London Air Travel

BA’s Africa Franchise Suspends All Flights

The operating licence of Comair, which operates as a BA franchise, is suspended by the Civil Aviation Authority in South Africa.

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Comair Boeing 737 Aircraft (Image Credit: Comair)

The operating licence of British Airways’ franchise partner, Comair, has been suspended by the Civil Aviation Authority in South Africa (“SACAA”).

Comair was forced to cancel all flights on Saturday. The SACAA suspended Comair’s operating licence following a number of safety incidents. These included engine failures, engine malfunction and landing gear malfunctions.

Three of these incidents were described as a “Level 1” finding. This is considered an immediate risk to safety and security that must be closed immediately.

The suspension was initially described in a statement by the SACAA on Saturday as precautionary, pending a response from Comair that it had effective risk and safety management systems in place.

Loganair Relaunches London – Isle of Man Routes

Loganair is to relaunch routes from London City & Heathrow airports to the Isle of Man.

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British Airways & Loganair Tailfins (Image Credit: British Airways)

Loganair is to relaunch flights to the Isle of Man from two London airports.

Loganair will fly from London City Airport to the Isle of Man from Tuesday 19 April.

Flights will initially operate six times weekly, not on Saturdays. There will be two flights each weekday and one flight on Sunday from Tuesday 3 May.

Also from Tuesday 3 May, the airline will fly daily from London Heathrow to the Isle of Man. At Heathrow, Loganair will operate from Terminal 2.

American Airlines Moves Routes To Terminal 5

American Airlines will move a number of routes at London Heathrow to Terminal 5 for the summer 2022 season.

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American Airlines Aircraft at London Heathrow (Image Credit: Heathrow)

American Airlines will move a number of routes at London Heathrow to Terminal 5 for the summer 2022 season.

From Sunday 27 March 2022, American will move all flights to Dallas / Fort Worth, Los Angeles and Miami from Terminal 3 to 5.

American already operates all flights to New York JFK from Terminal 5.

AA flights to Boston, Charlotte, Chicago O’Hare, Raleigh – Durham, Phoenix and Philadelphia will remain at Terminal 3. Seattle is suspended due to delivery delays to Boeing 787 aircraft.

This move will initially only apply for the summer 2022 season, up to Saturday 30 October 2022.

British Airways Extends Tokyo Suspension

BA flights between London Heathrow and Tokyo Haneda are suspended until late October 2022 at the earliest.

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British Airways Coat Of Arms (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways has extended the temporary suspension of flights from London Heathrow to Tokyo Haneda until late May 2022.

BA had suspended the route for the winter season. It was due to resume on Wednesday 30 March 2022. The route will now resume from Sunday 29 May 2022 at the earliest.

Flights beyond this date have been taken off sale until Monday 31 October, which suggests the suspension will be extended further.

Update Monday 4 April: The route is now suspended until Sunday 30 October 2022.

British Airways Returns To Sydney

BA flights between London Heathrow & Sydney will operate under Singapore’s Vaccinated Travel Lane programme.

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British Airways 8 Seat Boeing 787-9 First Class Cabin (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways will return to Sydney from Sunday 27 March 2022.

This will be the first time in two years the airline has operated a scheduled flight to Australia.

Whilst BA’s presence in Australia is a shadow of what it used to be, its return is symbolic given there is almost 90 years’ history of UK flights from London to Australia via Singapore.

Flights will operate daily using a four class Boeing 787-9 aircraft. This replaces a Boeing 777-300 aircraft BA used before COVID-19.

This also means flights to Singapore will increase from the current frequency of four times weekly to daily, under flights BA15 & B16 instead of BA11 & BA12.

British Airways Moves To Manchester Terminal 3

All BA flights at Manchester Airport will move from Terminal 1 to 3 from Sunday 27 March 2022.

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Manchester Airport Terminal 3 (Image Credit: Manchester Airport)

British Airways flights at Manchester airport will move to Terminal 3 from Sunday 27 March 2022.

Terminal 3 closed in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic with all flights at the airport initially consolidated at Terminal 1.

This should also coincide with BA finally relaunching a daily service between Gatwick and Manchester after a delay of a year.

Occasional flights between London City and Manchester will also continue to operate. Weekend seasonal flights operated by BA CityFlyer between Manchester and Europe remain suspended.

In terms of lounge facilities for eligible passengers, it is assumed BA will provide access to the Escape Lounge at Terminal 3, as the BA lounge is reported to have closed.

London Air Travel’s Monday Briefing – 7 March 2022

Welcome to London Air Travel’s weekly briefing on air travel around the world, as published every Monday at 06:00 GMT.

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Finnair Airbus A350-900 Aircraft Side View (Image Credit: Finnair)

Welcome to London Air Travel’s Monday Briefing for the week beginning 7 March 2022.

The Return Of The Polar Route To Japan

Shortly after maintaining it was safe to continue to use Russian airspace and cancelling its codeshare with BA to protect itself, Japan Airlines has decided to reroute flights from London Heathrow to Tokyo.

Flights will now pass over Greenland and Alaska, rather than Russia. Readers may remember from the late 1960s BOAC and Japan Airlines launched “Polar flights” from London to Japan, with a stop in Anchorage, before they could secure access to Russian airspace.

You can see footage from the first BOAC Polar flight to Osaka in the Pathe film below.

BA Moves Long Haul Routes To Heathrow Terminal 3

British Airways will resume long haul flights at London Heathrow Terminal 3 from Wednesday 30 March 2022.

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British Airways Galleries Lounge London Heathrow Terminal 3 (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways will restart long haul flights at London Heathrow Terminal 3 from Wednesday 30 March 2022.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic all BA flights at London Heathrow were consolidated at Terminal 5. BA resumed short haul flights at Terminal 3 in late 2021.

These long haul routes will move from Terminal 5 to Terminal 3:

Accra – 25 April 2022
Austin – 25 April 2022
Barbados – 30 March 2022
Nairobi – 30 March 2022
Orlando – 30 March 2022
Las Vegas – 25 April 2022
Phoenix – 25 April 2022
São Paulo – Buenos Aires – 25 April 2022

These dates may change and further route transfers later in the summer season are possible.

Readers can keep up to date with latest route changes with our dedicated pages for BA’s long haul route network and Terminal 3.

Eligible passengers travelling from Terminal 3 do have the option of using the excellent Cathay Pacific and Qantas lounges.

Arriving passengers can also use the American Airlines arrivals lounge which has also reopened.

Japan Airlines Suspends BA Codeshares

Japan Airlines has temporarily suspended its codeshare with BA on flights between Europe and Japan.

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Japan Airlines Logo (Image Credit: Japan Airlines)

Japan Airlines has temporarily suspended its codeshare with British Airways on flights between Europe and Japan.

BA & Japan Airlines’ Joint Business

BA, Finnair and Japan Airlines operate a joint business between Europe and Japan.

The three airlines codeshare on each other’s flights and offer reciprocal local connections.

Following sanctions imposed against Russia by the UK and the European Union, and retaliatory measures, Finnair has suspended all flights between Helsinki and Tokyo as these fly over Russian airspace.

BA had already temporarily suspended flights to Tokyo Haneda for commercial reasons. The airline is due to restart these on 30 March 2022.

Japan Airlines continues to fly between Europe and Japan over Russian airspace. It has only suspended flights between Tokyo Haneda and Moscow.

London Air Travel’s Monday Briefing – 28 February 2022

Welcome to London Air Travel’s weekly briefing on air travel around the world, as published every Monday at 06:00 GMT.

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Iberia Airbus A350-900 Aircraft “Paco De Lucia” (Image Credit: Iberia)

Welcome to London Air Travel’s Monday Briefing for the week beginning 28 February 2022.

The attention of the world is of course focused on the very fast moving situation in Ukraine.

As has been extensively reported, a growing number of flight bans on Russian registered and controlled aircraft are in place. Many airlines are avoiding Russian airspace, regardless of whether they are allowed to use it.

Some airlines such as Finnair have been forced to temporarily suspend long haul routes. Others, such as Emirates, are looking at operating routes between Dubai and the US via Europe.

IAG Annual Results & Fleet Plans

IAG published its annual results last Friday. You can read our full write up here.

IAG confirmed its airlines will take delivery of 15 long haul and 10 short haul aircraft this year. It did not give a breakdown by airline.

Yesterday, Iberia confirmed it will receive 3 Airbus A350-900 and 6 Airbus A320neo aircraft this year. This leaves 12 long haul and 4 short haul aircraft for other airlines in the group.

Iberia will have another 8 Airbus A350-900 to be delivered by the end of 2024. These will feature new cabins in all travel classes.

Iberia also confirmed it will take delivery of its first Airbus A321XLR aircraft, ordered before the COVID-19 pandemic, from late 2023.