[Anonymous]

[sparkyflier]

By October 2013, BA will have two brand new long haul aircraft types being absorbed into the fleet, and at the same time all the processes and projects associated with the buying of BMI will have been completed.

It seems there is plenty of shuffling of schedules at LHR this coming winter, with some slight reductions on many short haul routes, maybe for increased coverage on existing routes, and maybe for brand new routes.

But what are your predictions as to what changes will place, and what (feasibly) would you like to see?

We know some things already. A380 will initially (apart from short haul training flights) serve LAX and Hong Kong. We do not yet know where the 787 will be allocated, more 777-300ER are on the way and much of the 767 fleet still needs to be refurbished.

We know that Chengdu will be up and running, Bangkok will go from 747 to 777 and change terminal, and that Qatar will have joined Oneworld by then.

There are rumours (from the recent Bangkok route thread) that Kuala Lumpur will join the network and one wonders if BA will either leave Doha, or have it as a non-stop route without the Bahrain stop. Will BA start Portland and maybe Santiago in Chile? Will Bangkok eventually become a 787 route?

But what do you predict for the next Winter schedule and after, and what would you rationally like to see that would work?

[BA744fan]

Not sure how many are due by October but I would expect BA will retire a 767 each time they take delivery of a new 787.

Possibly see another 747 or 2 retired to the California desert as HKG & LAX get A380s and BKK is downguaged to 777.

New routes possibly to the US. Portland and Detroit have been mentioned on other threads. Not sure BA will go back to KUL. Maybe leave it to Malaysian. Possibly increase flights to Doha as there is talk of a new Kangaroo Route with Qatar Airways.

Interesting times ahead for BA and a real opportunity to up their game with a brand new long haul fleet.

[VintageKrug]

The Qatar Kangaroo Route as I’ve been hinting for some time, is most exciting.

Fort Lauderdale would be a great opportunity for BA, but not until the terminal and runway upgrades are complete end 2014.

I’d expect a few longhaul leisure destinations for the 787 – maybe something new in South America and even Honolulu was mentioned years ago, though more in a Thomson context, I think.

KUL I think is well up there, especially if BA stops serving Bangkok.

[DontTurnRight]

Would be nice to see BA coming back to Malta, though this time flying into LHR instead of LGW. Short of Air Berlin(Seasonal), we suffer a lack of One World Carriers on the Island and the BA link would assist considerably when flying to the USA and beyond. For some reason, BA has never been able to make Malta fully work for it in the past, though there is arguably no reason why this route should not work.

Star Alliance meanwhile have Turkish Al, Lufthansa, SAS and Egyptair operating to Malta and will soon most likely to be joined by Air Malta, who are strongly rumoured to be about to sign up for ‘Miles and More’

[Cloud-9]

More direct flights to large USA cities are much needed. There is very little option when flying there to travel on a US airline into one of the big hubs and change..Tiring and tedious

[BA744fan]

There is talk of Jakarta but I imagine this would be as an add-on rather than non-stop. Maybe it could tag on to the BKK flight, or if BA do return to KUL, possibly as a continuation of that flight.

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

I can see a 2nd rotation being added to Sao Paolo – maybe 3 days a week to start with – maybe then extended to another S.American city as well perhaps?

A 2nd rotation on Shanghai could be a possbility – with evening departures as well.

All the other mentioned are good possibilities as well.

[VintageKrug]

Which ones would you nominate, Cloud-9?

[sparkyflier]

Interesting thoughts so far.

@TimFitzgeraldTC, I am very sure you are right about Sao Paulo being a very in demand route, and I understand one of the most profitable, but it is to Brazil what LHR is to UK, very, very slot constrained, and getting another slot is almost impossible, which is why I think it could/should go A380. Did you have Santiago in mind as the other city?

I wonder about Shanghai as I heard both BA & VS are slightly reducing the schedules/equipment used.

BA744fan I think Jakarta is a huge opportunity and a big missing part of their current network.Garuda are re-starting London nonstop daily with 77W, but arguably their schedules are not that attractive, except for Oz routes! So I think BA can join in, either as a tag to KUL or BKK, or how about LHR-Jakarta-Perth on a 787? Very fuel efficient aircraft on a very long sector, to a booming country, with a tag to one of the richest cities in Oz?

Joburg must be a candidate for A380 use. It has 17 flights a week, surely a daily A380 and daily 747 would be sufficient, releasing 3 slots for somewhere else, like Jakarta, Harare, Durban/Maputo, Brasila/Santiago etc.

Cloud 9 I look forward to to your thoughts as to which not currently served cities in USA would be worthwhile for BA/AA.

VK which “leisure” cities in South America did you have in mind. I think of South America as business, tourist and also lots of cargo. Does anyone know if the 787 is “good” as a cargo aircraft?

Also the new 77Ws, which routes do you think these will be allocated to? Surely the routes with strong competition, but also maybe routes which are very expensive jetfuel wise versus 744. Houston?

[BA744fan]

@sparkyflyer – interesting thoughts about Perth expecially with Qatar joining Oneworld and Doha-Perth being a Qatar’s flagship 787 route. Not sure about Perth as an add on to Jakarta. Would BA be prepared to risk a lot of empty seats on the Jakarta-Perth leg.

Maybe BA will provide additional LHR-DOH flights to feed the Qatar network to Australasia.

Interesting times in South America as well. TAM recently announced reduced or dropped schedules to CDG, FRA & LHR as the Brazilian economy growth slows. With LAN/TAM joining Oneworld, will BA codeshare or introduce their own metal? Santiago seems a popular choice in the forums.

[rferguson]

Most rumoured are Santiago on the 787, and a tag/shuttle destination being added to the current LHR-SIN terminating flight. Top tipped are Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh for these.

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

sparkyflyer

Good point on the slots at Sao Paolo and therefore certainly some logic to this being an A380 route – if only for Weekend flights which seem very busy. Thinking Santiago as a tag on (though I’m sure some will argue it could be a route in it’s own right). Maybe a triangular route with Brasilia could work. Could they try and get slowt from LATAM once that merger goes through as they are OW partner. Probably not but an angle on it perhaps.

Can’t see Perth happening. But Jakarta / Kuala Lumpur seem likely.

Didn’t realise Shanghai was struggling – AF/KL seem to be very busy but maybe that is because they have a high frequency offering between the 2 of them and a choice of departure times which BA just don’t have.

[sparkyflier]

BA744fan about South America. I was thinking of starting a thread about the TAM changes to provide some analysis and get some thoughts.
TAM joining Oneworld provides opportunities but in the context of this thread, I feel South America is far to underserved by BA and to/from UK.
In previous threads I have suggested Bogota, Panama City, Lima and Santiago all of which I feel would work (with maybe Panama being a tag to BOG initially)and in Brazil maybe Brasila, Belo Horizonte and Recife/Salvador. Therefore I suggest Brasilia nonstop from LHR, with a tag to Santiago, and a flight into Recife, timed to connect to many other cities across the country, saving the need to fly down to congested GRU and then flying back up!

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

Another one no one has mentioned is Cincinnati. I think P&G have a base there and I have multiple clients who fly there – all indirect and even though they often prefer BA end up on other US Carriers as there Business Class fares are cheaper. However a Direct option would almost certainly mean they’d get 100% of this Business. It will also offer an alternative transit point of Paris to Geneva – another P&G hub. A 3pm departure out and a 8/9pm departure back could work very well on a 767 or 787.

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