[Bath_VIP]

Rather embarrassing for Barcelona here putting their male players in Business and their female players in economy!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-44965630

But there is a practical question as to how many business class seats were available in the first place. Does anybody recognise what plane and airline they flew on?

[canucklad]

Guaranteed the #feminist branch of the PC ultra brigade aren’t going to accept Barcelona’s excuse, that the women’s team were added on to the tour after the men’s teams seats had been booked.

[Bath_VIP]

Let’s accept what Barca say is true. Still doesn’t explain why they didn’t mix the teams up if they are one big happy family?

[conshaldow]

Considering this was likely to be a charter it would have been no problem for Barcelona to mix women and men in the business class cabin. Also, even if the women had been added at late notice the travel organiser for Barcelona has the power to amend the seating plan pretty much at anytime up until boarding.
I’ve chaperoned sports teams/fans on charter flight aircraft multiple times and have been able to amend seats/move passengers freely at the check in desk with the airline staff no problem at all.

From personal experience, their excuse simply does not wash.

[GivingupBA]

[quote quote=878050]Does anybody recognise what plane and airline they flew on?[/quote]

Reported elsewhere to be IB2881, Barcelona-Portland, plane an A346.

[MartynSinclair]

..and they let the economy class passengers come up to bus class for photos… where are the standards going 🙂

[Bath_VIP]

Anybody know how many J seats there are on such a plane?

[capetonianm]

It looks to me like a single aisle a/c, so not a 340.

[Bath_VIP]

Definitely twin aisle. Look at the photo of the male players only. you can see the 1-2-1 J configuration.

[capetonianm]

When I looked at it on a bigger screen, it is of course a twin aisle. My mistake.

It was a charter flight operated as IB2281 BCN PDX, EC-JNQ, Airbus A340-642, SERIAL NUMBER (MSN) 0727, AGE 12 years.

[Bath_VIP]

If it was a charter flight where the club had the whole plane to themselves to sort out seating then that makes things worse for Barca.

[capetonianm]

I think that particular aircraft has 12 rows of C class, so at 1-2-1 it should have had 12 x 4 = 48 seats in C.

Even with my spectacularly limited knowledge of, and interest in, football, I believe a team is 11 players, 22 if you double it for 2 teams, so even allowing for reserves, ample seating for all players in C. If it was a charter, it would be more or less free seating.

By the way there was a typo in my previous posting, it was IB 2881, as stated by GivingupBA, not 2281

[christopheL]

It remembers me the post of someone on this forum who explained a few years ago that he had paid an economy ticket to his wife for her to be able to come with him on a business trip when he was flying business. He flew business ans let his wife flying economy…

[GivingupBA]

[quote quote=878305]It remembers me the post of someone on this forum who explained a few years ago that he had paid an economy ticket to his wife for her to be able to come with him on a business trip when he was flying business. He flew business ans let his wife flying economy…[/quote]

Plenty of people have already confessed (right word? or admitted?) to that on this forum over the years….

[transtraxman]

@capetonianm #878252

Your numbers certainly do not add up, because you have forgotten half the club.

Each team has its technical staff which run from coach to doctor to physioterapist to bag carrier. And please do not forget the directives,together with families, who do not miss out on such freebees. Add to all this the idea of “like with like” and the picture is being painted. It is most likely the directors stay together, and could never be moved from Business Class. The technicians and players are most likely to stay togther as they are most likely to have the same interests on a long flight (e.g. a game of poker). The likelyhood that the women and men know each other is low since they play in different stadia and on different dates etc.

All this makes Barcelona’s “excuse” all the more probably the truth. Add to all this that the economy class passengers had been allocated two to three seats EACH then the economy class passengers do not seem to have been badlt treated. This makes me come to the conclusion that the BBC has tried to make a news item out of a non-item thanks to the stupid PC agenda. It should be pointed out that the incident has not been reflected in the Spanish press at all, and it would be interesting to know how many UK newspapers (as if they were so important)actually reported this item in their first editions. A bit more thought please and put PC in its place.

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