BA Winter 2013 +, new aircraft, new routes:- your predictions & wish list

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Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 161 total)

  • BigDog.
    Participant

    Bear in mind the new aircraft, according to CAPA, are to replace existing assets which have been sweated to the max, they are not additions increasing the fleet size.
    If new routes/capacity are added, which routes/service frequency are being cut?


    sparkyflier
    Participant

    Big Dog I reckon there will be less aircraft leaving than joing the fleet, and some short haul routes are being reduced. Also I think BA were not so short of long-haul aircraft as they said they were!

    A380 have been invested in in order to consolidate slots, which are very precious at LHR. For example, Summer 2014 I think instead of there being 3 x 747 on LHR-LAX, there will be 2 x A380.

    RFerguson welcome back from your holiday and once again thank you for the trip reports! One thing about tags to SIN – are these needed? I wonder if the withdrawel of 2 x QF A380s ensure that both BA flights are pretty full.Would a tag of Jakarta from KUL or BKK be more prudent? Maybe a daily flight to KUL, with tags to CGK 4 x weekly, and the other 3 Bali?

    Re USA: How about an Austin TX 787 route?

    Is there any reason why some 767s cannot go to Gatwick as the 787s arrive?


    BA744fan
    Participant

    There’s no doubt that BA are doing a certain amount of slot holding at LHR and as the new planes are delivered some of the questionable routes eg Leeds & Rotterdam may well be dropped to allow new long haul routes.

    Also, some of the more leisure oriented routes out of LHR may well go to LGW, eg BKK which would free up more slots, so it is possible that retirements won’t be on a 1:1 basis and the old frames are fazed out slower than the new one arrive, thus allowing expansion into new markets and/or increased frequencies on existing routes.


    rferguson
    Participant

    Hey sparkyflyer, thanks!

    A good proportion of the traffic on the BA011/012 SIN terminator was connecting onto QF flights from SIN to SYD/BNE/MEL/PER/ADL and Jetstar to DRW/CNS during the JSA. Even when the JSA was alive and kicking the BA011 was often canx due to low loads and at other times tended to carry a lot of staff. Obviously with there being no feed ex SIN anymore via QF I can imagine the flight will struggle a bit as a stand alone. Who knows, maybe it will go to a 777 or even a 787. But who can say? With the 787 coming it does allow airlines to ‘test out’ new ‘long thin’ routes such as KUL or CGK without having to fill hundreds of seats or endure high operating costs.

    I don’t think we will see any new routes to Australia though. The yields are just too poor. If you do some searching you can fly in J return to Sydney say in October with fares starting at £2123. Yet a return to JFK on the same date in J and you are looking at £1243. So LHR-SYD is not even double the fare of LHR-JFK, yet represents at least three times the aircraft utilisation. By the time one BA aircraft leaves LHR, gets to SYD, turns around and arrives back into LHR you are looking at 58 hours including the day it spends on the tarmac in Sydney. Imagine how many times the same aircraft could fly back and forwards to the east coast of the US, the middle east or north africa.

    Even when you look at a stand alone LHR-SIN flight. The return fare on the same dates is £1636. So BA is only gaining a few hundred quid more revenue for the extra SIN-SYD-SIN sectors at 7.5hrs a pop.

    I would love to see more of BA in OZ. But sadly, I think it will just be in the guise of a BA code on a CX or QR bird.


    sparkyflier
    Participant

    or MH!


    rferguson
    Participant

    I agree. I think MH would be a perfect fit.

    And apparently they are fuming about QF pulling the plug on their proposed JV of a premium airline based out of KUL. So a nice little tie up with BA would be seen as them giving ‘a knee in the groin’ to QF….from BA and MH lol 🙂


    Cloud-9
    Participant

    I would like to see Detroit, Cincinnati, New Orleans fora start. Maybe Nashville and Winnipeg, Canada. Would Cleveland be worthwhile?
    Brazil is certainly a place to concentrate on with the next Olympics.
    Regarding the kangaroo route, I fear it is now unrealistic to expect to do it on a single plane as easily as it was 20 years ago.
    Having experienced many of the traditional Asian stopovers, I am looking forward to the experiences the middle east now offers, ( which BA and others already cover well)

    Hi sparkyflyer

    My wishlist? Addis for a starter.

    I agree with you about Brazil. Recife and/or Salvador would make perfect entry points to the continent.

    Closer to home, like rjbrownmalta, I am surprised that Malta is not on BA’s radar. And two other destinations I would like to see: Oporto and Funchal.

    What do you think about Banjul/Cape Verde?


    FormerlyDoS
    Participant

    Alexpo/rjbrownmalta

    “Closer to home, like rjbrownmalta, I am surprised that Malta is not on BA’s radar”

    The London-Malta route is tightly sewn up, with Air Malta, easyJet and Ryanair operating at least 5 rotations per day more in summer.

    BA ‘s CE product is inferior to Air Malta, easyJet dominates LGW and Ryanair has the really low end sewn up.

    No space for BA to position in, IMHO. They haven’t the cost base to compete.


    MarkivJ
    Participant

    How is BA performing on Indian routes? On one hand, they fly double daily to Delhi and Mumbai, but despite growing US traffic, they’re not expanding aircraft to Hyderabad and Chennai.

    As for 2014 routes, I really really think it’s high time they start a direct to Austin. Austin’s fast becoming Silicon Valley part 2 with tons of startups and lots of immigration from California and other high cost areas of the US. BA could start to Portland and Detroit as well, but those places do have flights to Europe. But for Austin, that would be a 1st and they could corner the market they way they did/do in Phoenix, Seattle, etc.


    sparkyflier
    Participant

    Alexpo you are always reliable for some blue sky and out the box thinking! Ha ha.
    Well BA pulled out of Addis, must have felt they could not compete with Ethiopean. But CaboVerde and Banjul, thats interesting, as are your other ideas. I wonder if u could have an ex LGW flight to Funchal going on to Cape Verde on some days, and Azores on others. I am just not sure the UK can provide enough demand these days for holiday destinations.
    But on West Africa more can be done and these could be good £ makers. Freetown and Monrovia could be split, with Dakar providing the stop for Freetown and Abidjan providing the stop for Monrovia.
    Air France is going A380 on Abidjan as the economy in Cote d’Ivoire is so rampant.


    rferguson
    Participant

    MarkivJ BA started the LHR- – Hyderabad route just two years ago with a thrice weekly 767. It is currently receiving six weekly flights on the same aircraft type. Starting end of Oct it is to receive a 6 x weekly 777 service.


    MarkivJ
    Participant

    Has it been just 2 yrs ago ferguson? I thought it was longer than that. I was sensing for a bigger BA opportunity when Luft pulled out of HYD. Perhaps they’re taking a slower route to growth there.


    DontTurnRight
    Participant

    Formerly DOS – Don’t disagree with you re the economics of the London – Malta route, but if BAs previous operation here was anything to go by, there was/is quite a lot they could do to improve, such as:-

    Previous flights were operated by B737-400 aircraft versus the competitions Airbus and B737-800 jets.
    Flight times were bad for passengers and crew with a two/three hour layover in Malta
    A separate catering contract was maintained in Malta, when all food for both legs could have been loaded in London
    BA maintained its own ground and check in staff, as opposed to contracting them out
    BA flew into LGW with fewer onward connections than LHR.

    I am not saying that with all of these sorted, a miracle cure would be forthcoming, but BAs big advantage over he other carriers is its connections out of LHR and if it could increase its share of this market, it would be selling tickets for simply more than the London Malta route.

    A One World Carrier going East from Malta is also needed and the only potential opportunity I can see, would be for Qatar Airways to put something like an A320 on the route to Doha., though I question whether they would be able to fill this.The Current Emirates B777 is rarely fully from Malta to Larnaca, and only really fills up there, though because of this stop it is often faster to fly from London to Dubai than it is from Malta to Dubai.

    I too like Air Malta Business Class, (especially the Etihad lounge at LHR) but in the main, do not find a huge difference between Club Europe and Air Malta, which have both been very acceptable on this route.

    I would love to see BA give this one more chance.


    FormerlyDoS
    Participant

    “I too like Air Malta Business Class, (especially the Etihad lounge at LHR) but in the main, do not find a huge difference between Club Europe and Air Malta, which have both been very acceptable on this route.”

    The differences I noted, having used both quite a lot

    – drink on boarding on KM
    – 2 x hot towel on KM
    – always had my first choice meal, on KM

    Not huge, agreed, but nice little touches that people remember.

    On the subject of Oneworld, I think I am correct in saying there is only IB on a Vueling codeshare and that is not year round, so I agree that there is a need for a one world carrier.

    Out of interest, Expedia often offer good connections using KM/BA and KM/VS, but my preference is to connect via MUC, as it is a far easier undertaking than a T4/T5 transfer.

    Edited. DOH direct would be great or even BAH and a QR or GF 320 would offer enough comfort for what is a relatively short flight , but I agree with your doubts about filling it.

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