Tag: Osaka

British Airways relaunches London Heathrow – Osaka

British Airways is to return to Osaka, Japan launcing a direct flight from London Heathrow Terminal 5 to Kansai International Airport from 31 March 2019.

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Osaka Castle
Osaka Castle (Image Credit: Japan National Tourism Organization)

British Airways is to return to Osaka after a near 20 year absence.

BA will fly from London Heathrow Terminal 5 to Kansai International Airport four times weekly from Sunday 31 March 2019.

Flights will be operated with a three class Boeing 787-8 aircraft. The flight operates from London Heathrow on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday. It operates from Kansai International Airport on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday.

BA used to fly to Osaka via Tokyo Narita. However, the route was suspended in October 1998. Japan Airlines also used to fly direct from Heathrow to Osaka.

Kansai International Airport has only just restored operations to normal following more than two weeks of disruption after its facilities were flooded following Typhoon Jebi.

The route will be codeshared with Japan Airlines which, along with Finnair and Iberia, operates a joint-business with BA between Europe and Japan. It will also be possible to combine direct flights between Heathrow and Osaka with indirect flights via Helsinki on Finnair and Tokyo Haneda on Japan Airlines.

BA has also prepared a short PDF summary of the new route.

Flights are on sale now at ba.com

London Heathrow – Osaka

Flight BA19 Depart London Heathrow 14:20 – Arrive Kansai International Airport 09:50 (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday)
Flight BA20 Depart Kansai International Airport 11:30 – Arrive London Heathrow 15:50 (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday)

Air France launches short-notice £999 business class sale fares to Dubai, Mumbai, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto

There has been a trend in recent years for airlines to announce short-notice sales of deeply discounted business and first class tickets, primarily aimed at leisure travellers in periods where bookings from corporate travellers are relatively low.

Air France has followed this trend and has just announced a special £999 fare for business class flights from London Heathrow to Dubai, Mumbai, Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto.

Whilst £999 is a lot of anyone’s money, it does make the business class cabin much more accessible for those willing to pay and the pricing is particularly keen when compared to economy fares for direct flights during busy travel periods.

Bookings must be made by Monday 18 August 2014. However, bookings are valid for travel from 22 August 2014 to 31 March 2015. Bookings can be made for flights on both Air France and its sister airline, KLM.

As these are not direct flights from London, it does involve a change at either Amsterdam Schipol or Paris Charles de Gaulle airports (a connection at the former is much easier!).

It’s also worth noting that neither Air France nor KLM currently guarantee fully flat beds in business class across all flights. Both airlines are rolling out new fully flat business class products as per the Air France and KLM microsites.

There’s more about the sale on the Air France website.