Routes Archives - Page 2 of 11

British Airways suspends London City – Angers / Hamburg routes from late March 2017

BA CityFlyer Embraer at London City Airport

British Airways is to suspend its routes from London City to Angers and Hamburg from late March 2017.

Flights to Angers (Arville Airport) had intended to operate three times weekly on a summer seasonal basis from Monday 27 March 2017 to Friday 27 October 2017. All of these flights have now been suspended. Affected passengers have the option of being rerouted BA’s twice weekly summer seasonal service to Nantes from London Heathrow or a full refund.

The affected flight numbers are BA8743 and and BA8744.

Flights to Hamburg currently operate up to three times daily and will be permanently suspended from Sunday 26 March 2017. Affected passengers have the option of being rerouted on BA’s daily services from London Heathrow or a full refund.

The affected flight numbers are BA3291, BA3292, BA3293, BA3294, BA3295 and BA3296.

Affected passengers should contact either BA or their travel agent.

British Airways launches new summer seasonal route from London City to Skiathos

British Airways is to launch a new summer seasonal route from London City airport to the Greek island of Skiathos.

Flights will operate from Monday 26 June 2017 to Wednesday 6 September 2017, three times a week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to Skiathos Island National Airport.

Flights will be operated using Embraer E190 aircraft in a two class, Club Europe business class and EuroTraveller economy configuration.

Flights are on sale now at ba.com

Separately BA has announced that London City – Mykonos will operate five times weekly in the summer (every day, except Tuesdays and Saturdays).

This route announcement does increase BA’s summer seasonal coverage of Greece which also includes Chania, Corfu, Kalamata, Kos, Mykonos, Santorini and Zakynthos from London Heathrow.

London City – Skiathos

Flight BA2225 Depart London City 07:10 – Arrive Skiathos 12:30 (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday)
Flight BA2224 Depart Skiathos 13:15 – Arrive 14:55 (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday)

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce moots non-stop flights between London Heathrow and Sydney & Melbourne

This week’s Australian Financial Review magazine carries an extensive feature on Qantas. It is well worth a read. Much of the feature focuses on the work Qantas is doing to prepare for non-stop flights between London Heathrow and Perth.

Last year, Qantas gained a huge amount of favourable worldwide publicity when it announced non-stop flights between London Heathrow and Perth.

These flights are due to go on sale in April 2017 in advance of the route’s launch in March 2018. Whilst Qantas is still keeping some details under wraps, such its new premium economy seat, it has given the AFR some insight into its preparations for the new route. Specifically, Qantas is looking at the whole “ultra long-haul” in flight experience. This includes the design and timing of in flight meals, cabin lighting and in-flight announcements.

Also of note is that Qantas raises the possibility of non-stop flights between London and Sydney with the Ultra Long Range version of the Airbus A350-900 aircraft and Boeing 777-8X aircraft.
Continue reading “Qantas CEO Alan Joyce moots non-stop flights between London Heathrow and Sydney & Melbourne”

Finnair launches winter seasonal route from London Gatwick to Ivalo, Finland from Thursday 24 December 2017

Finnair is to launch a twice weekly winter seasonal route from London Gatwick to Ivalo, Finland from Thursday 14 December 2017.

The airline will fly from London Gatwick to Ivalo (Ivalo airport) on Thursdays and Sundays.

Ivalo is the northern most airport in Finland. It is a small airport with just a few flights a day. Ivalo is a popular destination for winter sports, visiting Lapland and witnessing the Northern Lights.

Finnair also flies to Helsinki from London Heathrow, together with its codeshare partner British Airways, up to six times a day. It should be possible to “mix and match” direct flights from London Gatwick with indirect routings if that is more convenient.

Flights are on sale now at Finnair.com However, do note that it is only possible to book flights up to approximately a year in advance.

Here is the initial timetable (which may be subject to change):

Flight AY662 Depart London Gatwick 09:30 – Arrive Ivalo 15:00 (Thursdays)
Flight AY662 Depart London Gatwick 08:25 – Arrive Ivalo 13:55 (Sundays)

Flight AY661 Depart Ivalo 07:00 – Arrive London Gatwick 08: 40 (Thursdays)
Flight AY661 Depart Ivalo 06:00 – Arrive London Gatwick 07:40 (Sundays)

The flight time is approximately 3.5 hours. Ivalo is 2 hours ahead of the UK.

British Airways suspends London City – Alicante & Madrid flights

British Airways is to suspend its twice daily London City – Madrid route permanently from Sunday 29 January 2017. The airline is to also not proceed with its planned seasonal London City – Alicante service this summer. This was planned to operate from Monday 26 June to Monday 4 September 2017.

No specific reasons have been given for the cancellation. However, it’s a reasonable assumption that poor commercial performance is the cause. BA has yet to announce which routes will operate in their replacement.

Affected passengers have the option of a refund or being accommodated on alternative BA flights to Madrid from London Heathrow (served by some 13 return flights a day) or Alicante from London Gatwick respectively (which operates up to twice daily at various times).

If you have not already been contacted you should contact either BA or your traval agent.

Flybe to launch direct routes from London Heathrow to Aberdeen & Edinburgh from 26 March 2017

Flybe has today announced it is to launch direct flights from London Heathrow to Aberdeen and Edinburgh from 26 March 2017.

The slots to operate these flights will be sourced from British Airways. As a condition of the purchase by its parent company, International Airlines Group, of bmi British Midland from Lufthansa in 2012, IAG is required to make slots available to eligible airlines for certain designated city pairs including London to Aberdeen and Edinburgh. The process is overseen by independent trustee.

Continue reading “Flybe to launch direct routes from London Heathrow to Aberdeen & Edinburgh from 26 March 2017”

Cathay Pacific to fly daily from London Gatwick to Hong Kong from 1 June 2017

Cathay Pacific A350-900 Business Class (Image courtesy of Cathay Pacific)

Cathay Pacific has today announced it will fly daily between London Gatwick and Hong Kong from Thursday 1 June 2017

The route launched in September of this year on a four times weekly basis and clearly has been a success with an increase in frequency to daily.

The flight will continue be operated with an Airbus A350-900 aircraft in a three class (business, premium economy and economy) configuration. Cathay Pacific will also continue to fly between London Heathrow and Hong Kong five times daily.

Continue reading “Cathay Pacific to fly daily from London Gatwick to Hong Kong from 1 June 2017”

Qantas to launch “ultra long haul” non-stop flights from London Heathrow to Perth from March 2018

Qantas Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner (Image courtesy of Qantas Airways)

Qantas Airways is to launch a new direct non-stop route from London Heathrow to Perth in Western Australia from March 2018.

This is the first scheduled non-stop direct link between Europe and Australia.

There have been non-stop flights between Europe and Australia in the past, but only as one-off charter flights with a significantly lighter weight.

At a distance of 14,498 kilometres and a fight time of approximately 17 hours, this will be one of the longest “ultra long haul” non-stop flights in the world. This is a time saving of 3-4 hours on one stop services.

Qantas has yet to announce the exact departure and arrival times of the flights and flights will not go on sale until April 2017. If Qantas is to use departure slots from its existing Heathrow portfolio a departure time of around either 12 midday or 10pm is likely.

Continue reading “Qantas to launch “ultra long haul” non-stop flights from London Heathrow to Perth from March 2018″

Virgin Atlantic suspends its summer seasonal route from London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare

Virgin Atlantic has announced it is suspending its summer seasonal route from London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare airport from summer 2017.

The seasonal route had been due to return in 2017 from May to October. However, the route has now been suspended permanently.

It is something of understatement to say that the Chicago route has something of a chequered history at Virgin Atlantic.

The route has been launched and suspended on more than one occasion and most recently has operated on a summer seasonal basis only. It is highly unlikely that the route will now ever return.

Whilst no reason has been given for the cancellation, it is likely that United and British Airways & American Airlines offering significantly higher frequencies (some six joint daily flights in the case of AA & BA) has put Virgin Atlantic at a competitive disadvantage.

Affected passengers should contact either Virgin Atlantic or their travel agent to arrange re-routing via Delta and Virgin Atlantic services to other North American gateways such as New York JFK and Detroit.

KLM returns to London City airport with the launch of Amsterdam from 6 February 2017

Dutch airline KLM is to return to London City airport from 6 February 2017 with direct flights to Amsterdam Schipol airport.

Flights with initially operate once a day on weekdays from 6 February 2017. The schedule will progressively increase to four times a day on weekdays with daily flights on Saturdays and twice daily on Sundays from 28 March 2017.

A four times daily schedule will clearly allow for ample connections to and from KLM’s extensive international network at Amsterdam Schipol.

Flights will be operated by KLM CityHopper using 100 seat Embraer E-190 aircraft (which should afford good leg room).

Flights are on sale now at klm.com

The London City – Amsterdam route is currently served by both CityJet and BA CityFlyer so passengers will have an extensive schedule of flights to choose from in 2017.

KLM currently serves London City from Amsterdam via a codeshare arrangement with CityJet and it is assumed this will discontinue after KLM launches its own flights.