

On Saturdays, the schedule flip flops to the following flights,

  • BA 456 - London Heathrow (LHR) 06:20 - Madrid (MAD) 09:55 - 02h35m
  • BA 457 - Madrid (MAD) 11:25 - London Heathrow (LHR) 12:55 - 02h30m
  • BA 908 - London Heathrow (LHR) 15:55 - Frankfurt (FRA) 18:40 - 01h45m
  • BA 909 - Frankfurt (FRA) 20:10 - London Heathrow (LHR) 21:00 - 01h50m
British Airways, Airbus A380, Short Haul
It is possible to book a connecting itinerary with two A380 flights. Photo: British Airways

What to expect from the A380

The A380 experience will be very different from what passengers used to the long-haul service may expect. Passengers will get the hard product of the cabin that they have booked to travel in. That is to say, business passengers will get a lie-flat Club World seat.

However, it stops there. The service provided will be the same as offered on the A320. That is to say, that economy class passengers should have access to the buy before you fly Speedbird cafe, and business class passengers will be provided with the typical Club Europe meal.

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British Airways is only selling seats in economy and business class. When Lufthansa put the Boeing 747-8 on short-haul flights, it condensed four cabins down to two. Premium economy was also used for economy, while first was also used for business class. It seems that this isn't the case with British Airways.

British Airways, Airbus A380, Frankfurt, Madrid
The Club World cabin is one of two cabins split between two decks. Photo: British Airways

British Airways displays an A380 seat map for passengers to choose their desired seat. While the premium economy cabin is shown as part of the economy cabin, no seats on the upper deck can be selected. The story is similar for Euro Traveller, the business class cabin. First and the upper deck are visible as part of the business cabin, but all seats are blocked out on the seat map.

Interestingly, British Airways advertises business class with the following phrase "Contoured leather seat with guaranteed window or aisle." While this is the case on the A320 with the middle seat of 3-3 blocked out, it doesn't apply to the A380 with its 2-4-2 layout.

NOTE: Any passengers wishing to travel on the Airbus A380 should know that aircraft swaps can take place at short notice, and it is impossible to guarantee a specific aircraft type.

Will you be looking to fly on the British Airways Airbus A380? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!