British Airways - 2

[Skipness One Echo]

Noticed BMI's G-DBCE is in the old Concorde hangar in full BA colours and crest tonight. Also, G-EUOE is now out of the paint shop in the same colours.

[stab3.5up]

I would suggest that based on forward bookings on the ba dub lhr route you my see an increase in rotations as they go head to head with ei as the ei is code share ba will offer the full ba product from point of sale on line onboard service that ei just cant compare on service.

[BKS Air Transport]

Didn't somebody from BA management a few weeks back say that they were considering three new domestic Heathrow routes? Sorry I can't find the link, but it wasn't WW or in the IAG statement.

That makes 1) BHD; 2) LBA so where is 3)....NQY, JER,..........?

[cornishsimon]

would they have slots available to have 5 rotations to JER a day over the course of the day ? especially when the current JER sectors seem to sell very well ?

NQY.................

well as much as id love to see it, its a route i think that NQY needs and its a route that im fairly certain CCC will heavily subsidise, but will BA use slots for a LHR-NQY route even if only 1 or 2 daily on an A319 ?


cs

[Skipness One Echo]

Seriously, NQY-LHR on a Tuesday in Feb, seems a waste of a slot regardless of how much of taxpayers money politicians throw at it. INV would get LHR before NQY, LGW-NQY was hardly a triumph on the B737.

[cornishsimon]

Seasonal LHR-NQY maybe but BA dont really do seasonal routes ex LHR

however, a seasonal LCY-NQY route could work on an EMB170 or even better the S2000 ?


cs

[CaptainDoony]

You have to remember that with LHR, BA are not remotely interested in point to point traffic, they only want traffic to feed into their long haul network.

BA could start up many UK domestics but how much of them are going to yield a decent number of connecting pax?

I'll be very surprised to see any more UK domestic from BA and I'll also be surprised if this LBA route survives for anything over 18 months on this schedule.

[EI-BUD]

Why would BA go after a route between LHR and NQY? They sold their business off in the west country before and we got Air Southwest, before which they moved the route to LGW. They also tried a LGW NQY route for a time, although Ryanair were on STN NQY at the same time.

If BA see so many long haul or other destinations internationally that they want to operate slot permitted, there is no case for a marginal domestic route, unless of course they are trying to keep the competition authority happy and trying to ally their fears as the bmi integration is being completed.

EI-BUD

[sealink]

BHD LHR

By the look of the winter timetable there are a few strange timings with flights leaving 5 minutes apart. Also first departure not until 0735 ! Think the first Sunday flight is 1200! Anyone else noticed this ? Also flight numbers have changed again.

[WHBM]

Originally Posted by CaptainDoony

You have to remember that with LHR, BA are not remotely interested in point to point traffic, they only want traffic to feed into their long haul network.

Not quite correct. What BA are really interested in is BOTH sets of traffic, because the aircraft will typically fill with half of each, neither on its own giving the load, but in combination you do so. There's quite a business market from West Yorkshire to Surrey and the Thames Valley, and likewise in return from all the execs who live thereabouts and want day return trips to Yorkshire businesses. For both these groups getting to/from Kings Cross station is a real pig. You also get better yields from O&D than from connections

I'll also be surprised if this LBA route survives for anything over 18 months on this schedule.

However I agree with this as well. Whoever decided to base the service at the Heathrow end rather than overnighting at LBA ? This NEVER works for UK domestic routes, as various attempts over the years fully bear out. First morning arrival into LHR at 1025 ??? !!! That completely puts the kibosh on any connections to morning departures, and also to meaningful O&D day return business usage from Yorkshire. Last arrival into LHR at 2240. That flight will be empty. It won't do any connections at all, and is far too late for returning O&D from the London end. Whoever wants to hang around LBA until 20 minutes to 10pm for their return ?

It's almost like the northbound and southbound schedules have been accidentally reversed. Does nobody at Waterside remember Airline Scheduling 1.01 ?

[CaptJ]

BHD-LHR Winter Schedule

Yes 0735 does seem a bit late, but in practice will be OK for most.

The 1200 first flight on Sunday does seem odd, though there is always the 0715 Codeshare with Aer Lingus. Yes, the Aer Lingus codeshare from BFS is still bookable with connecting flights!
The early sunday flights are mainly connecting passengers after all.

Perhaps the Aer Lingus codeshare is why flights appear to be oddly spaced? BA flights themselves are fairly evenly distributed throughout the day.

[Skipness One Echo]

Threat to LCY-JFK?

The main selling point is the ability to pre clear at Shannon which is about to be lost for half of the service, as the CBP closes before the BA003 leaves City.

Concern that US officials shift changes at Shannon could damage business - Business - Limerick Leader

[gazcork]

Varadkar is a twit. He has no clue of BA's intentions for Shannon. The Irish Taoiseach only recently shunned the idiot Minister of Transport. 'a small plane of 18 business people', how ignorant. These 18 usually represent the top business people of both NYC and London. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you...

[davidjohnson6]

How much benefit does Ireland really get from this flight which stays in the Irish economy rather than going into the accounts of a multinational based elsewhere ?

[BHDflyer]

BA1413, 1415, 1417, 1419 etc were the BFS-LHR Shuttle flight numbers 11 years ago can't believe they're back

[WHBM]

Possibly more of concern at Shannon is the report that Transaero from Russia are looking at stopping there for pre-clearance as well. If one of their 747s, mainly filled with visa holders from Russia rather than visa-waiver ESTA users, gets in there just before BA the queue will be out of the door.

I wonder why the US officials at Shannon need to come on duty at 7 am - there are no westbound flights to be checked for several hours after that.

[irishlad06]

they need to be on at that time due to private movements and also the military movements, sometimes they come in late at night, overnight in hotel, then out the next morning.

[davidjohnson6]

So what's this US regulatory filing all about, then?
Quote:
British Airways currently operates twice daily all business class service between London City Airport (LCY) and New York (JFK). ... Effective June 11, 2012, the British Airways PIc LCY-JFK-LCY service will be operated by BA Limited, a newly created British Airways subsidiary, using the same two A318 aircraft now operated by British Airways Pic. BA Limited anticipates that the UK Civil Aviation Authority will issue a Type A Operating License and Air Operator Certificate to BA Limited on June 11, 2012 authorizing the service proposed here. Because the two A3I8 aircraft used to operate the service cannot be listed on two AOCs simultaneously, and because each aircraft operates daily LCY-JFK service, in order to avoid service interruptions, each will be deleted from the British Airways AOC on the same date that the CAA issues the new BA Limited AOC and the new BA Limited operating license.
Something is afoot, no?

Cyrano - it seems you were right to pick up on this.

Do you remember how around 2005, when banks were falling over themselves to lend you money for a mortgage to buy a property ? In return for the cash loan, the bank would take a first charge on your property in the event of default. The bank would then securitise the mortgages into a bond, and sell it to other investors.

It seems that BA has now decided to do a securitisation of part of their business and some associated slots !

Can only guess that this means that IAG are currently having great difficulty raising cash in the bond market at sensinble interest rates by normal means, and are being forced to put up some valuable collateral to entice investors into lending them the money.

This will generate big fees for the relevant banks, but it indicates that wholesale investors (pension funds, insurers, etc) perceive IAG as far from a healthy company and generally a bad risk.

[jensdad]

Has LGW - Catania been dropped for the winter? I am sure it was listed as operating a couple of times a week in February last time I checked , but it now looks like it's stopping in November

[Aero Mad]

More detail on British Airways Limited in this article - not quite as dramatic as davidjohnson6 makes out but certainly easing a few cash flow problems.

BA bonds plan to cover cost of bmi acquisition - Business News - Business - The Independent