British Airways Archives – Page 65 of 72

BA returns to Kuala Lumpur from 27 May 2015

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British Airways Boeing 777 at London Heathrow (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways has today, 17 September 2014, announced it is to return to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur from 27 May 2015.

BA will operate a daily flight from London Heathrow Terminal 5, initially with a four class Boeing 777. This may change to Boeing 787).

Here is the initial timetable:

Flight BA33 Depart London Heathrow 20:15 – Arrive Kuala Lumpur 16:00
Flight BA34 Depart Kuala Lumpur 23:05 – Arrive London Heathrow 05:25

The flight timings work well for the business traveller. BA and others have long argued that expansion at Heathrow will open up routes to the East, so it is good to evidence of this in action.

It’s noteworthy that BA has allocated a peak early arrival slot to this route, traditionally reserved for long-standing “trunk” routes such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Johannesburg, so it’s clearly expected to an important route.

BA previously flew to Kuala Lumpur until March 2001, when flights were suspended as part of wide-ranging review of BA’s route network. BA’s predecessor airlines first served Malaysia in 1933.

Kuala Lumpur by BOAC (Image Credit: British Airways)

Kuala Lumpur is of course currently served twice daily by fellow Oneworld alliance partner Malaysian Airlines which has had some well documented problems of late and is currently undergoing a restructuring. There is no news yet on whether Malaysian Airlinesis to reduce capacity from London Heathrow. As BA and Malaysian do not have anti-trust immunity they would be prohibited from discussing/co-ordinating capacity and scheduling decisions on this route.

There is also no news yet on any codeshares with Malaysian Airlines on regional routes from Malaysia which we expect will be important to sustain the route.

Flights are now on sale on ba.com

At Kuala Lumpur airport, eligible passengers will have access to the Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounge. BA flights will depart from Satellite Terminal A.

Finally, for various reasons, new routes to Asia tend to take a while to grow passenger traffic and BA has in the past offered special fares for new route launches such as Chengdu and Seoul, so it’s worth keeping an eye out for any special fares when launch date approaches.

Update May 2015: Contrary to our suggestions above, forward bookings have been described by IAG CEO Willie Walsh as being very strong, so we do not expect any downgrading of capacity by BA on this route.

San Francisco is the next route to be served by BA’s Airbus A380

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A British Airways Airbus A380 aircraft takes off at London Heathrow airport. — British Airways Airbus A380 at take off, London Heathrow (Image Credit: Heathrow)

British Airways has confirmed that its next new route for the Airbus A380 will be San Francisco.

This is the sixth BA destination to be served by the A380.

From April 2015, the A380 will operate on one of BA’s twice daily flights between London Heathrow and San Francisco, five days a week.

The A380 will operate as BA287 & BA286 to/from San Francisco to London on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The same flight on Tuesdays and Wednesdays will continue to be operated by a Boeing 747, as will the second daily service, BA 285 & BA284.

BA currently operates the A380 on selected flights between London Heathrow and Hong Kong, Johannesburg, and Los Angeles. The A380 is also due to fly to Washington from 2 October and Singapore from Thursday 28 October.

Update January 2018:

BA currently flies the Airbus A380 from London Heathrow to San Francisco on one its daily flights (BA286 & BA287) on Monday, Thursday Saturday until Saturday 24 March 2018. The Airbus A380 operates daily from Sunday 25 March 2018 to Saturday 27 March 2018.

BA launches London City – Hamburg from 27 October 2014

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British Airways’ expansion at London City airport continues with the launch of a twice daily service, excluding weekends, from the airport to Hamburg in Germany from 27 October 2014.

The route will be operated for BA by its Scandinavian franchise partner SUN-AIR using a single cabin (so no Club Europe business class) Dornier 328 Turboprop commuter aircraft.

Here is the planned timetable:

Continue reading “BA launches London City – Hamburg from 27 October 2014”

BA To Upgrade 18 Boeing 747-400 Aircraft

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BA In Flight Entertainment - Boeing 747 World Traveller — BA In Flight Entertainment – Boeing 747 World Traveller (Image Credit: British Airways)

In our look at BA’s retirement plan for the Boeing 747-400 we remarked that many aircraft are beginning to show their age internally and are in need of refurbishment.

The good news is BA has today confirmed a refurbishment plan for its Boeing 747 fleet. But for only 18 out of 46 aircraft.

The refurbishment will include the installation of a new Panasonic eX3 (not currently used by the airline) in flight entertainment system which will offer substantially more choice and better reliability than the Rockwell Collins system currently used on the 747, with up to 130 films and 400 TV programmes on a larger TV screen.

The 18 747s will also have “refreshed” interiors which will include new carpets, curtains and seat foam and covers for World Traveller economy and World Traveller Plus premium economy cabins.

BA’s Business Class Dilemma: How to introduce direct aisle access?

British Airways launched fully flat beds in long-haul business class. But its cabins are falling behind the competition.

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British Airways Club World Cabin, 2006 (Image Credit: British Airways)

It was some fifteen years ago in May 1999 that British Airways shook up the market for long-haul business class travel with the launch of its fully flat Club World “flying bed”.

Designed by Tangerine, it was arguably the singlest biggest innovation since the original introduction of business class (which Qantas claims credit for.)

BA’s long farewell to the Boeing 747-400 jumbo

BA is retiring the Boeing 747-400. However, it will still have a presence at London Heathrow for many years to come.

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British Airways Boeing 747 Heathrow (Image Credit: Heathrow)

On 11 August 2014, flight BA78 arrived at London Heathrow from Accra in Ghana. For the aircraft operating the route, a Boeing 747-400 (registration G-BNLI), this was its last passenger flight after more than 24 years’ service at the airline.

G-BNLI is the 11th 747 to be withdrawn from service at BA. This marks a continuation of a process that started some five years ago.

The 747s were initially withdrawn in response to the financial crisis, but more recently to be replaced by more efficient Boeing 777-300s and Airbus A380s which have seen the BA 747 removed from routes such as London Heathrow to Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Sydney.

Continue reading “BA’s long farewell to the Boeing 747-400 jumbo”

BA Tactical Winter 2014/2015 Long Haul Cancellations

British Airways is to make tactical cancellations to long-haul schedules at Gatwick and Heathrow during the Winter 2014/2015 season.

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British Airways Tailfin (Image Credit: Nick Morrish/British Airways)

British Airways parent company, International Airlines Group, released its half year results last Friday.

The results were, overall, very positive. All three IAG airlines (BA, Iberia, and Vueling) reported increased profits year on year.

However, IAG, did sound a note of caution. The group will moderate planned capacity growth for the rest of the year with BA and Iberia in particular shaving off a couple of per cent of their growth.

In the case of BA, this will not be done by way of route suspensions or cancellations, but by tactical cancellations of flights during quiet periods.

Ebola: BA suspends Freetown and Monrovia

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British Airways Logo (Image Credit: British Airways)

As has been widely reported in the UK media, British Airways has suspended its flights from London Heathrow to Freetown and Monrovia from Wednesday 6 August until Sunday 31 August 2014 at the earliest, following an outbreak on Ebola in the region.

BA has provided details of rebooking and cancellation options for affected passengers.

Passengers are entitled to a full refund or to rebook their flights at a later date.

Alternatively, passengers can travel between London Heathrow and alternative BA destinations in Africa. These are Lagos and Abuja in Nigeria, Accra in Ghana and Nairobi in Kenya. Any additional consequential costs must be met by passengers.

Update: Flights are now cancelled until 31 March 2015. BA is no longer allowing reroutings to Lagos, Abuja, nor Nairobi. Passengers booked to travel up to 31 December 2014 also have the option of an alternative routing to Freetown or Monrovia via Brussels on SN Brussels airlines.

Update: This route has since been suspended permanently

BA moves to São Paulo Guarulhos Terminal 3 on Thursday 7 August 2014

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Sao Paulo, Brazil (Image Credit: London Air Travel)

British Airways will move its daily flights from London Heathrow to São Paulo Guarulhos airport from Terminal 1 to the new Guarulhos Terminal 3 from Thursday 7 August 2014.

BA currently flies daily to São Paulo and will increase its flights to ten weekly from early September.

BA will share the terminal with its IAG sibling Iberia. Eligible passengers will be able to use a third party VIP lounge until a dedicated Oneworld lounge opens.

On a related note, we are expecting BA to announce a codeshare relationship with its relatively new alliance partner TAM airlines, but nothing has been forthcoming.

London Heathrow – Tripoli Cancelled Indefinitely

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British Airways Logo (Image Credit: British Airways)

The Foreign Office is currently advising against all travel to Libya and encourages Britons in the country to leave.

This is in response to a high threat to foreign nationals from terrorist incidents such as kidnappings. BBC News is currently reporting on a fire at a fuel storage facility in Tripoli.

In response to the Foreign Office advice, British Airways has cancelled its daily flight to Tripoli indefinitely.

Passengers booked to travel to Tripoli are offered a refund or travel to alternative gateway within 300 mile radius of Tripoli, or Cairo.