British Airways London Heathrow Archives – Page 4 of 8

BA upgrades San Diego; adding First Class & Boeing 777-300

London Air Travel » British Airways » British Airways London Heathrow » Page 4

Ocean Beach, San Diego (Image Credit: London Air Travel)

British Airways has announced it is to upgrade its London Heathrow – San Diego route from a three class Boeing 777-200 aircraft to a four class Boeing 777-300 aircraft from Sunday 27 March 2016.

This is a significant upgrade for the London Heathrow – San Diego route, which will celebrate its fifth anniversary in June 2016.

BA will be offering First Class on this route for the first time since the route was reinstated as a direct route from London Heathrow and continues a trend of first class being added to routes, such as Austin and Denver.

Although, the overall number of seats on each flight will only increase from 275 to 299, there is a significant change in the profile of premium seating with the addition of 14 First Class seats, 8 additional Club World business class seats and 20 additional World Traveller Plus premium economy seats.

Passengers will benefit from BA’s new World Traveller economy cabins and new World Traveller Plus premium economy cabins.

Passengers in all cabins will also benefit from a much better in flight entertainment system which is more stable and features much more content. The seats in all cabins also have in-seat power sockets and a USB/RCA socket, enabling personal devices to be connected to the in flight entertainment system.

Update: BA has since changed the aircraft operating this route to a Boeing 747.

BA launches London Heathrow – San Jose from 4 May 2016

London Air Travel » British Airways » British Airways London Heathrow » Page 4

BA Boeing 787-9 First Class IFE Screen (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways is to launch a new route from London Heathrow to San Jose in California from Monday 4 May 2016.

The airline will fly daily to Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport from London Heathrow Terminal 5 using a four class Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner aircraft.

This route will be the only direct link between San Jose, California and Europe. It is consistent with the airline opening new North American destinations that are not served by any other European airline. It is also the second new BA route after Austin, Texas to use the Boeing 787 Dreamliner from launch.

San Jose will be the fourth city in California to be served by British Airways after Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. It is also one of a growing number of new transatlantic routes from London Heathrow following the launch of Salt Lake City by Delta.

BA’s four class Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner will feature 8 first class seats, 42 Club World business class seats, 39 World Traveller Plus premium economy seats and 127 World Traveller economy seats.

The Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner will debut on BA on London Heathrow – Dehli from 25 October 2015. The Club World business class and World Traveller Plus cabins will be as found on the current Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner. The World Traveller economy seat will be slightly wider and the First Class seat is expected to be a modified version of BA’s current First Class seat.

Flights will go on sale at ba.com from Thursday 27 August 2015. The route can also be booked as a codeshare with American Airlines.

Based on the performance of other new BA transatlantic routes from London Heathrow in recent years (Las Vegas, San Diego and Austin) we expect it will perform strongly.

BA has also produced a PDF brochure for the new route.

London Heathrow – San Jose, California

Flight BA279 Depart London Heathrow 15:15 – Arrive San Jose 18:05

Flight BA278 Depart San Jose 20:00 – Arrive London Heathrow 14:05

(Timetable is at launch, and may subsequently vary by season.)

Coincidentally, BA also launches a new route from London Gatwick to San Jose, Costa Rica (airport code SJO) on the same day which is not to be confused with San Jose, California (airport code SJC).

BA to suspend London Heathrow – Almaty (Kazakhstan) from 11 October 2015

London Air Travel » British Airways » British Airways London Heathrow » Page 4

British Airways Logo (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways has announced it is to suspend its thrice weekly flight from London Heathrow to Almaty in Kazakhstan from Sunday 11 October 2015.

The last flight (BA159) will depart from London Heathrow to Almaty on Sunday 11 October 2015. The last flight from Almaty to London Heathrow (BA158) will depart on Monday 12 October 2015.

This means London will lose a direct link to Kazakhstan.

The airline has cited commercial reasons for the suspension of the route. This route was inherited from the merger of bmi into British Airways in 2012. It joins a long list of former bmi Heathrow routes suspended by BA (Damascus, Addis Ababa, Dammam, Bishkek, Khartoum, Tehran, Yerevan, Amristar, Casablanca, Marrakech and Tbilisi).

Currently, affected passengers have the option of a full refund or taking an earlier flight whilst the route is still operational.

BA do say they are looking at re-accommodation options on other airlines. It normally takes at least a couple of weeks for these to be announced and we would advise waiting before taking any action.

Passengers looking at alternative options have the option of Lufthansa (via Frankfurt) and Turkish Airlines (via Istanbul). There are other options with lesser known airlines and hubs.

Update 28 July: BA is now offering affected passengers the option of a re-route on Etihad Airways via Abu Dhabi up to 15 July 2016. Passengers should contact either their travel agent or BA directly to change their tickets.

BA Suspends Heathrow – Entebbe From 2 October 2015

British Airways has suspended its four times weekly flight from London Heathrow to Entebbe, Uganda from 2 October 2015.

London Air Travel » British Airways » British Airways London Heathrow » Page 4

British Airways Logo (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways has announced it is to suspend its four times weekly flight from London Heathrow to Entebbe in Uganda from 2 October 2015.

The last flight (BA63) will depart from London Heathrow to Entebbe on 2 October 2015. The last flight from Entebbe to London Heathrow (BA62) will depart on 3 October 2015.

This means that London Heathrow will not have a direct link to Entebbe after the route has been suspended.

The airline has cited commercial reasons for the suspension of the route. It is likely that competitive pressure from Middle Eastern carriers are a factor. BA suspended Lusaka in 2013 and Dar es Salaam in 2012.

Currently, affected passengers have the option of a full refund, taking an earlier flight whilst the route is still operational, or taking an alternative BA flight to Nairobi (BA will not meet any onward travel expenses).

BA do say they are looking at re-accommodation options on other airlines. It normally takes at least a couple of weeks for these to be announced and we would advise waiting before taking any action.

For passengers looking at alternative routes, options include KLM (via Amsterdam), Brussels Airlines (via Brussels), Emirates (via Dubai), Qatar Airways (via Doha), Etihad (via Abu Dhabi), Turkish Airlines (via Istabul).

Update 28 July: BA is now offering affected passengers the option of a re-route on either Etihad Airways via Abu Dhabi or Brussels Airlines via Brussels up to 15 July 2016. Passengers should contact either their travel agent or BA directly to change their tickets.

BA upgrades Heathrow – Austin to Boeing 777

London Air Travel » British Airways » British Airways London Heathrow » Page 4

British Airways First Class Cabin (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways has today announced it is to upgrade its recently launched London Heathrow – Austin route from a three class Boeing 787 to a four class Boeing 777 from Sunday 25 October 2015.

The announcement has been confirmed in a press release from the city of Austin.

This will increase capacity from 214 to 224 seats on each flight. This may seem a modest increase, but the difference is 14 first class seats, 13 additional business class seats, from 35 to 48, and 15 additional premium economy seats, from 25 to 40. The number of economy seats will actually fall from 154 to 122.

This continues the trend of very successful new transatlantic route launches by BA in recent years. At a recent investor update, International Airlines Group CEO Willie Walsh said he considered that there are three-five additional US cities BA could serve profitably, so we should expect to hear more new route announcements in the coming years.

BA launches London Heathrow – Reykjavik & Salzburg

London Air Travel » British Airways » British Airways London Heathrow » Page 4

British Airways is to launch two new routes from London Heathrow to Reykjavik in Iceland, and Salzburg in Austria.

BA will fly to Reykjavik three times a week from Sunday 25 October 2015 and to Salzberg twice weekly from Saturday 5 December 2015.

In the case of Reykjavik this marks a return by the airline to Iceland after a hiatus of over seven years. The Heathrow – Salzburg route will complement an existing BA service from London Gatwick.

Flights will be operated by two class Airbus A320 aircraft and are on sale now on ba.com.
Continue reading “BA launches London Heathrow – Reykjavik & Salzburg”

BA Goes Daily On Heathrow – Mexico City From 1 May 2015

British Airways will increase its flights from London Heathrow to Mexico City to daily from 1 May 2015.

London Air Travel » British Airways » British Airways London Heathrow » Page 4

British Airways Tailfin (Image Credit: Nick Morrish/British Airways)

After gradually increasing its weekly frequency on London Heathrow to Mexico City over the past few years, BA’s current five weekly Mexico service will become a daily service from 1 May 2015.

The timetable for the new daily service is:

Flight BA243 Depart London Heathrow 14:10 Arrive Mexico City 19:30
Flight BA242 Depart Mexico City 21:30 Arrive London Heathrow 13:55

BA currently flies to Mexico City five times a week, excluding Tuesdays and Saturdays. This increases to a six weekly service from April and a daily service from May.

We assume the increase in frequency is driven by a relaxation of the bilateral treaty between the UK and Mexico.

BA’s International Airlines Group sibling Iberia also flies to Mexico City via Madrid up to twice daily. Iberia also offers connections to a number of domestic destinations in Mexico with AeroMexico.

AeroMexico also fly three times weekly between London Heathrow and Mexico City. We have not seen any increase in frequency on their part, which may be due to lack of slots.

The extra BA flights are now on sale on ba.com.

Update: AeroMexico will increase its flights from London Heathrow to five weekly flights from 29 March 2015, flying from Heathrow on Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. At the same time, with the exception of Saturdays, its departure time change will change from a mid-afternoon flight (14:45) to a late evening flight (22:30p). Exact times may very slightly by day.

Which BA routes operate from London Heathrow with First Class?

Here’s a full list of long-haul BA routes from London Heathrow that operate with a first class cabin.

London Air Travel » British Airways » British Airways London Heathrow » Page 4

British Airways, First Class, Airbus, A380 — British Airways First Class, Airbus A380 (Source: BA Press Office)

We receive a lot of search enquiries regarding which British Airways routes operate with or without a first class cabin.

Whilst BA’s first class product is far from a market leading product in the air or on the ground, the network it covers is very broad.

It’s also a popular choice for members of the BA Executive Club to use their Avios and holders of BA branded American Express credit cards to use 2-4-1 flight vouchers. Many Silver & Gold members of the Executive Club can also find themselves upgraded from Club World on oversold flights.

The general trend in recent years has been for first class to be removed from routes. However, it has in recent times been restored to routes such as Denver and San Diego.

So we thought it would be helpful to compile a list of BA first class destinations. We have also compiled a separate list for London Gatwick.

BA Launches Joint Rail & Fly Tickets With GWR

From Friday 5 December 2014, passengers can buy joint tickets for rail journeys from train stations served by Great Western and BA flights from Heathrow.

London Air Travel » British Airways » British Airways London Heathrow » Page 4

Having previously travelled onward from Heathrow to UK cities by train, we are well aware what a fraught experience it can be.

Aside from the hassle and expense of travelling from Heathrow to one of the mainline railway stations in Central London, there’s the added dilemma of either buying a flexible train ticket (some times at a cost of hundreds of pounds) or an advance train ticket for a specified train which, if missed, has to be thrown away.

Whilst Lufthansa and Air France have offered Rail & Fly tickets for many years, BA has only now announced joint rail & fly tickets with First Great Western and Heathrow Express (who both serve London Paddington).

From Friday 5 December 2014, passengers will be able to buy joint tickets for BA flights from London Heathrow to/from the following railway stations served by Great Western with a connection between Paddington to Heathrow on the Heathrow Express:

Bath, Bristol Parkway, Bristol Temple Meads, Cardiff, Exeter, Oxford, St Austell, Par, Plymouth, Penzance, Swansea.

BA to restore long-haul flights at London Heathrow Terminal 3

London Air Travel » British Airways » British Airways London Heathrow » Page 4

British Airways Logo (Image Credit: British Airways)

As part of a wider set of terminal moves at London Heathrow and the consolidation of BA’s operations into Terminals 3 and 5, a number of long-haul BA flights are to move from Terminal 5 to 3 from Wednesday 14 October 2015.

These flights are Accra, Cape Town, Denver, Las Vegas, Miami, Nairobi, Phoenix and Vancouver.

Continue reading “BA to restore long-haul flights at London Heathrow Terminal 3”