[BackOfThePlane]

Greetings to all from a new poster (but regular reader).

Thank you also to @sparkyflyer for this, my favourite forum on the BT site. Judging by the number of posts on the previous version, it seems I am not alone.

Having followed this site for quite some time, I can see that some contributors have strong feelings on a number of subjects, but especially anything to do with BA. I therefore felt that a little personal background would help.

My father worked for BA pretty much all his life so I have much to thank them (and him!) for, ie exotic postings as a child and cheap flights when I was a student.

While I do have a soft-spot for BA, and would like to see them do well, I rarely fly them. For short-haul, Eastjet etc are fine for me while, long-haul, I can almost always find lower fares and / or better hard product on alternative airlines.

Professionally, I work in the travel industry (leisure not business) and am something of a travel geek. Until I win the lottery (it’s proving to be a long wait) my experience of flying is very much from the back of the plane.

Happy postings.

[sparkyflier]

Thank you for your thoughts and posts so far!
Firstly Backof theplane welcome to the forum and “travelgeek” knowledge is always welcome and I think most regular posters are of the same ilk!

To be honest I do not really “get” Honolulu apart from bragging rights. Even 15 hours in First would be tedious, never mind the awful economy seating on the 787…

Re extended that route to NZ I cannot see that happening.

But re Bogota, I am glad some of you are positive about this, and even Panama, with its now many routes to Europe, would I think warrant a route to London – it is a city Panamanians really want to go to. No offence, but Frankfurt , or even Dubai, does not have the same appeal. And the incentives would be substantial.

But back to Bogota, it is also a Oneworld hub, with Lan having a decent network, and maybe with a new BA CEO knowing where these places are, and not just the commercial analytics at hand, increases the chances of such places happening.

Do posters really think Cordoba in Argentina is feasible?

Re South Africa, they should just make Cape Town an A380 route, with maybe a daily 772 from LGW. And maybe Durban as well should be added, keeping out Norwegian..

In North America, the posts suggesting Kansas seem very persuasive indeed – ripe for a 4 x 788.
Charlotte as I have said on another thread could be ripe for BA having a 747, especially following FlyingDutchmans observations.
No mentions of Fort Lauderale recently – have BA looked at that and looked away?

Back to Asia -Japan has lost a few routes to Europe recently, but I refuse to believe their is not the demand for a 789 or 772 from Osaka to London, although I wish JAL would operate this..

I think BA may have given up on Vietnam.. and now Jakarta has Garuda, maybe that as well..

However I do think a LHR-CGK-Perth would make money, with traffic rights on all parts.

So I guess we shall learn of Honolulu shortly..

[SenatorGold]

Sparkyflyer, from what I have read CPT currently is not capable of accepting A380s. Otherwise it would make sense.

[sparkyflier]

I think you are right, but I had read they were trying to make it A380 ready – but that was 2 years ago..so I was thinking it might be ready by now!

[openfly]

It will be some years before CPT can accept the A380. The runway/ taxiways will have to be rebuilt. The official Load Classification Number (LCN) is too low and could not support the weight of aircraft the size of the A380. Also some of the turns on the narrow taxiways are too tight. These factors make it marginal for the 747.
So CPT is stuck, like many airports, with the Jumbo as its largest aircraft.

[peter19]

Bringing it closer to home ( covering Scotland since im based there) how about feeding the Long hauls? BA started up the Inverness to LHR route this year but Gatwick continues to grow . Will we see any introduction to Inverness to Gatwick? Aberdeen to Gatwick? EDi and GLA currently serve.

[tigertanaka]

I would love to see the return of NCL-LGW but it does seem that Honolulu is more likely!

[julmops]

Hi all, not posting very often but I like this thread very much indeed ! HNL would be awesome even if I would prefer to get VS on it (however it’s purely personal preference). We are planning to go back to Hawaii in the next few years and would love a direct flight compared to stopping in LAX or elsewhere … Fingers crossed it’s announced and confirmed soon !
Maybe a seasonal weekly flight to FLL to cater for the booming cruise industry could be a good idea? MIA isn’t far as such but traffic can be quite horrendous down there …

[BackOfThePlane]

I know very little about Honolulu, and am more than prepared to eat humble-pie, but I would still be surprised if it came off, at least in the short term.

As has already been pointed out, Honolulu is mainly a leisure route but the only current BA aircraft capable of flying non-stop is the 787, and I don’t see BA parking any of them at LGW anytime soon.

If we’re just talking about where we would like BA to fly, then I’d say Belize although that definitely isn’t going to happen. It’s odd that such a lovely country has such poor air links but they first need to expand Belize City airport which is tiny.

In terms of what I think BA might or should do…..

From LGW, Havana is a serious contender although Cuba has a serious accommodation shortage which is hampering the growth of tourism. Perhaps also Durban.

From LHR, I see BA looking westwards where they are safe from the ME3 and Turkish Airlines. There are countless US destinations which would give BA significant ‘incentives’ to fly there. I would see Portland as the most likely but I could be way out. In South America, Bogota is the obvious next step although the lack of oneworld support is clearly a handicap.

It will also be interesting to see how BA utilises its new aircraft in the coming years. Anyone who flies BA out of LGW will be praying for some of those lovely new planes to make their way to Sussex.

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

Some suggestions that IOM and other regional airports in UK maybe getting Heathrow connections back.

Other routes to consider

St Louis
Indianapolis
Osaka (as discussed at length)
Busan (bold)
Urumchi (if local provider to connect onto Western Chinese Cities)
Durban (from LGW)
Seychelles (from LGW)
Phuket / Langkawi (from LGW triangular route).
Ho Chi Minh
Manila

[dutchyankee]

@ TimFitzgeraldTC – 24/05/2016 12:03 BST

I like a lot of those. I would actually hope if Durban ever did happen it would be from LHR as I am sure there would be strong connecting traffic to support this, but really feel it is a needed link. The Seychelles is dying for more flights! A good friend of mine managing a resort in the country has said the island nation suffers from a real reduction in direct air links with Europe now with only three flights a week to Paris on Air Seychelles, and a seasonally once a week to Frankfurt on Condor. Of course plenty of regional flights to the likes of Nairobi, Johannesburg and further afield to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but no more direct to Europe. With the resurgence of the Philippine economy and the strong revival of Vietnam, perhaps its time to re-launch flights to Manila and launch service to Vietnam.

[jjeema1]

Has anyone considered a return to Pakistan? Islamabad and Karachi could work. There must be a lot of UK bound traffic from these two cities

[Speedbird189]

@jjeema1

I agree that Islamabad and Karachi could work. What would be fantastic would be the introduction of an A350 (once they’re delivered)- just the right amount of passengers and suited perfectly to a route of this length. It’d certainly be a classier option than sitting on the wings of a PIA bird speeding its way at 90mph and tiring of flight. 😉

[dutchyankee]

I have a feeling a return to Pakistan is more related to crew rest option and crew security than anything else, so either the Pakistani officials do a great deal to placate the BA unions and security chiefs, or the route is a tag to another destination where the crew could do a transit hop such as from a gulf city. Of course, Pakistan is a logical destination due to the cultural ties, but security concerns undoubtedly prevail.

[Speedbird189]

@dutchyankee
If Tehran can be started, I’m quite sure there wouldn’t be too many concerns surrounding Pakistan.

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