British Airways Airbus A380 at take off, London Heathrow (Image Credit: Heathrow)
British Airways is updating its long haul schedules at London Heathrow for the winter travel season.
This runs from Sunday 30 October 2022 to Saturday 26 March 2023. These changes are preliminary. Some have only been applied to the start of the season and may extend further.
Unsurprisingly, the general trend is capacity reduction.
There will be more changes to come. This particularly for Hong Kong due to travel restrictions and Tokyo due to the closure of Russian airspace.
British Airways Lounge, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (Image Credit: British Airways)
The British Airways Lounge at Amsterdam Schiphol airport will not reopen as a BA lounge.
The lounge has been closed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst all other BA lounges worldwide have reopened or have been confirmed as closed, this lounge has remained as “temporarily closed”.
Eligible BA passengers at Amsterdam can continue to use the Aspire lounge.
The BA lounge was part of the Priority Pass lounge access scheme. It is likely that another operator will take over the lounge.
British Airways Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (Image Credit: Heathrow)
British Airways has suspended its route from London Heathrow to Bangkok.
Passenger flights to Bangkok have been suspended since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. A large number of cargo flights have operated.
The route was due to return on a winter seasonal basis from Sunday 30 October 2022. It is now suspended. This was expected as flights had been taken off sale in advance of the route being cancelled.
This brings to an end almost 85 years of passenger flights to Bangkok, dating back to BA’s predecessor airline Imperial Airways.
Whilst there is strong cargo demand from Bangkok, it is seen as a low yield passenger route. There is a lot of competition from airlines flying non-stop and via rival hubs in the Middle East.
British Airways & Airportr Partnership (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways has, for many years, partnered with the luggage collection service Airportr.
Airportr offers passengers the option to have their luggage collected from their home, office or hotel at pre-arranged time up to 24 hours before departure.
Luggage is then checked-in with BA on their behalf. This leaves passengers free to travel to the airport without their luggage in tow and to collect their bags at their final destination.
Aerial view of BA CityFlyer Embraer E170 Aircraft G-LCYD at London City airport (Image Credit: London City Airport)
Welcome to London Air Travel’s Monday Briefing for the week beginning 18 July 2022.
The impact of extreme heat in the UK this week on public health and infrastructure is likely to dominate the news over the coming days.
The Gatwick Express is suspended today and tomorrow. Other rail services are running at a reduced frequency and at revised times due to speed restrictions with strong advice not to travel.
The War Of Words Continues
The claim and counter-claim by airlines and Heathrow over travel disruption continues.
Last week Heathrow imposed a short notice cap on departing passenger numbers at the airport until 11 September. Ostensibly, Heathrow claimed it wanted to wait and see which airlines took advantage of the slot amnesty before issuing its demand.
The CAA and Department for Transport ordered Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye to provide an immediate explanation.
Any passengers due to travel from Heathrow up to Monday 25 July 2022 can rebook to an alternative BA operated flight to the same destination within 12 months of the date of travel. This includes flights from other London airports.
Alternatively passengers who do not wish to travel can request a voucher for travel up to 30 September 2023. Full refunds are only possible if allowed under the original fare rules.
BA has periodically introduced this policy for short haul flights, particularly at weekends.
It now applies to both short and long haul flights at Heathrow until 25 July.
Virgin Atlantic Airbus A330NEO Aircraft Exterior (Image Credit: Virgin Atlantic)
Virgin Atlantichas unveiled images of the interiors of its new Airbus A330neo aircraft.
Virgin ordered up to 16 Airbus A330neo aircraft in 2019. The first aircraft will arrive in September this year. As is common for new aircraft at Virgin it will first operate to Boston, one of its relatively shorter routes, from October.
Three aircraft are expected to arrive this year. The remaining aircraft will be delivered between 2023 and 2026.
At the time of the order it was intended they would operate across Gatwick, Heathrow and Manchester. Much of course has changed since then.
Virgin has not indicated this aircraft will have separate configurations for relatively business and leisure heavy routes, like the Airbus A350.
There is only so much you can discern from images and cabin mock-ups. The real test is when the aircraft is flying with passengers, but here are the details released by Virgin.
