Did BA consider operating it into La Guardia considering the International side of things has been dealt with at SNN? Something in the recesses of my mind about flights out of LGA to destinations greater than a certain distance are banned?
From 25th October flights to Gibraltar, Malaga and Pisa will move from Gatwick to Heathrow. A Daily Gatwick to Pisa service will operate alongside the Heathrow flights for Summer 2010. Gatwick to Varna also becomes a Summer only service.Gatwick flights to Alicante, Barcelona, Krakow, Madrid, Malta and Palma will be discontinued from 25th October and will not be re-introduced for Summer 2010.Heathrow to Barcelona will be increased from 5 to 7 Flights a Day.
BA chop and change the Gibraltar service back and forward from LHR and LGW.
However having a quick search for November sees the fare showing at 160 pound each way - surely an error or has the Walsh Crowd just simply lost the plot and dont want to carry any pax anymore on this route....
EasyJet thanks for the service you provide to Gatwick - and in most cases the prices that go along with it. Still wish GB Airways were flying though.......
Not that I've tried to book an award ticket, but I was under the impression that LHR-JFK/EWR (and v.v.) was awash with unsold Club World seats.........
I have been thinking about the route changes/reductions announced by BA a few days ago. I work in giving investment advice and the key rule there is diversification, don't put all your eggs in one basket. Put it another way, don't put all your bets on one horse in a race.
They seem to be slowly killing Gatwick, putting all bets on Lhr. Lhr is supposed to be the cash cow, yet it isn't at the minute. If it was so good, why are Ba in such a bad way? Not only have they bet on one airport, but they also heavily bet on first and business class. Both these sectors are in a bad way at the minute and Ba must suffer with them. There will be other times in the future when the same thing will happen, for different reasons. BA should be going after all three classes, as there will be times that the three classes will behave differently. Say first/business is down but economy stays strong.
The strategy that Ba are following defies logic, from the point of view of putting all bets on Lhr. I struggle to think of another major carrier with such reliance on just one airport. I find it difficult to believe the reasons as to why Ba could not make Lgw work. A lot of the failure was there own fault. For example, when I used to look at the paper timetables that were published, they would show say Gla to Jfk via Lgw/Lhr. But Lhr was always pushed first, it was as if Lgw was to be used only as a last resort. Lgw still has a hugh and well off catchment area as well as very good access to London. If part of the problem was high costs, then they should have sorted that out. If Ba had kept Go and made a major move on Lgw with Go, where would that be now? They might now be in a very commanding position there, like Easy now.
Over the past few years, Ba has done nothing but retrench. That can only go on for so long. Some day, they will discover, too late, that they have cut back too much and are left with very few options. I have to say, I fear for their long-term future.
Over the past few years, Ba has done nothing but retrench. That can only go on for so long. Some day, they will discover, too late, that they have cut back too much and are left with very few options. I have to say, I fear for their long-term future.
BA reminds me of UK Motorcycle Industry that pissed itself laughing at the Honda 50 as real motorbikes were a lot bigger so they ignored it and the Japanese learned to make bikes a bit bigger etc. BA laughed at LCC's flying to tiny airports and convinced themselves that it was only Chavs and the poor who were flying to out of the way places. Then LCCs started flying more and more from BA bases and all of a sudden BA is retrenching and closing or selling off routes to FLYBe etc. Future is how you wish to write it but there is an inevitability to following the course they are following.
I work in giving investment advice and the key rule there is diversification, don't put all your eggs in one basket.
Their cost base was too high and the competition was nimble and sure footed. Ergo the regions were left to easyJet, Ryanair and Jet2, the new competition who flew more people than BA ever did. BA aren't killing LGW, they just can't make it pay in the current climate and massive competition from easyJet. If BA were to invest heavily in Gatwick they'd lose even more than they are due to their cost base. How do you fix that? I admit LGW is more competitive than LHR due to new working practices but you are comparing 24 B737-400s built in the early 1990s with new build A319s and the flexibility such a massive modern fleet brings.
I might point out that BA made record profits last year..... The legacy carriers need to make money with a business model that delivers profits, for BA that has ALWAYS been operating at LHR. They've barely scratched a pittance outside of their main base and in lean times have lost millions.
Investment isn't aviation and in this particular case, the analogy is weak. People still get upset GO was sold, but it was eating away at BA's own margins at LHR and BA was competing with itself!
"but it was eating away at BA's own margins at LHR and BA was competing with itself!"
Isn't this what the A318 operation from LCY will do?
While the LCY-JFK may take some amount of traffic away from LHR, it will at the same time create a new and positive revenue stream. Remember also that customers using the service ex-LCY, may choose to return to LHR, or vice-versa. The LCY-JFK will also help BA build some brand loyalty at LCY, something which I think it has been lacking given it's current (and fairly unstable) route netwrok there. If all goes well, the JFK service gives BA a strong and unique position at LCY. I would expect that once the route is up and running, we may see some curtailment of JFK services ex LHR, leading to further possible cost savings and the ability to use LHR slots for alternative routes. Remember also that GO was in most cases selling at lower fares than BA mainline, whereas the LCY-JFK will be selling at a premium.
I like the idea of the LCY-JFK route, I'm not certain of the timing. The word is a bank has block booked a large amount of the seats, basically underwritten the route, and perhaps they have had a say in the date of commencement. That being the case - good luck, I hope it succeeds.
I cannot see why the success of a 32 seater aircraft from LCY should lead to the demise of a 291 seater aircraft from LHR. Taking the club/first cabin away from the equation and we still have 207 economy/premuim economy seats available on each jumbo. Is this another example of BA ignoring the none premium market - I hope not.
(Not that JFK is a bad route for that anyway because of its dynamics.)
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