British Airways
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I flew on BWNO, In March to/ from Almaty. On both the sectors there were less than 30 pax, but I didn't think they were clapped out. Saying this both aircraft were of the dusked variety
Join Date: Feb 2004
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What are BA planning to do with their 737 classics? I flew on G-DOCS a few weeks ago and that looked ready for the desert!
What sort of financial arrangement do BA have with their airframes/engines? Are they all BA-owned; any leased? Are any of their older models on sale/leaseback arrangements, with the retirees off to be scrapped for spare parts or are they going to be sitting in Victorville for eternity?
Join Date: Oct 2011
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I've always been surprised that BA haven't tried to involve their subsidiary BA Cityflyer more in their SH operation. Do the economics add up for E-Jets at Heathrow? It strikes me that a few of BAs SH routes (LBA springs to mind) don't quite have the capacity for an A319 but an Embraer would be a good fit. With Cityflyer's lower cost base, they could use them like US majors use regional airlines to serve smaller markets and some of the quieter lunchtime rotations. Obviously the scope agreement they have regarding use of Cityflyer would have to be significantly altered (they can't operate from LHR/LGW IIRC) and the unions would surely fight it hard. Assuming this was done though, could it work?
Join Date: May 2009
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If Heathrow had one or two extra runways then I would agree with you, sadly a 98 seat E190 most likely isn't the most profitable use of a very expensive Heathrow slot for BA while Heathrow remains full.
Assuming this was done though, could it work?
But all other things are rarely equal.
In particular, you can't simply reduce the gauge and expect the loads to be maintained with a commensurate increase in load factor. Less capacity would inevitably result in less traffic.
Rebel PPRuNer
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As the LCY A318 shows, seats don't matter as much as yield. How much could you charge for those E Jet seats? And would it be worth the aggravation that mainline unions would feel thereby?
Join Date: Oct 2011
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How much could you charge for those E Jet seats?
If Heathrow had one or two extra runways then I would agree with you, sadly a 98 seat E190 most likely isn't the most profitable use of a very expensive Heathrow slot for BA while Heathrow remains full.
Obviously the scope agreement they have regarding use of Cityflyer would have to be significantly altered
Assuming this was done
A surefire recipe to finally unite all BA BALPA members - I doubt even the most zealous BA manager would be brave enough to stir that hornets nest...
Join Date: Oct 2007
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I don't think that you will see cityflyer operating into mainline bases anytime soon however if demand exists I don't see why cityflyer couldn't do other domestic routes ?
Kind of BACON ish during any downtime that isn't used for charter work ?
EDI-JER/DUB/MAN anyone ? Could provide some useful feed for AA at MAN or DUB but could well dilute BA feed !
Who knows ! Certainly the cityflyer brand/fleet could be used more.
Kind of BACON ish during any downtime that isn't used for charter work ?
EDI-JER/DUB/MAN anyone ? Could provide some useful feed for AA at MAN or DUB but could well dilute BA feed !
Who knows ! Certainly the cityflyer brand/fleet could be used more.
At the risk of thread drift to Cityflyer, some E190s are used on summer weekends by Barrhead Travel out of GLA and EDI, think ABZ as well now. They are a Scottish travel agent solely responsible for selling the seats, and sell package holidays too. Flew the year before last GLA-PMI, and compared to Thomson or TCX, its a great product. No food and pay for drinks, but a 2.5 hour flight that's fine.
When I travelled the load was around 95 each way, not far short of capacity. BT are doing this for maybe the fourth of fifth year in a row, so it must work for them, and BACF. Think maybe 5 or 6 E190s are contracted this summer. Flight numbers from memory are BA45xx series.
When I travelled the load was around 95 each way, not far short of capacity. BT are doing this for maybe the fourth of fifth year in a row, so it must work for them, and BACF. Think maybe 5 or 6 E190s are contracted this summer. Flight numbers from memory are BA45xx series.
Last edited by OntimeexceptACARS; 12th May 2014 at 14:14. Reason: additional info
Join Date: Sep 2012
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Some new routes from LGW released for Summer 2015
Dalaman - 4 weekly (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday)
Bodrum - 2 weekly (Monday and Thursday)
Crete - 4 weekly (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday)
Caligari - 3 weekly (Monday, Thursday and Saturday)
Rhodes - 2 weekly (Wednesday and Saturday)
Dalaman - 4 weekly (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday)
Bodrum - 2 weekly (Monday and Thursday)
Crete - 4 weekly (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday)
Caligari - 3 weekly (Monday, Thursday and Saturday)
Rhodes - 2 weekly (Wednesday and Saturday)
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CityFlyer and Mainline operations
There exists an issue with both Pilots and CC union conditions before this can happen. Waterside have made great progress in suppressing the CC conditions but has a long way yet to go with Tech crew.
Join Date: Oct 2011
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Medium Haul Future Plans
Any predictions regarding what BA will do with their medium-range routes? It's striking that's this is about the only aspect of the old BMI that hasn't been changed a great deal, with routes to Almaty, Baku etc retained using the same A321s with a J class. That said, BA's general medium haul route structure is a bit of a mess.
Eg, Larnaca is 4/5 hour flight on a 767, Athens is 4 hours on a short haul A320, Tel-Aviv was A321 but now there's a 777 rotation. Moscow is a mix of A321/747 and is classed as long haul (I think?), where as St Petersburg is exclusively short haul. Tripoli is a short haul destination where as Cairo seems to regularly swap between A321/767/777. There isn't a great deal of product consistency.
Are the medium haul A321s here for the long-term and if, so, I wonder if they'll optimize it a bit so they operate all flights on certain routes? In an ideal world maybe they'd want a couple more mid-haul configured A321s so they could operate all flights with a similar 4-6 hours flight time (LCA, ATH, IST, DME, CAI, TLV).
Eg, Larnaca is 4/5 hour flight on a 767, Athens is 4 hours on a short haul A320, Tel-Aviv was A321 but now there's a 777 rotation. Moscow is a mix of A321/747 and is classed as long haul (I think?), where as St Petersburg is exclusively short haul. Tripoli is a short haul destination where as Cairo seems to regularly swap between A321/767/777. There isn't a great deal of product consistency.
Are the medium haul A321s here for the long-term and if, so, I wonder if they'll optimize it a bit so they operate all flights on certain routes? In an ideal world maybe they'd want a couple more mid-haul configured A321s so they could operate all flights with a similar 4-6 hours flight time (LCA, ATH, IST, DME, CAI, TLV).
Medium haul 321's
I guess they are here for sometime as BA are spending a fortune containerising them in order to use them for T5 ops. They have also reconfigured the cabins as well. Regarding routes BA will utilise them according to demand. Hence 321s/747's on the DME route. TLV is also the same with a mixture of 321s/777's.
There is a difference between short haul and long haul 767's where they are utilised on appropriate routes. Regarding differences when I was flying for BOAC, BEY was considered a long haul route, but TLV wasn't. Nicosia was a long haul route and LCA wasn't back in those days.
Regarding the old BMED/BMI routes who knows? That will depend on the market and demand. Personally I hope they don't lose AMM as I use it quite often.
There is a difference between short haul and long haul 767's where they are utilised on appropriate routes. Regarding differences when I was flying for BOAC, BEY was considered a long haul route, but TLV wasn't. Nicosia was a long haul route and LCA wasn't back in those days.
Regarding the old BMED/BMI routes who knows? That will depend on the market and demand. Personally I hope they don't lose AMM as I use it quite often.
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ManUtd1999,
You make some very valid points. However, there are reasons why the product hasn't been very consistent over the last year or so. Let me explain:
You make some very valid points. However, there are reasons why the product hasn't been very consistent over the last year or so. Let me explain:
- Larnaca - 767. That's purely for capacity. It's a leisure destination so you fill the aircraft up and use just the one slot out of Heathrow! Athens is a mix of business and leisure therefore frequency is more important hence the use of A320s and 767s to spread the capacity throughout the day.
- Tel Aviv - Moving to a purely mid-haul route was in hindsight a bit of a mistake and the ex-bmi equipment wasn't favoured as much by seasoned TLV travellers as the widebody aircraft they replaced. It also meant that BA could upgauge to 3 rotations per day due to the reduced A321 capacity. Now that the aircraft have all been containerised, Tel Aviv switched to T5 (as T1 was also hated!) and the 777 rotation was put back in at the expense of losing a rotation. This provides that much needed 4-class option which many regulars on the route were missing and also means that BA can restore some important cargo revenues - something which they lost operating a narrow-body only route.
- Cairo - this is classified as a mid-haul A321 route for the most part (as it fits nicely into that 4-5hr flying time bracket). Coupled with Egypt's political unrest over the last 2 years and the downgrade was perfectly timed. However, A321 containerisation has meant the schedule has had to be operated with 6 rather than 7 A321 aircraft and as such, Cairo has been operating on a 767 until the programme is finished. Expect to see it back permanently on the A321 in the next few days once the final aircraft returns from Gatwick.
- St. Petersburg - short haul therefore Airbus. Moscow was only re-classified as a long haul route because wealthy Russians are willing to pay ridiculous prices for First and Business class tickets. To tap into this money, you have to operate the right equipment hence why it was re-classified as 'long haul' 2 years ago.
BA to feature on indepth TV series