British Airways - 2

[thebeehive]

In the summer during the week they were carrying single figures in a B737-500.

Sorry to pick up on it but this simply isn't true.

[WHBM]

Originally Posted by LHR27C

and T5 is outstanding, IMO much better than FRA, AMS or CDG.

Don't kid yourself. Recently travelled with Lufthansa from London City to St Petersburg, Russia. Fare was less than half what BA were charging.

The connection in Germany was 30 minutes, which had reduced to 22 minutes on arrival. There was a ground agent at the door with my name and a transfer van, out of the aircraft, along the ramp, into the connection and we left on time. All for half the BA Y fare, don't forget.

Could anyone at BA even CONCEIVE of doing transfers at T5 in such a passenger-friendly manner ? No, unconditionally at T5 it's long walk, line up and long wait for a minimally-staffed security recheck with many of the checkpoints unmanned, despite already being cleared in the UK, further walk to make sure you pass each and every duty-free shop, and finally, as you geto the gate after closure time, staff smirking with a "Tough $hit attitude" at your misfortune. Go and join that huge rebooking queue way over there, and kiss goodbye to your plans for the rest of the day.

[dubh12000]

On a completely different note, doing my seat selections today on LHR / Newark and back, I notice there are 744s on both legs instead of the traditional 777s. Is there that much traffic this time of the year?

Are those 744s equiped with VOD? That was always the downside with the 777s....

[Skipness One Echo]

Quote:
In the summer during the week they were carrying single figures in a B737-500.
Sorry to pick up on it but this simply isn't true.

They have to give POB on the R /T to Mawgan Tower and unless the pilot was giving dodgy numbers, this sadly was true.

For sure, there will be a batch of Airbus sent over, but certainly not 50 odds

There are only 28 based BA short haul at LGW now alas. Time will tell.

Going back to Terminal 5, is it really the case that connecting passengers from within the UK have to clear security AGAIN at T5? That's rubbish surely.

[Ametyst2]

You have to clear security again at all Heathrow and Gatwick terminals if you are connecting from domestic to International or International to International flights and vice versa.

It was also the case at Frankfurt when I flew through there in August.

[Skipness One Echo]

Now I know why International to International is required but since GLA has DFT clearance then why are security cleared UK passengers processed again? It isn't required domestic to domestic at Terminal 1 so can't be a getting things on board issue. Anyone in the know? The BAA website suggests no but is not explicit.

In fact I can connect to international at Edinburgh without clearing security again!

[thebeehive]

They have to give POB on the R /T to Mawgan Tower and unless the pilot was giving dodgy numbers, this sadly was true.

You heard single pax figures regularly? Or once on your airband radio?

[Skipness One Echo]

In peak summer to a destination people go to surf, on the airline that refuses to carry surfboards, the load was in single digits. BA knew this as they knew the market well having flown the route before. The route was a SLOT FILLER.
Why on Earth did you contradict me when I said that the route carried single digit pax loads? Is the view from Finland more accurate than the one on the ground in Cornwall?
I was there, I heard the POB total, I was in the lounge when the flight was called in the peak of the summer holiday season. I'm sorry you don't want to believe me but I assure you that is the case.

[LHR27C]

BA CANT, COULDNT AFFORD TO, and WONT replace the 737s like-for-like with Airbus

Err, yes they will. Most of the 737s are on leases, at least three have already been returned and more and more A319s are being shifted over to replace them as the LHR fleet acquires more A320s. BA have 14 more A320s on order (G-EUUZ + G-EUYA to G-EUYM) for delivery over the next two and a half years. There is no way the LHR fleet could fit that much expansion (even with more 757s going), so something has to give and it will be A319s down to LGW.

As said above there are only 28 737s, and it is certainly the plan that LGW will within a few years be an all A319 base.

WHBM

Fare was less than half what BA were charging

So what? Almost invariably on legacy carriers flights to a destination via an intermediate point are priced cheaper than a direct flight, how else do you think airlines would get customers to travel with them? Try booking a flight from say CDG to JFK, almost invariably BA via LHR will be much cheaper than AF direct - or they wouldn't get any customers.

The connection in Germany was 30 minutes, which had reduced to 22 minutes on arrival. There was a ground agent at the door with my name and a transfer van, out of the aircraft, along the ramp, into the connection and we left on time. All for half the BA Y fare, don't forget.

So, you booked an extraordinarily short connection, and a ramp agent was there to make sure you made it? Do you really think that treatment is given to every single LH passenger? The only reason they did that was because you were cutting it so fine. This example has absolutely nothing to do with BA providing an inferior service, if anything it shows they are being sensible by not permitting such short connections.

Could anyone at BA even CONCEIVE of doing transfers at T5 in such a passenger-friendly manner ?

No, and nor could LH, or any other airline (imagine how must it would cost an airline to have agents ready to escort each and every connecting passenger to their next flight). I guarantee there is no way they would have given you that service had you not been cutting it so fine. And in a similar situation BA will do much the same thing; they often hold flights if an inbound flight is delayed and have agents at the door waiting to get the passengers over quickly.

line up and long wait for a minimally-staffed security recheck with many of the checkpoints unmanned, despite already being cleared in the UK, further walk to make sure you pass each and every duty-free shop

And what has that got to do with BA? Who decides how many security checkpoints to use, who put the duty free in? BAA.

staff smirking with a "Tough $hit attitude" at your misfortune. Go and join that huge rebooking queue way over there, and kiss goodbye to your plans for the rest of the day

This is just ridiculous. If you don't give ample time for your connection, that's your problem. Frankly I am shocked LH even allowed you to book a half hour connection.

You can argue as much as you want but there is no denying T5 is a fantastic airport experience, easily among the best in Europe and lightyears ahead of the rest of LHR.

[Gonzo]

This is just ridiculous. If you don't give ample time for your connection, that's your problem. Frankly I am shocked LH even allowed you to book a half hour connection.

Perhaps Lufthansa are confident in their ability to help you make that connection, and for that reason allow such a short connection time on the ticket? What WHBM has described has also happened to friends of mine who fly regularly with Lufthansa.....agent there to meet you off the inbound a/c to escort you to the departing a/c.

[flyer55]

Actually BA's 737-436 models reg DOCA - DOCZ, GBTA / GBTB are owned by BA and are not leased and BA are keeping .

The 737's that are leased are the 737-500 & 300 models and are on the way out !!!

[Globaliser]

Originally Posted by Ametyst2

You have to clear security again at all Heathrow and Gatwick terminals if you are connecting from domestic to International or International to International flights and vice versa.

I don't know how it works now at T1, since the remodelling; nor at T5.

But it was certainly used to be the case that security clearance was not required when connecting from domestic to international. This was the reason why RoI flights exited via a slightly different route, and you could not get to the FCC before reaching baggage claim. However, from the domestic side, you could go to the FCC before reaching baggage claim via a route which did not require you to be security cleared.

[Haven't a clue]

Quote:

Could anyone at BA even CONCEIVE of doing transfers at T5 in such a passenger-friendly manner ?

I don't know about T5, but everytime I arrive at HKG on BA there are a large number of the handling agent's staff (Jardines) waving boards with transfer pax names on, all ready to guide them through the transfer process. Maybe it's just an Asian thing - they are so very customer service orientated in that part of the world.

[Ametyst2]

BA are staring a weekly Gatwick to St. Kitts service operating once a week via Antigua from 10th January

For next summer services from Gatwick to Atlanta and Gatwick to Toulouse will be transferred to Heathrow. Frequency will go from 3 to 2 a day when the Toulouse service transfers

Frequency is being increased next summer by adding an extra daily service on routes from Heathrow to Athens, Budapest, Lisbon, Nice, Prague and Rome.

Next summer, services from Heathrow to Dubai will be increased from 14 to 20 Flights a week, and services from Heathrow to Johannesburg will be increased from 14 to 19 Flights a week.

[4567]

Very Disapointed to see BA shut there GLA base!

I see Air France are canceling Los angeles for JFK from LHR. Surely there turning mad actually going to try and take on BA and Virgin plus AA. Delta is part of skyteam so they will work with Air France but even at that 3 flights a day against max8 from BA!

Maybe Flyopenskies is hitting home at CDG!

[theskyboy]

You have to clear security again at all Heathrow and Gatwick terminals if you are connecting from domestic to International or International to International flights and vice versa.

This isn't quite true, if you arrive on a domestic flight in to T5, you'll pass through the conformance point, where your boarding card is scanned to make sure you have enough time to make your next departure. From there you go up and escalator (or lift) directly in to the departure lounge.

There is no security as you have been through this already at your departure point which will be up to DfT standards.

International/International or international/Domestic will pass through security as so that they are cleared to DfT standards before travelling.

tsb

[CHINOOKER]

The retirement of the first BA 747-400s has just been released by Engineering planning dept.....G-BNLB and C will be stood down within the next few weeks followed by NLA in January!. All three a/c are to have the interiors stripped out at LHR after which they will be flown to either Arizona/New Mexico or possibly Kemble for scrapping/part reclamation. Early indications are that these first three will be followed by two more airframes in April 09.

[Jamesair]

Did anyone read about the possible takeover bid for BA by Cathay Pacific?

[davidjohnson6]

Cathay Pacific - BA

Reuters reports that Cathay Pacific have denied it

Cathay Pacific says no plans to buy British Airways | News | Hot Shares | Reuters

[Peter47]

BA's Winter pdf timetable

I've just downloaded BA's winter BA timetable in pdf format which appeared on their website over the weekend.

Seems there are still 3 daily LHR - LAX, NRT is double daily throughout the winter, 8 x LHR - JFK.

Has someone at Waterside pressed the wrong button somewhere?