British Airways - 2
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The B767 fleet is struggling, indeed newly repainted G-BNWA was grounded for some time recently, for the equivalent of hip replacement surgery perhaps?
The Airbus wing mods are crack repairs apparently, hence the need temporary hangar capacity at Prestwick.
The Airbus wing mods are crack repairs apparently, hence the need temporary hangar capacity at Prestwick.
Last edited by Skipness One Echo; 20th Apr 2013 at 16:32.
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1st EDI-LHR B767-336ER Shuttle suffering issues again this morning. Sitting on Stand 10 with flaps extended and engineering platform underneath. Q inside terminal at BA ticket desk was a mile long... This is a regular scene at EDI over the last 6 months or so...
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Interesting article with WW suggesting BA may consider moving some capacity to Gatwick if HAL go ahead with their planned charge increases.
Stop 'ridiculous? Heathrow price hikes, says Walsh - Telegraph
Stop 'ridiculous? Heathrow price hikes, says Walsh - Telegraph
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BA should never of moved as much away from LGW in the first place.
However to bring some destinations back to LGW they would need to re-introduce some feeder routes, domestic and shorthaul Euro
Id personally love to see some more Long and Shorthaul BA flights at LGW but i cant see it short term, However BA have been changing the way they operate, bringing costs down, outsourcing staffing etc, and now the SH sun routes are expanding which is nice to see.
Would be nice to see some more routes announced for Winter, maybe even some new Longhaul routes.
Anyone know how LAS is doing ex LGW ?, as the only Longhaul route that runs from LHR and LGW id be curious to know.
What is needed i think is a Longhaul flight ex LGW into an AA hub to offer some feed onward within the USA, perhaps its time to try a well timed JFK flight, well timed to allow connections at LGW and also at JFK, perhaps on a 3 class 772 ? at least this would also allow connecting traffic from places like JER and would not involve a trip around the M25
cs
However to bring some destinations back to LGW they would need to re-introduce some feeder routes, domestic and shorthaul Euro
Id personally love to see some more Long and Shorthaul BA flights at LGW but i cant see it short term, However BA have been changing the way they operate, bringing costs down, outsourcing staffing etc, and now the SH sun routes are expanding which is nice to see.
Would be nice to see some more routes announced for Winter, maybe even some new Longhaul routes.
Anyone know how LAS is doing ex LGW ?, as the only Longhaul route that runs from LHR and LGW id be curious to know.
What is needed i think is a Longhaul flight ex LGW into an AA hub to offer some feed onward within the USA, perhaps its time to try a well timed JFK flight, well timed to allow connections at LGW and also at JFK, perhaps on a 3 class 772 ? at least this would also allow connecting traffic from places like JER and would not involve a trip around the M25
cs
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BA should never of moved as much away from LGW in the first place.
What is needed i think is a Longhaul flight ex LGW into an AA hub to offer some feed onward within the USA, perhaps its time to try a well timed JFK flight, well timed to allow connections at LGW and also at JFK, perhaps on a 3 class 772 ? at least this would also allow connecting traffic from places like JER and would not involve a trip around the M25
Just scaremongering on Willie Walsh's part. He know's full well he's not going to move (many) services to Gatwick.
Its supply and demand. There are still going to be 1300 movements every day regardless how much they charge the passenger/airline.
Its supply and demand. There are still going to be 1300 movements every day regardless how much they charge the passenger/airline.
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LAS at LGW has been overbooked and is overbooked on may flights over the next few months. The staff standbys are a no go ! So something works at LGW for BA despite the gloom merchants
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I wonder if we will see any increases in frequency on the route in the future then, I'd imagine BA could run a daily 4 class 744 from LHR for mostly connecting traffic and a daily 3 class 772 from LGW mopping up primarily P2P traffic, as LAS seems to be quite a strong market. I would guess such an increase would need another 772 to be moved over to LGW so there could also be room for a new route or other increases. However I cannot see anything happening until BA find some slack in their currently quite stretched long haul fleet.
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I wonder if we will see any increases in frequency on the route in the future
then, I'd imagine BA could run a daily 4 class 744 from LHR for mostly
connecting traffic and a daily 3 class 772 from LGW mopping up primarily P2P
traffic, as LAS seems to be quite a strong market. I would guess such an
increase would need another 772 to be moved over to LGW so there could also be
room for a new route or other increases. However I cannot see anything happening
until BA find some slack in their currently quite stretched long haul
fleet.
Quite
i agree here, demand seems to be present for the increase to daily, but agreed about fleet currently, however some more 77Ws are due soon along with the A380 and 787 so some slack in the system to come which might allow an extra frame to migrate to LGW.
cs
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So something works at LGW for BA despite the gloom merchants
Hubbing didn't work for BA and short haul as retreated to the old British Airtours focus on sun routes. Full circle in some ways.
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Skipness, I think to compare the current BA operation at Gatwick to the former British Airtours days is a bit simplistic. British Airtours were more seasonal, with very few flights in the Winter. Most destinations were served several times a week and there were only a handful of long haul flights a week. Also most of the fleet went back to BA during the low season.
I agree that BA has focused more on sun routes than previously but they are being served in some cases up to 5 times a day. Providing some good competition with Easyjet to Malaga for example. In addition there are other routes that cannot be simply classed as sun routes. BA also offers different service levels within the cabin. There are also about 60 long haul departures a week most of the year. Of course, this doesn't come anywhere near Heathrow but its useful revenue and keeps 9 777s very busy.
I also agree that the focus of Gatwick is mainly point to point but that doesn't rule out further route development into markets that Gatwick is good at. I believe that BA could do well by increasing leisure destinations as well as those that may carry some business traffic too.
I think having cut their costs at Gatwick recently and bookings on their services this summer looking healthy there could be more to come.
I do agree that it will never be a hub like Heathrow again but with careful planning could tap into some more profitable O &D and leisure destinations.
Maybe Las Vegas will have frequency increased when aircraft become available. I would also like to see Las Palmas this winter. Maybe the Seychelles could work too. Just my opinion anyway.
Unlike others I think Skipness is usually spot on with his analysis and is not anti-BA at Gatwick, but is simply realistic. However I still believe BA will remain at Gatwick certainly for the foreseeable future.
V.
I agree that BA has focused more on sun routes than previously but they are being served in some cases up to 5 times a day. Providing some good competition with Easyjet to Malaga for example. In addition there are other routes that cannot be simply classed as sun routes. BA also offers different service levels within the cabin. There are also about 60 long haul departures a week most of the year. Of course, this doesn't come anywhere near Heathrow but its useful revenue and keeps 9 777s very busy.
I also agree that the focus of Gatwick is mainly point to point but that doesn't rule out further route development into markets that Gatwick is good at. I believe that BA could do well by increasing leisure destinations as well as those that may carry some business traffic too.
I think having cut their costs at Gatwick recently and bookings on their services this summer looking healthy there could be more to come.
I do agree that it will never be a hub like Heathrow again but with careful planning could tap into some more profitable O &D and leisure destinations.
Maybe Las Vegas will have frequency increased when aircraft become available. I would also like to see Las Palmas this winter. Maybe the Seychelles could work too. Just my opinion anyway.
Unlike others I think Skipness is usually spot on with his analysis and is not anti-BA at Gatwick, but is simply realistic. However I still believe BA will remain at Gatwick certainly for the foreseeable future.
V.
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However I still believe BA will remain at Gatwick certainly for the foreseeable future.
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Things are getting very interesting in the widebody race now; this comes only a short few weeks after the conversion of 787-9 options to orders and we know BA is interested in Boeing 777X; could it happen that BA will end up with all three types of next generation twin engines widebodies - 787, A350 and 777X?
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Great news!
BA are going to have to increase its international long-haul capability if it will successfully compete against the Middle Eastern and Asian giants. Operating a fleet that can fly to thinner long-haul routes (i.e., LHR to Manila) efficiently will be critical and the B787s and A350s will help. The A380s and some of the larger 777s can handle the main trunk routes while these types can fill in on the mid-sized cities. How else can you compete with aggressive first-class carriers like Emirates and Qatar Airways who are taking market share in long-haul markets to/from North American and Asian cities? When a business person needs to fly from San Francisco to Mumbai, BA is no longer the first consideration....
In the future, Emirates will only expand its connections and quality service to more and more cities (basically one stop service through Dubai to any big/midsized city in the world) - BA and the other Euro-based legacies will need to fight hard to be relevant to non-European long-haul passengers and differentiate their products if they intend to maintain (and maybe even grow) their market share.
BA are going to have to increase its international long-haul capability if it will successfully compete against the Middle Eastern and Asian giants. Operating a fleet that can fly to thinner long-haul routes (i.e., LHR to Manila) efficiently will be critical and the B787s and A350s will help. The A380s and some of the larger 777s can handle the main trunk routes while these types can fill in on the mid-sized cities. How else can you compete with aggressive first-class carriers like Emirates and Qatar Airways who are taking market share in long-haul markets to/from North American and Asian cities? When a business person needs to fly from San Francisco to Mumbai, BA is no longer the first consideration....
In the future, Emirates will only expand its connections and quality service to more and more cities (basically one stop service through Dubai to any big/midsized city in the world) - BA and the other Euro-based legacies will need to fight hard to be relevant to non-European long-haul passengers and differentiate their products if they intend to maintain (and maybe even grow) their market share.
Last edited by Iver; 22nd Apr 2013 at 18:59.
Before everyone gets excited - is this just a replacement of existing aging aircraft, or an expansion ?
If it's an expansion, where exactly will the Heathrow slots come from (sacrifice some European short haul for long haul perhaps ?), or is there a plan instead to add some long haul flying at Gatwick (or some other base) instead ?
If it's an expansion, where exactly will the Heathrow slots come from (sacrifice some European short haul for long haul perhaps ?), or is there a plan instead to add some long haul flying at Gatwick (or some other base) instead ?