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Should British Airways rename itself London Airways?

Published: 09/11/2006 - Filed under: News »

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By next spring BA's network will be cut back to a London-centric operation with any remaining regional services reduced to Heathrow and Gatwick feeder services.

The big change will come about following the off-loading of loss-making budget brand BA Connect to Flybe. The deal means that BA's livery will disappear from large parts of the UK. Its domestic network will be cut back to London-bound services from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle and Aberdeen.

It also means that BA will no longer have a presence in cities like Birmingham, Bristol, Belfast, Inverness or Southampton. In addition BA will no longer be able to provide regional direct flights to important mainland European cities such as Frankfurt, Milan, Paris and Vienna.

Abandoning direct flights from the regions would be unthinkable at Europe's other large carriers such as Air France or Lufthansa. Both maintain a comprehensive network of international flights from both main and secondary cities.

Originally BA's management gave BA Connect two years to prove itself. But in the event the carrier lasted barely more than seven months.
Exeter-based Flybe will absorb the BA Connect business for an undisclosed sum. It will make Flybe Europe's largest regional airline, flying 10 million passengers a year over 159 routes. BA will acquire a 15 per cent stake in the new business.

Budget carrier Flybe says it will phase out the existing BA Connect fleet as soon as possible but passengers are unlikely to see any changes until early in the New Year. The carrier is currently taking delivery of a fleet of fuel-efficient Q400 turbo-props and Embraer 195 regional jets and these will eventually appear on the BA Connect routes which Flybe decides to keep.

Flybe has extremely competitive fares and so passengers will probably end up paying less for their tickets although they will also have to get used to paying extra fees for services which BA Connect did not charge (like baggage check-in). It also means the BA passengers booking alternative Flybe flights or seeking to connect between BA and Flybe won't be able to interline (through-check carriers) and they'll have fewer opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles.

But there is some good news. The existing BA Connect flights out of London City do not form part of the deal. These will continue to be operated by BA and the carrier says its London City network will be expanded.

For more information go to ba.com, flybe.com.

Report by Alex McWhirter

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