[FrasierForum]

Malaysia Airlines is trying to expand at Melbourne but the Australian authorities i gather have imposed a cap on passenger traffic on MH hence MH has been forced to operate a double daily A330 rather than the planned A380 – which would have resulted in MH having to reduce its frequency to a single daily service.

If MH and BA put their heads together – it could make a lot of sense in BA offering an LHR-KUL-MEL service codesharing with MH which could be a win-win situation for both carriers.

This would also allow BA to offer a direct KUL service with onward connections to Jakarta, Denpasar, Manila, Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, Phnom Penh, Phuket, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Auckland, etc… Whilst MH gains a third daily connection into Melbourne.

Am aware that a limiting factor could be the usage and availability of suitable BA metal to send all the way down to Melbourne but i would have thought with both carriers sharing the operating costs – it may bode well for both carriers… Perhaps.. In the very least it seems a BA service to KUL is possibly overdue… Heck even Air France returns to KUL from April!

[Henkel.Trocken]

Good thinking FrasierForum but will BA ever be able to compete to KUL given the huge difference in cost base to MH? They are more likely to code share if they are interested at all.

What is going to happen to all those BD slots in the main remains a mystery.

FLL anyone?

[MarkivJ]

I don’t think having AA serve Portland-LHR makes sense as Portland isn’t even their base. Makes sense for BA as there are many hi tech workers there working in Intel and London could be a transit (or final stop).

[First-Pax]

FLL gets my vote Henkel…

[sparkyflier]

Hi Markiv J – you are right – looking back at my post I did not stucture it very well. I meant Austin could be a AA767 and was probably thinking a BA 767/777 for Portland, but having said that Austin is not an AA base either!
FLL has been suggested many times in this forum and I do not know why BA still has not done this yet. I cannot see how an at least 767 cannot work there. BA take so long with everything and have no sense of urgency; they remind me of the plodding and “dynamism” of a government controlled company, not a PLC.

[VintageKrug]

It can’t be too long before British Airways flies to Fort Lauderdale.

There’s plenty of demand for such a service, though I think it would suit Gatwick better.

The constraint is having the right aircraft to operate these routes, and in a challenging financial environment with constrained supply of new airframes, the sense of sclerosis is inevitable.

BA’s current longhaul fleet is very stretched right now. Looking forward to the next year or so when the new A380s and 787s come online.

[sparkyflier]

In light of BA changing their Bangkok schedule to an LHR daytime departure, what do you think BA will do with that slot? A new service or an extra frequency somewhere? Are there any rumours?

On the thread discussing the changing of Bangkok schedules and equipment, VK & Hippo indicated it would be used for a more “profitable” route, so any ideas/desires as to what/where this should be?

Maybe a new 787 route?Santiago?

Or am I being too imaginative?

[BigDog.]

For those considering taking advantage of BA’s very recently reintroduced service to the tourist destination of Sri Lanka…..

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/srilanka/10001113/Sri-Lanka-banks-on-return-of-British-Airways.html

(From LHR via Maldives 3 times a week)

[TiredOldHack]

Sparkyflyer – a direct flight to Santiago would be greeted here with happiness. Guess where I am right now?

Fly back tomorrow via EZE

[AnthonyDunn]

What about BA concentrating their additional (ex-BMI) slots on expanding economies to meet the needs of its premium (business) passengers?

In Europe that amounts to Turkey. In Asia that amounts to China and Mongolia plus Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. There are presumably also additional southern American destinations that merit being served such as Santiago de Chile and additional Brazilian stops. In the absence of an IB component that acts rationally, that might be in the waiting room for a while. And further routes to littoral west Africa?

[Wasborntotravel]

I would suggest that anywhere within Latam, India or Asia would generate a good mixture of business and leisure.

It had been suggested by some that BA would extend the BkK service to Vietnam, so it’s a shame that’s now not looking likely. In saying that I personally don’t mind day flights back from Asia, so moving BKK to a day return would work.

I think additional flights to Brazil are unlikely with TAM now joining OneWorld, however I would see BA code shares on those routes and perhaps moving some of their metal to other Latam locations so Santiago and code sharing with LAN. That would give another RTW ticket option linking to the QF Sydney to Santiago service

[LuganoPirate]

For anyone interested, here’s a photo of BA’s new A380 in full colours.

http://www.airliners.net/photo/British-Airways/Airbus-A380-841/2252098/L/

[BigDog.]

@ AnthonyDunn – 17/04/2013 20:26 GMT

….”What about BA concentrating their additional (ex-BMI) slots on expanding economies to meet the needs of its premium (business) passengers?”

+1

WW made a great deal about needing slots to service business routes (as AD listed) yet when the opportunity arises he only superficially walks the talk.
Being a mainly tourist destination I certainly hope the very recently introduced service to Sri Lanka will start from LGW and not LHR as the Telegraph suggests.

[sparkyflier]

BigDog just to correct you the route to Colombo does go via Male in Maldives but from Gatwick as you indicated it should. I actually feel that Colombo as a stand alone would have worked, and by linking them they have made the schedules less appealing for both destinations. Who wants to arrive back at Gatwick around 11 at night?

However tags can be a good way to test the water before investing in a nonstop route.

Anthony & Wasborntotravel we are on the same page on this one.When I started this thread last year, it was in the light of the new slots that BA was about to have as a result of the BMI takeover.

Since then most BMI routes have gone, and arguably the only new long haul route from LHR that has been announced since then is Chengdu in China, starting this coming September I think.Seoul was already announced before the takeover was complete.

The growing economies, and huge opportunities, are in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
In Asia Vietnam, Taiwan and Indonesia I feel there could be big money to be made, as well as good for UK PLC. Mongolia too! How about an LHR-Urumqi-Ulan Bator route?

In Africa you can get a very nice balance of tourism and business class traffic and in Latin America BA and UK PLC is far to underexposed. The LAN/TAM merger and TAM joining Oneworld is good news, but surely as you say other Brazilian cities should have links to Europe? Why if you need to get to, or from Recife, Salvador, Brasilia and Belo Horizonte should you have to go down to Rio or Sao Paulo to then go back up? And GRU is full.
Brasilia could be the ideal stop for a route to Santiago. Business, leisure and hefty cargo revenue! 3 x 772 would be a wise way to start.

Lima, Bogota and Panama would all work.

Anthony which destinations in Africa do you think would be worthwhile?

[AnthonyDunn]

@ sparkyflyer – 18/04/2013 08:34 GMT

As things Mongolian are of considerable interest to Snr Management (and thence myself), a route to ULN would be ideal as the country is in the midst of a massive mining boom and an economy growing at double digit rates – albeit from a low base. With the inflows of capital and expertise ranging from mining management to finance to how to operate a sovereign wealth fund, I would hope that UK plc would be banging on all the appropriate doors in UB.

That’s also why I am making a stab at learning a very obscure Altaic language…

As for Africa, the sector I am aware of is mining so Simandou (Guinea-Conakry) as well as operations in Namibia (Windhoek) and Mozambique (Maputo). Both the latter are currently covered by BA’s South African affiliate, whereas the former might possibly work as a tag onto another west African route. Beyond that, I follow the FT and Economist articles on the area and the World Bank reports…

[Author]

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