[Speedbird189]

@TheLion

Spoke to CSM on board BA139 a week back, they said an announcement on Honolulu was very likely by the end of May. Technically a little more than a week, beg my pardon. 😉

[TheLion]

@Speedbird189

Hmmm sounds like great news. Looks like a BA route too from the circumstances of the info you’ve obtained 😉

Hopefully will be from LHR to maximise connections and thus give the flights the best chance of succeeding. LGW possible too, as I think there is enough slack in the LGW 772 fleet to add another route of 2-3 days/week.

Anyone else have any other inside info?

Further, a direct flight would be in the region of 13.5-14.5 hours Great Circle (straight over the North Pole. I’ve seen block times ranging from 13h to 14h40 in sources ranging from the Daily Fail…

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2078301/Mind-sleigh-Airlines-given-permission-fly-North-Pole-time-slashing-hours-exotic-destinations.html

…to a-net to flight time calculation websites 🙂

[Speedbird189]

@TheLion

I imagine (and hope too) it will be from LHR. Much of the European tourism to Hawaii is sourced from Germany and Scandinavia. Only LGW route to Germany is Friedrichshafen so hopefully LHR. 😉

I’m not sure a 772 is capable of Honolulu. 787-9 based at LHR will be though. 😉

[AMcWhirter]

Honolulu is interesting.

But note that it’s not exactly a new destination for BA.

Readers will long memories will recall that BOAC used to route its LHR-SYD Super VC-10 flights via Honolulu. (BOAC also had other LHR-SYD services which took the traditional route via Asia).

The Super VC-10 had insufficient range to fly LHR-LAX non-stop so it routed to LAX via JFK and made a further stop in NAN on the way to SYD.

BOAC must have held certain en route traffic rights.

[icenspice]

Hello sparky

A long shot….Kathmandu?

Edited: I admire your perseverance!!

[BA744fan]

Am I the only one who thinks Hawaii is an odd destination? I would have thought it is a predominantly leisure destination, which would immediately favour a LGW route, yet BA don’t have a suitable plane to use exLGW other than a 3 class 777.

There’s talk of a 789 exLHR but are the yields there for a 4 class plane?

I can think of a lot more potentially profitable alternative new routes, such as SGN, CGK or reopening KIX.

[AndrewinHK]

HNL would be fantastic if indeed it’s true. My instinct thinks it is more likely a DG route with a 788 from Gatwick and probably then Oslo and CPH like they have done with Oakland and many of there other routes. However BA will switch to a 787 on the Nassau route soon so they obviously manage to operate ‘leisure’ routes in a premium heavy configuration.

[Bath_VIP]

HNL would be great having been there last year. Definitely a place I would go back to.

I wonder though whether BA would consider continuing onto Australia or New Zealand from HNL? It might give them a point of difference from the gulfies to Australasia?

[AMcWhirter]

I would imagine KTM (Kathmandu) doesn’t have the sort of runway which would satisfy BA.

You may remember the TK A330 incident which happened just over a year ago.

TK’s A330 was stranded there for a long time as the airport had/has no heavy lifting equipement.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-31736672

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

Lulea perhaps given Facebook have a large presence there. So lots of onward traffic opportunities for onwards US connections and into Europe. San Jose – Heathrow – Lulea?

Georgetown Guyana for huge expat community. Maybe a bit fanciful!

[transtraxman]

I am with Bath_VIP – 21/05/2016 16:41 BST on this.
Honolulu makes sense if it is extended to New Zealand. That way you get the best of both destinations and you differenciate the route from Air New Zealand..
Also as Alex said BOAC used to fly the Pacific via Honolulu so traffic rigjhts should still be in the hands of BA.
How may airlines fly from Honolulu to New Zealand?
The only alternative I see is to connect via Kuala Lumpur on to a Malaysian flight. Though I wonder if BA want to do that now after Malaysian has signed up with Emirates.

[AndrewinHK]

BA aren’t going to fly from HNL to Auckland, even currently this route is only served 6 times a week, 3 by ANZ and 3 by Hawaiian.

[batterytraveller]

HNL would be an interesting addition to the very long list of one stop routings from London to Australia. It’s nice to go somewhere else in the way to/from visiting family’s and Hawaii would be fantastic.

[nevereconomy]

A bold, novel addition to the BA network would be a flight from MAN to LGW, so that we folks in that Up North Powerhouse can enjoy all the new routes!!

[SenatorGold]

@Tim Fitzgerald 21.05.2016 19.57

Georgetown Guyana would be great. Was there in January and will be there again in September. Connections via Port of Spain with Caribbean Airlines are poor and badly timed especially since Caribbean Airlines stopped flying to LGW. Flying from Ogle (the small airport in Georgetown) via Bridgetown offers even worse connecting times to LGW. Only other alternatives are to fly to London via MIA, JFK or Toronto.

BA/BOAC used to fly to B707s to Georgetown via POS so that routing would be the easiest way for BA to make a return.

The Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown used to be a BOAC hotel. The plaque in the entrance to commemorate its opening in 1969 sports the BOAC Speedbird.

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