Category: Monday Briefing

London Air Travel » Monday Briefing

Hello and welcome to our Monday Briefing for the week beginning 12 February 2018, summarising the main developments in air travel over the past week, and a look the week ahead.

London City Airport Closed

London City Airport is advising that, as at 00:00 GMT Monday 12 February, it is closed following the discovery of World War Two ordnance in King George V Dock which has resulted in the set up of an exclusion zone.

Lufthansa’s New Livery

Lufthansa officially unveiled its news livery last week.

Of course, its carefully choreographed tour of airports in Germany was upstaged by a leak of the new livery online. In comes a new shade of blue, a new corporate typeface and livery. The yellow has been removed from the tailfin and will be toned down across the airline.

At the moment, there is just one Boeing 747-8 (with flew to New York JFK on Friday) and Airbus A321 in the new livery.

Staff uniforms will be updated in April 2018. Frankfurt and Munich airports will be updated by December 2019. In-flight tableware and amenities will be updated between August 2018 and 2020. The actual rebranding of aircraft liveries will not be fully complete until March 2025.

The introduction of the new livery will be supported by a new brand advertising campaign. There’s more to explore on a dedicated Lufthansa microsite.

BA Magic

As it is Valentines Day this week, BA has released another BA Magic video

The release of a video is not surprising but what is noteworthy is ever more ambitious production values that move closer towards broadcast standards.

Singapore Airlines Documentary

Channel 4 (UK) takes a look at the design of Singapore Airlines’ latest first class cabin in “The World’s Most Luxurious Airline” which premiers tonight at 21:00.

The documentary is produced by Lion TV.

Norwegian launches Buenos Aires

Norwegian will launch its new route from London Gatwick to Buenos Aires on Wednesday 14 February, its first route from London to Latin America.

It is also due to launch Austin three times weekly from Tuesday 27 March 2018 and Chicago O’Hare four times weekly from Sunday 25 March 2018.

Norwegian’s latest traffic figures show it has little difficulty filling its planes. However, its results for the quarter to 31 December 2017 will be released on Friday 16 February 2018 and will show how this translates to profitability.

Air Canada Winter Olympics Video

Air Canada has released a video to mark the participation of Canada’s athletes in the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. Narrated by Ryan Reynolds.

It takes a nation very at ease with itself to present to the world with both self-confidence and humility. Of course, there was a country that did that six and half years ago. Then B****t happened…

IAG and Virgin Atlantic trade barbs over London Heathrow

International Airlines Group’s CEO Willie Walsh fired another salvo in the direction of Heathrow airport last week.

IAG complained about the cost of capital expenditure at Heathrow and argued that third parties should be allowed to design, build and run terminals at Heathrow.

Virgin Atlantic, never one to let BA and its parent have the last word, also issued a press release complaining about BA’s dominance at Heathrow, citing that more than 50 short-haul routes and many long-haul routes are operated exclusively BA this summer.

This is, to be generous, at bit disingenuous.

Many of these short-haul routes are summer seasonal flights which operate around twice a week and open up connectivity between many European destinations and the North Atlantic.

Virgin Atlantic also had the opportunity to operate remedy slots made available as a consequence of BA’s merger with bmi. However, Virgin decided to end its Little Red at Heathrow.

Many long-haul routes operated exclusively by BA are ones that Virgin suspended (Accra and Cape Town). It can also hardly be claimed that the UK economy would be better off without direct links to many “thin” destinations like San Jose or Santiago. Virgin is also 49% owned by Delta Air Lines which has dominant positions at many US airports including Atlanta.

Heathrow Competition

Heathrow Airport is offering members of its “Rewards” loyalty programme the opportunity to win a Plaza Premium lounge pass for 2 for a year.

You can enter via your Heathrow Rewards account. Plaza Premium has built up a very credible portfolio of departures and arrivals lounges at London Heathrow, so this is worth taking the time to enter.

Also published in the last week:

BA Airbus A380 flights from London Heathrow in 2018

The status of the integration of Aer Lingus into IAG.

Also of note this week:

Which are the world’s worst airports? (The Economist)

Here are the latest editions of the Monday Briefing (including this week):

• Monday Briefing – 23 April 2018
• Monday Briefing – 16 April 2018
• Monday Briefing – 9 April 2018
• Monday Briefing – 2 April 2018
• Monday Briefing – 26 March 2018
• Monday Briefing – 19 March 2018
• Monday Briefing – 12 March 2018
• Monday Briefing – 5 March 2018
• Monday Briefing – 26 February 2018
• Monday Briefing – 19 February 2018

Our Monday Briefing is published every Monday at 06:00 GMT. If you have any comments, suggestions or tips then please drop us a line at mail [@] londonairtravel.com

London Air Travel » Monday Briefing

Hello and welcome to our Monday Briefing for the week beginning 5 February 2018, summarising the main developments in air travel over the past week, and a look the week ahead.

Expected disruption due to forecast snow and ice

First of all, not a good start to the week as many flights have been cancelled on Monday morning in anticipation of snow and ice.

At the time of writing BA has cancelled approximately 30 short-haul flights throughout the morning and early afternoon from London Heathrow. As usual, UK domestic flights have borne the brunt of cancellations.

The situation may well change throughout the morning as the impact of the weather is known. You can check live flight information on the websites of Gatwick, Heathrow and London City.

BA passengers can check the status of your booking with the “Manage My Booking” tool as well live arrivals and departures information and flight operations news on ba.com
Continue reading “Monday Briefing – 5 February 2018”

London Air Travel » Monday Briefing

Hello and welcome to our Monday Briefing for the week beginning 29 January 2018, summarising the main developments in air travel over the past week, and a look the week ahead.

BA sale ends Tuesday 30 January 2018

First, a quick reminder that BA’s New Year sale ends at midnight (GMT) on Tuesday 30 January 2018.

Flights are on sale across all travel classes. You can find the lowest price fares using the Low Fare Finder on ba.com

It’s also worth noting that it is possible to freeze bookings for 72 hours on ba.com if you’re still waiting to firm up future travel plans.

Alex Cruz interviewed by Mail on Sunday

BA CEO Alex Cruz gave a rare press interview to the Mail on Sunday.

In truth, there is little beyond what has been announced previously. As BA is part of a publicly owned group it is bound by City rules which mean significant announcements must be announced to all shareholders. Nevertheless, it is worth a read.

BA adds new Club World catering to more routes

British Airways is to extend its new Club World business class catering to an additional 10 routes from Thursday 1 February 2018.These are Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, New York Newark, Philadelphia, Washington Dulles, Montreal, Toronto, Dubai and Hong Kong.

Currently, the new catering is only available on London Heathrow – New York JFK. BA claims that new catering will be available on all long-haul routes (of which there are 70 at London Heathrow alone) by the end of the year.

Continue reading “Monday Briefing – 29 January 2018”

London Air Travel » Monday Briefing

Hello and welcome to our Monday Briefing for the week beginning 22 January 2018, summarising the main developments in air travel over the past week, and a look the week ahead.

Emirates’ Airbus A380 Order: Will IAG follow suit for BA?

After a protracted and very public stand-off between Airbus and Emirates over an order for more Airbus A380s which included threats by Airbus to end production of the A380 altogether, one side finally blinked last week.

Airbus and Emirates have signed a Memorandum Of Understanding for Emirates to acquire a further 20 aircraft and options to acquire a further 16 aircraft.

Emirates currently has some 101 Airbus A380s in service, with a further 41 to be delivered before last week’s order. Some of the latest order will be used as replacements for existing A380 aircraft. (Emirates)

Following this announcement, someone has been briefing Bloomberg off the record that BA is interested in buying more Airbus A380s.

The headline in the Bloomberg article is wrong as this decision can only be made by its parent company, IAG. Willie Walsh, CEO of IAG, has long expressed an interest in buying more A380s to add to the 12 in BA’s fleet and has even mooted the possibility of A380s for Aer Lingus and Iberia (presumably on a seasonal basis).

However, Willie Walsh has insisted that the purchase price of new aircraft is too expensive. Expressions of interest in leasing second-hand A380s have not yet come to anything. There is clearly a case in adding more A380s to BA’s fleet. It’s clearly working well on many routes and given BA can send up to 3 Boeing 747s a day to Cape Town in the winter, there’s scope to add more A380 routes.

Airlines and aircraft manufacturers speak in private all the time and no-one gives comments to the press, either on or off the record, without reason, so there is probably something behind this.

Continue reading “Monday Briefing: 22 January 2018”

London Air Travel » Monday Briefing

Hello and welcome to our Monday Briefing for the week beginning 15 January 2018, summarising the main developments in air travel over the past week, and a look the week ahead.

BA Upgrades World Traveller Catering (again)

BA announced a series of changes its catering in World Traveller economy from Wednesday 17 January 2018.

More details here. This was heralded as a major upgrade. In truth, it was largely a reinstatement of items that had previously been cut. Indeed, some items have been cut, added back, cut and now added back again.

It’s hard not wonder how much management time is consumed by constantly discussing whether a packet of pretzels should be offered with a passenger’s first drink, reviewing budgets and renegotiating with suppliers, as well as the complex logistics of making any changes to its catering operation at more than 70 airports around the world.

That said, this does suggest that BA has realised there are limits on how far it can, to use its own words, “stretch the brand”. There was talk 12 months ago of BA launching an “unbundled” long-haul fare and this latest move suggests this may be put on the back burner for now.

Continue reading “Monday Briefing – 15 January 2018”

London Air Travel » Monday Briefing

Hello and welcome to our first Monday Briefing of 2018 summarising the main developments in air travel over the past week, and a look the week ahead.

US East Coast Weather

It has been utterly terrible few days on the East Coast of the United States with New York JFK bearing the brunt of delays and cancellations due to severe weather.

Both New York JFK and La Guardia airports were temporarily closed due to the severity of snow and ice. At New York JFK there have been very substantial delays to arrivals and departures due to frozen ground equipment and a lack of gates. (New York Times) Delta has cancelled in excess of 1,000 flights over the past week due to severe weather.

To top it all, on Sunday afternoon Eastern Time, a water main break at New York JFK Terminal 4 (home of Delta and Virgin Atlantic) caused the suspension of international flight arrivals (ABC7 New York) .

For the latest official updates on New York JFK see the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Continue reading “Monday Briefing: 8 January 2018”

London Air Travel » Monday Briefing

Hello and welcome to our weekly Monday Briefing for the week beginning 18 December 2017.  This is our last briefing of 2017 and will return on Monday 8 January 2018.

Atlanta airport suffers a major power outage

Atlanta airport suffered a major power outage at approximately 13:00 Eastern Time on Sunday afternoon.

At the time of writing the Federal Aviation Authority has imposed a ground stop on all passenger flights. Delta Air Lines has advised that it has cancelled in excess of 450 flights. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has the latest news.

Two Delta and one British Airways flight from London Heathrow to Atlanta on Sunday were diverted. Flight DL285 diverted to Cincinnati. Flight DL31 diverted to New York JFK. BA227 diverted to Washington Dulles.

In other Delta news in a very busy week for the airline, the airline held its annual Investor Day last week. The slide deck is a mercifully short 56 slides. There are no specific London Heathrow announcements.

Delta has also opened a new Sky Club at Terminal C of New York LaGuardia airport and an order of 100 Airbus A321neo aircraft for US domestic operations. Delta will also say adieu to the Boeing 747 this week.
Continue reading “Monday Briefing: 18 December 2017”

London Air Travel » Monday Briefing

Hello and welcome to our weekly Monday Briefing for the week beginning 11 December 2017.

It was not a good day at London Heathrow yesterday.

It is of course something of a fixture in the British Christmas calendar that there will be at least one “Christmas Travel Chaos” story somewhere on the transport network. Heathrow has long had plenty of form in this regard. The airport has got better in recent years in being proactive at requiring airlines to reduce their schedules in advance. However, it seems to have been caught by surprise by Sunday’s snow. BA’s schedules took the brunt of the cancellations with a very high number of short-haul cancellations and delays and an unusually high number of long-haul cancellations. Cancellations have continued into Monday morning.

BA has been keen to emphasise improving operational performance at London Heathrow and the use of digital tools to assist passengers during disruption. However, yesterday is something that clearly requires attention from its Chief Operating Officer Klaus Goersch.

If you have experienced disruption you can submit a claim for consequential expenses at ba.com

The UK was not alone in experiencing disruption. Delta experienced extensive disruption in Atlanta due to severe weather.
Continue reading “Monday Briefing: 11 December 2017”

London Air Travel » Monday Briefing

Hello and welcome to our weekly aviation business briefing for the week beginning 4 December 2017.

London Gatwick: The hub without hubbub.

IAG confirmed that it is to acquire Monarch’s portfolio of slots at London Gatwick from the start of the summer 2018 season.

This is equivalent to approximately 20 daily slot pairs, and a very significant expansion. IAG has long had an ambition to expand at Gatwick. It bid for Flybe’s slots two years ago, but lost out to easyJet.

IAG has previously indicated that all of its group airlines would bid for Monarch’s slots. Currently, Aer Lingus, BA, Iberia and Vueling have a presence at the airport. In the case of Aer Lingus and Iberia this is very limited and unlikely to expand further. BA is likely to be the biggest beneficiary. However, it does not appear to have much by way of spare aircraft. London Heathrow – Doha and London Gatwick – New York JFK are regularly cancelled due to aircraft issues.

Whatever happens it is highly unlikely BA will return to its dual London hub “the hub without the hubbub” of the 1990s.

On a related note, WizzAir (often cited as a potential takeover target for IAG) announced it is to acquire a number of Monarch slots at Luton. (WizzAir Investor Relations)
Continue reading “Monday Briefing: 4 December 2017”

London Air Travel » Monday Briefing

BA – The World’s Favourite Headline

Pity the pour soul at BA’s Waterside Headquarters who drafted the now widely publicised internal memo on planned changes to its boarding procedures that its frequent flyers had been pleading for in focus groups for years.

Presumably he or she was under the blissful ignorance that it would become one of the most read (and poorly drafted) stories on BBC News Online last week.

Heathrow’s Christmas TV ad

What more can be said about this year’s Christmas TV ad from Heathrow Airport?

A perfect blend of concept, technical excellence and emotional appeal. Perhaps the greatest signficance is simply how much the airport’s reputation has improved that it can run such an ad in the first place. It was seven years ago this Christmas that a hapless PR officer appeared before TV cameras claiming everything at the airport was operating normally, just as the airport seized up for days due to snow. The airport was subsequently castigated for its lack of preparedness and care for passengers.

We’ll be keeping on eye on this year’s Christmas videos from airlines and airports worldwide.
Continue reading “Monday Briefing: 27 November 2017”