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British Airways is to wet lease an aircraft from Air Belgium to cover its daily flight from London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi from mid September to early October 2018.
The outbound flight BA73 from London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi will be operated by Air Belgium from Saturday 15 September to Thursday 4 October 2018. As will the inbound flight BA72 from Abu Dhabi to London Heathrow from Sunday 16 September to Friday 5 October 2018.
Update 25 September 2018:
The period of the wet lease has been extended. BA73 from London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi will be operated by Air Belgium until Wednesday 31 October 2018. As will BA72 from Abu Dhabi to London Heathrow until Thursday 1 November 2018.
No specific reason has been given for the wet lease. However, given the route is ordinarily operated with a Boeing 787-9 aircraft, it’s a safe assumption that the grounding of these aircraft is the cause. BA has previously wet leased aircraft to cover London Heathrow – Cairo.
The flight will be operated by an Air Belgium A340-300 aircraft. The overall service standard should be similar to that of BA.
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Rebooking Options
All passengers have the option of rebooking on to an alternative BA operated service to Abu Dhabi within 14 days before, or after, the wet lease operation.
All passengers also have the option of rebooking on to a BA operated service to Dubai within 3 days before, or after, the wet lease operation. However, any additional costs such as taxis, will be at your own expense.
Full refunds are not available to any passenger, unless allowed by the original fare rules.
First Class Passengers
There is no First Class cabin on Air Belgium aircraft.
Passengers will be downgraded to business class and receive a partial refund of their fare. Passengers will still have a First Class baggage allowance, earn the Avios and Tier Points of the First Class fare, and have access to First Class ground facilities such as the Concorde Room at London Heathrow.
Alternatively, passengers can use the value of their ticket towards the purchase of a new ticket to an alternative destination.
Premium Economy Passengers
There is no premium economy cabin on Air Belgium aircraft.
BA has advised that most premium economy passengers will be downgraded to economy and receive a partial refund of their fare. Passengers will retain their original baggage allowance and Avios earning entitlement. Some passengers may also be upgraded to business class.
Alternatively, passengers can use the value of their ticket towards the purchase of a new ticket to an alternative destination.
Affected passengers can check the status of their booking using the Manage My Booking tool on ba.com
