BA World Traveller Cabin, Boeing 777-300 aircraft (Image Credit: British Airways)
For airlines, charging for seating selection is the ultimate revenue raising exercise.
For passengers, the certainty of knowing where on the aircraft you will be seated can be of huge value. Whilst some can live the uncertainty. Others can’t bear it.
Not only that, beyond the initial IT expense, it costs airlines nothing to offer this service. All the extra revenue from seat selection charges goes straight to the bottom line.
BA has for nearly ten years charged for seat selection, except primarily for those travelling in First or Bronze, Silver and Gold Executive Club cardholders.
It was one of a number of measures introduced when the airline was scrambling to survive the post-Lehman Brothers financial crisis. Although many balked at the idea at the time, not least charging to reserve a seat in Club World, it has survived.
KwaZulu-Natal South Africa (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways has launched a new direct route from London Heathrow to Durban.
BA will fly from London Heathrow Terminal 5 to Durban (King Shaka International Airport) three times a week from Monday 29 October 2018.
Flights will be operated with a three class Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
This is the only direct route between Europe and Durban. Emirates flies direct to Durban from Dubai. Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines also serve Durban via Johannesburg.
Although flights do not operate daily, it will be possible to connect to domestic BA services to/from Cape Town and Johannesburg on flights operated by BA’s franchise partner Comair.
This does solidify BA’s position on the London – South Africa market. BA is the sole operator on London Heathrow – Cape Town, to where BA can despatch up to three Boeing 747s a day in the winter. BA also operates up to two Airbus A380s a day on London Heathrow – Johannesburg, where South African Airways is cutting capacity.
One noteworthy difference to Cape Town and Johannesburg is that the return flight to London is a day flight rather than an overnight flight, which is obviously a matter of personal preference.
BA Boeing 787 at British Airways Maintenance Cardiff (Image Credit: British Airways)
IAG, the parent company of British Airways, provided an update yesterday, Friday 4 May, on the impact of a recent Federal Aviation Administration Directive on Boeing 787 aircraft with certain Rolls Royce engines.
This affects the ETOPS certification of the aircraft which determines how far they can fly away from the nearest diversionary airport.
At the time of writing, one Boeing 787-8 and one Boeing 787-9 aircraft has been out of service for at least a week. BA has 9 Boeing 787-8 and 17 Boeing 787-9 aircraft in service. Together, they represent about 20% of BA’s wide body long-haul fleet.
IAG CEO Willie Walsh has not hidden his dissatisfaction over the issue. Given that IAG is currently in negotiations with Airbus and Boeing over future long-haul aircraft orders, there will be even more pressure on Rolls Royce to resolve this.
London Heathrow Cancellations
Since mid-April a number of flights have been proactively cancelled on selected Boeing 787 routes from London Heathrow. This issue is going to continue until at least August of this year.
Routes that have been prone to cancellation include Baltimore, Luanda, Newark, Philadelphia, San Jose California, Tokyo Narita and Toronto Pearson.
British Airways Boeing 737 in Landor livery (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways celebrates its centenary in 2019. The airline itself will no doubt be planning a lot of events to mark the occasion.
The official date of BA’s 100th anniversary is not until 25 August 2019. However, Channel 5 is well ahead of the game as it will take a look at the history of BA in a two part series “British Airways: 100 Years in the Sky”.
The first episode airs at 21:00 on Tuesday 1 May 2018 and will be available to watch on demand at My5 after broadcast.
There’s actually not much that has been released in terms of pre-broadcast publicity, beyond “The first passengers sat in wicker chairs with no toilets.” Also, it is not known whether BA has co-operated with the production, which would influence how much archive material has been available. Researchers were looking for contributors online earlier this year, which suggests the production turnaround is quite quick.
Postscript
Having just watched the first episode, Title Role has done a very creditable job at covering a very broad subject. There’s a lot of high quality archive footage and a good range of informed contributors including journalists, social and cultural historians and former staff of BA and its predecessor airlines.
Union Hand-Roasted Coffee (Image Credit: British Airways)
If we had one complaint about BA Club World above all else, it’s not the lack of direct aisle access for all passengers, it’s the quality of the coffee.
It has always been awful.
The coffee should improve considerably from May, as BA partners with London based Union Hand-Roasted Coffee to provide coffee in First, Club World and BA’s UK lounges.
It a dedicated blend developed by Union to account for changes in taste at altitude. The coffee is a medium roast blend sourced from Peru.
BA says the new coffee should be available by the end of May 2018, which suggests it may be rolled out progressively across long-haul routes.
There won’t be any changes to equipment on board aircraft which means that BA will continue to offer only filter coffee in Club World. BA will continue to offer a choice of latte, cappuccino, filter coffee and espresso in First. There are no changes in World Traveller and World Traveller Plus, nor on short-haul flights.
The coffee stations in the UK lounges will also be revamped as part of the changes (staff with tape measures were spotted at Heathrow last month).
Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (Image Credit: British Airways)
As has widely been reported, operators of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner are required to comply with an Air Worthiness Directive issued by the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States.
The FAA Directive
The FAA Directive applies to operators of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner with certain engine models manufactured by Rolls Royce.
It limits the scope of the ETOPS (“Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standard”). ETOPS allows twin-engined aircraft like the Boeing 787 to operate between 60 and 330 minutes’ away from the nearest airport that can handle a diversion of the aircraft. This Directive may be modified subject to remedial action by Rolls Royce.
Rolls Royce issued a statement on 13 April 2018 outlining which engines are affected. This has been acknowleged by Boeing.
The requirement for additional maintenance to Rolls Royce engines has been going on for some time and has impacted a number of airlines, notably Air New Zealand, Norwegian and Virgin Atlantic. All have leased in aircraft to cover some flights. BA has also cancelled its flight to Doha for an extended period of time to release aircraft for other routes.
BA has made no official statement on the impact of this directive on the airline. As such, it is not known how many of its aircraft are affected. However, as BA currently operates the Boeing 787 Dreamliner on a number of long-range routes to Asia and Latin America, it will inevitably have an impact on the airline’s operations.
British Airways Lounge, Rome Fiumicino Airport (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways has today, Monday 16 April 2018, opened its new lounge at Terminal 3 of Rome Fiumicino airport.
The lounge is 460m2 in size with capacity for nearly 140 customers.
The lounge features a granite topped bar as its centre piece. In peak times, the bar will be staffed by a mixologist. At other times, it will operate as a self-pour bar.
Whilst there is clearly ample table seating in the lounge it’s not clear from the BA press images and release what is on offer in terms of food.
The lounge also features artwork from artist Patrick Caulfield and a number of pieces from his series of 22 screen prints from 1973 entitled “Some Poems of Jules Laforgue”.
This lounge is a radical departure from recent BA lounge developments such as London Gatwick and the “Galleries” lounges developed by both Davies & Baron and Graven. Indeed, with its relatively muted tones and clean lines, at first sight you would be forgiven for thinking this lounge belonged to SAS Scandinavian Airlines or SWISS. This lounge would certainly not look out of place on the pages of Wallpaper* magazine.
The lounge may also provide some clues to what to expect for future BA lounge developments. BA is also due to open refurbished lounges in Aberdeen and New York JFK Terminal 7. Please see here for BA’s lounge refurbishment plans for the coming years.
Your children can fly for free on BA between London Heathrow and select UK domestic short-haul this summer.
BA is once again running its summer “Kids Fly Free” promotion. Children up to the age of twelve can fly for free with at least one adult on flights between London Heathrow and Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds-Bradford and Newcastle. Unlike previous years, no destinations in mainland Europe are included in the promotion.
The promotion only applies to flights to/from London Heathrow and bookings in EuroTraveller economy. It does not apply to flights to/from London Gatwick or London City.
The offer is valid for travel from Friday 1 June 2018 to Monday 5 November 2018. with no blackout dates.
Flights must be booked by Sunday 13 May 2018, as per the attached PDF issued by BA.
It is also worth noting that children can travel for free on the Heathrow Express.
BA World Traveller Cabin, Boeing 777-300 aircraft (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways has today, Tuesday 11 April 2018, started selling “basic economy” fares on selected long-haul routes on ba.com
These fares were first announced in March of this year. A basic economy fare does not entitle a passenger to a checked luggage allowance or free seat selection at check-in. However, these can be purchased at any time after booking for a fee. It is also possible to combine basic and standard fares in the same booking.
Once on board the aircraft, all economy passengers will be entitled to the same in-flight amenities and catering service.
BA’s IAG sibling Iberia and their transatlantic joint-venture partners, American Airlines and Finnair, have also introduced basic economy on selected routes.
At the outset, it’s important to note:
1. The implementation of basic economy currently varies by point of sale
For passengers travelling from the UK and the rest of the European Union, at launch basic economy is available on the following routes:
London Heathrow to Austin, Boston, Denver, Philadelphia
London Heathrow to Delhi, Dubai, Hong Kong, Lagos, Singapore
London Gatwick to Oakland
London Gatwick to Punta Cana
Helsinki to New York
Madrid to Boston, Chicago, Dallas Fort Worth
All routes from France, Italy, The Netherlands and Malta to the United States & Canada
Update May 2018: Basic economy is now available for all flights from the UK to the United States and Canada.
For passengers travelling from the United States, basic economy is currently available on the following routes:
Boston, Dallas Fort Worth, Philadelphia and Pheonix to London Heathrow
Oakland to London Gatwick
New York to Helsinki
Boston, Chicago and Dallas Fort Worth to Madrid
Update May 2018: Basic economy is now available for all flights from the United States and Canada to London.
There are some surprising omissions, notably London to New York. Also, there are many other routes where BA competes directly against Norwegian and it has not yet launched basic economy fares. However, it is reasonable assumption that these fares will be available on many more routes in the coming months. Continue reading “BA “Basic Economy” long-haul fares now on sale on selected routes”
British Airways has confirmed it has suspended its route from London Gatwick to Oakland, California from Monday 22 October 2018.
The last flight will operate on Saturday 20 October 2018. The route launched in March 2017. Like the launch of Fort Lauderdale and New York JFK, it was a clear competitive response to the growth of Norwegian at London Gatwick. Norwegian will continue to fly to Oakland at Gatwick.
BA has not yet published any official guidance in response to the cancellation. However, if your flight is cancelled you are entitled to a full refund. Passengers are also likely to be offered the opportunity to change their flight to one of BA’s twice daily services from London Heathrow to San Francisco. Note that in this instance any consequential costs such as additional ground transportation would be at your own expense.
BA appears to be using the spare capacity arising from the suspension to make its summer seasonal route to Las Vegas year round.
Affected passengers should contact either BA or their travel agent.
Update: BA has since stated that the route will resume in Summer 2019 and the route is currently showing as scheduled to resume on Monday 1 April 2019.
Update (2): This route will now not resume in 2019.
Update (3): The last flight on this route will now operate on Saturday 13 October 2018.
