British Airways is to suspend its summer seasonal route from London Heathrow to Murcia.
The route to Murcia San Javier airport launched in 2017 and is currently scheduled to operate twice weekly until Saturday 27 October 2018.
It was due to return from 2 April 2019 to 26 October 2019. However, the route has now been suspended in its entirety.
Murcia San Javier airport (airport code MJV) is in fact due to close to scheduled passenger flights in the coming months. Another airport serving the region, Corvera, also known as Región de Murcia International Airport (airport code RMU), is currently scheduled to open to passenger flights in early 2019. easyJet is to transfer operations to Corvera from the summer of 2019.
Passengers whose flights have been cancelled are entitled to a full refund. Passengers can also travel to an alternative BA destination in Spain such as Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga or Valencia. However, any consequential costs such as ground transportation will be at your expense.
When BA has previously suspended summer seasonal routes, it has secured rebooking options on alternative carriers. However, these were on network carriers via their hubs in mainland Europe – who don’t currently serve Murcia – and not on low cost airlines that fly direct from London.
Despite its name, ticketed First Class passengers have access to the Concorde Room. This means this lounge is effectively for British Airways Executive Club Gold Cardholders and Oneworld Emerald equivalents, of which there are a very substantial number on this route.
It is fair to say that for a lounge branded as First Class it did underwhelm a little. However, given the length of the refurbishment the new lounge should be a big improvement.
Unfortunately, no press images are available at the moment. It is understood that BA’s regular press photographer is flying out to New York this weekend so hopefully a full set will be available next week.
The lounge has been enlarged and it is described by BA as having new zones including a dedicated wine room, an “opulent” First bar, and a quiet work area. There is also a new pre-flight dining area.
BA transatlantic Club World meal service from London Heathrow August 2018 (Image Credit: London Air Travel)
British Airways continues to roll out its new Club World meal service across its long-haul network at Heathrow.
The latest routes to receive the new service this week are Buenos Aires, Jeddah, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo Haneda, Tokyo Narita, Santiago, and Sao Paulo.
However, BA has also just pulled a major volte face.
When the service was launched last year, there was much emphasis on added “theatre” and the ability to select starters and desserts during the first meal service from a dedicated display trolley in the aisle.
New Club World Food & Beverage (Image Credit: British Airways)
However, as we noted in our review of the service 12 months in, the delivery of the new meal service has been inconsistent. Some crews have simply not used the display trollies at all. Others have, but grudgingly.
It has been confirmed that from Sunday 28 October 2018, the display trollies will be abandoned altogether.
Air Belgium Airbus A340 aircraft (Image Credit: Air Belgium)
Air Belgium’s Airbus A340 aircraft is becoming something of a fixture at London Heathrow Terminal 5.
Having already wet-leased an Air Belgium aircraft to cover London Heathrow – Cairo and London Heathrow – Abu Dhabi, Air Belgium will cover one of BA’s three daily return flights from London Heathrow to Dubai from November to mid December 2018.
One outbound flight, BA105 from London Heathrow to Dubai, will be operated by Air Belgium from Thursday 1 November to Friday 14 December 2018. As will the inbound flight, BA104 from Dubai to London Heathrow, from Friday 2 November to Saturday 15 December 2018.
The flight will be operated by an Air Belgium A340-300 aircraft. The overall service standard should be similar to that of BA.
Update 20 November 2018
The extent of the wet lease has now been extended to Saturday 30 March 2019 for flight BA105 and Sunday 31 March 2019 for BA104.
Rebooking Options
All passengers have the option of rebooking on to BA’s two alternative return flights to Dubai (BA107/B106, BA109/BA108) as close to your original date of travel as possible.
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.
Unless passengers rebook on to an alternative BA service, they 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.
Update: BA has since updated its guidance to advise that First Class passengers are entitled to a full refund. Passengers can also rebook on to a BA operated service to Abu Dhabi. However, any consequential costs such as ground transportation will be at your expense.
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.
Alternatively, passengers can use the value of their ticket towards the purchase of a new ticket to an alternative destination.
Update: BA has since updated its guidance to advise that premium economy passengers are entitled to a full refund. Passengers can also rebook on to a BA operated service to Abu Dhabi. However, any consequential costs such as ground transportation will be at your 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.
British Airways Boeing 767-300 G-BNWP Pictured 1999
If aircraft fleets were families, what would the Boeing 767 be!?
That distant, somewhat eccentric and, at times, unloved relative?
This year, BA is expected to finally retire some of the oldest aircraft in its fleet as its last five remaining Boeing 767-300 aircraft are due to leave the airline.
BA originally ordered 28 aircraft in stages from the late 1980s onward. The first aircraft entered service from early 1990 and operated short-haul flights, predominantly to Paris Charles de Gaulle. They were soon joined later that year by long-haul configured aircraft, replacing TriStar aircraft to Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Riyadh, Doha, Jeddah and Khartoum.
The last aircraft were delivered in 1998 with fleet then operating from Gatwick, Heathrow and Manchester. Whilst the Boeing 767 fulfilled its initial promise of offering flexibility across short and long-haul operations, it soon fell out of favour.
At the turn of the century, BA put its whole network under review with the aim of cutting capacity and radically simplifying operations.
BA drastically downsized operations at Gatwick by reducing the number of different types of aircraft, leaving long-haul flights operated exclusively with the Boeing 777-200 – an aircraft that was also very much liked at Heathrow for its combination of capacity and efficiency.
A combination of the Eurostar winning traffic from airlines and BA downsizing its short-haul operations at Heathrow meant that the much smaller capacity Airbus A320 series was preferred over the Boeing 757 and 767. 7 Boeing 767s were dispatched to Qantas, leaving 21 in the fleet. Continue reading “British Airways bids farewell to the Boeing 767”
Ozwald Boateng OBE is to design a new uniform collection for British Airways staff, including pilots, cabin crew, ground staff, engineers and ramp workers.
Ozwald Boateng OBE at London Heathrow (Image Credit: Neale Haynes for British Airways)
For some time, it has been expected that British Airways will introduce a new uniform. Today, Tuesday 26 September 2018, BA confirmed that the renowned designer and Savile Row tailor Oswald Boateng OBE will create a new uniform for all airline staff.
This includes pilots, cabin crew, ground staff, engineers and ramp workers. It will replace the current uniform designed by Julien Macdonald in 2004.
BA has not said exactly when the new uniform will be introduced, other than it will form a part of the airline’s centenary celebrations in 2019.
Realistically, given the number of individual items that need to be designed and the time it will take to provide these to tens of thousands of staff, it will be some time before most passengers will see it.
There are also a huge number of factors before any final design can be approved. Aside from its aesthetics, cost will be a consideration as will many practicalities. It has to be suitable for working in cold and hot climates, meet safety requirements and withstand whatever working in a cabin environment can (literally) throw at staff.
Whilst the current Julien Macdonald design has stood the test of time, it is fair to say that how it is worn does vary widely and at times it can be unflattering – particularly for male members of staff.
Oswald Boateng has a distinguished career in fashion of more than 30 years. He has designed clothes for many well known names including Will Smith and Jamie Foxx. It can be said with confidence that the final design will look very sharp, very contemporary, and probably not afraid to use colour. Continue reading “Ozwald Boateng to design new British Airways uniforms”
St. Maximilian Church and River Isar, Munich (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways is to launch a new route from London City to Munich.
The airline will fly to Munich up to three times daily from Saturday 16 February 2019. Flights will be operated with Embraer E190 aircraft.
This will be the only direct flight from London City to Munich. The BA press release specifically refers to one BA corporate client Siemens welcoming the route, which suggests they may have provided guarantees to secure the route.
BA is also due to launch a new route from London City to Rome from November. These new routes are enabled by the addition of four new Embraer aircraft and further route announcements are expected. Full details of BA’s route network at London City is available at ba.com
Here is the timetable. As BA also flies from Heathrow to Munich up to 7 times daily it is of course possible to “mix and match” London departure and arrival airports, if that is convenient.
British Airways is to return to Osaka, Japan launcing a direct flight from London Heathrow Terminal 5 to Kansai International Airport from 31 March 2019.
Osaka Castle (Image Credit: Japan National Tourism Organization)
British Airways is to return to Osaka after a near 20 year absence.
BA will fly from London Heathrow Terminal 5 to Kansai International Airport four times weekly from Sunday 31 March 2019.
Flights will be operated with a three class Boeing 787-8 aircraft. The flight operates from London Heathrow on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday. It operates from Kansai International Airport on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday.
BA used to fly to Osaka via Tokyo Narita. However, the route was suspended in October 1998. Japan Airlines also used to fly direct from Heathrow to Osaka.
Kansai International Airport has only just restored operations to normal following more than two weeks of disruption after its facilities were flooded following Typhoon Jebi.
The route will be codeshared with Japan Airlines which, along with Finnair and Iberia, operates a joint-business with BA between Europe and Japan. It will also be possible to combine direct flights between Heathrow and Osaka with indirect flights via Helsinki on Finnair and Tokyo Haneda on Japan Airlines.
BA has also prepared a short PDF summary of the new route.
An update on the progress of the refurbishment of British Airways Boeing 777 fleet at Gatwick and the routes on which refurbished aircraft are expected to operate.
BA World Traveller cabin on LGW based Boeing 777 aircraft (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways is now more than a third of its way through the refurbishment of its fleet of Boeing 777-200 aircraft at London Gatwick.
The main reason for the refurbishment is to increase the number of seats in the World Traveller economy cabin from 9 to 10 a row.
At the moment three class Boeing 777-200 are being refurbishment. For these aircraft, BA has also installed a new World Traveller Plus premium economy seat and increased the number of seats in this cabin. It has decreased the number of Club World business class seats. The in-flight entertainment system has also been upgraded. Four class Boeing 777-200 aircraft will also be refurbished, but the overall change in seating configuration is much more modest.
As at November 2018, six Boeing 777-200 aircraft, registrations G-VIIO, G-VIIP, G-VIIR, G-VIIT, G-VIIU and G-VIIX have been refurbished. Each refurbishment takes around four to six weeks.
Refurbished British Airways Boeing 777 World Traveller Cabin (Image Credit: British Airways)
The initial plan was that up to 25 Boeing 777s will be subject to “densification”. Given, from anecdotal evidence, there appears to be no adverse customer reaction, it is highly likely that this will be extended to many more aircraft. Heathrow based Boeing 777s are expected to be refurbished in 2019.
Seat maps for 3 class Boeing 777 aircraft
If you are flying on a non-refurbished 9 abreast 3 class Boeing 777 you should see the following seat map (pictured left below) for your flight in the Manage My Booking tool:
Club World – Rows 1 – 11 (48 seats)
World Traveller Plus – Rows 12 – 14 (24 seats)
World Traveller – Rows 16 – 40 (3-3-3 configuration)
If you are flying on a refurbished 10 abreast 3 class Boeing 777 you should see the following seat map (pictured right below) for your flight in the Manage My Booking tool:
Club World – Rows 1 – 4 (32 seats)
World Traveller Plus – Rows 10 – 16 (52 seats)
World Traveller – Rows 20 – 46 (3-4-3 configuration)
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.
