British Airways is the largest airline at London City and London Heathrow airports. It also has a substantial presence at London Gatwick.
It is a subsidiary of International Airlines Group which also owns Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling who all have a presence in London.
BA is also a member of the Oneworld alliance and many of its fellow members such as American Airlines and Cathay Pacific have a substantial presence in London. BA therefore features very heavily on this site.
BA will fly to Kos three times weekly from Wednesday 15 May to Saturday 26 October 2019 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. As is par the course for BA at Gatwick, flight times vary widely by day.
Flights will be operated with a mixture of Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft in the standard two class, EuroTraveller and Club Europe, configuration.
This should just be the start of a number of summer seasonal route announcements both at Heathrow and Gatwick.
In terms of coverage of Greece, this summer BA has flown to Crete, Corfu, Kalamata, Kefalonia, Mykonos, Santorini and Zakynthos from Heathrow. It has also flown to Crete, Rhodes and Thessaloniki from Gatwick and Mykonos and Skiathos from London City.
American Airlines and BA are offering the chance to win flights to the US at the “Altitude Academy” in Canary Wharf on Wednesday 19 – Thursday 20 September.
American Airlines & British Airways Altitude Academy – London, September 2018 (Image Credit: American Airlines/British Airways)
American Airlines and British Airways are launching, to use marketing speak, an “activation” in Canary Wharf over two days next week.
Called the “Altitude Academy”, the promotion is intended to showcase American Airlines and BA’s joint transatlantic network from London and the respective premium cabins and service of the two airlines.
Across four different zones, passengers will be able to discover their “frequent flyer style” and take part in games and challenges. Of greatest interest will be opportunities to win business class tickets to the United States. Complimentary catering will be supplied by Rhurbab who also cater for American Airlines’ lounges at London Heathrow.
American Airlines & British Airways Altitude Academy – London, September 2018 (Image Credit: American Airlines/British Airways)
The Altitude Academy will be located in Jubilee Plaza, in front of Canary Wharf Tube station. It will be open from 11:00 to 19:00 on Wednesday 19 September and 07:00 to 19:00 Thursday 20 September 2018.
BA Club Europe Meals – September 2018 (Image Credit: British Airways)
Many readers may know that British Airways has historically used multiple catering suppliers at its London airports.
At London Heathrow, catering for the vast majority of long-haul flights is provided by Gate Gourmet. Under a concession operated by Tourvest, M&S provides Buy-On-Board food for EuroTraveller short-haul economy. Do&Co provide meals for Club Europe and in Club World on flights to New York JFK. DHL also provide logistics support for catering on short-haul flights, having signed a ten year deal with BA from April 2010.
Today, Tuesday 11 September 2018, BA has announced that Do&Co will provide catering for all flights from London Heathrow from 2020.
Based on Do&Co’s catering in Club World on the New York JFK route, this should be a significant upgrade in quality. Though, of course, like any caterer they will work within the budgets specified by BA.
It should be said that the transition from DHL and Gate Gourmet to Do&Co at Heathrow will be a huge logistical exercise that is not without risk of teething troubles. When DHL secured the BA contract, it made a significant investment in facilities at London Heathrow. Not only do catering suppliers provide food, but also in-flight retail and amenities for passenger comfort. Continue reading “Do&Co secures British Airways Heathrow catering contract”
Air Belgium Airbus A340 aircraft (Image Credit: Air Belgium)
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.
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.
Rebooking Options
All passengers have the option of rebooking on to an alternative BA operated service to Abu Dhabi within 7 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
Vistara Aircraft and Premium Cabins (Image Credit: Vistara)
British Airways has signed a new codeshare partnership with Indian airline Vistara.
Passengers travelling after Thursday 27 September 2018 from London Heathrow to Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai will be able to book onward connections to a number of domestic destinations in India.
Destinations covered by the codeshare include Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Goa, Kolkata, Kochi, and Pune. BA used to fly Amritsar and Kolkata direct. As is the norm for codeshare partnerships, these can only be booked when connecting to/from a BA operated flight between London Heathrow and India. Flights are on sale now at ba.com
From a cursory scan of timetables on ba.com the suitability of connections does vary widely.
On outbound flights from London Heathrow it is possible to secure a connection time of around two hours on many routes as there are BA flights that arrive in Delhi and Mumbai in the morning. However, as BA flights from Delhi to Mumbai to Heathrow leave in the early hours or mid-morning it is difficult to secure an inbound connection without a long connection time or an overnight stay.
Vistara operates a fleet of more than 20 Airbus A320 aircraft in a three class configuration. The airline started operations in 2015 and is a joint-venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Sons Ltd.
BA has long sought a domestic airline partner in India. It is one of its most important markets, but with a very volatile aviation sector. Many years BA ago did explore securing a local franchise partner, but to no avail.
British Airways has advised that customers who booked flights on its website between 21 August 2018 and 5 September 2018 have had their data compromised.
British Airways Logo (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways has announced that its website ba.com and mobile app has been subject to a data breach.
The airline issued a statement in the early evening of Thursday 6 September 2018 that customers who booked flights over a period of nearly two weeks between 22:58 BST on Tuesday 21 August 2018 and 21:45 BST Wednesday 5 September 2018 have had their personal and financial details compromised.
BA has stated that it is contacting affected customers who are advised to contact their banks and credit card companies for appropriate advice. The full statement is as follows:
British Airways is investigating, as a matter of urgency, the theft of customer data from its website, ba.com and the airline’s mobile app. The stolen data did not include travel or passport details.
From 22:58 BST August 21 2018 until 21:45 BST September 5 2018 inclusive, the personal and financial details of customers making bookings on ba.com and the airline’s app were compromised.
The breach has been resolved and our website is working normally.
British Airways is communicating with affected customers and we advise any customers who believe they may have been affected by this incident to contact their banks or credit card providers and follow their recommended advice.
We have notified the police and relevant authorities.
Alex Cruz, British Airways’ Chairman and Chief Executive said “We are deeply sorry for the disruption that this criminal activity has caused. We take the protection of our customers’ data very seriously.”
British Airways will provide further updates when appropriate.
BA has also published guidance for affected customers on its website ba.com
It is noteworthy that BA’s parent company International Airlines Group has issued the above statement to the stock exchange so this is clearly a significant and share price sensitive event.
BA is required by law to notify the Information Commissioner’s Office with 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach. The ICO has the power to levy very substantial fines in the event of a failure to properly report a breach.
Update Friday 7 September 2018
BA has updated its published guidance on the morning of Friday 7 September to advise that the breach also affects any passengers who made changes to existing bookings during the period of the breach.
The scope of changes (eg free or paid for seat assignments etc) is not defined but this means the breach could affect very many more passengers.
BA has also confirmed that it will fully reimburse passengers for any financial losses as a direct consequence of the security breach. It will also not ask customers to review/update payment card details and any unsolicited requests for this information should not be fulfilled.
The Information Commissioner’s Office has issued a short statement confirming contact with BA:
“British Airways has made us aware of an incident and we are making enquiries.”
American Express, which issues a number of BA branded credit cards has provided the following response to customers by e-mail:
Dear Cardmember,
I’m writing to you about the reported British Airways data breach involving personal and financial details of customers being compromised through their web and mobile app.
We want to assure you we have industry-leading fraud protection technology that is continually monitoring for any suspicious activity in order to safeguard you. Also, our Cardmembers are never liable for any fraudulent charges on their Accounts. If you have used your American Express Card to book with British Airways, we are monitoring your Account for you.
There is no action you need to take – we will contact you immediately if there’s any unusual activity with your Account. In the meantime you can continue to use your Card as normal.
If we see any unusual activity which could be fraud, we will contact you immediately. For added protection, you can also sign up for free fraud and other Account activity notifications via email, SMS text messaging, or alerts through our app.
British Airways has suspended its route from London Heathrow to Muscat for the summer 2019 season. The last flight from Heathrow operates on 30 March 2019.
Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways has suspended its route from London Heathrow to Muscat for the summer 2019 season.
Currently, the route operates five times weekly. The last outbound flight from London Heathrow, BA79, is scheduled to operate on Saturday 30 March 2019. The last inbound flight from Muscat, BA80, is scheduled to operate on Sunday 31 March 2019. At present, the route is due to return from late October 2019.
No reason has been given for the suspension. However, as the route is operated with a Boeing 787 a need to generate some slack in Boeing 787 schedules is likely to be a factor. The route was also subject to blanket cancellations during industrial action last year, which suggests it is one of BA’s more lightly loaded routes.
Oman Air will continue to fly from London Heathrow to Muscat twice daily.
Rebooking Options
At present, BA has not confirmed any rebooking options with other airlines.
However, it has long been standard practice for BA to only begin discussions after a route suspension has been announced. In addition, progressively more options become available over time. As such, we would recommend waiting a couple of weeks before rebooking to see what options are available. We will update this page accordingly as rebooking options become available.
Alternatively, passengers whose flights have been cancelled are entitled to a refund or should be able to rebook on an alternative date near to their original date of travel.
Affected passengers should contact BA or their travel agent.
American Airlines Codeshare
This route is codeshared with American Airlines under flight numbers AA6421 and AA6420.
Rebooking options for passengers who were due to travel on this flight as part of an itinerary booked through American Airlines (with a ticket number beginning 001) may have different rebooking options to those who have booked through BA (with a ticket number beginning 125). Affected passengers will need to contact American Airlines accordingly.
Rebooking Options – Friday 14 September 2018
BA has secured a rebooking option with Turkish Airlines via Istanbul.
In all cases passengers must connect to/from a BA operated flight between London Heathrow and Istanbul to connect to/from a Turkish Airlines flight between Istanbul and Muscat.
This is not ideal. London Heathrow – Istanbul is treated by BA as a short-haul flight, so First and Club World business class passengers will be booked into Club Europe with the same leg room as EuroTraveller. World Traveller Plus premium economy passengers will be booked into EuroTraveller.
Turkish Airlines also operates a two class service between Istanbul and Muscat so First Class and World Traveller Plus passengers will be downgraded.
There were definite winners and losers. The winners were longer range flights to destinations such as Helsinki where there was a wider choice of mains, with each course delivered separately. The losers were many shorter range flights where hot meals at lunch and dinner were replaced with a panini or a salad.
There has been criticism from frequent flyers about the repetition of meals and the scope creep of Brunch and Afternoon Tea where no hot meal is offered. These are set by scheduled departure time which does of course not mean the time you actually eat your meal. Many business travellers do not have the luxury of being able to observe normal meal times throughout the day and would simply prefer a guarantee of a hot meal on their flight.
Air Belgium Airbus A340 aircraft (Image Credit: Air Belgium)
BA has confirmed that it is to wet lease an aircraft from Air Belgium to cover its daily flight from London Heathrow to Cairo over three days in early September 2018.
The outbound flight BA155 from London Heathrow to Cairo will be operated by Air Belgium from Monday 3 to Wednesday 5 September 2018. As will the inbound flight BA154 from Cairo to London Heathrow from Tuesday 4 to Thursday 6 September 2018.
As its name suggests, Air Belgium is based in Brussels and it flies from Charleroi Airport in Southern Belgium to Hong Kong three times weekly.
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.
The flight will be operated by an Air Belgium A340-300 aircraft. The overall service standard should be similar to that of BA.
Premium Economy Passengers
Oddly, in its update for the travel trade BA have advised that there is no premium economy cabin on the Air Belgium aircraft.
However, the Air Belgium website indicates that it does in fact have a premium economy cabin!
BA has advised that most premium economy passengers will be downgraded to economy, but with their original baggage allowance and Avios earning entitlement, to be added retrospectively. Affected passengers will be entitled to claim a refund for the fare difference. Some passengers may also be upgraded to business class.
If this is not acceptable to any passengers, there is the option of rebooking onto an alternative BA operated service between London and Cairo on an alternative date. Affected passengers can check the status of their booking using the Manage My Booking tool on ba.com
BA transatlantic Club World meal service from London Heathrow August 2018 (Image Credit: London Air Travel)
It’s now almost one year since BA launched its new Club World bedding and meal service, and almost two years since it was first announced to investors in BA’s parent company, IAG.
Having experienced it on a number of different aircraft and routes, it’s a good time to put pen to paper and gather some thoughts.
Progress of new bedding and catering roll-out
By way of a quick primer, the new White Company bedding is now available on all Club World routes to and from all London airports.
The new catering service is taking longer. It should be on almost all Heathrow routes by the end of the year. The new service is now available on most, if not all, North American routes. The latest routes to receive the new service are Singapore-Sydney, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. There are still a number of routes to Central and South America, Africa, The Middle East and Asia to follow. The last Heathrow routes are likely to be the Airbus A321 medium haul routes to Amman and Beirut. The new service will be rolled out at Gatwick in 2019.
Here are some very recent “before and after” images for the service on exact same aircraft (and seat!) and exact same transatlantic route just over 12 months apart:
