London Air Travel

London Air Travel’s Monday Briefing – 29 October 2018

Welcome to our weekly briefing on air travel in London and around the world, published every Monday at 06:00 GMT.

International Airlines Group Airlines & Businesses

Welcome to our Monday Briefing for the week beginning 29 October 2018, summarising the main developments in air travel over the past week.

IAG Capital Markets Day

International Airlines Group will be holding its annual Capital Markets Day this coming Friday 2 November 2018.

The event is primarily aimed at institutional investors with industrial quantities of Powerpoint and talk of Earnings Per Share and Return On Invested Capital. However, there should be presentations by individual IAG member airlines. There are also often some fairly “candid” views, particularly post-lunch, from IAG CEO Willie Walsh.

In previous years, it’s at these events we have first learned of BA’s plans to “densify” its Gatwick based Boeing 777s and to revamp Club World.

Developments we will be looking out for this year from IAG and BA may include:

– BA’s plans for its centenary year in 2019

– At least some outline plans for introducing a new Club World seat with the Airbus A350-1000 in 2019

– Possible improvements to in-flight catering amenities in First Class and World Traveller Plus

– Lounge investment plans for 2019, most likely Geneva, Johannesburg, Manchester and San Francisco and at least a timescale for revamping the London Heathrow lounge complex

– BA’s plans for expansion at Gatwick in 2019

– Possible plans to redevelop some facilities at London Heathrow Terminal 3 in conjunction with American Airlines

– Timescales for a revamp of the Avios frequent flyer currency

If there is anything of note, we will share on Friday morning from 08:00 GMT.

Why Virgin Atlantic will not be flying to Perth

Interest was piqued this week when Sir Richard Branson told Brooke Corte of the Australian digital channel “Your Money” that Virgin Atlantic wants to launch non-stop flights to Perth “as soon as possible”.

This was widely repeated online. However, nobody seemed to check with the Virgin Atlantic press office to confirm whether it was true or not.

Sir Richard Branson is President of Virgin Atlantic. However, by his own words, he has little involvement in the day-to-day running of the airline. Virgin Group is a majority shareholder for now, but is expected to sell part of its stake to Air France-KLM in the next 12 months. This will leave Delta as the single largest shareholder in the airline.

With Virgin Atlantic seeking to return to profitability and the imminent merger of Delta’s transatlantic joint-venture with Virgin into its longer standing joint-venture with Air France-KLM, it seems implausible that Virgin would return to Australia.

Virgin Atlantic stopped flying to Australia in May 2014 when it suspended its London Heathrow – Hong Kong – Sydney route. Also bear in mind what Virgin said when it launched the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner:

“It will also be instrumental in introducing new routes like Bangkok, Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver. Due to the long range of the aircraft, both Perth and Hawaii are currently under consideration.”

Virgin currently only flies to one of these: Seattle.

Whilst this sort of behaviour has diminished, Virgin has form in announcing things that don’t ultimately happen.

When Virgin Atlantic placed its now cancelled order for six Airbus A380s it expressed a desire to fit the aircraft with gyms, beauty salons, and casinos.

Some ten years or so ago, it also announced its intention to launch all business class flights from London and European airports to the US.

Market conditions may have played a part in these plans not being realised, but a public company would never have the luxury of such ambiguity.

Continue reading “London Air Travel’s Monday Briefing – 29 October 2018”

Supersonic – The Design And Lifestyle Of Concorde

“Supersonic – The Design And Lifestyle Of Concorde” looks at the design of Concorde by Air France & BA ahead of its 50th anniverary.

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Supersonic, The Design and Lifestyle of Concorde, Lawrence Azerrad.

This week marked 15 years since Concorde completed its final commercial passenger flight.

On 24 October 2003, members of Concorde’s exclusive club of regular patrons such as the late Sir David Frost and Dame Joan Collins gathered in the Concorde Room at New York JFK. After a farewell speech from Concorde Captain Mike Bannister, they boarded BA2 for the final time, to land at Heathrow before the world’s media.

15 years on Captain Mike Bannister gathered with guests in The Design Museum earlier this week to mark the launch of a limited edition timepiece with Bremont.

Designed in collaboration with BA in advance of the airline’s centenary and the 50th anniversary of Concorde’s maiden flight in 2019, each watch features aluminium from one of BA’s seven Concordes, G-BOAB – pictured here at Heathrow. There are three editions, limited to 500 in total, which are handsomely priced from “just” £9,495 to £17,995.

A more affordable means of remembering Concorde is a recently published book “Supersonic: The Design And Lifestyle Of Concorde”.

It is written by Lawrence Azerrad who founded Los Angeles based design studio LAD Design and has gathered hundreds of Concorde related artefacts. The book focuses less on the engineering and the politics behind the Concorde, and more on the evolution of its marketing and the design of its cabin interiors and branding by both Air France and BA.

It features a foreword by Sir Terence Conran who, in conjunction with factorydesign designed the last Concorde cabin interior for BA and the Concorde Room in New York JFK and the former Concorde Room in London Heathrow Terminal 4.

At a time when there are forces at work determined to take the Western world backwards, Concorde does reflect a spirit of international co-operation and optimism about the future. It is unlikely that supersonic transatlantic travel will return. But progress remains in other areas. There are more US cities that can be reached directly from London then ever before. This time next year, we should know whether direct flights from London to Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney could be launched.

Back to the book, Lawrence Azerrad will be in conversation with designer Sebastian Conran at the Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington on Friday 8 February 2019.

“Supersonic – The Design And Lifestyle Of Concorde” is published by Prestel Publishing and is on sale now.

International Airlines Group 3rd Quarter Results

International Airlines Group has released its financial results for the 3rd quarter of 2018 and provided a strategic update on the group.

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International Airlines Group released its 3rd quarter results on Friday 26 October 2018.

There are no great surprises in the numbers themselves. It reported a modest increase in operating profit year-on-year to €1,460 million as rising revenues offset rising fuel costs, which has affected all airlines.

As usual, the results announcement is more interesting for comments from the group during analyst question and answer sessions:

BA Cyber Attack

IAG was limited in what it could say about the cyber attack on BA in light of the fact that a criminal investigation is underway.

Before the results announcement, IAG and BA confirmed that in addition to its first announcement in September, it had also identified that the attacker had viewed personal financial data of passengers making Avios redemptions between Saturday 21 April 2018 and Saturday 28 July 2018.

Two cyber security firms have carried out a forensic investigation on the cyber attack. IAG has also been working with the National Cyber Security Centre, which is part of GCHQ, and the National Crime Agency. The identity of the individual or organisation that carried out the cyber attack is not known.

However, IAG knows that it was a single attacker doing different things over a period of time. IAG considers that it understands exactly how the attacker secured access to BA’s systems, what the attacker did, and when, and what data was viewed.

Whilst there is evidence that customer data was viewed, there is no evidence to indicate that customer data was actually extracted from BA’s systems. It appears that it was not the billing and payment systems that were specifically compromised.

Although IAG will remain limited in what it can say for some time, it does seem prepared to eventually give a full account so that others can learn from it.

Rolls-Royce Engine Dreamliner Issues

IAG CEO Willie Walsh reiterated his unhappiness at ongoing issues with Rolls Royce engines on its fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

This has continued to affected BA as aircraft are grounded. It has had to selectively cancel flights – with Doha bearing the brunt of cancellations – and wet lease aircraft from Air Belgium to cover flights to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

These issues will continue into 2019, when it had been expected to be resolved by the end of the summer. IAG is receiving cash and non-monetary compensation from Rolls-Royce, which has not been disclosed for reasons of commercial confidentiality.

Deliveries of Airbus A321 Long Range aircraft to Aer Lingus next year may be also delayed, which may have an impact on its expansion plans for next year.
Continue reading “International Airlines Group 3rd Quarter Results”

British Airways Customer Data Breach Update

British Airways has issued an update on the progress of its investigation into the theft of data from its website.

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British Airways Logo (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways has today, Thursday 25 October 2018, issued a statement on the progress of its investigation in to the theft of customer data from its website.

The airline first advised in the early evening of Thursday 6 September 2018 that customers who booked flights over a period of nearly two weeks between 22:58 BST on Tuesday 21 August 2018 and 21:45 BST Wednesday 5 September 2018 had their personal and financial details compromised.

The airline has now advised that more customers may have had their personal financial details compromised and is in the process of contacting affected customers.

This include customers making reward bookings between Saturday 21 April 2018 and Saturday 28 July 2018.

Affected customers will be notified by Friday 26 October 2018.

BA Statement Thursday 25 October 2018

Since our announcement on September 6, 2018 regarding the theft of our customers’ data, British Airways has been working continuously with specialist cyber forensic investigators and the National Crime Agency to investigate fully the data theft. We are updating customers today with further information as we conclude our internal investigation.

The investigation has shown the hackers may have stolen additional personal data and we are notifying the holders of 77,000 payment cards, not previously notified, that the name, billing address, email address, card payment information, including card number, expiry date and CVV have potentially been compromised, and a further 108,000 without CVV. The potentially impacted customers were those only making reward bookings between April 21 and July 28, 2018, and who used a payment card.

While we do not have conclusive evidence that the data was removed from British Airways’ systems, we are taking a prudent approach in notifying potentially affected customers, advising them to contact their bank or card provider as a precaution. Customers who are not contacted by British Airways by Friday 26 October at 1700 GMT do not need to take any action.

In addition, from the investigation we know that fewer of the customers we originally announced were impacted. Of the 380,000 payment card details announced, 244,000 were affected. Crucially, we have had no verified cases of fraud.

We are very sorry that this criminal activity has occurred. As we have been doing, we will reimburse any customers who have suffered financial losses as a direct result of the data theft and we will be offering credit rating monitoring, provided by specialists in the field, to any affected customer who is concerned about an impact to their credit rating.

Information Commissioner’s Office Statement

In response to today’s statement the Information Commissioner’s Office has advised:

“The ICO’s investigation into a cyber attack at British Airways is ongoing. Meanwhile, we advise people who may have been affected to be vigilant when checking their financial records and to follow the advice on the ICO, National Cyber Security Centre and Action Fraud websites about how they can protect themselves and their data online.

Update: Friday 26 October 2018

Willie Walsh, CEO of BA’s parent company International Airlines Group, spoke briefly about the matter when it released its 3rd quarter financial results on Friday 26 October 2018.

IAG did not give any more detail as a criminal investigation is underway but will give a more detailed explanation about what happened when it is able to do so.

British Airways’ Final Boeing 767 Flights

British Airways will retire its last Boeing 767 short-haul aircraft on Sunday 25 November 2018.

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British Airways Boeing 767-300 G-BNWP Pictured 1999

In just one month’s time British Airways is due to retire the last of its five remaining Boeing 767 aircraft.

In the absence of any official announcements to the contrary, it appears that there will be no special liveries or farewell flights. The aircraft will slip away quietly into the night when its last return flight from Larnaca will land at London Heathrow Terminal 5 at 22:35 on Sunday 25 November 2018.

Here are the final Boeing 767 flights by route. As can be seen below, the 767 will stop operating on a number of routes in the next week or so. Note that some of these flights may be operated with Airbus aircraft before their final 767 flights.

Amsterdam

Flight BA428 London Heathrow – Amsterdam – Tuesday 6 November 2018
Flight BA429 Amsterdam – London Heathrow – Tuesday 6 November 2018

Athens

Flight BA632 London Heathrow – Athens – Friday 2 November 2018
Flight BA633 Athens – London Heathrow – Friday 2 November 2018

Edinburgh

Flight BA1434 London Heathrow – Edinburgh – Wednesday 31 October 2018
Flight BA1441 Edinburgh – London Heathrow – Wednesday 31 October 2018

Frankfurt

Flight BA902 London Heathrow – Frankfurt – Saturday 27 October 2018
Flight BA903 Frankfurt – London Heathrow – Saturday 27 October 2018

Larnaca

Flight BA662 London Heathrow – Larnaca – Sunday 25 November 2018
Flight BA663 Larnaca – London Heathrow – Sunday 25 November 2018

Madrid

Flight BA456 London Heathrow – Madrid – Saturday 27 October 2018
Flight BA457 Madrid – London Heathrow – Saturday 27 October 2018

Rome Fiumicino

Flight BA560 London Heathrow – Rome Fiumicino – Saturday 3 November 2018
Flight BA599 Rome Fiumicino – London Heathrow – Saturday 3 November 2018

Stockholm

Flight BA780 London Heathrow – Stockholm – Saturday 27 October 2018
Flight BA781 Stockholm – London Heathrow – Saturday 27 October 2018

Flight BA782 London Heathrow – Stockholm – Wednesday 31 October 2018
Flight BA783 Stockholm – London Heathrow – Wednesday 31 October 2018
(Operates with Airbus A320 up to 26 October 2018)
Continue reading “British Airways’ Final Boeing 767 Flights”

Qantas to open new Singapore First Class lounge

Qantas is to open a new First Class lounge at Singapore Changi airport in late 2019.

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Qantas Singapore First Class Lounge Reception (Image Credit: Qantas)

Qantas has announced it is to open a new First Class lounge at Singapore Changi airport.

The airline has operated a joint business and First Class lounge at the airport since 2013. It used to operate separate business and First Class lounges jointly with BA, before the airlines decided to operate separate lounges.

It is to begin work a new First Class lounge in April 2019 and the new lounge is expected to open in late 2019. The new lounge will have seating for 240 customers.

Lounge features will include a cocktail bar, a la carte pre-flight dining and shower rooms. Qantas will work with its long standing chef Neil Perry and designer David Caon to design the lounge.

Qantas will also expand its existing business lounge to increase overall lounge capacity for 800 customers.

This does reverse a trend for Qantas to open joint business and First Class lounges, where it has also done at Hong Kong and London Heathrow Terminal 3.

This news does highlight the importance of Singapore to Qantas. It has this year reinstated flights from London Heathrow to Sydney via Singapore. It has also reinstated a former codeshare with Air France from Singapore to Paris and recently announced a new codeshare with KLM to Amsterdam.

Under Oneworld lounge access rules passengers travelling First Class on British Airways from Singapore and British Airways Executive Club Gold cardholders will be eligible to access the lounge.
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British Airways Route Moves Between Gatwick & Heathrow

British Airways is to transfer a number of short-haul routes between London Gatwick and Heathrow airports from late March 2019.

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Barcelona at Sunrise (Image Credit: London Air Travel)

British Airways is moving a number of short-haul routes between London Gatwick and Heathrow airports from late March 2019.

In addition, a number of routes that operate from both Gatwick and Heathrow will be “consolidated” at one airport.

No specific reasons have been given for the changes but it is likely to be due to a combination of commercial performance and operational requirements.

At the time of writing, it appears that not all online timetables have not been fully updated so it may be some time before changes show in the Manage My Booking tool.

Almeria

This route launched as a twice weekly summer seasonal route from Heathrow this year. It operated under flight numbers BA420 and BA421.

It will return next year from Gatwick between Sunday 31 March and Saturday 26 October 2019. Flights will operate four times weekly on Monday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. The new flight numbers are BA2790 and BA2791.

Barcelona

This route will be suspended at London Gatwick from 31 March 2019. It currently operates from Gatwick up to three times daily.

BA will increase existing services to Barcelona from London Heathrow Terminal 3 from 49 to 58 flights a week to partially compensate.

BA will continue to codeshare with Vueling on London Gatwick to Barcelona.

Bilbao

This route currently operates from London Heathrow Terminal 3 year-round. It operates under flight numbers BA466, BA467, BA468 and BA469.

From 31 March 2019, it will operate from Gatwick on a summer seasonal basis to 26 October 2019. Flights will operate 12 times weekly. The new flight numbers are BA2684, BA2685, BA2686 and BA2687.

Menorca (Mahon)

This route operated as a summer seasonal route both from Gatwick and Heathrow this year. It launched at Gatwick this year and Heathrow from April 2016.

It will return next year from Gatwick only from Saturday 27 April and Saturday 28 September 2019. Flights will operate six times weekly.

Pisa

This route will be suspended at London Gatwick from 31 March 2019. It operates under flight numbers BA2600, BA2601, BA2602 and BA2603.

BA will increase existing services from London Heathrow from 11 to 18 flights a week to compensate. The route will also transfer from Heathrow Terminal 5 to Terminal 3.

Valencia

This route has operated from Gatwick since November 2015. It operates under flight numbers BA2794 and BA2795.

It will transfer to London Heathrow from 31 March 2019. Flights will operate 9 times weekly. The new flight numbers are BA408, BA409, BA422 and BA445.

London Air Travel’s Atlantic Update – 24 October 2018

The Atlantic Update is published every Wednesday morning at 06:00 BST, providing a weekly bulletin on developments on transatlantic travel between Europe and North America.

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Charleston, South Carolina (Image Credit: Charleston)

Hello and welcome to the The Atlantic Update for Wednesday 24 October 2018, our weekly bulletin on transatlantic travel between Europe and North America.

A New Trend: The “Pop Up” Transatlantic Route?

Over the past four years, BA has methodically added one new Boeing 787 transatlantic route to its London Heathrow – North America route network at a time.

It started with Austin in 2014. San Jose, New Orleans and Nashville subsequently followed, almost exactly 12 months apart.

When BA announced Pittsburgh from April 2019 in July, it was assumed that would be it for another 12 months.

Those airports, such as St Louis, that had missed out this time would have to wait another year. As IAG CEO Willie Walsh had previously said there were about five US cities BA could serve profitably with the Boeing 787 it was also assumed that it would soon exhaust potential new routes.

Not so. Last week announced another new route to Charleston. However, this route announcement is different. It is seasonal and it only operates twice weekly.

It is extremely rare for BA to launch seasonal long-haul routes at Heathrow. It does of course have a strong summer seasonal short-haul programme with approximately 20 routes operating typically twice a week.

This is plainly aimed at the premium leisure market. It is a market that serves BA well. Passengers book well in advance. It has also proven to be resilient in a downturn in a way that corporate traffic isn’t.

Anecdotally, the launch of Charleston has attracted interest from those who have previously visited the region and do not relish an international-domestic connections at US airports.

It is no secret that a lot of US airports covet a potential direct link to Europe and will offer incentive packages such as revenue guarantees and reduced landing fees.

If this route is considered a success, do not be surprised to see many more US airports offer incentives to BA to launch more seasonal long-haul routes. Many readers no doubt have their preferred destinations in the US and would gladly take a direct route.

Although BA has to reach a ceiling on its US route network at some point, this could prove to be transformational in terms of direct US routes from London.
Continue reading “London Air Travel’s Atlantic Update – 24 October 2018”

London Air Travel’s Monday Briefing – 22 October 2018

Welcome to our weekly Monday Briefing on the main developments in air travel in London and around the world, as published every Monday morning at 06:00 BST.

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Welcome to our Monday Briefing for the week beginning 22 October 2018, summarising the main developments in air travel over the past week.

Winter Is Coming (Part 1)

October is a cruel month for the airline industry.

The peak summer season is over. It is some months before most passengers think about booking their next holiday.

Three weeks in, it has already claimed Primera Air and Cobalt Air.

Flybe also issued a profit warning last week. The airline expects to make a loss of £12m this year, compared to market expectations of £3.5m.

City investors do not take kindly to surprises. Flybe was duly rewarded with a more than 50% fall in its share price to 14.30p. This compares to a price of 341p when it first floated on the stock exchange in 2010.

Small regional airlines have struggled this year. CityJet has abandoned all scheduled flights. Fly VLM entered liquidation.

Consistent financial profitability has proved elusive for Flybe. It has banked its financial turnaround on downsizing its fleet. It is shedding larger Embraer E195 aircraft, a hangover from an over-ambitious aircraft order. This will make the Bombardier Q400 the backbone of its fleet.

It has also focused on providing connections to long-haul airlines at Heathrow and Manchester. It has taken up remedy slots for Aberdeen and Edinburgh at Heathrow and codeshares with many long-haul airlines. It has be said this is something that did not serve bmi well. The proportion of ticket revenue is small. There are significant operational issues in handling connecting passengers, such as dealing with mishandled baggage. Flybe also has ambitions to add many more regional routes at Heathrow if there is a third runway.

There is not a chance of IAG being Flybe’s saviour. When BA sold most of its former regional operation to Flybe in 2007, it acquired a 15% stake in the airline. It has since disposed of this. What had remained at BA became BA CityFlyer which has flourished at London City. Nor would IAG be interested in franchising the BA brand. BA cancelled its remaining UK franchise agreements with Loganair after bmi and easyJet acquired former franchisees BMed and GB Airways respectively in 2007.

International Airlines Group will also publish its 3rd quarter results this coming Friday. Whilst major announcements are likely to be reserved for the Capital Markets Day in November, IAG will inevitably be asked by analysts about the recent BA data breach.
Continue reading “London Air Travel’s Monday Briefing – 22 October 2018”

British Airways scales back at London Stansted

British Airways is cancelling some seasonal weekend routes from London Stansted and reducing frequencies on others.

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London Stansted (Image Credit: British Airways)

For the past three summers, British Airways’ subsidiary BA CityFlyer has run seasonal weekend routes from London Stansted.

The reason for this is that London City is closed for part of the weekend. Instead of leaving its fleet of Embraer aircraft sit idle, some are positioned to Stansted airport.

Routes from Birmingham, Bristol and Manchester soon followed. However, there are now signs that BA CityFlyer is scaling back its ambitions.

All routes from Birmingham and Bristol have been suspended for next summer. BA CityFlyer has also scaled back its ambitions at Stansted. Some routes have been cancelled. Others have been cut in frequency. There are similar changes at Manchester.

Here’s a quick precis of known changes as at Sunday 21 October 2018. Further changes may be announced in the coming months.
Continue reading “British Airways scales back at London Stansted”