London Heathrow Archives – Page 8 of 18

ITV to go behind the scenes at London Heathrow

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London Heathrow Terminal 5 (Image Credit: Heathrow)

The behind the scenes documentary shows no signs of running out of steam. We’ve lost count of the number of train companies, hotels and airlines that have opened themselves up to the cameras! ITV has now commissioned a three part documentary series on London Heathrow.

The documentary is being made by independent production company Raw TV. Production has been underway for some time, with the company actively seeking both frequent and nervous flyers late last year.

Of course, this is not the first time Heathrow has opened itself up to the cameras. The BBC ran “Airport Live” in 2013, as well as the long-running docusoap “Airport”.

We’ll provide an update with an expected transmission date as soon as we hear of it.

Update: Episode 1 of “Britain’s Busiest Airport” premiers on ITV at 9pm on Thursday 4 June 2015. More from the ITV Press Centre.

Finnair’s Airbus A350 aircraft is coming to Heathrow in October 2015

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Finnair Airbus A350 Business class cabin

When an airline introduces a new type of long-haul aircraft into its fleet, it is standard practice to undertake short-haul test flights. This is so pilots can undertake a sufficient number of take-offs and landings to fly the aircraft and cabin crew can become familiar with the layout of the cabins and galleys.

It is for this reason that Finnair will be bringing its brand new Airbus A350 to London Heathrow in October 2015 as part of a series of test flights across Europe.

The Airbus A350 is due to operate on the following flights between London Heathrow and Helsinki and flights can be booked now on Finnair’s website.

Tuesday 6 October 2015

Flight AY831 Helsinki – London Heathrow
Flight AY840 London Heathrow –Helsinki

Thursday 15 October 2015

Flight AY995 Helsinki – London Heathrow
Flight AY996 London Heathrow – Helsinki

Friday 16 October 2015

Flight AY995 Helsinki – London Heathrow
Flight AY996 London Heathrow – Helsinki

The aircraft features an entirely new cabin, including a business class cabin with aisle access for all seats. It is due to fly from Helsinki to Shanghai, Beijing, Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong progressively from 25 October 2015.

We should sound a note of caution that schedules may change at short notice if there are teething issues. It is entirely within Finnair’s discretion to let passengers change flights if this happens, if the rules of your ticket do not allow any changes.

Heathrow proposes reduced charges for domestic flights

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

There was something of a surprise announcement that caught the media’s attention before the Easter break.

Heathrow airport announced that it proposes to reduce its charges to airlines for UK domestic flights by a third from £29.59 to £19.59 per passenger, with effect from 1 January 2017.

This follows the announcement ny Heathrow Airport last month of a route development fund to support up to nine new UK domestic routes.

The rationale for this is that the number of UK domestic destinations from London Heathrow has fallen substantially over the past 25 years and does not compare favourably to rival hubs such as Amsterdam. So Heathrow wishes to encourage many more UK domestic routes.

Will we see more UK domestic destinations from Heathrow?

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Delta moves Atlanta & Seattle to London Heathrow Terminal 4

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Delta at London Heathrow (Image Credit: London Heathrow)

We’re not quite sure what has prompted this but the co-location of Delta and Virgin Atlantic flights in Terminal 3 has been partially reversed, with Delta’s daily flights to Atlanta and Seattle moved to London Heathrow Terminal 4.

As of today, 29 March 2015, the split of Delta operated flights at London Heathrow is:

London Heathrow Terminal 3

Boston
New York
Los Angeles

London Heathrow Terminal 4

Atlanta
Detroit
Minneapolis
Philadelphia (launches 8 April 2015)
Seattle

Update

Delta has since co-located all of its transatlantic flights with Virgin Atlantic in London Heathrow Terminal 3.

Virgin Atlantic begins closure of “Little Red” with suspension of Manchester

Virgin Atlantic’s has suspended its “Little Red” short-haul flights between London Heathrow and Manchester as of late March 2015. Virgin Atlantic “Little Red” will continue to fly between London Heathrow and Aberdeen and Edinburgh until Saturday 26 September 2015.

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Airbus A320 aircraft in Virgin Atlantic “Little Red” livery

The winding down of Virgin Atlantic’s short-lived UK domestic operation “Little Red” has started with the London Heathrow – Manchester route now suspended, some two years after it first launched.

Virgin Atlantic’s “Little Red” operation will continue to fly from London Heathrow to Aberdeen and Edinburgh three and six times daily until Saturday 26 September 2015.

It’s also worth adding that holders of Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles can redeem their miles for Virgin Little Red flights from 7,500 miles. Flying Club members can also earn bonus miles on Little Red flights.

What will happen to the “Little Red” Heathrow slots?

Some of the slots used by Little Red were from Virgin Atlantic’s existing slot portfolio, so some will revert back to Virgin Atlantic.

Many of the slots (at least nine) were forfeited by British Airways as a consequence of the acquisition of bmi by its parent company, International Airlines Group.

The trustee appointed to oversee the release of slots has re-advertised the slots. The deadline for applications is 2 April 2015.

If there is no bidder, the slots will revert back to British Airways.

There are no obvious candidates for the slots. However, a potential candidate would be easyJet if it felt inclined to launch flights at Heathrow to support its increased targeting of the business market.

Iberia Express launches London Heathrow – Palma Mallorca

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Iberia Express Airbus A320 (Image Credit: Iberia Express)

Iberia continues its steady expansion into the UK market with the launch of a new route from London Heathrow to Palma, Mallorca from 29 March 2015.

The flight operates from London Heathrow Terminal 5 daily.

Flight IB3615 Depart London Heathrow 20:30 – Arrive Palma 23:50
Flight IB3615 Depart Palma 17:30 – Arrive London Heathrow 19:15

BA also flies to Palma from London Heathrow. Flights operate daily. Times vary but flights typically leave late morning or early afternoon.

Flights are on sale now on Iberia.com and BA.com

BA also flies to Palma from London City. easyJet, Norwegian, Thomas Cook and Monarch also fly to Palma from London Gatwick.

Update January 2018: This route has subsequently been suspended. However, BA continues to fly to Palma (Mallorca) all year round.

Vietnam Airlines launches Heathrow – Hanoi & Ho Chi Minh from 30 March 2015

Vietnam Airlines will transfer its flights from London to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh from London Gatwick airport to London Heathrow from 30 March 2015.

The airline will fly to both cities twice a week.

London Heathrow – Hanoi

Flight VN54 Depart London Heathrow 14:45 – Arrive Hanoi 08:30 (Tuesdays, Fridays)
Flight VN55 Depart Hanoi 23:55 – Arrive London Heathrow 06:40 (Monday, Thursday)

London Heathrow – Ho Chi Minh

Flight VN50 Depart London Heathrow 14:45 – Arrive Ho Chi Minh 09:10 (Wednesdays, Saturdays)
Flight VN51 Depart Ho Chi Minh 23:30 – Arrive London Heathrow 06:40 (Tuesdays, Fridays)

Flights will arrive and depart from London Heathrow Terminal 4. Flights are currently operated with a Boeing 777 in a two class (economy and business) configuration

It is noteworthy that Vietnam Airlines has been able to secure an early morning arrival slot at London Heathrow – something which is vital to secure business traffic. These slots can trade for many tens of millions of pounds.

The loss of these routes will be a disappointment to London Gatwick, particularly when both Gatwick and Heathrow are campaigning for additional runway capacity. This move (which follows other long-haul scheduled airlines from Gatwick to Heathrow) supports the argument that long-haul airlines prefer Heathrow over Gatwick.

KLM Cockpit Tales

KLM have released a short series of “Cockpit Tales” videos showing the work its pilots undertake on a day to day basis to ensure flights operate safely and according to plan.

Filmed using “fixed rig” cameras in the cockpit of KLM aircraft, the first video “Autopilot in Action” shows Captain van Dorst planning a flight from Amsterdam to London Heathrow, how the flight is programmed using flight management software and the use of autopilot, and communications with Air Traffic Control from takeoff through to landing.

In the second video, “Highways In The Sky”, Captain de Vries on a flight from Amsterdam to New York JFK airport shows how the airline plans a flight across the atlantic ocean, where for a large part of the journey the crew and aircraft will have no radar communication with Air Traffic Control.

Finally in “Big plane, short runway”, at just 2,300 metres, Princess Juliana International Airport on the island of Saint Martin has one of the most challenging runways in the world. Captain ten Velde shows how KLM ensures it lands a Boeing 747 jumbo safely on the island.

We like these videos. There’s a huge amount that gets taken for granted in aviation and anything that increases understanding of aviation should be welcomed.

Autopilot In Action

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Singapore Airlines Introduces Premium Economy

Singapore Airlines will introduce a dedicated premium economy cabin on flights at Heathrow from August 2015.

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Although both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have operated premium economy cabins on long-haul aircraft for over 15 years, carriers outside the UK have been slow to follow suit.

Lufthansa and Cathay Pacific have recently joined the relatively small number of airlines such as Qantas, Air New Zealand, Japan Airlines and ANA to offer premium economy.

The principal reason for this is a concern that some passengers (or rather, their cost conscious employers) may choose to downgrade from business class, whereas airlines want passengers to upgrade from economy class.

The latest airline to introduce premium economy is Singapore Airlines.

Singapore Airlines will introduce a premium economy cabin on its Airbus A380 and Boeing 777-300 aircraft, both of which are operated on the London – Singapore route.

Thai Airways’ Airbus A380 comes to Heathrow from 1 July 2015

Thai Airways’ Airbus A380 aircraft is coming to London Heathrow from 1 July 2015

The airline will fly the Airbus A380 between London Heathrow and Bangkok daily.
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