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International Airlines Group is holding its annual Capital Markets today, Friday 7 November 2014.
Whilst the presentations are very much aimed at the investor community (This is the full slide deck – all 144 slides!.) there are some useful updates for passengers.
Here are some small items of news we’ve gleaned so far, principally concerning London Heathrow
As expected, BA will move out of Terminal 1 in 2015 and consolidate its operations in Terminals 3 and 5.
Work will also be underway to improve the experience for connecting passengers at Terminal 3.
All departures from Terminal 3 are now from boarding gates with coaching from remote stands eliminated.
Automatic check-in is to be introduced for domestic flights (this was trialled on some short haul routes some time ago).
Self baggage tagging at check-in and automated boarding gates are also to be introduced.
There is likely to be limited growth in BA’s long-haul network in 2015, beyond what new routes have bed announced, namely Kuala Lumpur.
The Boeing 767 is to be retired from BA’s long-haul fleet by 2016, to be replaced by the Boeing 787. A small number of Boeing 767s will operate in a short-haul configuration until 2018. This will then leave all short haul flights operated with Airbus A319/320/321 aircraft.
BA referred to its Oneworld alliance partner Qatar Airways and a potential codeshare partner in China providing growth opportunities. However, it has to be said these have been mooted for some time.
The presentation also included a section on Avios which is the currency used by the British Airways Executive Club and Iberia Plus frequent flyer programme. It is also the name of a travel regards programme in its own right, formerly known as Airmiles. This is likely to be a growth area in the coming years with more potential airlines joining the programme, in addition to Meridiana Fly and FlyBe.
We’ll update this page further with any more points of interest from the presentations and Q&A session.
