Here’s our weekly aviation business briefing for the week beginning Monday 16 October 2017.
Air Berlin flying into the sunset (Image Credit: Air Berlin)Welcome to our weekly aviation business briefing for the week beginning Monday 16 October 2017.
Air Berlin confirmed last week that it is to suspend operations from Saturday 28 October 2017. The airline has already suspended long-haul operations. Its frequent flyer programme TopBonus, which operated as a separate legal entity, had also closed. Flights operated by NIKI will continue. easyJet announced late on Friday afternoon that negotiations are still underway for it to acquire a substantial part of Air Berlin’s operation at Berlin Tegel airport. Lufthansa is due to acquire a substantial number of Air Berlin aircraft and its subsidiaries Niki and LG Walter. It is now something of a given that the Air Berlin brand will not survive. Oneworld has yet to announce when Air Berlin will leave the alliance. For legal reasons, it may not officially leave the alliance until some time after it has suspended operations (this was the case with former member Mexicana). Continue reading “Aviation Business Briefing – Monday 16 October 2017”
Here’s our weekly pick of TV shows, radio programmes, podcasts and articles to download, stream, and print for your travels in the coming week.
British Airways Concorde, Pictured by LondonAirTravel at the BA Engineering Base, London Heathrow
Here’s our weekly pick of TV shows, radio programmes, podcasts and articles to download, stream, and print for your travels in the coming week.
As these are picked primarily from UK sources, many programmes will not be available for download or streaming from outside the UK. All should be available for the next 30 days from the date of broadcast.
Political Thinking with the BBC’s Nick Robinson and Ed Miliband, who was Labour leader at a more innocent time when the public was more concerned with how politicians ate bacon sandwiches and how much they spent on their kitchens.
“Brexitcast” The latest on the tragic farce that is Brexit from the BBC’s Chris Mason.
Members of the British Airways Executive Club can earn double Avios on certain BA flights up to 31 December 2017.
Members of the British Airways Executive Club can earn double Avios on up to eight flights booked and flown between now and Sunday 31 December 2017.
In order to qualify you must pre-register at ba.com before booking any flights.
The offer applies to all British Airways operated flights from the U.K. as well as flights booked under a BA code and operated by American Airlines, Finnair, and Iberia between Europe, Norway, Switzerland and North America, Mexico and Puerto Rico. It also applies to services operated by BA subsidiary OpenSkies from Paris Orly and Newark and flights operated by BA franchise partner SUNAIR of Scandinavia.
It does not apply to flights operated by other BA franchises such as Comair in South Africa, nor flights operated by other IAG airlines, Oneworld alliance partners or other BA codeshare partners.
The offer is not open to members of the Executive Club in the USA, Canada, Mexico and South Africa.
If you are not a member of the Executive Club you can sign up at ba.com
BA’s summer seasonal routes from London Heathrow to Biarritz and Montpellier will not resume in 2018. Here are rebooking options for passengers.
British Airways Logo (Image Credit: British Airways)
BA has suspended two of its summer seasonal routes from London Heathrow to Biarritz and Montpellier.
These routes launched last summer. They were scheduled to resume from early May to late September 2018, but have now been cancelled.
Passengers whose flights have been cancelled are entitled to a full refund. The following rebooking options are also available:
Biarritz
Passengers can rebook on to an alternative BA operated flight from London Heathrow to Bilbao or Toulouse or from London Gatwick to Bordeaux. However, any additional consequential costs such as ground transportation will be at your expense.
Alternatively, passengers can be re-accommodated via Madrid on Air Nostrum which flies to Biarritz daily. This obviously involves an element of back-tracking. Passengers must fly to Madrid on a BA operated flight for the connection to Air Nostrum and fly between Saturday 5 May 2018 and Saturday 29 September 2018.
Passengers can also be re-accommodated on Air France services from Paris Charles de Gualle and Paris Orly to Biarritz. However, note that Air France does not operate a business class cabin on this route. Passengers must fly to Paris on a BA operated flight for the connection to Air France and fly between Saturday 5 May 2018 and Sunday 30 September 2018.
Montpellier
Passengers can be re-accommodated via Amsterdam on KLM which flies to Montpellier daily. Passengers must fly to Amsterdam on a BA operated flight for the connection to KLM and fly between Saturday 5 May 2018 and Sunday 30 September 2018.
BA has not announced any re-accommdation arrangements on airlines that fly direct from London to either Biarritz or Montpellier.
Passengers can also be re-accommodated on Air France services from Paris Charles de Gualle and Paris Orly to Montpellier. However, note that Air France does not operate a business class cabin on this route. Passengers must fly to Paris on a BA operated flight for the connection to Air France and fly between Saturday 5 May 2018 and Sunday 30 September 2018.
Note that it is quite common for BA to announce more rebooking options in the weeks after a route is cancelled. Therefore, if the above options are not satisfactory it is worth waiting a week or so to see if any alternatives emerge.
Affected passengers should contact either BA or their travel agent.
The great merry go round of route changes at London City continues.
Skywork Airlines is to withdraw from London City with the suspension of its route to Basel from Sunday 29 October 2017.
Any one with bookings after this date will be entitled to a full refund. Basel will continue to be served by BA from Heathrow, easyJet from Luton and Gatwick and Ryanair from Stansted. The news was confirmed in a press release last week.
On a more positive note, VLM Airlines is to return to London City.
VLM will take over London City – Antwerp from CityJet from Monday 30 October 2017. VLM will fly to Antwerp three times daily Monday – Wednesday, four times daily Thursday – Friday and twice daily on Sundays.
Flights will be operated with a 50 seat Fokker 50 turboprop aircraft and are on sale at FlyVLM.com.
Here’s our weekly aviation business briefing for the week beginning Monday 9 October 2017.
Monarch NoticeThe big story last week was of course the collapse of Monarch (Financial Times) which now joins bmi British Midland, Flyglobespan, XL Airways, and Zoom in the great airline graveyard in the sky. The Civil Aviation Authority fielded an impressive rescue to operation to bring passengers back to the UK. As of Saturday 7 October 56,000 Monarch customers have returned to the UK.
It now falls on KPMG to complete the administrative process. As no buyer could be found, it is near certain that the Monarch brand will not take to the skies again.
Here’s our weekly pick of TV shows, radio programmes, podcasts and articles to download, stream, and print for your travels in the coming week.
Nile Rodgers: How To Make It In The Music Business (Image Credit: BBC)
Here’s our weekly pick of TV shows, radio programmes, podcasts and articles to download, stream, and print for your travels in the coming week.
As these are picked primarily from UK sources, many programmes will not be available for download or streaming from outside the UK. All should be available for the next 30 days from the date of broadcast.
Television
Nile Rodgers, the man behind Chic and some of the world’s biggest hits, begins a three part series How To Make It In the Music Business for BBC4.
Ruby Wax travels to Europe to trace how her parents fled Vienna for America in 1938 Who Do You Think You Are?
Robert Plant, Morrissey, Mogway, Alt-J and Loyle Carner perfom at the BBC’s Maida Vale studios for BBC 6Music Live.
