Tag: Aviation

The story of an airline turnaround: International Airlines Group & Iberia

This post is perhaps for students of aviation rather than the travelling public at large, but it is something worth noting in any event.

We have written much in recent years about British Airways’ International Airlines Group (“IAG”) sibling Iberia, and the wildly divergent financial performance of the two airlines since the formation of IAG four years ago in 2011.

Since Iberia started to report very heavy losses in 2012, IAG has taken a number of steps to improve the performance of Iberia.

This has included a complete overhaul of its senior management by a new CEO and (after bitter and unedifying industrial action with some rather unpleasant anti-British sentiment) reaching new collective agreements with its pilots and other staff working groups.

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Singapore Airlines launches joint rail & fly tickets with First Great Western to Wales and the West

Late last year, we wrote of a new initiative between First Great Western and British Airways, whereby BA passengers could book a flight with a connection on First Great Western to London Paddington, and the Heathrow Express from Paddington to Heathrow on a single ticket.

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British Airways to reintroduce First Class on flights to Vancouver from Sunday 29 March 2015 and Cape Town, Las Vegas and Phoenix from 25 October 2015

A few months ago it was announced that BA would stop offering first class on flights to Cape Town (selected flights only) and Las Vegas, Phoenix and Vancouver.

The reason for this was that even though the flights continue to operate with a four class Boeing 747 aircraft, these routes would be operated with aircraft that have not been fitted with the latest version of BA’s first class cabin.

Instead, BA would operate the old first class cabin as an extension of Club World business class.

As the airline continues to retire its older Boeing 747 aircraft, it is reintroducing first class on these routes with the assurance that all flights will operate with the latest first class cabin.

First class will return to Vancouver from Sunday 29 March. First class will return to Cape Town, Las Vegas and Phoenix from Sunday 25 October.

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British Airways launches joint rail & fly tickets with First Great Western to Wales and the West

Having previously travelled onward from Heathrow to UK cities by train, we are well aware what a fraught experience it can be.

Aside from the hassle and expense of travelling from Heathrow to one of the mainline railway stations in Central London, there’s the added dilemma of either buying a flexible train ticket (some times at a cost of hundreds of pounds) or an advance train ticket for a specified train which, if missed, has to be thrown away.

Whilst Lufthansa and Air France have offered Rail & Fly tickets for many years, BA has only now announced joint rail & fly tickets with First Great Western and Heathrow Express (who both serve London Paddington).

From Friday 5 December, passengers will be able to buy joint tickets for BA flights from London Heathrow to/from the following railway stations served by First Great Western (with a connection between Paddington to Heathrow on the Heathrow Express)

Bath, Bristol Parkway, Bristol Temple Meads, Cardiff, Exeter, Oxford, St Austell, Par, Plymouth, Penzance, Swansea.

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Delta Airlines adds to Heathrow presence with launch of London Heathrow – Philadelphia route

Delta Airlines continues to expand its presence at London Heathrow with the launch of a new route from the airport to Philadelphia on 8 April 2015, the airline confirmed today.

The flight will operate from Terminal 4, and be operated by a Boeing 757 aircraft in a two class (economy and business class) configuration.

The route will also be offered as a codeshare with its transatlantic joint-venture partner Virgin Atlantic.

Flight DL195 Depart London Heathrow 12:30 Arrive Philadelphia 16:00.
Flight DL194 Depart Philadelphia 19:04 Arrive London Heathrow 07:30.

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British Airways to introduce pre-ordering of meals in long-haul business, first class, and premium economy from 1 December 2014

British Airways is to introduce pre-ordering of main course meals for passengers travelling in World Traveller Plus premium economy, Club World business class and First Class on select long-haul flights departing from Monday 1 December 2014.

This move has been long anticipated. Indeed, it was originally announced a year ago.

At first, the option to pre-order meals will only be available on long-haul flights to Dallas Fort-Worth, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Rio de Janeiro, Seattle and Vancouver.

Passengers will be able to pre-order meals from Tuesday 18 November via the Manage My Booking tool.

Update: This service has now been extended to flights from London Heathrow to Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Houston, Austin and San Diego for travel after 5 February 2015.

In addition, from 1 February 2015 pre-ordering of meals will be available on flights between London Heathrow and Atlanta, Denver, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Toronto, Montreal and Calgary that depart after 1 March 2015. (Source: BA trade website.)

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British Airways suspends London Heathrow – Rotterdam flights from 28 March 2015

British Airways is to suspend its thrice-daily service from London Heathrow to Rotterdam from 28 March 2015.

BA has served Rotterdam since late 2012 and was one of three new short-haul routes announced shortly after BA’s parent company, International Airlines Group, bought bmi. The other two routes were Leeds-Bradford and Zagreb.

BA has since launched a service between London City and Rotterdam and will continue to operate this route.

It’s a reasonable assumption that an unsatisfactory commercial performance is a reason for the suspension of the route. According to Civil Aviation Authority statistics, just over 8,000 passengers flew in both directions between London Heathrow and Rotterdam in September 2014, a fall of nearly 30% year on year. August’s numbers show a similar trend.

Affected passengers have the option of being rerouted on either a London Heathrow – Amsterdam flight or London City – Rotterdam flight.

Virgin Atlantic begins Boeing 787 operations with inaugural flight to Boston

Virgin Atlantic commenced Boeing 787 passenger flights today (Tuesday 28 October) with its inaugural flight to Boston.

Flight VS11 departed London Heathrow for Boston shortly after its scheduled departure time of 17:35. Virgin also operated a test flight from London Gatwick to Atlanta on Friday 24 October, which is pictured below.

Whilst today marks the official launch of passenger flights for the Boeing 787, according to Airline Route the 787 will not operate from 31 October to 14 November to allow for crew familiarisation flights.

The replacement of quad-engine Boeing 747s and Airbus A340s at London Heathrow with the twin-engine Boeing 787 is cited as a significant step in restoring Virgin Atlantic to profitability, together with its nascent transatlantic joint-venture with Delta Airlines.

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British Airways to relaunch London Gatwick – Sharm El Sheikh (again!) from September 2015

BA will return to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt from mid September 2015.

The airline will initially fly to Sharm El Sheikh initially twice a week on Monday and Thursdays, then increasing to thrice weekly.

This is by no means the first time BA will fly to Sharm El Sheikh. BA’s franchise partner, GB Airways, used to fly their in BA colours until it was acquired by easyJet.

BA then operated a long-haul Boeing 777 a few years ago, but a combination of brutal timings and the Arab Spring led to the route being cancelled in 2011.

BA will fly to Sharm El Sheikh using an Airbus A320, offering EuroTraveller economy and Club Europe business class, so no in flight entertainment or flat beds in business class.

The good news is that the timings are quite agreeable for in the inbound and outbound flights. This is a typical timetable. The exact timings may vary throughout the season.

Flight BA2560 Depart London Gatwick 09:00 – Arrive Sharm El Sheikh 16:20
Flight BA2561 Depart Sharm El Sheikh 17:10 – Arrive London Gatwick 20:55

Flights are now on sale on ba.com

British Airways to fly its Boeing 747 to Denver from Sunday 29 March 2015

It’s not often you hear of first class being added to BA’s London Heathrow routes. Indeed, it wasn’t long ago BA announced it was withdrawing first class from Cape Tow, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Vancouver from later this month.

However, BA will be upgrading its single daily flight to Denver, Colorado (BA 219 and BA 218 return) from a three class Boeing 777 to a four class Boeing 747 from Sunday 29 March 2015.

This means that BA’s first class cabin will be available on this route and travellers in Club World business class will have the option of the popular 20 seat cabin in the “bubble” of the 747.

We’re not quite sure what has prompted this decision, other than that BA is the sole operator of the London Heathrow – Denver route and transatlantic traffic is buoyant at the moment.