British Airways has confirmed its first Airbus A380 will make its scheduled debut on the London Heathrow – Los Angeles route from October 15, 2013 followed by flights to Hong Kong from November 15, 2013 and has opened reservations for the services with immediate effect. The UK carrier is due to receive its first Super Jumbo in July and ahead of its scheduled debut will initially use the type on crew familiarisation flights across its short-haul network. British Airways says details on the first commercial services with the A380 “will be announced once plans for training flights are completed”.

Hollywood Actress Gemma Arterton promoting British Airways’ new A380 LHR-LAX route

The A380 will be the largest aircraft in the British Airways fleet, accommodating 469 customers across four cabins. Customers in First will be seated at the front of the main deck. The cabin will offer 14 seats and is evolved from the current First Class. Club World (Business Class) will be positioned on both floors with 44 seats on the main deck and 53 seats on the upper deck. These upper deck seats will feature a new 2-3-2 configuration across the cabin. The 55 World Traveller Plus (Premier Economy) seats will be located on the upper deck while World Traveller (Economy) sections will be on both the main and upper deck. Both cabins will feature the airline’s current design, which is now flying on its new Boeing 777-300ER fleet. With the home of Hollywood the inaugural destination for the first A380, British Airways has recruited London-based actress Gemma Arterton to promote its initial scheduled route  “Working in film means that I spend a lot of time travelling around the world, often to Hollywood. It’s essential to arrive feeling fresh and ready for the day ahead, as I often hit the ground running, and I prefer to travel in style with British Airways. It’s very exciting that the A380 will be flying to Los Angeles. I think the red carpet route will be very popular,” she said ahead of today’s announcement.  British Airways is expected to reveal more details on its A380 plans in the coming months but remains secretive about the full interior product which, it says, will be fully unveiled when the first aircraft is delivered in July. In the meantime, the carrier has produced a video with a sneak look inside the new aircraft. www.britishairways.com