[Anonymous]

[BA744fan]

I am not a business traveller but love to fly whenever I can using savings and Avios.

BA will use their first A380 for training flights for a month or so before full entry into service and this is a great opportunity for amateur flying enthusiasts like me to travel on it.

There has been much speculation about which route will be chosen, with Madrid with the bookies favourite, so it could be possible to do a return trip in Club World for just 30000 miles + £40, so long as BA offer reward flights.

My question is, does anyone know when the destination, flight numbers and dates might be announced?

Also, assuming it is a short haul destination, would BA do two return trips/day to maximise flying time? Looking at BA’s timetable, they could easily do LHR-MAD-LHR twice in a day using one plane.

I know delivery is not due until around July so I imagine it could be May or June before BA make an announcement.

Just wondered if anyone on the ‘inside’ might know something.

Wherever BA choose to send it for training purposes, I will make sure I’m on one of the first flights.

[VintageKrug]

I think MAD is firmly in the running, though unless BA is explicit about which will be A380 it might be hard to guarantee the aircraft.

I would wait until much nearer the time and see how BA handles the introduction of its new flagship. Deliveries scheduled for July, August and October andhundreds of new, enthusiastic crewmembers are being hired to help staff these new behemoths.

Certainly worth trying it out on the shorter trips if you can make a weekend of it, though!

[DontTurnRight]

As I mentioned in a previous thread LHR-Madrid looks very likely, based on info from a BA captain a few weeks back. No further details though.

[rferguson]

BA744 fan it is all being kept top top secret at the moment.

We all hear the rumors about launch flights – and Galley FM has MAD as the firm crew training flight destination (although BCN has been mentioned too). On the longhaul front LAX was rumored to have the first flights although I heard only yesterday (from a reliable source in the training school) that this has now changed to HKG. As for the dates or particular flight number, people are not even guessing.

I think a way to cheekily check which longhaul route/flight the big bird will go on first is to monitor the BA flight timetables. For example, BA have still not ‘officially announced’ the launch destinations for the 787 (even before the grounding fiasco happened) but they did announce that the initial aircraft would replace current 767 routes. So that narrowed the table down somewhat. Then some eagle eyed people noticed that the flight duration for two current 767 routes mysteriously reduced by around 45mins in the BA timetables – Calgary first then Baltimore – so I guess you could work out that Calgary was/is slated to be the initial route.

Likewise the A380. The 747/777 may be older but they are still quite a bit faster than the new kid on the block. So I would keep an eye out on LAX/HKG/JNB timetables and when you see the flight duration increase by 45mins or so, it’s likely to be because the A380 has been rostered it. I doubt that would reflect in a shorthaul training flight though.

There has still been no cabin crew selection either for the A380 and no courses rostered yet. All we know is that both LHR Worldwide and Mixed Fleet will operate on the aircraft (not together but on their own routes).

[Binman62]

These guys will be the first to know where when and how much…they may even get a heads up for a special.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1433868-ba-a380-do-thread-proposal.html

[craigjohnson]

V K, British Airways has already got lots of keen, enthusiastic crew for the A380.from their legacy feets!! Some of us even quadruple golden ticket holders

[handbag]

VK :andhundreds of new, enthusiastic crewmembers are being hired to help staff these new behemoths.

New Crew members are not being hired to help staff the A380.

Currrent staff of both Mixed Fleet and World Wide Fleet are being offered the opportunity to fly on the aircraft.

Crew are being recruited for Mixed Fleet as part of the ongoing plan to increse this Fleet and reduce labour costs.

As World Wide Fleet decreases, then this will happen more. Voluntary Redundancy has been accepted by less than the Company had hoped for, but this is still enabling some increase on Mixed Fleet.

[Henkel.Trocken]

Oh dear, VK strikes in another thread with misleading information.

I do wish those who moderate these boards would weed out his misleading posts.

[VintageKrug]

Your doublespeak and unrelenting criticism are the problem here, just as was the case with other handles which may or may not have been used by you.

These childish spats you engineer are dull for others to read, and do nothing for the health of this board.

The increase in MF recruitment, and other changes, will soon give a level of flexibility to BA’s management not previously possible.

Ultimately, MF crew will staff the A380 and the recent MF recruitment drive is very much driven by the need to ensure MF has the capacity for the increased crew numbers required aboard the A380.

[handbag]

VK

“crewmembers are being hired to help staff these new behemoths.”

“Ultimately, MF crew will staff the A380 and the recent MF recruitment drive is very much driven by the need to ensure MF has the capacity for the increased crew numbers required aboard the A380.”

Ultimately MF Crew will staff A380, as they will do every aircraft that BA flies. Not just recruited for that reason.

The MF recruitment drive is to ensure that they have the increased numbers required for all aircraft. Not just the A380.

Your post appeared to be saying that they were being recruited specifically for the A380. This is not the case.

It is a logical step that as more WW Crew leave that BA will employ MF at a lower rate. The recruitment is not specifically targetted at the A380.

[VintageKrug]

This is the long term plan, no suggestion that MF will be allocated the 380 in the short term – the MF recruitment is about building capacity and resilience for when that day comes.

Very good news for the Mixed Fleet.

[handbag]

VintageKrug – 23/02/2013 10:22 GMT
“
This is the long term plan, no suggestion that MF will be allocated the 380 in the short term – the MF recruitment is about building capacity and resilience for when that day comes.

Very good news for the Mixed Fleet.”

I agree with above. This is not however what your initial post said.

[JordanD]

BA have confirmed that LAX & HKG will be the first routes for the A380:

London Heathrow – Hong Kong eff 16NOV13 BA026/027 Daily

London Heathrow – Los Angeles
15OCT13 – 26OCT13
BA269/268 Day 246
BA283/282 Day 15

eff 27OCT13
BA269/268 Day x26

From: http://airlineroute.net/2013/03/05/ba-380-update1

[BusinessTraveller]

Thanks JordanD – this has also been reported here:

http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/ba-confirms-la-as-first-a380-route

[Author]

Posts