British Airways Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (Image Credit: Heathrow)
British Airways is to reinstate a number of long-haul routes at London Heathrow in the coming days.
The airline will also launch a new four times weekly service from London Heathrow to Lahore from Monday 12 October 2020, complementing its existing service to Islamabad which has also increased in frequency.
The following routes will also return from mid-September onwards:
Africa Abuja – Daily from Wednesday 16 September
Central & South America Buenos Aires – Initially only on Friday 25 September Mexico City – Twice weekly on Thursday 24 September
North America Atlanta – Daily from Saturday 19 September Grand Cayman – Only on 17 September, 1 October, 15 October Houston – Three times weekly from Sunday 20 September Philadelphia – Twice weekly from Sunday 20 September
Flights to Chicago O’Hare will also benefit from twice daily passenger flights on some days in late September.
Please see here for a full list of where BA will fly to in September.
Passengers are of course subject to entry restrictions. BA has provided a list of links to country-by-country guidance and relevant forms that must be completed before departure on its website.
Like other long-haul routes that have been reinstated at Heathrow, these have already been served by cargo-only flights. With airlines adopting a laser like approach to cash conservation, BA is likely to reinstate scheduled passenger flights where there is sufficient underlying cargo demand. There are few long-haul routes left where at Heathrow BA is operating only cargo flights such as Bangkok, Johannesburg and Kuala Lumpur.
You could be forgiven for thinking you had heard the last about the bmi remedy slots at London Heathrow.
For the uninitiated, when IAG acquired bmi British Midland in 2012, the European Commission approved the takeover subject to British Airways making slots available on certain overlapping routes where it considered that competition would be lessened. These were London Heathrow to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Nice, Cairo, Moscow and Riyadh.
Virgin Atlantic was first to snap up the slots, launching with great fanfare “Virgin Atlantic Little Red”. It flew, using aircraft leased from Aer Lingus, to Aberdeen and Edinburgh, as well as Manchester.
In spite of considerable speculation that Virgin Atlantic was going to pull off a clever ruse to convert the remedy slots to long-haul use, which was prohibited under the slot release procedure, it closed Little Red in 2015.
The slots have now been re-advertised by Mazars, which acts as a trustee, for the summer 2021 season. 41 weekly slot pairs are available, comprising 5 daily slot pairs, 4 additional slot pairs on Saturday and 2 additional slot pairs on Sunday. Interestingly, the advert comes with the following warning:
However, potential applicants showing interest are advised of the fact that the rights to these slots on offer are subject to an ongoing dispute and therefore may ultimately not be available for applicants or be subject to return by any successful applicant.
British Airways’ franchise partner in Southern Africa, Comair, plans to resume flights from December 2020.
Comair has been in a business rescue process since early May. It had been required to suspend flight operations on 26 March due to lockdown in South Africa. The airline had also been suffering due to high debt levels, the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX and non-payment of compensation by South African Airways.
Under a Business Rescue Plan published yesterday, Wednesday 2 September, the airline will be recapitalised. It will receive a financial injection of R500 million by a new investor in return for a 99% shareholding in the airline.
Comair will also require additional funding from lenders of R1.4 billion. This will comprise R600 million of new debt. Comair’s existing debts will be deferred to provide the remaining R800 million, with repayments deferred for 12 months and interest deferred for 6 months.
It is intended that Comair maintain its dual brand structure, operating as British Airways under a franchise and as Kulula. According to the list of creditors BA was owed R50,998,152 (~£2.2m) by Comair. As a consequence of the Business Rescue process, BA’s shareholding will be wiped out.
Comair aims to resume flight operations from December 2020 with a view to operating a full flight schedule by June 2021.
It is expected that Comair’s fleet will initially comprise 20 aircraft of which 17 will be Boeing 737-800 aircraft and the remaining 3 will be Boeing 737-400 aircraft. This may ultimately increase to 25 aircraft and compares to a fleet of 27 aircraft before Comair suspended operations.
The Business Rescue Plan is subject to a vote by creditors and shareholders which will close on Friday 18 September.
BA Airbus A319 aircraft at London Heathrow (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways will continue to operate a limited flight schedule during September 2020.
Flights will remain concentrated at London Heathrow, with BA operating a small number of long-haul routes at London Gatwick and a limited short-haul schedule at London City.
In some respects the airline is taking a step backwards compared to July & August. Many summer seasonal short-haul routes end this month. Some year-round short-haul routes that returned in July and August are suspended for September. BA CityFlyer has also pushed back the return of many routes to mainland Europe until October and November.
It seems clear that until there is a meaningful relaxation of travel restrictions, or at least some consistent standards to allow business travel, schedules will remain reduced for some time.
As the airline’s priority is conserving cash, flights will only be reinstated when they can operate on a cash flow positive basis.
Below are the main changes up to the end of September. This article has been updated since publication and will be regularly updated throughout September.
There may also be inconsistencies between online timetables and BA’s booking engine as some flights may only be offered on a one-way basis, or taken off sale some days before departure.
Also note that cancelled flights are still showing on some airport websites. BA is operating a number of cargo-only flights which may appear on some websites and apps under their regular flight numbers.
Travel & Entry Restrictions
Travel and entry restrictions vary by both country and region and can include:
Restrictions on entry based on citizenship and purpose of travel.
Evidence of a negative PCR COVID-19 test.
Completion and submission of a medical declaration before travel.
Advance registration with overseas authorities.
Some long-haul routes (eg India & South Africa) closing for sale up to 7 days before travel.
Restrictions on transit passengers.
BA has provided a list of links to country-by-country guidance and relevant forms that must be completed before departure on its website.
Some countries require forms to be completed, and submitted to relevant authorities where necessary, 24-72 hours before travel. Passengers who do not comply may be denied boarding.
Country-by-country guidance for UK travellers is also available from the Foreign Office.
Guidance for passengers arriving in the UK is available from the UK government.
Full details of new airport and on board procedures for BA flights are available at ba.com
Some flights may have specific requirements such as different check-in procedures, temperature checks, restrictions on hand luggage and additional Personal Protective Equipment.
BA Refund and Rebooking Policies
If your flight is cancelled you are entitled to a full refund.
You will need to call BA to obtain a refund as this cannot be done online.
All passengers due to travel up to Wednesday 30 September 2020 have the flexibility to change their booking free of charge or exchange the value of their ticket for a Future Travel Voucher (redeemable by phone) or eVoucher (redeemable online).
These can be used as payment towards a new booking for travel up to and including 30 April 2022. More details of this policy are at ba.com Please note there are separate rules on the use of Future Travel Vouchers and eVouchers.
Passengers can check the status of their bookings using the Manage My Booking tool on ba.com
All other airlines at Heathrow, apart from American Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Iberia, Japan Airlines and Qatar Airways are operating from Terminal 2. Terminals 3 and 4 are closed for the foreseeable future.
London Heathrow – UK Domestic
BA is currently flying to Aberdeen, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Manchester, Newcastle and Newquay.
BA Club Europe Seating (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways is to operate flights from London Heathrow to Amman, Cairo and Moscow Domodedovo with short-haul configured aircraft from Sunday 25 October 2020.
These routes were, bar occasional short-haul substitutions, operated with medium-haul configured Airbus A321 aircraft with flat beds in Club World or Boeing 787 aircraft.
BA Airbus A321 Business Class (Image Credit: British Airways)
As a consequence of this:
First Class will not be offered. First Class passengers will be downgraded to Club Europe.
World Traveller Plus will not be offered, and passengers will be downgraded to Euro Traveller.
No in-flight entertainment will be available and catering will be offered in accordance with Club Europe and Euro Traveller standards.
First Class, Club World and World Traveller Plus passengers who do not wish to travel have the option of a full refund. Alternatively, passengers who do travel can make a claim for a refund of the fare difference.
All passengers have the option of moving to a flight on the same route with long-haul configured aircraft up to 14 days before the change of aircraft, to the extent they are operating.
The flight numbers will also change accordingly:
Amman: BA147 / BA146 to BA312 / BA313
Cairo: BA155 / BA154 to BA400 / BA401
Moscow Domodedovo: BA233 / BA232 and BA237 / BA236 to BA880 / BA881 and BA882 / BA883
As is standard practice when flight numbers change, passengers will be advised that their original flight has been cancelled and rebooked.
Passengers can check the status of their booking using the Manage My Booking tool on ba.com and should contact BA if necessary.
London Heathrow Terminal 5 (Image Credit: Heathrow)
Whilst a return to scheduled long-haul travel is many months away, there are signs of progress in opening up air travel “bubbles” on long-haul routes.
BA has restarted scheduled passenger flights to India with return flights to Delhi and Mumbai, and one-way only flights from Bengaluru and Hyderabad to London Heathrow.
These routes have specific procedures for booking with flights to Delhi and Mumbai closing for sale 72 hours before departure.
BA has now made a similar move for South Africa. The airline will be operating special one-way only flights from Johannesburg on Sunday 6, Friday 11, Friday 25 and Sunday 27 September 2020.
These flights will leave Johannesburg in the morning, rather than the evening. The exact flight times quoted by BA differ from what is currently showing on ba.com Flights will be operated with Boeing 777 aircraft.
These flights close for sale 7 days before departure. Seats are offered for sale in World Traveller economy, World Traveller Plus premium economy and Club World business class at fixed prices. Passengers must ensure they complete the forms specified by BA in advance of travel.
There are also specific procedures for check-in, which takes place at the Garden Court Hotel at OR Tambo International airport.
Whilst passengers can connect from domestic flights in South Africa, BA’s franchise partner Comair has suspended all flights until November 2020.
More detailed guidance is available in a document BA has released for its travel trade partners.
Whilst these are only two one-off flights, it is hoped it is at least the start of progress between airlines and governments to reopen scheduled international travel in a secure manner.
Update Friday 25 September
British Airways will resume daily scheduled flights from London Heathrow to Cape Town and Johannesburg on 1 October 2020.
BA Embraer E170 London City Airport (Image Credit: British Airways)
As the UK government continues to play whack-a-mole with quarantine restrictions on inbound travellers, hopes of an orderly return to short-haul travel in Europe have been dashed.
BA’s subsidiary BA CityFlyer is currently operating a limited schedule from London City Airport.
This includes routes to Dublin, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The airline is also operating summer seasonal routes to Bergerac, Florence, Ibiza, Mahon, Nice, and Palma de Mallorca.
Seasonal routes to Mykonos, Quimper, San Sebastian, Santorini, Skiathos and Split are not operating this year.
BA CityFlyer had planned to reinstate many year-round routes from late August and early September. These have now been pushed back. The earliest dates for these routes are:
BA Boeing 787 at British Airways Maintenance Cardiff (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways has suspended a number of long-haul routes at both London Gatwick and Heathrow for the winter season as the airline expects to face significantly reduced demand well into 2021.
London Gatwick Suspensions
At London Gatwick, flights to Las Vegas and New York JFK have been suspended until Sunday 28 March 2021.
Passengers can seek a refund or rebook on to alternative services from London Heathrow. Any consequential costs such as ground transportation will be at passengers’ expense.
Winter seasonal flights from London Gatwick to Cape Town are still currently showing in BA’s online timetables but have been taken off sale.
London Heathrow Suspensions
Turning to London Heathrow, Abu Dhabi has been suspended for the winter season from Sunday 25 October 2020. Flights are currently showing as operating in October, but this is subject to change.
Other BA routes to the Middle East such as Bahrain, Doha and Muscat currently show as operating throughout the winter.
On transatlantic routes, Pittsburgh is suspended for the winter. Flights are showing as operating in October but as the airport is not one of the 15 US airports designated by the United States Department of Homeland Security for eligible international passengers to arrive into the US, these are unlikely to operate.
Many of BA’s “thin” transatlantic routes such as Nashville, New Orleans and San Jose California are currently showing as operating in the winter but these will depend on travel restrictions being lifted. This seems highly unlikely before the US election on 3 November 2020. BA has already cancelled plans to launch London Heathrow – Portland.
Elsewhere, routes from London Heathrow to Durban and Osaka have been taken off sale for the winter, whilst still showing in BA’s online timetables, which is a likely precursor to their suspension.
Passengers whose flights have been cancelled are entitled to a full refund or to be rebook onto alternative BA flights nearby with connections on its codeshare and franchise partners such as American Airlines, Comair South Africa, and Japan Airlines.
Passengers can check the status of your booking using the Manage My Booking tool on ba.com and should contact BA if necessary
As ever in the current environment, everything is subject to change at short notice.
The route was suspended in March 2020 and was due to return from late October 2020. It has now been withdrawn from BA’s timetables entirely.
Passengers whose flights have been cancelled are entitled to a full refund. Alternatively, passengers can be rebooked on alternative American Airlines and BA services to New York from London Heathrow.
BA has suspended flights from London Gatwick to New York JFK and these are provisionally due to return from late October 2020.
In light of market conditions and IAG’s decision to take into account environmental considerations when planning new routes it is unlikely that BA will launch a similar service again.
New York JFK was the only long-haul route from London City airport. Start-ups such as Odyssey Airlines have expressed a desire to launch all business class routes from London City. These are unlikely to succeed without guaranteed support from corporate customers and business travellers who can be lured away from frequent flyer programmes of rival airlines.
What happens to BA’s fleet of two Airbus A318 aircraft isn’t clear. One is leased to Titan Airways. Both aircraft have been provided as security for a $750 million loan which means BA can’t sell or scrap them until the loan is repaid in May 2021.
British Airways Pilots (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways pilots have voted to accept a package of measures to mitigate against compulsory redundancies at the airline.
BA had proposed make up to 1,255 of its 4,300 pilots based at London Gatwick and Heathrow redundant with a threat in the formal Section 188 notice to “fire and rehire” pilots if an agreement could not be met.
Following negotiations between BA and its pilot union BALPA, a number of measures have been agreed to reduce the need for compulsory redundancies. However, it is expected there will be around 270 compulsory redundancies.
These have been accepted by BA pilots in a ballot by BALPA which closed today, Friday 31 July. The vote was 85% in favour based on an 87% turnout.
These measures include:
– Voluntary part time working, voluntary redundancy and voluntary secondments.
– A holding pool of the equivalent of 300 pilots who will continue to be employed on reduced pay and will resume flying as demand returns.
– These measures are funded by cuts to pilot pay which start at 20% and then reduce to 8% over the next two years. These cuts will further reduce towards zero over the longer term.
Whilst this situation is not what anyone would have wanted to see, it does seem like a reasonably pragmatic deal which softens the blow to BA pilots at risk of redundancy whilst giving BA some immediate relief to its staff costs.
It goes without saying that it hoped that compulsory redundancies will be minimised and those pilots not currently flying will be able to return to the skies very soon.
In terms of other BA workgroups, IAG confirmed this morning that up to 1,400 BA employees have left the company by way of voluntary redundancy.
Whilst BA and Unite remain some distance apart on negotiations to merge its three Heathrow cabin crew fleets into one, there has at least been movement by both sides and negotiations are underway.
BALPA issued the following statement on Friday evening:
