Airbus A380 Archives – London Air Travel

BA to fly the Airbus A380 to Vancouver from 1 May 2016

A British Airways Airbus A380 aircraft takes off at London Heathrow airport. — British Airways Airbus A380 at take off, London Heathrow (Image Credit: Heathrow)

Vancouver is to join BA’s roster of Airbus A380 destinations from 1 May 2016 until 2 October 2016 as one of its daily flights to the Canadian city will be upgraded from a Boeing 747 to an Airbus A380:

Flight BA085 Depart London Heathrow 17:15 – Arrive Vancouver 18:40
Flight BA084 Depart Vancouver 20:50 – Arrive London Heathrow 14:00

This does mark the end of, temporarily at least, BA Boeing 747 services to Vancouver. The service will revert back to a daily Boeing 747 from 2 October 2016. There is no doubt that the Airbus A380 is a significant upgrade over the Boeing 747 in all aspects, particularly with regard to seating in World Traveller Plus, in-flight entertainment aircraft condition and overall cabin comfort.

Other BA A380 destinations include selected flights to Los Angeles, Washington, Johannesburg, Hong Kong, Singapore, San Francisco and, from 25 October 2015, Miami.

For passengers looking to book specific A380 services we should note that schedules are subject to change and aircraft can also be substituted at short notice.

Update January 2018:

The Airbus A380 is next due to operate on this route from Tuesday 1 May 2018 to Sunday 30 September 2018. The route continues to otherwise operates with a Boeing 747.

BA to fly the Airbus A380 to Miami from Sunday 25 October 2015

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South Beach, Miami (Image Credit: London Air Travel)

British Airways has confirmed that its London Heathrow – Miami route will be served exclusively by the Airbus A380 from Sunday 25 October 2015.

The A380 will operate twice daily, replacing up to three daily Boeing 747/777 flights.

The A380 currently operates on selected flights to Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Los Angeles, Singapore, Washington, and, from April 2015, San Francisco.

There’s more information on BA’s A380 operations at ba.com. As this announcement has been made nearly a year in advance, we should sound a note of caution that further changes could be announced in the interim.

BA flights from London Heathrow to Miami are also due to move from London Heathrow Terminal 5 to 3 from 14 October 2015.

Update January 2018:

BA now operates one of two daily flights to Miami (BA208 / BA209) with the Airbus A380 in the winter season until Monday 30 April 2018. The route then operates with a Boeing 747 twice daily until Saturday 27 October 2018. The A380 then returns on Sunday 28 October 2018.

BA’s inaugural A380 flight to Washington & new lounge

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British Airways lounge at Washington Dulles International Airport (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways completed its inaugural Airbus A380 flight from London Heathrow to Washington today, 2 October 2014, as flight BA217 arrived in Washington Dulles airport early this afternoon.

The launch of A380 services also coincides with the opening of a new “Galleries” lounge for business and first class passengers in Washington.

The lounge features a private dining area for First Class customers, pre-flight dining for Club World passengers, a bar with views of the airfield and shower suites.

Washington is the 2nd US city to be served by BA’s A380. San Francisco will be the next US city. BA also flies the A380 to Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Johannesburg. The A380 will also fly to Singapore from the end of October 2014.

The inaugural British Airways' A380 arrives at Washington Dulles International Airport, Virginia, USA on 2 October 2014 (Image Credit: British Airways) — The inaugural British Airways’ A380 arrives at Washington Dulles International Airport, Virginia, USA on 2 October 2014 (Image Credit: British Airways)

Seating at British Airways lounge at Washington Dulles International Airport (Image Credit: British Airways)

Pre-flight dining at British Airways lounge at Washington Dulles International Airport (Image Credit: British Airways)

Pre-flight dining at British Airways lounge at Washington Dulles (Image Credit: British Airways)

BA News: Washington Lounge, Special Meals, T3 Bussing

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A quick wrap up of some recent BA related developments:

1. London Heathrow Terminal 3 Bussing

After some six and a half years, the use of bus gates for passengers travelling on short-haul flights from Terminal 3 should have now largely come to an end. All short-haul flights should ordinarily be boarded from a gate with a jetty attached.

2. New BA lounge at Washington Dulles

BA is due to open a new lounge at Washington Dulles airport on Friday 26 September. The refurbished facility extends to 10,000 square feet. Passengers travelling in first flass will have access to a waiter service diner area and private bar. All eligible passengers will also be able to enjoy a deli style dining area, a deli bar, rain showers, a business suite. BA also promises power points at almost every seat in the lounge. The new lounge launches in advance of A380 operations at the airport starting on 2 October 2014.

3. Special Meals

BA has withdrawn four special meals with effect from 1 October 2014. These are fruit platter, bland meal, jain meal and seafood meal. Any existing bookings will be honoured.

San Francisco is the next route to be served by BA’s Airbus A380

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British Airways has confirmed that its next new route for the Airbus A380 will be San Francisco.

This is the sixth BA destination to be served by the A380.

From April 2015, the A380 will operate on one of BA’s twice daily flights between London Heathrow and San Francisco, five days a week.

The A380 will operate as BA287 & BA286 to/from San Francisco to London on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The same flight on Tuesdays and Wednesdays will continue to be operated by a Boeing 747, as will the second daily service, BA 285 & BA284.

BA currently operates the A380 on selected flights between London Heathrow and Hong Kong, Johannesburg, and Los Angeles. The A380 is also due to fly to Washington from 2 October and Singapore from Thursday 28 October.

Update January 2018:

BA currently flies the Airbus A380 from London Heathrow to San Francisco on one its daily flights (BA286 & BA287) on Monday, Thursday Saturday until Saturday 24 March 2018. The Airbus A380 operates daily from Sunday 25 March 2018 to Saturday 27 March 2018.

Qantas to maintain twice-daily London services; Melbourne retimed

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Qantas Airbus A380 at London Heathrow Terminal 3 (Image Credit: Heathrow)

Qantas has just published its half year results. In the past week there has been a frenzy of speculation in the Australian media following prior warnings from Qantas that it would incur heavy losses resulting in a significant restructuring of the airline and possibly drastic changes to its route network.

The losses themselves are as feared with Qantas reporting a loss before tax of AUD$252 million. Qantas has announced significant job cuts and disposals of aircraft and deferrals of aircraft deliveries.

There has been much speculation about the future of Qantas daily Airbus A380 services from London Heathrow to Sydney and Melbourne, following anecdotal reports of weak demand on the London Heathrow – Dubai sectors of the London – Melbourne routes.

Qantas has today confirmed that the two daily London Heathrow services will remain. However, the London – Melbourne route (currently a late night departure from London and early morning arrival, resulting in significant downtime of nearly 17 hours for the aircraft) will be retimed from November 2014.

We do not yet know what the new times are. One possible option is to retime the departure to late morning, as Qantas used to have to Sydney and Melbourne when it had four daily services from London Heathrow.

Singapore will be the fifth destination to be served by BA’s Airbus A380 from 28 October 2014

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British Airways has today confirmed that Singapore will be the fifth destination to be served by the airline’s Airbus A380 fleet of aircraft.

The airline is currently operating the A380 on selected flights to Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Johannesburg. Washington will be added to the A380 network from September of this year.

The Airbus A380 will replace a Boeing 747 on three flights a week between London Heathrow and Singapore from Thursday 28 October 2014.

BA will continue to serve Singapore twice daily, with the second Boeing 777-300 continuing on to Sydney from Singapore.

It’s worth noting that BA has departed from its strategy of deploying the A380 on routes that are not currently served by the A380 from London Heathrow as the London Singapore route has long been served by Singapore Airlines’ A380.

BA has a total of 12 Airbus A380s on order, of which four have now been delivered to the airline. BA also has options for a further 7 aircraft (instincts tell us BA will probably maintain its order at 12 aircraft).

BA has released a promotional video for the A380 launch to Singapore on YouTube featuring a very excited Sex and the City star Kristin Davis:

Update January 2018:

BA now flies the Airbus A380 on one of its two daily flights between London Heathrow and Singapore (BA11 / BA12). The remaining flight (BA15 / BA16) which continues from Singapore to Sydney is operated with a Boeing 777-300 aircraft.

BA adds Johannesburg to its network of Airbus A380 destinations

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British Airways has confirmed that Johannesburg will join Hong Kong and Los Angeles in its network of destinations served by the Airbus A380.

BA will operate an A380 service on three weekly return flights from London to Johannesburg from 12 February 2014 and six weekly return flights from 10 March 2014.

Full details of the exact flights are on the BA website.

What all these destinations have in common is that no other airline operates a direct service from London using an Airbus A380 which provides some pointers as to what additional destinations may be served by the A380.

Update January 2018:

BA operates the Airbus A380 on both of its twice daily services from London Heathrow to Johannesburg until Saturday 24 March 2018. From Sunday 25 March 2018, flights BA55 and BA56 continue to be operated with the Airbus A380. Flights BA57 and BA54 are operated with a Boeing 747.

BA confirms delivery dates for first Boeing 787 & Airbus A380 aircraft

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British Airways Logo (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways has today, 10 June 2013, confirmed that is to take delivery of its first Boeing 787 aircraft on 26 June 2013, and a second Boeing 787 aircraft a day later. It will take delivery of its first Airbus A380 aircraft on 4 July 2013 at a special media event at Heathrow to celebrate the introduction of two new aircraft types to its fleet.

BA has previously confirmed that the Airbus A380 will operate the BA25/BA26 Hong Kong route and selected Los Angeles flights later this year. The airline has released seat plans for the A380 but has not revealed the full cabin specification for the aircraft.

BA is yet to confirm on which routes the Boeing 787 will first be deployed. However, it reasonable to assume that some of the first routes to receive the Boeing 787 will be transatlantic routes currently operated by the Boeing 767 aircraft which include Washington, New York Newark, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Calgary.
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