“Colour Down The Side”by Sir Terry Frost, R.A BA London Heathrow Terminal 5 Arrivals Lounge (Image Credit: London Air Travel)
Selected works from British Airways art collection have sold for a total of £2.2 million by Sotheby’s.
The standout sale from the collection was “Cool Edge” by Bridget Riley. This was estimated to sell for up to £1.2m. It ultimately sold for £1,875,000.
The other 16 items from the collection sold for considerably less at £326,875 in total. However, most works did sell for well in excess of their estimates in brackets below.
Whilst £2.2m (before Sotheby’s commission and other costs) is a drop in the ocean compared to IAG’s weekly cash burn, the sale is symbolic as BA and its parent company does everything it can to conserve cash. With no prospect of air travel returning to normal until well into 2021, it is going to need it.
British Airways First Class Cabin (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways’ partnership with American Express has been extended in a new multi-year deal announced by its parent company International Airlines Group.
American Express issues BA branded credit cards through which members can earn Avios points.
BA’s parent company, IAG, has announced that it has signed a new multiyear deal with American Express.
This operated through a separate division of IAG known as IAG Loyalty. As part of this, American Express will pay IAG £750m which is primarily a pre-payment for Avios points it will issue to members.
IAG CEO Willie Walsh did state during its full year results announcement that he had met with Mastercard a few times and they were “mad keen” to do business with IAG. This was no doubt a signal to American Express.
The advance sale of frequent flyer points to third parties is a device airlines use to raise funds. In 2009, American Airlines pre-sold $1 billion of AAdvantage miles to Citigroup. This comes at a time when airlines seek more ways to raise cash by using intangible assets. Yesterday, American Airlines announced it had taken out a $1.2 billion loan that was secured against its trademark and the internet domain name aa.com
IAG is due to announce its half-year results on Friday 31 July and will provide a further update on its finance raising plans then.
British Airways Tail Fins, London Heathrow (Image Credit: Heathrow)
British Airways has once again extended its flexible rebooking policies for passengers due to fly with the airline in the coming weeks.
All passengers due to fly with the airline up to Wednesday 30 September 2020 have the option of exchanging the value of their ticket for a voucher. This applies regardless of when the booking was made.
The voucher will be valid for travel for completion in full by 30 April 2022. This policy until today, Wednesday 22 July 2020, applied only to passengers due to travel up to Monday 31 August 2020.
BA’s flexible change policy which allows passengers making bookings from 3 March 2020 to make changes to bookings without incurring fees has not changed. It currently only applies for bookings made up to 31 August 2020 for travel up to 30 April 2021.
Full details of this policy and guidance on how to claim a voucher are available on ba.com. Please read this page very carefully, including the terms and conditions for flight and holiday bookings, before taking any action. Once your original booking is cancelled it cannot be reinstated. These policies may be amended or withdrawn at any time.
BA is clearly not expecting any significant expansion in schedules before the end of September 2020. Please see here for details of where BA is currently flying.
If your flight is cancelled – these policy changes usually presage further flight cancellations – you are entitled to a full cash refund. However, you will need to call BA to do this.
Passengers can check the status of any existing bookings using the Manage My Booking tool on ba.com.
British Airways Lounge, South Terminal, London Gatwick (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways is to launch a new winter seasonal route from London Gatwick to Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Flights will operate twice weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 13 October 2020 until Easter 2021.
The route will be operated with a three class Boeing 777-200 aircraft.
It may seem unusual for the airline to launch a new route at a time of significantly reduced demand. However, it’s worth recalling that after the 2008 financial crisis, BA pivoted towards long-haul leisure routes and added a number of destinations at Gatwick such as Male and Cancun. There may also be an element of subsidy for this route.
Virgin Atlantic previously flew to Montego Bay from Gatwick and is due to restart the route from London Heathrow on Friday 2 October 2020. This move by BA will obviously put competitive pressure on Virgin Atlantic.
British Airways has suspended plans to launch a new route from London Heathrow to Portland, Oregon.
BA was due to launch the route on 1 June 2020 with the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft. This had been postponed until Wednesday 2 September 2020.
The route has today, Tuesday 21 July 2020, been taken off sale and removed from BA’s timetables entirely.
With no prospect of an imminent relaxation of travel restrictions to the US and reduced demand well into 2021, it is not surprising to see the launch of a new long-haul route postponed as they typically take a couple of years to establish themselves.
British Airways Boeing 747, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways is to retire the Boeing 747 with immediate effect.
At this stage it is officially a proposal, subject to consultation with trade unions. However, this appears to be a fait accompli as BA says the aircraft are likely to have flown their last scheduled commercial services.
This follows decisions by Qantas and Virgin Atlantic to immediately retire the aircraft due to COVID-19.
It is hard to overstate the impact the Boeing 747 had on civil aviation, BA, and what its early retirement will have on BA’s route network and profile of passenger traffic.
The Early Days Of The Boeing 747
Pan American World Airways, for whom the Boeing 747 aircraft was designed, was the first airline to operate passenger flights, from New York to London on 21 January 1970.
It may seem strange to think now, but there were doubts as to whether airlines could fill the aircraft with passengers. There were concerns about the ability of airports to handle the aircraft, at the time the biggest passenger jet in service. Both London Heathrow and New York JFK had to implement makeshift arrangements to handle the aircraft.
“All The 747 Needed Was BOAC Service.”
BOAC began passenger flights from London to New York on 14 April 1971 with the bold claim “All the 747 needed was BOAC service”.
BOAC Boeing 747-136 aircraft (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways Coat Of Arms (Image Credit: British Airways)
Sotheby’s is to auction selected works of art from British Airways’ lounges around the world asthe airline seeks to raise funds to survive the impact of COVID-19.
Other items from the BA collection to be auctioned by Sotheby’s at future auctions this month include works by Damien Hirst, Peter Doig, Julian Opie and George Shaw.
In total, 17 pieces will be auctioned from BA’s collection of 1,500 works of art: (No, you can’t earn Avios at Sotheby’s!). These are:
BA’s lounge complex at Heathrow is of course based around a “Galleries” concept and features many bespoke art installations and works. You may recognise “Colour Down The Side” by Sir Terry Frost, R.A. from the BA Arrivals Lounge. Though, there’s been a conspicuous lack of interest in the horse lamps from Terminal 5.
Speaking to the Sunday Times last month IAG CEO Willie Walsh, who famously sold off Aer Lingus’ art collection after the events of 11 September 2001, claims to have had nothing to do with the proposed sale and said of the auction:
“I didn’t realise we had an art collection. They said they had been hiding it from me for years because they thought if I knew it was there, I would probably sell it, and they were right.”
“I won’t be bidding for any of them, I can assure you.”
BA CityFlyer Embraer Aircraft at London City airport (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways has resumed scheduled passenger flights at London City airport.
BA’s subsidiary BA CityFlyer restarted flights early today, Friday 10 July, after a hiatus of more than three months.
Flights BA8483 and BA8463 departed London City for Palma de Mallorca and Ibiza shortly before 07:30, to be followed this morning by flights to Malaga and Florence.
This is the start of the progressive resumption of most of BA’s route network at London City throughout the summer.
BA’s Flight Plan At London City
BA will resume flights from London City to Dublin, Glasgow and Edinburgh from Monday 20 July.
This will be followed by Nice on Saturday 1 August, Bergerac on Sunday 2 August and Mahon on Monday 3 August.
BA will also launch a new route to Belfast City airport on Tuesday 1 September.
BA does not currently plan to resume flights to Amsterdam, Berlin Tegel, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, Milan Linate, Munich, Prague, Rome Fiumicino, Rotterdam, Venice and Zurich until late August / early September.
Summer seasonal routes to Mykonos, Santorini, Skiathos and Split do not appear to be operating this year. The planned launch of San Sebastian has been postponed.
BA has suspended London City – New York JFK until Sunday 25 October 2020 at the earliest.
As far as other airlines at London City concerned, Eastern Airways is flying to Teesside. Loganair is operating flights to Dundee and the Isle Of Man (as a wet lease for BA).
KLM plans to resume Amsterdam on Monday 13 July. Lufthansa will resume Frankfurt on Monday 7 September.
BA Airbus A319 aircraft at London Heathrow (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways is slowly increasing its flying programme from London.
BA has added a number of seasonal and year-round short-haul routes at London Heathrow, with a focus on leisure routes.
BA CityFlyer has resumed some short-haul flights at London City. BA has also restarted a small number of long-haul flights at London Gatwick.
As borders outside Europe are largely closed to all but essential travellers, long-haul schedules are limited well into 2021. BA will only reinstate routes where they generate positive cash flow which means the resumption of long-haul routes is likely to be driven by cargo demand.
Below are the main changes up to the end of August. These are indicative and subject to change.
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.
IATA also has full details of country entry restrictions and any country specific forms that need to be completed prior to check-in or prior to completing customs and immigration procedures on landing.
Country-by-country guidance for UK travellers is also available from the Foreign Office.
Full details of new airport and on board procedures for BA flights are available at ba.com
Some flights may have specific procedures such as different check-in procedures, temperature checks, restrictions on hand luggage and additional Personal Protective Equipment requirements.
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.
London Heathrow – UK Domestic
BA is currently flying to Aberdeen, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Manchester, Newcastle and Newquay.
BA has permanently suspended Leeds Bradford.
London Heathrow – Short-Haul Europe
BA has reinstated a number of year-round and summer seasonal routes to mainland Europe.
Routes with more than twice daily flights include:
Amsterdam Barcelona Madrid (Flights BA460 & BA461 operated with Boeing 777 aircraft on Monday, Thursday and Saturday)
Routes with at least, or near, daily flights from July / August include:
Athens Berlin Tegel Bologna Brussels (now suspended until 1 October) Budapest Copenhagen Dublin (now suspended until 1 October, codeshares with Aer Lingus still operate) Frankfurt Hamburg Istanbul Lisbon Luxembourg (now suspended until 1 October) Lyon Milan Malpensa Munich Nice Paris Charles De Gaulle Prague Rome Fiumicino Stockholm Toulouse
Routes with less than daily flights from July / August include:
Basel (now suspended until 1 October) Billund (suspended from 4 September until 1 October) Dusseldorf (now suspended until 1 October) Geneva Gibraltar Gothenburg (now suspended until 1 October) Hannover Innsbruck (delayed to 12 December) Krakow Larnaca Marrakech (delayed to 1 October) Marseille Milan Linate (delayed to 1 October) Moscow Domodedovo Oslo Pisa Reykjavik (suspended during September) Sofia Stuttgart (delayed to 1 October) Valencia (until 6 September) Vienna (until 7 September) Warsaw Zagreb Zurich (until 6 September)
BA has permanently suspended flights to Beirut and Moscow Sheremetyevo.
Returning summer seasonal routes from July / August include:
Summer seasonal routes to Ljubljana, Montpellier, Nantes, Perugia, and Podgorica are suspended until 2021.
BA has transferred many short-haul routes from Gatwick to Heathrow until early November 2020 including:
These still carry their original Gatwick flight numbers, which have four digits beginning with a 2. They may show on some websites as having been diverted, due to the change of London airport.
Alicante Algiers (delayed until 1 October) Bari Bilbao (ends 29 August) Bordeaux (ends 5 September) Cagliari Catania Dubrovnik Funchal Genoa (ended 16 August) Gran Canaria (from 26 October) Jersey Kos Lanzarote (until 2 September) Mahon, Menorca Malta (until 7 September) Naples Paphos Porto Salzburg (delayed until 3 October) Seville (ended 29 August) Tenerife Thessaloniki Turin Verona
Flights on overlapping routes such as Dalaman, Faro, Ibiza, Palma and Rhodes have also transferred to Heathrow.
London Heathrow – Long-Haul
A number of long-haul routes are suspended with frequencies cut on others until late March 2021.
Some long-haul flights may be reinstated at short notice depending on reciprocal agreements between governments on reopening routes. These may have specific booking and check-in procedures. Some may also operate on a one-way basis only.
Long-haul routes operating with reduced frequencies are:
North America
Boston Chicago O’Hare Dallas / Fort Worth Los Angeles Miami New York JFK San Francisco Seattle Toronto Washington Dulles
Central & South America
Sao Paulo
India
Bengaluru (one way only to London Heathrow) Chennai (one way only to London Heathrow from 3 September) Delhi Hyderabad (one way only to London Heathrow) Mumbai
Note that flights between London Heathrow and Delhi and Mumbai close for sale 72 hours before departure. All passengers travelling between the UK and India must complete a number of forms prior to travel and ensure they comply fully with all entry requirements. There are also restrictions on transit passengers. Links to the relevant forms are on ba.com
Asia
Hong Kong Islamabad Shanghai Singapore Tokyo Haneda (delayed until 1 October)
London Heathrow – Sydney via Singapore is suspended until 15 December 2020.
BA has suspended summer seasonal routes to Calgary and Charleston until 2021. The planned launch of Portland, Oregon has been cancelled.
A number of long-haul routes are expected to be suspended for the winter season. These include Abu Dhabi, Dammam, Durban, Jeddah, Osaka and Pittsburgh.
British Airways Heathrow Lounge Reopening July 2020 (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways has started what is likely to be a long and gradual process of reopening its airport lounges around the world.
On Saturday 4 July 2020, BA has reopened the Galleries Club South and Galleries First lounges on the South concourse of London Heathrow Terminal 5. Due to BA still operating a significantly reduced schedule, the lounges close at the earlier time of 20:00. The First Wing has also reopened.
BA has also reopened the arrivals lounge for passengers arriving from long-haul flights.
The Concorde Room, Galleries Club North and Galleries Terminal 5B lounges and Elemis Travel spas remain closed.
British Airways, Galleries First Lounge Terrace, London Heathrow Terminal 5 (Image Credit: British Airways)
Passengers travelling in First Class and Concorde Room cardholders who are ordinarily entitled to access the Concorde Room have access to a dedicated terrace in the Galleries First lounge.
As expected, the service in the lounge is different. Plastic entry screens have been introduced at the entrance to the Galleries Club South lounge.
Passengers will be provided with a Welcome Card, with blue and red sides, on entry to the lounge.
When in the lounge, passengers are asked to to occupy seats that do not have a card placed on them and to maintain social distancing in the lounge and not move between seats.
British Airways Heathrow Lounge Reopening July 2020 (Image Credit: British Airways)
The card should be left red side up on your seat when temporarily leaving your seat, and blue side up when you leave the lounge so the area can be cleaned.
British Airways Heathrow Lounge Reopening July 2020 (Image Credit: British Airways)
Food and drinks are available to order by accessing a dedicated website on your personal device, details of which are provided on entry to the lounge.
British Airways Heathrow Lounge Reopening July 2020 (Image Credit: British Airways)
As expected, all newspapers and magazines have been removed from the lounges. These can be downloaded electronically using the PressReader app. This is best done at home.
Update November 2020
British Airways lounges at London Heathrow will close from Thursday 5 November, following the implementation of a lockdown in England until 2 December 2020.
