London Air Travel

CityJet suspends London City – Rotterdam route from 1 May 2017

CityJet has suspended its route from London City to Rotterdam from Monday 1 May 2017.

CityJet is to reduce further its presence at London City airport with the suspension of its route to Rotterdam from 1 May 2017.

The route, which operated up to four times daily and was codeshared with Air France and KLM is suspended from Monday 1 May 2017. The last flights will operate on Sunday 30 April 2017.

This follows a number of London City route suspensions by CityJet which include Nantes and Paris Orly from Sunday 27 March 2017.

CityJet will continue to fly to Amsterdam, Antwerp, Dublin, and Florence year round. It will also fly on a summer seasonal basis to Avignon (from 19 May 2017 to 8 September 2017) and Toulon (from 8 April 2017 to 26 October 2017).

British Airways will continue to fly from London City to Rotterdam up to five times daily on weekdays.

Affected passengers should contact either CityJet or their travel agent.

Air Traffic Controllers strike in France: Monday 6 – Friday 10 March 2017

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Air Traffic Controllers in certain regions of France are due to take industrial action at various times between Monday 6 March to Friday 10 March 2017.

The French Civil Aviation Authority has asked airlines to reduce their schedules accordingly.

This will cause delays and cancellations to flights to and from the UK that pass through French airspace, principally flights to and from France, Spain and North Africa.

Airlines are likely to minimise the impact of the strike by circumventing French airspace where possible.

The following airlines have issued guidance on rebooking options for passengers.

Please note that this page does not provide live flight information so any cancellations listed are proactive cancellations made in advance, and do not necessarily include any delays/cancellations made on the day.

You can check live flight information on the websites of Gatwick, Heathrow and London City airports.
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BA now selling “Club Europe” on UK domestic flights from Friday 31 March 2017

BA will operate its “Club Europe” short-haul business class on all UK domestic routes from Friday 31 March 2017.

London Air Travel » Page 118

British Airways Club Europe Cabin (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways is to introduce its “Club Europe” business class cabin on all of its UK domestic routes from Friday 31 March 2017.

Currently, all UK domestic routes operate with a single class configuration on board. From Friday 31 March 2017, all UK domestic flights will operate in a two class, Club Europe business class and EuroTraveller economy configuration.

(Note, BA’s official guidance says that Club Europe launches on Saturday 1 April, but ba.com is showing it as available from Friday 31 March.)

This means passengers in Club Europe will benefit from seating in 2-2, rather than 3-3 configuration on all Airbus aircraft from London Gatwick and Heathrow as well as complimentary food & drink (though this is likely to be limited given the relatively short flying times).
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Qantas unveils its new Boeing 787-900 premium economy seat

Qantas has unveiled its new premium economy seat which will operate on its Boeing 787-900 flights between London Heathrow and Perth.

London Air Travel » Page 118

Qantas Boeing 787-900 Premium Economy Seat (Source: Qantas Airways)

Qantas has today unveiled its new premium economy seat which is due to operate on Qantas’ non-stop Boeing 787-900 flights between London Heathrow and Perth from March 2018.

At the time Qantas announced the launch of non-stop flights between London and Perth it kept details of its premium economy seats under wraps, whilst hailing it as revolutionary. Today Qantas has unveiled the seat and some aspects of the premium economy cabin design.

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Virgin Atlantic launches seasonal Heathrow – Barbados from Tuesday 12 December 2017

Virgin Atlantic will fly from London Heathrow to Barbados twice weekly from Tuesday 12 December 2017.

London Air Travel » Page 118

Virgin Atlantic Logo (Image Credit: Virgin Atlantic)

Virgin Atlantic is to launch a new winter seasonal route from London Heathrow to Barbados.

The airline will fly from London Heathrow to Barbados Grantley Adams International Airport from Tuesday 12 December 2017 to Saturday 24 February 2018. Flights will operate twice weekly each Tuesday and Saturday. The route is then scheduled to resume on Tuesday 11 December 2018.

This will be the only direct route between London Heathrow and Barbados. This will complement Virgin Atlantic’s existing daily service from London Gatwick.

Flights will be operated using an Airbus A330 aircraft with 33 Upper Class, 48 Premium Economy and 185 Economy seats.

Flights will be on sale from Monday 27 February 2017 at Virgin Atlantic.com

And here’s the timetable (please note this may vary by week):

London Heathrow – Barbados

Flight VS131 Depart London Heathrow 13:15 – Arrive Barbados 17:55 (Tuesday, Saturday)
Flight VS132 Depart Barbados 20:15 – Arrive London Heathrow 07:55 (Tuesday, Saturday)

Alitalia – London Heathrow & City cancellations due to strike action

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A number of trade unions representing employees of Alitalia are due to take industrial action on Thursday 23 February 2017.

As a consequence, approximately 60% of Alitalia’s domestic and international flights are cancelled on Thursday 23 February and there are further cancellations Friday 24 February.

These include the following flights between London Heathrow and London City Airports and Milan and Rome.

Please note that these are pre-planned cancellations. There may well be additional cancellations due to severe weather in the U.K. caused by Storm Doris. In addition, some airport ground facilities in Italy may also be affected by industrial action.
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BA launches Milan from London City & Stansted from late April 2017

British Airways will fly to Milan Linate from London City & Stansted from late April 2017.

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BA CityFlyer Embraer at London City Airport

The merry go round of route changes at London City and BA’s gradual increase of weekend services at London Stansted continues with the launch of new year-round services to Milan, Italy from these two London airports in April.

The new routes to Milan’s Linate Airport will start from London City Airport on Monday 24 April 2017 and from Stansted Airport on Saturday 29 April 2017.

There will be two flights a day on week days and one a day at weekends from London City and two a week from Stansted.

Flights will be operated using Embraer aircraft in a two class Club Europe business class and EuroTraveller economy configuration. Note that at some point in the summer, BA will introduce its Buy On Board “M&S On Board” catering service on these flights.

BA also flies to Milan Linate (as well as Malpensa airport) from London Heathrow up to six times a day and it is possible to “mix and match” flights if convenient.

The addition of this route at London Stansted means BA now serves nine routes at this airport: Berlin, Faro, Florence, Geneva, Ibiza, Malaga, Nice, and Palma.

Flights are on sale now at ba.com

Here’s the initial timetable at launch:
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BA cancels London Heathrow – Abuja Wednesday 8 March -Tuesday 18 April 2017

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British Airways has cancelled all direct flights between London Heathrow and Abuja route from Wednesday 8 March to Tuesday 18 April 2017.

The reason for this is that the airport’s runway will be closed for emergency repairs.

According to press reports, the Nigerian Government had instructed airlines to operate flights to an alternative airport in Kaduna (some 200km north of Abuja) with onward road transport to Abuja. However, these contingency plans has clearly not been implemented by BA.

The affected BA flight numbers are BA083 and BA082.

Affected passengers have the option of a full refund, rebooking on an alternative British Airways operated flight between London Heathrow and Abuja outside of the runway closure (up to Friday 19 May 2017), or rebooking on an alternative British Airways operated flight between Accra or Nigeria and London Heathrow within 7 days of the date of your original booking.

However, if you choose the later option any additional costs such as ground transportation and hotels will be at your own expense and will not be reimbursed by the airline.

BA is the only airline to fly non-stop between London and Abuja. In terms of the response from other European airlines, Air France and Lufthansa fly from their respective hubs in Paris Charles de Gualle and Frankfurt to Abuja. Both airlines appear to have cancelled all flights during the period of the runway closure.

Affected BA passengers should contact either BA or their travel agent.

BA suspends London City – Geneva mid-June to mid-September 2017 [Corrected]

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Another week, another London City route suspension!

After announcing the cancellation of Alicante & Madrid and Angers & Hamburg, BA is to also suspend its London City – Geneva route for the summer season from mid June to mid September 2017.

The last flights operate on Friday 16 June 2017 and resume on Monday 11 September 2017.

The affected flight numbers are BA2280, BA2281, BA2284, BA2285, BA 2286 and BA2287.

Affected passengers will have the option of a refund or being accommodated on a BA flight to Geneva from London Heathrow, which operates up to eight times daily. Passengers should contact either BA or their travel agent.

Swiss will continue to fly London City – Geneva year round up to three times daily.

Note: An earlier version of this article stated that the route suspension was for the entire summer season (late March to late October). This was incorrect as we had erroneously inferred that a summer suspension was for the whole of the summer timetable.

BA suspends London City – Angers & Hamburg from late March 2017

British Airways has suspended its routes from London City to Angers and Hamburg from late March 2017.

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British Airways is to suspend its routes from London City to Angers and Hamburg from late March 2017.

Flights to Angers (Arville Airport) had intended to operate three times weekly on a summer seasonal basis from Monday 27 March 2017 to Friday 27 October 2017. All of these flights have now been suspended. Affected passengers have the option of being rerouted BA’s twice weekly summer seasonal service to Nantes from London Heathrow or a full refund.

The affected flight numbers are BA8743 and and BA8744.

Flights to Hamburg currently operate up to three times daily and will be permanently suspended from Sunday 26 March 2017. Affected passengers have the option of being rerouted on BA’s daily services from London Heathrow or a full refund.

The affected flight numbers are BA3291, BA3292, BA3293, BA3294, BA3295 and BA3296.

Affected passengers should contact either BA or their travel agent.