British Airways Archives - Page 3 of 26

BA introduces new catering on its Club Europe short haul business class

Regular passengers in British Airways short-haul business class “Club Europe” have not had a great time of late.

After the “densification” (IAG & BA lexicon for adding more seats) of its Airbus short-haul fleet of aircraft the leg room in Club Europe is no different to EuroTraveller economy. More seats on aircraft also means more competition for space for hand baggage in the overhead lockers.

On the ground, BA has closed some business class lounges in Europe in locations such as Dusseldorf. Fast track ground facilities such as access to priority security lanes are not guaranteed for BA passengers at many European airports.

Over the past fifteen years or so, the catering offer has also been steadily reduced. One of the most notable changes was the replacement of hot meals with a cold breakfast plate on mid-morning flights and the introduction of Afternoon Tea. (Although Afternoon Tea has some fans, we think BA has a frankly absurd obsession with serving it on the ground and in the air, not least because nobody in the UK actually eats Afternoon Tea.)

By its own admission, BA has looked at withdrawing Club Europe altogether, at least at London Gatwick. However, the cabin has soldiered on. Indeed, BA is adding Club Europe to its UK domestic routes from 1 April 2017.

In one of the most significant changes we can recall in recent years, BA has now substantially redesigned the catering routines for all Club Europe flights to and from London Gatwick and Heathrow.
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You can now fly on a British Airways Boeing 777 between London Heathrow and Madrid

BA is now operating a long-haul Boeing 777 daily between London Heathrow and Madrid.

This weekend sees the start of the new summer timetable at London Heathrow. There are a few changes including the launch of scheduled services by BA to New Orleans, Virgin Atlantic taking over Seattle from Delta, Flybe launching Aberdeen and Edinburgh and BA launching summer seasonal routes to Murcia, Nantes and Tallin with many more routes to follow later in the summer.

One other change is that BA is now flying a Boeing 777 daily between London Heathrow and Madrid, a route exclusively operated by BA and Iberia.

Shortly after the merger of BA and Iberia under the umbrella of International Airlines Group in 2011 the two airlines put wide body aircraft on the route. BA operates a Boeing 767 on flights BA456 and BA457. Iberia operates its Airbus A340 on flights BA522 and IB1366/BA7058. The principal reason for this is not necessarily passenger demand, but the cargo capacity in the belly of the aircraft.

From today (Sunday 26 March 2017), BA will also operate a Boeing 777 on this route. Flight BA450 which departs London Heathrow at 07:20 and flight BA459 which departs Madrid at 12:20 will be operated by a Boeing 777.
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British Airways suspends London Gatwick – Lima route from Sunday 29 October 2017

British Airways is to suspend its London Gatwick – Lima route for the winter season from Sunday 29 October 2017. The route is expected to resume from late March 2018.

BA launched its route from London Gatwick to Lima in May 2016. No specific reason has been given for the seasonal cancellation. However, it is assumed the cause of cancellation is unsatisfactory commercial performance. The affected BA flight numbers are BA2239 and BA2238.

If your flight is cancelled you will be reaccommodated on Iberia’s daily service to Lima via Madrid from either London Gatwick or London Heathrow. However, do note that Iberia does not always operate its premium economy cabin between Madrid and Lima. Therefore, if you have booked to fly in World Traveller Plus on BA you may be downgraded to economy on Iberia. Iberia’s daily flight from Madrid to Lima (Flight IB6651 departs Madrid at 12:50pm and arrives in Lima at 17:35. Therefore, connections at Madrid should not be onerous.

Alternatively, you can be accommodated on American Airlines’ services to Lima via either Dallas Fort Worth or Miami.

Further options with partner airlines may become available in the coming weeks.

If you prefer you should be able to move your flight to a date when BA is operating the route. Alternatively, you are entitled to a refund.

Affected passengers should contact either BA or their travel agent.

Disruption due to strike by Air Traffic Controllers in Italy on Monday 20 March 2017

Air Traffic Controllers in Italy are due to take industrial action over a period of four hours from 12:00 to 16:00 GMT on Monday 20 March 2017.

This is likely to cause disruption with delays and cancellations. As a consequence the following airlines have issued guidance for affected passengers.

It is also understand the certain unions represent airport workers are also taking industrial action on Monday. As such, there may be disruption to some airport ground services.

Please note that this page does not provide live flight information so any cancellations listed are proactive cancellations made in advance, and do not necessarily include any delays/cancellations made on the day.

You can check live flight information on the websites of Gatwick, Heathrow and London City airports.
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London Flight Cancellations due to severe East Coast USA “Storm Stella” weather on Tuesday 14 March

“Storm Stella” is expected to cause very severe disruption across the East Coast of the United States on Tuesday 14 March 2017.

As a consequence, a large number of transatlantic flights from London’s airports are cancelled on Tuesday 14 March. Flights to New York, Boston and Philadelphia are most affected with widespread cancellations. There are delays and cancellations to Baltimore and Washington as well.

Airlines have also implemented flexible rebooking policies for those who are due to travel to the East Coast of the USA this week.

If your flight is cancelled you should be entitled to a full refund or a rebooking to an alternative date.

Here is the latest information from airlines operating transatlantic flights from London on Tuesday 14 March.

As at 23:00 GMT Tuesday 14 March, transatlantic operations from London’s airports should return to normal on Wednesday 15 March.

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British Airways flight schedules during planned cabin crew industrial action from Friday 3 March to Thursday 9 March 2017

British Airways “Mixed Fleet” cabin crew at London Heathrow plan to take industrial action over seven consecutive days from Friday 3 March to Thursday 9 March 2017.

BA has reviewed its schedules for all seven days of industrial action and has confirmed that:

All flights from London City, London Gatwick and London Stansted will operate as normal.
The majority of flights from London Heathrow will operate as normal with some flights merged and short-haul flights most at risk of cancellation.
However, there will also be a very large number of additional cancellations to short-haul services from London Heathrow to France, Spain and surrounding regions due to industrial action by Air Traffic Controllers in France

BA has not and will not publish a list of cancelled flights as it evidently keen to play down the impact of the industrial action.

Cancelled flights due to industrial action include the following (but this is not intended to be a complete list and does not include cancellations caused by strike action by Air Traffic Controllers in France):
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British Airways is now selling its “Club Europe” business class on UK domestic routes for flights departing from Friday 31 March 2017

British Airways Club Europe Cabin (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways is to introduce its “Club Europe” business class cabin on all of its UK domestic routes from Friday 31 March 2017.

Currently, all UK domestic routes operate with a single class configuration on board. From Friday 31 March 2017, all UK domestic flights will operate in a two class, Club Europe business class and EuroTraveller economy configuration.

(Note, BA’s official guidance says that Club Europe launches on Saturday 1 April, but ba.com is showing it as available from Friday 31 March.)

This means passengers in Club Europe will benefit from seating in 2-2, rather than 3-3 configuration on all Airbus aircraft from London Gatwick and Heathrow as well as complimentary food & drink (though this is likely to be limited given the relatively short flying times).
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British Airways flight schedules during planned strike action by London Heathrow cabin crew on Wednesday 22, Thursday 23, Friday 24 & Saturday 25 February 2017

British Airways has announced its schedules following planned industrial action by “Mixed Fleet” cabin crew at London Heathrow over four consecutive days on Wednesday 22, Thursday 23, Friday 24 and Saturday 25 February 2017.

BA has confirmed that it plans to operate a full schedule from all London airports on the first three days of industrial action on Wednesday 22, Thursday 23, and Friday 24 February 2017.

Update: Although BA had planned to operate a full schedule today (Thursday 23 March) there are a significant number of operational cancellations due to severe weather caused by Storm Doris in the U.K. and Northern Europe and industrial action in Italy. A lot of flights to the North of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern Europe are cancelled. Approximately 28 short-haul return flight cancellations are planned as at 10.30am. There may also be residual cancellations and delays on Friday 24 February 2017 as a consequence of the aftermath of Storm Doris.

BA has not announced any planned cancellations for Saturday 25 February 2017.
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British Airways launches new routes from London City & London Stansted to Milan Linate airport from late April 2017

The merry go round of route changes at London City and BA’s gradual increase of weekend services at London Stansted continues with the launch of new year-round services to Milan, Italy from these two London airports in April.

The new routes to Milan’s Linate Airport will start from London City Airport on Monday 24 April 2017 and from Stansted Airport on Saturday 29 April 2017.

There will be two flights a day on week days and one a day at weekends from London City and two a week from Stansted.

Flights will be operated using Embraer aircraft in a two class Club Europe business class and EuroTraveller economy configuration. Note that at some point in the summer, BA will introduce its Buy On Board “M&S On Board” catering service on these flights.

BA also flies to Milan Linate (as well as Malpensa airport) from London Heathrow up to six times a day and it is possible to “mix and match” flights if convenient.

The addition of this route at London Stansted means BA now serves nine routes at this airport: Berlin, Faro, Florence, Geneva, Ibiza, Malaga, Nice, and Palma.

Flights are on sale now at ba.com

Here’s the timetable:
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British Airways London Heathrow flight cancellations due to cabin crew strike action on Friday 17, Saturday 18, Sunday 19 and Monday 20 February 2017

British Airways has updated its schedules to account for its contingency plans following planned industrial action by “Mixed Fleet” cabin crew at London Heathrow on Friday 17, Saturday 18, Sunday 19 and Monday 20 February 2017.

Unite has also called for a further four days of industrial action Wednesday 22, Thursday 23, Friday 24 and Saturday 25 February 2017. BA will publish its flight schedules for these dates at the weekend.

There are no signs of any negotiations taking place between BA and Unite. Put simply, both sides seem determined to sit this out.

BA has confirmed that:

All flights from London City, London Gatwick and London Stansted will operate as normal.
The vast majority of flights from London Heathrow are scheduled to operate as normal.

BA has cancelled a select number of flights from London Heathrow. In the event that your flight is cancelled you should be offered an alternative flight on the same route, a rebooking to an alternative destination nearby, or a refund.

BA has not published a list of cancelled flights. However, we have scanned BA’s schedules and we have identified the following cancellations so far.

Please note this is not intended to be a definitive list and this may be subject to change. You should always check you booking directly at ba.com before finalising your travel plans.

Cancelled Flights – Friday 17 February 2017
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