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 launches London Heathrow – Innsbruck from Sunday 4 December 2016

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Innsbruck
Innsbruck (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways is to launch a new route from London Heathrow to Innsbruck Austria from Sunday 4 December 2016.

The airline will fly to Inssbruck all year round. Flights will operate four times weekly (Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays) for the winter season and twice weekly for the summer season (Wednesdays and Sundays).

Flights will be operate from London Heathrow Terminal 5 using an Airbus A320 aircraft in a two class, Club Europe business class and EuroTraveller economy class configuration.

BA also flies to Innsbruck from London Gatwick and it will be possible to “mix and match” flights if convenient.

Passengers travelling with ski equipment should be mindful that the “basic” EuroTraveller economy fare does not include any checked baggage allowance and the “plus” EuroTraveller economy fare should be selected for checked baggage.

Flights are on sale now at ba.com

BA launches London Heathrow – Santiago, Chile from 3 January 2017

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British Airways Boeing 787-9 First Class (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways Boeing 787-9 First Class (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways is to launch a new direct route from London Heathrow to Santiago, Chile from Tuesday 3 January 2017.

The airline will fly to Santiago (Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport) four times a week from London Heathrow Terminal 5 using its Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner, offering four classes of travel (First Class, Club World business class, World Traveller Plus premium economy, and World Traveller economy).

This route will be the longest direct flight on BA’s network with a flight time of 14 hours and 40 minutes.

It will also be BA’s fifth direct destination in Latin America after Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Buenos Aires and Lima.

BA previously flew to Santiago between 1993 and 1999, initially via a stop in Sao Paulo and then Buenos Aires.

Santiago is a hub of BA’s Oneworld alliance partner LATAM.  The two airlines have recently applied to operate a joint-venture on flights between Europe and Latin America.  We expect that onward connections on LATAM flights from Santiago may become available in due course.

It will also be possible to “mix and match” direct flights between London Heathrow and Santiago and daily indirect flights via Madrid on Iberia which can be booked as a codeshare with BA.

Flights are on sale now at ba.com   BA has also produced a summary PDF document for the new route launch.

London Heathrow – Santiago

Flight BA251 Depart London Heathrow 22:00 – Arrive Santiago 09:45 (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday)

Flight BA250 Depart Santiago 17:30 – Arrive London Heathrow 10:50 (Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday)

(Schedule is indicative and may vary by season.)

BA to fly non-stop to Doha & Muscat from Sunday 30 October 2016

London Air Travel » British Airways » Page 57

British Airways Boeing 787-9 First Class (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways Boeing 787-9 First Class (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways is to introduce direct non-stop flights from London Heathrow to Doha in Qatar and Muscat in Oman from Sunday 30 October 2016.

BA has long served both Doha and Muscat. However, a one hour stop-over in Bahrain for Doha and Abu Dhabi for Muscat has been required, adding approximately two hours each way to the journey time.

BA will now fly daily direct to Doha with a four class Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner. BA will fly five times a week to Muscat with a four class Boeing 777-200 aircraft. Flights are on sale now at ba.com.

Why has BA introduced this change?

Well, it now has more departure and arrival slots at London Heathrow. The flight times are more convenient for passengers. Airlines also prefer not to use long-haul aircraft for short flights for operational reasons.

The one significant change is that flights from London Heathrow to Doha will now arrive in Doha in the morning rather than late at night.

BA codeshares with Qatar Airways, a shareholder in BA’s parent company International Airlines Group, on a number of routes from Doha to Dar es Salaam, Peshawar, Karachi, Entebbe, Dhaka, Islamabad and Lahore. Passengers with existing bookings will need to review their itineraries to see if connections are valid or if accommodation is required in Doha.

It is also worth noting that BA does offer flights between Bahrain and Doha and between Abu Dhabi and Muscat for sale and these will clearly not be available from Sunday 30 October.

Flight schedules to Bahrain and Abu Dhabi have also been adjusted to account for the changes to these routes. All flights will also continue to operate from London Heathrow Terminal 5.
Continue reading “BA to fly non-stop to Doha & Muscat from Sunday 30 October 2016”

BA to roll out WiFi across its long-haul fleet

British Airways is to install high speed WiFi across the majority of its Airbus A380 and Boeing 747, 777 and 787 fleet of aircraft from 2017.

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British Airways Boeing 747 G-BYGC featuring a radome encasing two satellite antenna for internet access (Image Credit: Nick Morrish/British Airways)
British Airways Boeing 747 G-BYGC featuring a radome encasing two satellite antenna for internet access (Image Credit: Nick Morrish/British Airways)

British Airways has today announced that it is to install high speed in flight WiFi across its fleet of long-haul aircraft.

The system will be a satellite based GoGo 2ku WiFi network.

The installation will begin in early 2017.  BA’s parent company, International Airlines Group, has previously indicated that WiFi will be fitted to the majority of its long-haul fleet by 2019.

WiFi will be fitted on all Boeing 777, Boeing 787 and Airbus A380 aircraft.  18 of BA’s fleet of approximately 40 Boeing 747s will also be fitted with WiFi.

We surmise that these are the 18 aircraft which are mid-way through a refurbishment programme to upgrade aircraft interiors and in flight entertainment systems.  A Boeing 747 aircraft will also be the first to be fitted with the new WiFi system.

Continue reading “BA to roll out WiFi across its long-haul fleet”

Vueling’s Alex Cruz replaces Keith Williams as CEO of BA

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Alex Cruz, Chief Executive & Chairman of British Airways
Alex Cruz, Chief Executive & Chairman of British Airways (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways gains a new Chief Executive Officer and Chairman this week as its current CEO Keith Williams, who has occupied the role since January 2011, has retired.

Keith will be replaced by Alex Cruz. Alex was previously CEO of Vueling, the Low Cost Carrier with its principal hub in Barcelona and smaller hubs around mainline Europe.

Alex’s appointment is an internal move as both British Airways and Vueling are (along with Aer Lingus and Iberia) part of International Airlines Group (“IAG”). The two airlines do co-operate with codeshares on each other’s short-haul flights.

What are we to make of this move and what does it mean for the future of BA?

Continue reading “Vueling’s Alex Cruz replaces Keith Williams as CEO of BA”

BA launches seasonal London City – Alicante route

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BA CityFlyer Embraer at London City Airport

British Airways adds to its growing portfolio of summer seasonal routes with the launch of a new summer seasonal route from London City to Alicante.

The route will operate for some ten weeks from Monday 27 June 2016 to Monday 5 September 2016.

The route will be flown four times weekly on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesdays and Fridays. Flights will be operated using an Embraer E-190 aircraft in a two class, Club Europe business class and EuroTraveller economy class configuration. Flights can also be “mixed and matched” with BA’s daily services to Alicante from London Gatwick.

Flights are on sale now at ba.com.
Continue reading “BA launches seasonal London City – Alicante route”

Brussels Airport Closure: BA launch temporary Heathrow – Liege service

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BA Airbus A319 aircraft at London Heathrow (Image Credit: British Airways)
BA Airbus A319 aircraft at London Heathrow (Image Credit: British Airways)

Following the closure of Brussels Airport, British Airways has suspended all of its London Heathrow – Brussels services until Tuesday 29 March 2016. In addition, flight BA389 from Brussels to London Heathrow on Wednesday 30 March is cancelled.

Update Sunday 3 April: All BA flight to and from Brussels have been cancelled through to Thursday 7 April 2016.

The airline is running an alternative service to Liege Airport which is located approximately 90km from Brussels.

Flights will operate up to Thursday 7 April 2016 at the earliest.

Update Sunday 3 April: Flights to Liege will continue until Thursday 7 April 2016 at the earliest.

Flight BA406 Depart London Heathrow 08:55 – Arrive Liege 11:05
Flight BA407 Depart Liege 11:55 – Arrive London Heathrow 12:15

Flight BA410 Depart London Heathrow 13:55 – Arrive Liege 16:10 (28 & 29 March only)
Flight BA411 Depart Liege 17:00 – Arrive London Heathrow 17:15 (28 & 29 March only)

Flight BA408 Depart London Heathrow 15:15 – Arrive Liege 17:30
Flight BA409 Depart Liege 18:15 – Arrive London Heathrow 18:30

Note that if you are booked onto a flight to/from Brussels which has been cancelled you will not be automatically accommodated on these flights to/from Liege. You need to contact BA or your travel agent to be reboooked.

BA is also offering passengers booked to fly to Brussels up to Sunday 3 April 2016 to rebook onto alternative services to Brussels up to Sunday 17 April or to alternative airports such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Paris, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf.

It should also be noted that BA will not meet any incidental expenses such as ground transportation as a consequence of the change in departure / arrival airport.

British Airways Launches Seasonal Gatwick – Cape Town

British Airways is operating a winter seasonal route from London Gatwick to Cape Town, to complement existing flights from Heathrow.

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British Airways Boeing 777 at London Gatwick
British Airways Boeing 777 at London Gatwick

British Airways is to launch a winter seasonal service from London Gatwick to Cape Town in South Africa from Thursday 24 November 2016.

Flights will operate three times a week and will complement the airline’s existing twice daily service from London Heathrow. It will also compete directly against Thomas Cook’s new service to Cape Town from London Gatwick which runs from 15 December 2016 to the weekend of Saturday 25/Sunday 26 March 2017.   The seasonal service is currently scheduled to return from mid November 2017 to late March 2018.  However, this may change depending on the commercial performance of the route.

BA flights will be operated using a three class Boeing 777 aircraft which will offer Club World business class, World Traveller Plus premium economy and World Traveller economy.

This new route also adds to a growing portfolio of long-haul routes from London Gatwick which includes Norwegian’s long-haul flights to the USA and Cathay Pacific’s new service to Hong Kong from 2 September 2016.

BA itself is launching flights from London Gatwick to Costa Rica on 27 April 2016 and Peru on 4 May 2016. BA also returns to New York JFK from London Gatwick on 1 May.

Flights are on sale now at ba.com

London Gatwick – Cape Town (Winter 2016)

Flight BA2065 Depart London Gatwick 18:00 – Arrive Cape Town 07:50 (Mon, Thurs, Sat)
Flight BA2064 Depart Cape Town 19:10 – Arrive London Gatwick 05:05 (Tue, Fri, Sun)

BA to suspend London Heathrow – Baku from Friday 29 April 2016

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British Airways Logo (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways Logo (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways is to suspend its service from London Heathrow to Baku (Azerbaijan) from Friday 29 April 2016.

The airline has cited unsatisfactory commercial performance as the reason for the cancellation.

Passengers affected by the cancellation have the option of rebooking on an alternative BA flight before Friday 29 April 2016 or a full refund.

Will British Airways rebook me on to another airline between London Heathrow and Baku?

BA has now agreed rebooking options with a number of airlines which include Azerbaijan Airlines from London Heathrow, Lufthansa via Frankfurt, Air Baltic via Riga, Turkish Airlines via Istanbul and Ukraine International Airlines via Kyiv Boryspil International. Note that some options are not available for tickets purchased using the Avios frequent flyer currency.

Affected passengers should contact their travel agent, or if your booking was made directly with BA, you can access your booking via the Manage My Booking on the BA website.

The London Heathrow – Baku route was one which has inherited by British Airways following its merger with bmi in 2012. It joins a long list of former bmi London Heathrow routes which have been suspended by BA and include Almaty, Damascus, Addis Ababa, Dammam, Bishkek, Khartoum, Yerevan, Amristar, Casablanca, Marrakech and Tbilisi.

Azerbaijan Airlines will continue to fly between London Heathrow and Baku.

BA launches new flights to Berlin Tegel from London City & Stansted

British Airways will fly from London City to Berlin Tegel up to three times daily and operate occasional services to Stansted.

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London Stansted (Image Credit: British Airways)
London Stansted (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways is to fly to Berlin Tegel airport from London City and London Stansted airports from Sunday 19 June 2016.

Flights to Berlin from London City will operate up to 3x daily all year round. From London Stansted, flights will operate once-weekly at weekends for the summer season.

Flights will be operated using Embraer E-190 aircraft and BA will offer a two class Club Europe business class and EuroTraveller economy service.

Berlin is the fifth seasonal destination for BA at London Stansted, after it launched seasonal flights to Faro, Ibiza, Malaga and Palma de Mallorca.

The timings below are not particularly useful for anyone in the UK flying from Stansted looking to spend a weekend in Berlin. We can only surmise that the main benefit is positioning an aircraft at Stansted to operate BA’s other weekend flights from the airport.

Flights are on sale now at ba.com
Continue reading “BA launches new flights to Berlin Tegel from London City & Stansted”