Category: British Airways

British Airways is the largest airline at London City and London Heathrow airports. It also has a 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. It operates joint businesses from London with American Airlines and Japan Airlines.

BA Club World London Heathrow – Miami

A review of British Airways Club World on the Boeing 747 from London Heathrow to Miami.

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Miami South Beach
Miami South Beach (Image Credit: London Air Travel)

London Heathrow – Miami is a good illustration of the vagaries of flying BA.

BA operates three return flights a day, all now with a Boeing 747 so passengers should know with confidence to expect. Right? Well, not quite.

It’s perfectly feasible that three groups of passengers all taking different BA flights on the same day could each report different experiences.

The reason being that only some of the 52 Club World seat aircraft that serve this route have been fully refurbished with new in-flight entertainment systems. Some have had just a light interior refresh. Others have not been refurbished at all in ten years due to their imminent retirement. And you’ll only know what you’re getting once you’ve stepped on board the aircraft.

Let’s take a look at one early morning departure from London Heathrow Terminal 3:

Pre-departure

After a quick check-in at a reasonably busy Heathrow Terminal 3 for an early morning, it’s to the lounge.

It’s received wisdom that any passengers flying Oneworld from Terminal 3 with lounge access should head to either the Cathay Pacific or Qantas lounges.

However if you want to download reading material from PressReader at the airport you need to use the BA lounge WiFi. A couple of tips: you do need allow for a generous amount of space on your device and a good amount of time to download as it does take more than a few minutes.

To boarding, BA has for some time been using the grouping system for boarding aircraft. One weakness is that the relative numbers of passengers eligible for Group 1 boarding can vary widely by route. As Miami is an American Airlines stronghold, there are a lot of Oneworld Emerald cardholders eligible for Group 1 boarding on this route.

Continue reading “BA Club World London Heathrow – Miami”

BA Club World Upper Deck Seating Changes

BA has introduced further changes to its pricing structure for the selection of seats in Club World.

London Air Travel » British Airways » Page 33

British Airways Airbus A380 Club World cabin
British Airways Airbus A380 Club World cabin (Image Credit: British Airways)

A couple of weeks ago we reported that BA had introduced a new pricing structure for seat selection charges on the main deck of Club World.

BA has introduced a new set of six price points for selecting a seat, and these are detailed here.

It was expected that further changes would be forthcoming for the Upper Deck. BA has today, Tuesday 11 June 2019, implemented a new pricing structure for the Upper Deck of the Airbus A380. This has a relatively marginal different configuration of 2-3-2 rather than 2-4-2 on the main deck. Window seats also have storage bins.

Using a flight to Vancouver as an example, there are now separate charges for seat pairs by the window and lower charges for the centre seats. All of these Upper Deck seats were previously priced at £105. Now the centre seats attract a lower, albeit very modestly so in the grand scheme of things, price of £95 to select a seat.

On the main deck of this flight, seat selection charges range from £79 to £105.

British Airways Airbus A380 Upper Deck Vancouver Seat Map
British Airways Airbus A380 Upper Deck Vancouver Seat Map

Note that these changes only apply to passengers making new bookings. Passengers with existing bookings will not see any changes. Seat selection charges will also vary by route. At present, pricing of the much smaller Upper Deck of the Boeing 747 appears to be unchanged.

BA Boeing 747 Centenary Flights Update

British Airways is offering passengers who have booked flights to Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle that were scheduled with a Boeing 747 on Sunday 25 August a refund.

London Air Travel » British Airways » Page 33

British Airways Boeing 747 Centenary Tailfins
British Airways Boeing 747 Centenary Tailfins (Image Credit: British Airways)

Last week we reported that BA had scheduled Boeing 747 aircraft on selected UK domestic flights from London Heathrow to Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle on the day of its centenary, Sunday 25 August 2019.

This did come with the caveat that BA had made no official announcement about these flights. These flights have attracted a lot of interest and a week later BA has today, Friday 7 June 2019, issued the following statement to the travel trade:

We’ve been exploring a number of options to put our customers at the heart of our birthday weekend celebrations, but we still haven’t confirmed any plans.

We haven’t revealed any of the details of our birthday weekend so far. Some aviation websites made a guess at what we were planning, but we were very clear that this was speculation.

We are still considering our options for that weekend and will release details in due course.

Clearly, some passengers may have booked these flights (in some cases for the cost of a transatlantic flight) hoping for special celebrations on board.

BA is now offering passengers who booked a Boeing 747 flight from London Heathrow to Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle on Sunday 25 August between 30 May and 7 June 2019 and no longer wish to travel a refund.

Affected passengers should contact BA or their travel agent.

Passengers can check the status of their booking using the Manage My Booking tool on ba.com

Update: Many passengers are now receiving e-mails from BA advising that these flights will no longer be operated with a Boeing 747 aircraft. So the plan for special flights appears to have been cancelled entirely.

British Airways London Gatwick – New York JFK Cancellations

British Airways has cancelled its daily service from London Gatwick to New York JFK from Tuesday 14 January to Monday 10 February 2020.

London Air Travel » British Airways » Page 33

Manhattan at Sunrise
Manhattan at Sunrise (Image Credit: London Air Travel)

You have reached an article that contains now out of date information on disruption at British Airways. It has been maintained in case readers require historical flight information. Please find below our latest articles on disruption at British Airways:

British Airways has cancelled its daily service from London Gatwick to New York JFK from Tuesday 14 January to Monday 10 February 2020.

The affected flight numbers are BA2273 from London Gatwick to New York JFK and BA2272 from New York JFK to London Gatwick.

No specific reason has been given for the cancellations other than “commercial reasons” which suggests low seasonal demand.

Passengers whose flights have been cancelled are entitled to a full refund. Passengers can also be re-accommodated on alternative American Airlines and BA services from London Heathrow. However, any additional costs such as ground transportation and hotels will be at passengers’ expense.

Passengers can check the status of their booking using the Manage My Booking tool on ba.com

Affected passengers should contact BA or their travel agent.

More to read on British Airways Disruption

Here are our latest posts on disruption affecting British Airways:

BA Glasgow Lounge Closes For Refurbishment

The BA lounge at Glasgow airport has closed for a light refurbishment and will reopen later in June 2019.

London Air Travel » British Airways » Page 33

British Airways lounge at Washington Dulles International Airport (Image Credit: British Airways)

(Image Credit: British Airways)

The British Airways lounge at Glasgow airport has closed for refurbishment from today, Sunday 2 June 2019.

It’s a relatively light refurbishment as the 450 square metres lounge will reopen later this month – a full refurbishment can take up to six months.

BA say the updated lounge will have “a contemporary luxurious new look and feel” and take “inspiration” from recent lounge refurbishments in Aberdeen, New York JFK and Rome.

The existing lounge opened in 2013 and was an evolution of BA’s Galleries format. Designed by Glasgow based design agency Graven there was a strong emphasis on materials sourced from local suppliers.

There are no alternative lounge facilities during the closure. Eligible passengers will be offered a voucher which can be collected at the check-in desks or from the customer services desk near Gate 22.

Update Friday 14 June 2019: The refurbished lounge is due to reopen Sunday 16 June 2019.

British Airways Extends Loganair Codeshares

British Airways has extended its codeshare relationship with Loganair to include Edinburgh – Bergen & Stavanger.

London Air Travel » British Airways » Page 33

Loganair Embraer 135 Aircraft
Loganair Embraer 135 Aircraft (Image Credit: Loganair)

British Airways has a long-running codeshare with Loganair, which for the past two years has operated as an independent airline after previously being a Flybe and BA franchisee.

This has been largely limited to UK domestic flights from Scottish airports to the Highlands and Islands.

However, this has now been extended to two international routes from Edinburgh to Bergen and Stavanger in Norway. These two routes were suspended by BA from London Heathrow in October 2017.

Loganair flies to Bergen three times weekly on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. It flies to Stavanger four times weekly on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

Both routes are operated with Embraer E135 aircraft with 37 seats in a single cabin configuration.

Continue reading “British Airways Extends Loganair Codeshares”

British Airways Centenary Boeing 747 Flights

British Airways will operate Boeing 747 aircraft on selected UK domestic flights on the day of its centenary.

London Air Travel » British Airways » Page 33

British Airways Boeing 747 Centenary Tailfins
British Airways Boeing 747 Centenary Tailfins (Image Credit: British Airways)

It has been known for some months that British Airways will be operating special flights to mark its centenary, which falls on Sunday 25 August 2019.

The airline has not yet made any official announcement. However, schedules are currently showing that Boeing 747 aircraft (most likely those in retro liveries) will operate three domestic return flights from London Heathrow Terminal 5 on Sunday 25 August 2019.

London Heathrow – Glasgow

Flight BA1482 Depart London Heathrow 12:00 – Arrive Glasgow 13:30
Flight BA1487 Depart Glasgow 15:00 – Arrive London Heathrow 16:25

These flights will be operated with an 86 Club World seat aircraft.

London Heathrow – Manchester

Flight BA1386 Depart London Heathrow 10:10 – Arrive Manchester 11:20
Flight BA1391 Depart Manchester 12:50 – Arrive London Heathrow 14:00

These flights will be operated with a 52 Club World seat aircraft.

London Heathrow – Newcastle

Flight BA1326 Depart London Heathrow 09:20 – Arrive Newcastle 10:35
Flight BA1327 Depart Newcastle 12:40 – Arrive London Heathrow 14:00

These flights will be operated with a 52 Club World seat aircraft.

Continue reading “British Airways Centenary Boeing 747 Flights”

Air Belgium to operate Heathrow – Cairo for British Airways

Air Belgium is to operate London Heathrow Cairo for British Airways from 18 August to 31 October 2019.

London Air Travel » British Airways » Page 33

Air Belgium Airbus A340 aircraft

British Airways continues to wet lease an Airbus A340 aircraft from Air Belgium at London Heathrow.

One return flight, BA185 & BA184 from Heathrow to Newark is currently operated by Air Belgium until Saturday 8 June 2019.

Another return flight, BA93 & BA92 from Heathrow to Toronto, will be operated by Air Belgium from Sunday 9 June to Saturday 17 August 2019.

Heathrow – Cairo Wet Lease

The wet lease has now been extended to Cairo.

BA155 from London Heathrow to Cairo will be operated by Air Belgium from Sunday 18 August 2019 to Thursday 31 October 2019.

BA154 from Cairo to London Heathrow will be operated by Air Belgium from Monday 19 August 2019 to Friday 1 November 2019.

The flight will be operated by an Air Belgium A340-300 aircraft.

The route is currently operated by a three class Boeing 777-200 and was due to switch to a Boeing 787 for the winter season, instead of a two class Airbus A321, as per last winter.

The overall service standard on Air Belgium should be similar to that of BA.

Rebooking Options

All passengers have the option of rebooking on to BA’s alternative return flights from Heathrow to Cairo as close to your original date of travel as possible.

Full refunds are not available, except for Club World and World Traveller Plus passengers, unless allowed by the original fare rules.

Premium Economy Passengers

There is no premium economy cabin on Air Belgium aircraft.

Unless passengers rebook on to an alternative BA service, they 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.

Passengers can check the status of their booking using the Manage My Booking tool on ba.com

Affected passengers should contact BA or their travel agent.

More to read on British Airways Disruption

Here are our latest posts on disruption affecting British Airways:

British Airways Launches Online Centenary Archive

British Airways has launched a new online archive of photos and videos to mark its centenary year.

London Air Travel » British Airways » Page 33

Her Majesty The Queen, Concorde, 1977
Her Majesty The Queen, Concorde, 1977 (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways has long maintained a “heritage collection” of archive materials and photographs from its near 100 year history.

This is based at its Head Office near Heathrow. It has also been online, though much of the photographs were scanned for uploading in an era when websites had to accommodate much slower internet connections.

As part of its centenary BA has launched a new dedicated archive microsite with many newly released images, videos and features on its history.

It covers many aspects of BA’s history, including staff uniforms and deliveries of new aircraft. There are also many videos including the launch of the turn-up-and-go domestic Shuttle Service from London to Glasgow in 1975 and the groundbreaking “World’s Biggest Offer”marketing campaign in 1991.

On the subject of advertising, please see here for our own history of BA advertising over four decades.

BA has also issued newly released photos of Her Majesty The Queen, who visited BA’s Head Office earlier this week, with British Airways aircraft.

Her Majesty The Queen, Malta
Her Majesty The Queen, Malta (Image Credit: British Airways)

The Queen has a long history with BA and its predecessor airlines.

On 31 January 1952, The Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, bid farewell to King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret at London airport before departing on a BOAC aircraft with Prince Philip for a world tour of Africa, Australia and New Zealand. This was cut short following the death of King George VI and Princess Elizabeth returned a week later from Kenya on a BOAC Argonaut as Queen Elizabeth II.

BEA, BOAC and BA have flown The Queen on many state visits and tours. These include the 1953 Commonwealth tour, Canada and the US in 1957 (on a BOAC DC-7C aircraft), Bermuda and Jamaica 1963 (on a BOAC Stratocruiser), New Zealand in 1974, the Commonwealth Silver Jubilee tour 1977 (on Concorde), the Middle East in 1979 (on Concorde), and Australia 2011 (non-stop from London to Perth on a Boeing 777). The Queen also officially opened London Heathrow Terminals 1 and 5 and Gatwick’s North Terminal.

Back to the archive itself, the history of BA obviously depends on who is telling it.

Understandably, there are some events not touched on, such as aircraft incidents and BOAC and BA being caught up in major geopolitical events such as the 1970 Dawson’s Field hijackings and 1990 Gulf War. Nor are corporate controversies. However, there are subjects barely mentioned, such as the Newell and Sorrell redesign of BA’s corporate identity of 1997, controversial at the time, but now worthy of reappraisal.

BA Club World Seat Selection Charge Changes

British Airways has changed its pricing structure for selecting seats in Club World.

London Air Travel » British Airways » Page 33

British Airways Refurbished 52 Club World Seat Aircraft, November 2018
British Airways Refurbished 52 Club World Seat Aircraft, November 2018 (Image Credit: British Airways)

For the past ten years or so BA has required passengers other than Silver and Gold members of the Executive Club to pay a fee to select a seat at the time of booking.

This applies to all cabins except First Class, even Club World. Please see here for a full guide to BA’s seating policy.

Even though BA is one of the only, if not the only, airlines in the world to charge business class passengers to select a seat, and it is seen as somewhat egregious, this policy has survived.

As BA has learned of passenger preferences it has applied dynamic pricing to different parts of the same cabin with differential charges by row and proximity to aisles and windows.

In Club World, this has meant higher charges for the much loved upper deck of the Boeing 747. On the main deck of the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747 and in all other Club World cabins, there were three tiers of prices, Front, Middle, and Rear. There were higher charges for forward rows and lower charges for rear rows.

Changes from 14 May 2019

Since Tuesday 14 May 2019, BA has split the pricing of seats on the main deck of Club World into no less than six tiers.

These are Front Side, Front Centre, Middle Side, Middle Centre, Rear Side, Rear Centre.

In the example of an 86 Club World seat Boeing 747 below, there are now higher prices to select a seat on the side of the aircraft, which are £87 per person at the front of the cabin, £80 in the middle of the cabin, and £67 at the rear of the cabin.

Centre seats are at reduced prices of £79, £72 and £59 per person. Charges will vary by aircraft, and are higher on other aircraft such as the Airbus A380.

Continue reading “BA Club World Seat Selection Charge Changes”