British Airways hopes to compete more effectively with Emirates and Qatar Airways this summer by drafting in its passenger-pleasing Boeing 747s on services to Dubai and Doha. It will also move to a daily service on the Beijing route.
In previous summers, BA has operated the Dubai route with B777s. But this year, one of its twice daily flights will be upgraded from a B777 to a larger capacity B747-400 (a plane which knowledgeable travellers claim provides more ambience in its first and business class cabins).
Passengers will find the B747 operating flight BA107 from Heathrow at 1240 which reaches Dubai at 2235. It will return as BA106 from Dubai at 0145 reaching Heathrow at 0620 (note that the Tuesday and Friday flights depart Dubai and arrive Heathrow 25 mins earlier.
At the same time, BA's daily services to Doha (via Bahrain), flight BA125 (departing Heathrow at 1040, arrive at Doha 2055) and flight BA124 (departing Doha 2325, arriving at Heathrow 0635), will also switch to a B747-400. These services are perfectly timed to connect with BA's key transatlantic services in and out of Heathrow.
Finally, BA's Heathrow-Beijing route currently operated six times a week, moves to a daily frequency this summer. This service will continue to be flown by a B777.
All the changes take effect from the schedule changes at the end of March.
For more information go to ba.com.
Report by Alex McWhirter
