London Heathrow Archives – Page 5 of 18

American Airlines’ Heathrow arrivals lounge closes for refurbishment

London Air Travel » London Heathrow » Page 5

American Airlines Aircraft at London Heathrow (Image Credit: Heathrow)

American Airlines’ arrivals lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 3 is now closed for refurbishment. The new lounge will open on an as yet unspecified date later this year.

Passengers arriving in to London Heathrow Terminal 3 on American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas Airways long-haul flights in first and business class can use the British Airways arrivals lounge in Terminal 5.

The lounge is not part of Oneworld alliance reciprocal lounge access arrangements. Therefore, members of American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qantas frequent flyer programmes cannot access the lounge unless arriving from a long-haul flight on these airlines in first and business class.

Only Gold members of the British Airways Executive Club can access the lounge when arriving from a long-haul flight in any cabin on British Airways.

Terminal 5 can be accessed from Terminal 3 by taking a free transfer on the Heathrow Express train service between Heathrow Central and Heathrow Terminal 5. The BA lounge is located on the first floor in the arrivals area and is accessible by lift from the arrivals area.

The BA lounge is open until 2pm and offers hot showers and a full English breakfast until around 11am and continental breakfast options until around midday.

Please note that in light of increased access to the lounge it is likely to be much busier, particularly during the transatlantic arrivals “rush hour” from 6am to 9am and access may be denied due to capacity constraints.

Jet Time to operate for BA to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow & Copenhagen

London Air Travel » London Heathrow » Page 5

London Heathrow Terminal 5 (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways is to sub-contract the operation of selected flights from London Heathrow to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Copenhagen to Danish charter airline Jet Time from Sunday 27 March 2016 until the end of October.

Although no specific reason has been given for this move, it is likely to be due to the fact that BA has gained additional slots at London Heathrow following the closure of Virgin Atlantic Little Red.

Under slot usage rules, airlines are required to use their Heathrow slots for at least 80% of the time, or risk forfeiture of the slots.

Flights operated by Jet Time will be flown with Boeing 737-700 aircraft.

The sub-contracting arrangement is known as a “wet lease” which means that the flights will also be operated by pilots and cabin crew of Jet Time.

BA maintain that the in-flight service will be the same on all flights. Flight numbers are also unchanged.
Continue reading “Jet Time to operate for BA to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow & Copenhagen”

Qantas to open a new lounge in London Heathrow Terminal 3 in 2017

London Air Travel » London Heathrow » Page 5

Qantas Airways has just announced it is to open a new dedicated lounge for first and business class passengers flying on its daily services to Sydney and Melbourne from London Heathrow Terminal 3, which will open in 2017.

Currently, Qantas does not have its own lounge at London Heathrow and eligible passengers have to make use of the British Airways Galleries Club and First lounges at London Heathrow Terminal 3.

The lounge will occupy two levels of the airport terminal with capacity for 230 passengers. The new lounge is expected to be modelled on recent Qantas lounges in Hong Kong and Singapore. Construction will commence later this year.

Features of the new lounge will include:

• Australian chef Neil Perry’s Rockpool menu and dining experience;
• Full-service bar with Rockpool cocktails;
• Full bathroom facilities including showers;
• Business facilities; and
• Children’s zone.

Eligible members of Oneworld alliance frequent flyer programmes will also have access to the lounge and with Cathay Pacific also refurbishing its lounges at London Heathrow Terminal 3, Oneworld passengers will have a good choice of lounge facilities at London Heathrow.

This is also a welcome investment by Qantas in London. Qantas has previously reduced its daily services from London Heathrow from four to two daily. It also ended its partnership with British Airways in favour a partnership with Emirates with all services to Sydney and Melbourne routed via Dubai as a consequence. There have been question marks over its long term commitment to London which can be allayed by the news of this investment.

Whilst the lounge design and menus will have a strong Australian flavour, Qantas do promise a British twist. In any event, a touch of Australia will no doubt be welcome in a wet and grey day at London Heathrow!
Continue reading “Qantas to open a new lounge in London Heathrow Terminal 3 in 2017”

Iberia Express launches London Heathrow – Asturias

London Air Travel » London Heathrow » Page 5

Iberia Express Airbus A320 (Image Credit: Iberia Express)

Iberia Express, the low cost short-haul sibling of Iberia, is to launch a three times weekly route from London Heathrow to Asturias in the north west of Spain from Sunday 24 April 2016.

Iberia Express will offer a two class, economy and business, service on this route.

At launch, flights depart from London Heathrow Terminal 5 on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday and will be codeshared with British Airways.

This route launch adds to a growing number of Iberia routes at London Heathrow including Palma Mallorca, and Tenerife and Gran Canaria. Iberia also serves Madrid from London Heathrow and Gatwick.

Flights are on sale now at Iberia.com and ba.com

Flight IB3603 Depart London Heathrow 20:30 – Arrive Asturias 23:25 (Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday)
Flight IB3610 Depart Asturias 18:20 – Arrive London Heathrow 19:15 (Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday)

H/T Airlineroute.net

Update January 2018: This route, which currently operates on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday is suspended from Saturday 24 March 2018. Iberia’s sister airline Vueling will continue to fly from London Gatwick to Asturias three times weekly on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. It is also possible to fly to Asturias from London Heathrow indirectly via Madrid.

BA returns to Tehran from Thursday 14 July 2016

London Air Travel » London Heathrow » Page 5

British Airways Tailfin (Image Credit: Nick Morrish/British Airways)

British Airways has today announced that it is to return to Iran with the launch of a six times weekly direct flight from London Heathrow to Tehran (Imam Khomeini International Airport) from Thursday 14 July 2016.

Flights will depart from London Heathrow Terminal 5 and will be operated using a four class Boeing 777 aircraft (First Class, Club World business class, World Traveller Plus premium economy and World Traveller economy). The flight will not operate from London Heathrow on Sundays.

That BA is launching the service using a twin-aisle long haul aircraft six times a week is clearly a sign of confidence that there will be strong passenger and cargo demand.

Flights are on sale now at ba.com.

This route is also currently operated by Iran Air on a 3x weekly basis. The last British airline to serve Tehran was bmi British Midland which operated the route until October 2012. It was suspended following the acquisition of bmi by International Airlines Group. bmi was later merged into British Airways.

London Heathrow – Tehran

Flight BA153 Depart London Heathrow 21:10 – Arrive Tehran 06:25

Tehran – London Heathrow

Flight BA152 Depart Tehran 08:35 – Arrive London Heathrow 11:10

Singapore Airlines introduces one stop link between London and Canberra

London Air Travel » London Heathrow » Page 5

Singapore Airlines is to introduce a one stop link between London Heathrow and Canberra, Australia with the launch of the first international airline service to Canberra from its hub in Singapore from Tuesday 20 September 2016.

Singapore Airlines will fly from Singapore to Canberra four times weekly.

The flight will then continue from Canberra to Wellington, New Zealand.

The flight will be operated with a 266 seat Boeing 777-200 aircraft in a two class, business class (38 seats) and economy class (228 seats) configuration.

First class and premium economy class will not be available.

Whilst it is true to say that Australia’s capital Canberra does not top the list of the most popular tourist destinations in Australia and has long been overshadowed by its sexier/smarter rivals Sydney and Melbourne, the route will no doubt attract a lot of Government traffic.

Flights will be on sale at Singapore Airlines.

Singapore – Canberra – Wellington

Flight SQ291 Depart Singapore 23:00 – Arrive Canberra 08:35 (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday)

Flight SQ291 Depart Canberra 09:50 – Arrive Wellington 15:05 (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday)

Wellington – Canberra – Singapore

Flight SQ292 Depart Wellington 20:15 – Arrive Canberra 22:05 (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday)

Flight SQ292 Depart Canberra 23:30 – Arrive Singapore 05:50 (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday)

Flight times are subject to change when Daylight Saving Time is adopted.

Aer Lingus & BA now codesharing on transatlantic routes

London Air Travel » London Heathrow » Page 5

Aer Lingus and British Airways continue to extend co-operation with each other under the umbrella of their parent company International Airlines Group.

The two airlines are now codesharing on each other’s transatlantic flights between London, Dublin, Shannon and the USA.

This means that Aer Lingus flights from Shannon to Boston and New York JFK and from Dublin to Boston, New York JFK, Washington Dulles, Chicago O’Hare, Orlando and San Francisco can be booked under a BA flight number on ba.com

Codeshares can be booked whether connecting from London or starting your journey in Dublin or Shannon.

The main benefit of this arrangement is that members of the British Airways Executive Club can earn Avios points and Executuve Club tier points in the same manner as a British Airways flight.

All passengers also benefit from US Customs & Immigration pre-clearance in Dublin and Shannon and connections are available from London Gatwick for those who would prefer to avoid London Heathrow.

Similarly, the Aer Lingus code has been placed on all BA transatlantic flights from London Heathrow and Gatwick, giving Aer Lingus passengers access to a more extensive route network.

It’s also worth noting that codesharing does not apply to BA routes to Canada and Central & South America.

Furthermore, a date has not yet been set for Aer Lingus to join the transatlantic joint-venture with American Airlines which is subject to commercial negotiation and regulatory approval.

Nor has a date been set for Aer Lingus to rejoin the Oneworld alliance.

Cathay Pacific to close its London Heathrow lounges for refurbishment

London Air Travel » London Heathrow » Page 5

Cathay Pacific Brushwing Sign (Image Credit: Cathay Pacific)

Cathay Pacific is to close its First & Business Class lounges at London Heathrow Terminal 3 for refurbishment and extension from Thursday 26 November 2015.

The lounges will be refurbished and extended and are expected to reopen on an as yet unspecified date in June 2016.

The new enlarged lounges are expected to follow the design concept recently introduced at Cathay Pacific’s The Pier lounge in Hong Kong and other airports such as Tokyo Haneda. This is the creation of Ilse Crawford’s Studioilse design agency.

In the interim, passengers travelling in First and Business Class on Cathay Pacific services from London Heathrow and Silver, Gold and Diamond members of the Marco Polo frequent flyer programme will be invited to use partner airline lounges when checking in at the airport.

Cathay Pacific has not specified which lounges these are but they are likely to include the American Airlines and British Airways Galleries Club and First Class lounges (subject to possible capacity constraints).

The opening of the new Cathay Pacific lounge complex in June 2016 will be widely anticipated. We expect the new lounges will be a very strong contender for one of the most well-appointed lounges at London Heathrow.

BA launches London Heathrow – Kalamata & Chania

British Airways has added new summer seasonal routes from London Heathrow to Chania and Kalamata for the summer of 2016.

London Air Travel » London Heathrow » Page 5

British Airways Short Haul Economy Cabin (Credit: British Airways)

British Airways continues its successful strategy of operating summer seasonal routes from London Heathrow with the launch of a further two new routes to Greece.

BA is to fly twice weekly to both Kalamata in Peloponnese, the Southern peninsula of Greece (from London Heathrow Terminal 5) and Chania on the island of Crete (from London Terminal 3) from 30 April 2016.

Flights will operate with a two class Club Europe business class and EuroTraveller economy class service.

BA will also return to Corfu, Santorini and Mykonos from London Heathrow for the summer season. Flights to Corfu will increase from four to six weekly, and flights to Santorini will increase from three to four weekly.

Flights are now on sale at ba.com
Continue reading “BA launches London Heathrow – Kalamata & Chania”

BA reinstates London Heathrow – Inverness from Tuesday 3 May 2016

London Air Travel » London Heathrow » Page 5

British Airbus A319 aircraft London Heathrow (Image Credit: British Airways)

Good news for air travellers in the Scottish Highlands. Inverness is to regain a direct link to London Heathrow as British Airways is to reinstate a direct link between the airport and Inverness (Inverness airport) from Tuesday 3 May 2016.

BA had suspended the route on 16 November 1997, having previously flown to Inverness since 19 November 1968.

A single daily flight will operate from London Heathrow Terminal 5 using an Airbus A319 aircraft. The flight will operate in a single class domestic configuration.

Flight BA1468 Depart London Heathrow 09:55 – Arrive Inverness 11:30
Flight BA1469 Depart Inverness 12:10 – Arrive London Heathrow 13:40

Although not explicitly stated by BA, it’s likely that the re-opening of this route has been facilitated by the return of slots formerly used by Virgin Atlantic Little Red to BA and favourable commercial terms/assurances from Inverness airport and local businesses.

It is also worth noting that Air Passenger Duty does not apply on flights from Inverness to London Heathrow as flights from this airport are exempt from the tax. It will, however, still apply to flights from London Heathrow to Inverness.

Flights are on sale now at ba.com