British Airways Boeing 747 Centenary Tailfins (Image Credit: British Airways)
It has been known for some months that British Airways will be operating special flights to mark its centenary, which falls on Sunday 25 August 2019.
The airline has not yet made any official announcement. However, schedules are currently showing that Boeing 747 aircraft (most likely those in retro liveries) will operate three domestic return flights from London Heathrow Terminal 5 on Sunday 25 August 2019.
London Heathrow – Glasgow
Flight BA1482 Depart London Heathrow 12:00 – Arrive Glasgow 13:30 Flight BA1487 Depart Glasgow 15:00 – Arrive London Heathrow 16:25
These flights will be operated with an 86 Club World seat aircraft.
London Heathrow – Manchester
Flight BA1386 Depart London Heathrow 10:10 – Arrive Manchester 11:20 Flight BA1391 Depart Manchester 12:50 – Arrive London Heathrow 14:00
These flights will be operated with a 52 Club World seat aircraft.
London Heathrow – Newcastle
Flight BA1326 Depart London Heathrow 09:20 – Arrive Newcastle 10:35 Flight BA1327 Depart Newcastle 12:40 – Arrive London Heathrow 14:00
These flights will be operated with a 52 Club World seat aircraft.
British Airways continues to wet lease an Airbus A340 aircraft from Air Belgium at London Heathrow.
One return flight, BA185 & BA184 from Heathrow to Newark is currently operated by Air Belgium until Saturday 8 June 2019.
Another return flight, BA93 & BA92 from Heathrow to Toronto, will be operated by Air Belgium from Sunday 9 June to Saturday 17 August 2019.
Heathrow – Cairo Wet Lease
The wet lease has now been extended to Cairo.
BA155 from London Heathrow to Cairo will be operated by Air Belgium from Sunday 18 August 2019 to Thursday 31 October 2019.
BA154 from Cairo to London Heathrow will be operated by Air Belgium from Monday 19 August 2019 to Friday 1 November 2019.
The flight will be operated by an Air Belgium A340-300 aircraft.
The route is currently operated by a three class Boeing 777-200 and was due to switch to a Boeing 787 for the winter season, instead of a two class Airbus A321, as per last winter.
The overall service standard on Air Belgium should be similar to that of BA.
Rebooking Options
All passengers have the option of rebooking on to BA’s alternative return flights from Heathrow to Cairo as close to your original date of travel as possible.
Full refunds are not available, except for Club World and World Traveller Plus passengers, unless allowed by the original fare rules.
Premium Economy Passengers
There is no premium economy cabin on Air Belgium aircraft.
Unless passengers rebook on to an alternative BA service, they will be downgraded to economy and receive a partial refund of their fare.
Passengers will retain their original baggage allowance and Avios earning entitlement. Some passengers may also be upgraded to business class.
Passengers can check the status of their booking using the Manage My Booking tool on ba.com
Affected passengers should contact BA or their travel agent.
More to read on British Airways Disruption
Here are our latest posts on disruption affecting British Airways:
Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Airbus A350 aircraft (Image Credit: Virgin Atlantic)
Hello and welcome to London Air Travel’s Atlantic Update providing a weekly bulletin on developments on transatlantic travel between Europe and North America. The Atlantic Update is published every Wednesday morning at 06:00 GMT.
Virgin Atlantic’s First Airbus A350 Test Flight
Virgin Atlantic’s Airbus A350-1000 aircraft took its first test flight on Monday.
Aircraft G-VPOP, also to be known as “Mamma Mia”, took a three hour test flight in Toulouse. This will in fact be the second A350-1000 to be delivered to Virgin Atlantic. The first, G-VLUX, is also on the production line and will be the first aircraft to be delivered to the airline. Full details of the test flight are available from Virgin Atlantic.
The Airbus A350-1000 will first operate on one of Virgin’s six daily flights from London Heathrow to New York JFK. This will give Virgin a significant competitive advantage over BA on this route, who will have little choice but to make a competitive response.
Also of note this week:
This Friday, 31 May 2019, the Metropolitan Transit Authority introduces contactless payment on Staten Island buses and on the New York Subway 4, 5 and 6 lines between Grand Central – 42 Street and Atlantic Avenue -Barclays Center. This is ahead of a full roll-out of a full contactless payment known as OMNY. (OMNY)
The Mayor of Los Angeles announces funding for new initiatives to create bicycle and walking paths along the Los Angeles River in West San Fernando Valley. This is part of a broader plan to revitalise the Los Angeles River.(Mayor of Los Angeles)
San Francisco is a city that should in theory have a lot going for it – geography, progressive values and a temperate climate. But for a long time it has disappointed with a seemingly intractable problem with homelessness. The New Yorker looks at the impact of the tech boom on rising tensions in the city. (The New Yorker)
Late Post-Publication Updates
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London Air Travel’s Atlantic Update is published every Wednesday at 06:00 GMT. If you have any comments, suggestions or tips then please drop us a line at mail [@] londonairtravel.com
You can follow us on Twitter for breaking news throughout the day. Also, please join us on Monday for our weekly Monday Briefing.
Islamabad, Pakistan (Image Credit: British Airways)
Welcome to our Monday Briefing for the week beginning 27 May 2019.
BA Returns To Islamabad
BA returns to Islamabad this Sunday after a more than ten year absence.
BA had suspended all flights to Pakistan in September 2008 following the bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.
In recent years BA has relied on codeshares with Qatar Airways to serve a number of destinations in Pakistan including Karachi and Lahore.
This is a relatively tentative return with three Boeing 787-8 flights a week. The route used to operate six times weekly with a Boeing 777-200 aircraft.
It was clear from the route announcement last year that there had been discussions between the governments of the UK and Pakistan on restarting the route. It is going to be watched very closely, both in terms of commercial performance and any potential security issues.
Air New Zealand Aircraft Order
Air New Zealand has this morning announced a new aircraft order.
It has ordered 8 Boeing 787-10 aircraft, with options for a further 12 aircraft. These will be delivered from 2022 to 2027 and will replace 8 Boeing 777-200 aircraft. Air New Zealand also has 13 Boeing 787-9 aircraft and 7 Boeing 777-300 aircraft in its fleet.
Joint-Venture Struggles
There are more signs that regulators are taking a tougher stance against airline co-operation and joint-ventures.
More than three years ago BA, Iberia and LATAM announced plans for a joint-business on routes between Europe and Latin America. Regulatory approval, which was initially expected to take 18 months, has been granted by Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia.
Approval was also granted by Chilean Free Competition Defence Court late last year but was subject to an appeal by a consumer group to the Chilean Supreme Court. Last week, the court has denied approval for the joint-venture.
Meanwhile in Australia, the International Air Services Commission has issued a draft decision denying approval for Cathay Pacific to codeshare on certain Qantas flights from Australia to Hong Kong.
Her Majesty The Queen, Concorde, 1977 (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways has long maintained a “heritage collection” of archive materials and photographs from its near 100 year history.
This is based at its Head Office near Heathrow. It has also been online, though much of the photographs were scanned for uploading in an era when websites had to accommodate much slower internet connections.
As part of its centenary BA has launched a new dedicated archive microsite with many newly released images, videos and features on its history.
It covers many aspects of BA’s history, including staff uniforms and deliveries of new aircraft. There are also many videos including the launch of the turn-up-and-go domestic Shuttle Service from London to Glasgow in 1975 and the groundbreaking “World’s Biggest Offer”marketing campaign in 1991.
BA has also issued newly released photos of Her Majesty The Queen, who visited BA’s Head Office earlier this week, with British Airways aircraft.
Her Majesty The Queen, Malta (Image Credit: British Airways)
The Queen has a long history with BA and its predecessor airlines.
On 31 January 1952, The Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, bid farewell to King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret at London airport before departing on a BOAC aircraft with Prince Philip for a world tour of Africa, Australia and New Zealand. This was cut short following the death of King George VI and Princess Elizabeth returned a week later from Kenya on a BOAC Argonaut as Queen Elizabeth II.
BEA, BOAC and BA have flown The Queen on many state visits and tours. These include the 1953 Commonwealth tour, Canada and the US in 1957 (on a BOAC DC-7C aircraft), Bermuda and Jamaica 1963 (on a BOAC Stratocruiser), New Zealand in 1974, the Commonwealth Silver Jubilee tour 1977 (on Concorde), the Middle East in 1979 (on Concorde), and Australia 2011 (non-stop from London to Perth on a Boeing 777). The Queen also officially opened London Heathrow Terminals 1 and 5 and Gatwick’s North Terminal.
Back to the archive itself, the history of BA obviously depends on who is telling it.
Understandably, there are some events not touched on, such as aircraft incidents and BOAC and BA being caught up in major geopolitical events such as the 1970 Dawson’s Field hijackings and 1990 Gulf War. Nor are corporate controversies. However, there are subjects barely mentioned, such as the Newell and Sorrell redesign of BA’s corporate identity of 1997, controversial at the time, but now worthy of reappraisal.
British Airways Refurbished 52 Club World Seat Aircraft, November 2018 (Image Credit: British Airways)
For the past ten years or so BA has required passengers other than Silver and Gold members of the Executive Club to pay a fee to select a seat at the time of booking.
This applies to all cabins except First Class, even Club World. Please see here for a full guide to BA’s seating policy.
Even though BA is one of the only, if not the only, airlines in the world to charge business class passengers to select a seat, and it is seen as somewhat egregious, this policy has survived.
As BA has learned of passenger preferences it has applied dynamic pricing to different parts of the same cabin with differential charges by row and proximity to aisles and windows.
In Club World, this has meant higher charges for the much loved upper deck of the Boeing 747. On the main deck of the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747 and in all other Club World cabins, there were three tiers of prices, Front, Middle, and Rear. There were higher charges for forward rows and lower charges for rear rows.
Changes from 14 May 2019
Since Tuesday 14 May 2019, BA has split the pricing of seats on the main deck of Club World into no less than six tiers.
These are Front Side, Front Centre, Middle Side, Middle Centre, Rear Side, Rear Centre.
In the example of an 86 Club World seat Boeing 747 below, there are now higher prices to select a seat on the side of the aircraft, which are £87 per person at the front of the cabin, £80 in the middle of the cabin, and £67 at the rear of the cabin.
Centre seats are at reduced prices of £79, £72 and £59 per person. Charges will vary by aircraft, and are higher on other aircraft such as the Airbus A380.
Business Class, WestJet Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (Image Credit: WestJet0
Hello and welcome to the The Atlantic Update for Wednesday 22 May 2019, providing a weekly bulletin on developments on transatlantic travel between Europe and North America. The Atlantic Update is published every Wednesday morning at 06:00 BST.
WestJet to operate Boeing 787 on Gatwick – Toronto
WestJet has confirmed that it will operate its new Boeing 787 Dreamliner from London Gatwick to Toronto Pearson daily from Thursday 24 October 2019.
This will replace a Boeing 767 and will offer a significant upgrade in comfort in all classes, with WestJet’s first international business class, and new premium economy and economy cabins.
This, with BA also operating the Airbus A350 to Toronto from Tuesday 1 October 2019 will make the route extremely competitive.
WestJet will also extend Boeing 787 Dreamliner on London Gatwick to Calgary year-round, with flights operating four times weekly from Monday 28 October 2019.
As reported last week, WestJet is to be acquired by Onex Corporation. Air Canada has also announced it has entered into exclusive talks to acquire the parent company of Air Transat which would give Air Canada a significantly stronger position in Eastern Canada (and prevent it from being acquired by Onex). This phase of consolidation does leave one major independent Canadian airline, Porter Airlines, which operates from Toronto City airport.
Salt Hotels Opens Asbury Beach Club
Over the past few years Salt Hotels has been building up a small, but perfectly formed, portfolio of properties in North East of the USA.
It is also opening a second property in Asbury Park, New Jersey, Asbury Ocean Club Hotel on 1 July 2019.
The group does have further expansion plans and it is certainly one to watch.
US Government Withdraws Support for California High Speed Rail
The US is a land of extremes and contradictions.
A case in point is how such an economically powerful nation has such a poor track record on infrastructure investment, which gets caught up in federal, state, and city politics as well as powerful vested interests.
The US federal government has withdrawn $1billion in funding for High Speed Rail in California which has prompted the rail authority to sue the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, Brightline (soon to be Virgin Trains) has appointed contractors for a privately funded expansion to Orlando. Governing has a “state of the nation” report on the development of rail in North America.
British Airways Boeing 747, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways flights from London Heathrow to Phoenix and San Diego will swap terminals with effect from Sunday 27 October 2019.
BA flights from Heathrow to Phoenix (BA289 & BA288) will move from Terminal 3 to 5. Meanwhile, BA flights from Heathrow to San Diego (BA273 & BA272) will move from Terminal 5 to 3.
Both routes will also change aircraft. Flights to Phoenix will be operated with the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner until Sunday 29 March 2020, when it switches to a Boeing 777-300 aircraft. This brings to an end a very long run of Boeing 747 operations to Phoenix. However, as this route has been operated with a 52 Club World seat Boeing 747, passengers will benefit from more modern cabin interiors and a guarantee of better of in-flight entertainment.
Flights to San Diego will be operated with a Boeing 747 year-round, having previously operated with a Boeing 747 in the winter and a Boeing 777-300 in the summer.
For passengers who are connecting at London Heathrow, there are different minimum connection times of 90 minutes for Terminal 3-Terminal 5 connections, and 60 minutes for Terminal 5-Terminal 5 & Terminal 3-Terminal 3 connections. Passengers with existing bookings should check carefully that their itineraries comply with minimum connection times and contact BA or their travel agent accordingly.
Passengers can check the status of their bookings using the Manage My Booking tool on ba.com
Virgin Atlantic is to return to Mumbai for the third time with the relaunch of flights from London Heathrow from Sunday 27 October 2019.
Virgin Atlantic and Mumbai has a long history.
Virgin first launched flights from London Heathrow to Mumbai following the liberalisation of services between the UK and India in 2005. This saw a number of airlines, such as bmi British Midland, enter the market and the route was suspended.
The route was launched again in 2012 with different timings in the hope of capturing connecting traffic to Virgin’s North America route network. It was suspended for a second time in 2015 as part of a wide-ranging reshaping of Virgin’s route network towards North American routes.
Since then, Virgin had relied on a codeshare with Jet Airways to serve Mumbai, and following its recent collapse Virgin has now reinstated the route.
This, together with the launch of Tel Aviv and Sao Paulo, does point to Virgin seeking to move beyond North American routes at London Heathrow. What may work in Virgin’s favour this time is a potential future codeshare partnership with Air France and KLM.
Flights will be operated with a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft and will go on sale at Virgin Atlantic from Tuesday 28 May 2019.
London Heathrow – Mumbai
Depart London Heathrow 10:15 – Arrive Mumbai 00:40 Depart Mumbai 02:55 – Arrive London Heathrow 07:35
British Airways has introduced the ability to pay for excess baggage charges using Avios.
This follows a move last year to allow passengers to use their Avios to pay for seat selection charges.
This applies only to British Airways operated flights. Rather unhelpfully, BA has not published a set tariff of Avios charges for excess baggage and this is unlikely to be the best use of Avios.
Excess baggage charges can vary widely by route, cabin, and type of fare. These charges have become more prevalent with the rise of “basic economy” short and long-haul fares. They can range from £20 to £120 per bag, so this may be at least a good way for some to take the edge off parting with cash.
Passengers can use Avios to pay for excess baggage charges in full or in part and passengers with existing bookings can compare charges using the Manage My Booking tool on ba.com
Full details of BA’s current cash seat selection charges can also be viewed at ba.com
