Sounds more like an Iberia takeover than a Merger of equals as BA need their cash for pension fund and investment.

BA has a fleet of over 300+ aircraft and the most lucrative slots in the world - it will be a sad day if Iberia complete a 'takeover.'

Yes, 300+ aircraft and the most lucrative slots in the world. There is also the issue of the 3.000.000.000 Pound pension deficit... BA need cash and it can't be found in London at the moment. Beggars can't be choosers.

BA fleet mainline today 234 (+3 772 due to enter service)
Two B757, two B747, and all B733 have been removed. Two B735 remain until autumn.
On order 8 A320 replacing 10 757 in next twelve months and 6 B77W which will replace further B744s.
Mainline fleet will remain static at around the 235-240 for some years yet.

Those A388 and B787s will be delivered eventually.

BA Cityflyer 10 (Was 12 but one hull lost and one wfu)
Due to be parked all the RJ and replaced with 11 EMB175/190s again no real growth.

Summary BA fleet is 246 NOT 300+ Thats a LOT less

As for the grand father slot lease allocation at LHR the value might well be lower than you think.

There is NOT a huge list of operators wanting to come to LHR.
No South Americans,(they look elsewhere Madrid/Frankfurt) ,no Africans and just about the only Asian carrier wanting access is Vietnam and thats held up at inter-government level.
Only a few of the US operators are still looking for better slot leases and thats happening behind closed doors and within Alliance partner trading.

As for having the holding company based in Madrid -so what its certainly more economical than London, however BA will still be UK registered and base and offices WILL still be Heathrow/Compass House/ Waterside.

Having said that i generally agree that BA financially will be the lesser partner in the merged business.

I don't think the time in the sky, certainly northbound, is any different now to what it was then. The bulk of the the extra dicking about seems to take place on the ground.

How do the extra aircraft in the sky account for the fact that, on about 50% of the arrivals into T5 nowadays, time is lost by the stand guidance not being switched on, because the ground crew are not yet in position ?

BA refuse to disclose booking levels on new London City – New York route : London City Airport News Stories

Not the most positive article! Cr*p writing.

LCY-JFK
 

Checking GDS availability, it seems that most flights are sold out (only waiting list). Moreover no discounted fares are offered on flights still open.

How strange ?

I think you will find that seats on the LCY-JFK flights are being held back for the mainstream market they are aimed at. These people, in high finance at both ends of the route, rarely decide what they are doing more than a few days ahead - they are the classic full fare market that keeps BA going. BA are well aware commercially of all this, and want to have the right people, long-term supporters, on the flights in the opening days and weeks, rather than one-off travellers just there for the novelty. They can be used to bring the numbers up to 100%. I believe the limited number of seats offered for sale in advance for the first weeks have indeed mostly gone.

It is not suprising BA are not saying how tickets sales are going. At the moment there is a lot of hype about the route so ticket sales now are probably quite good. In say 6 months once the hype has died down the booking level may be much lower than at present. BA will probably wait between 6 -9 months before they say whether the route is performing well or not

rouelan it isn't that strange. BA along with nearly all the transatlantic airlines do not offer cheap one way fare . The cheapest one way flight costs £3297. They do offer cheap rtn fares starting at £1959.60. However with only 32 seats you will be lucky if there is 2 seats per flight at this fare. Atleast 30% of the rtn bookings on this service will be at the full fare of £5795.60.

I have just been reading about the A350 and the mention of BA's interest in a A350-900R edition of the aircraft series.

I guess this would be for flights down under which would reduce costs and increase productivity massively, especially with a full load. Would this be an option that BA or QF will keep open IF Airbus were to launch the R version and could we see it by the end of the next century?

Also - what is the need for ETOPS 350?!:confused:

So as to be able to fly research scientists to the odd Antarctic base ?

Maybe - but is there any spot on the planet that is ten minutes short of six hours from any airport able to take an A350XWB?

What are you basing your claim on that productivity would be increased massively on?

The reason BA lose money on the Kangaroo routes is the aircraft sitting idle for hours on end down under. That won't change with the introduction of an expensive subfleet.

Surely they will be able to cut out SIN, BKK and HKG? Launching non-stop will surely help?

LHR- SYD with a commercial load is very doubtful. Doing a quick and dirty Google gives the loaded range of the A350-900 as 8100nm. The great circle route LHR-SYD is 9188nm. The 787 range at absolute max is 8800nm. Direct London Sydney at current technology looks aways off yet.

I know we shouldn't take all our information from Wikipedia but the standard distance on the A350-900 is 8100nm, an extended version would surely push towards the 10000nm? That is with a 3 class config which is more than BA or QF operates as they fly a 4 class service.

I'm not 100% sure but it would be interesting.

It would be I N S A N E. The only thing that keeps me sane on ultra long haul is the chance to stretch my legs or break the journey. Unless it's a matter of life and death LHR-OZ direct would be a niche market. Emirates via Dubai would become even more appealing.

BA announce further changes to schedule
 

BA have announced a number of changes to their current Summer 09 and their future Winter 09/10 timetable.

Changes to Summer 09 Timetable

• LHR/HKG - From 01SEP09 will drop from 3 to 2 daily. BA027/028 (777 operated) cancelled through until at least 27MAR10

• LHR/JNB - From 13SEP09 Will drop from 19 to 14 Weekly. BA033/34 cancelled through until at least 27MAR10. However Likely to return for Summer 2010 to coincide with 2010 World Cup being held in SA.

Changes to Winter 09/10 Timetable

For Entire Season: (25OCT09-27MAR10)

• LHR/ORD - Changes from 3 to 2 Daily. BA299/298 cancelled

• LHR/JFK - Changes from 7 to 6 Daily. BA173/172 cancelled

• LHR/EWR - Changes from 3 to 2 Daily. BA187/186 cancelled

• LHR-SEA - Changes from 10 to 7 Weekly. BA053/052 cancelled

• LHR-YYZ - Changes from 1 x daily 777 and 1 x daily 767 to 2 x daily 767.

• LHR-TLV - Changes from 1 x daily 777 and 1 x daily 767 to 2 x daily 767

• LHR/EBB - Confirmed as increased from 3 to 5 x weekly with flights changed to a day departure ex LHR and night departure ex EBB

For Part of Winter 09/10 Season.

• LHR-CPT - BA043/42 as posted earlier goes from am to pm departure ex CPT and a later departure ex LHR. Flight to be operated by a 3 class 772 (except 17DEC09 - 13JAN10 when operated by a 744).

• LHR-LAX - Changes from 3 to 2 x daily from 26OCT09 to 06DEC09.

• LHR-DEL - Changes to BA257/256 - From 27OCT09 - 13DEC09 Reduce from Daily to 5 weekly using a 744, then operates 14DEC09 - 13JAN10 Daily on a 3 class 777. Before returning to a Daily 747 from 14JAN10

1. LHR- DXB - Operates 21 x Weekly 11DEC09 - 17JAN10. At all other times operates 17 x weekly. With BA105/104 (Operated by 767) dropping from daily to 3 x weekly.

I am sure more changes will follow soon.

There is one route that is to see increased frequency.

• LHR-TLS - Increases from 2 to 3 daily on selected dates. Timetable also adjusted and shown below

Timetable Valid Dates Below

13DEC09-26DEC09, 31DEC09-16JAN10 & 14FEB10-27MAR10

London Heathrow - Toulouse

BA372 LHR 07:05 TLS 09:50 Daily
BA376 LHR 12:05 TLS 14:50 Daily
BA374 LHR 17:40 TLS 20:25 Daily

Toulouse - London Heathrow

BA373 TLS 10:40 LHR 11:35 Daily
BA377 TLS 15:35 LHR 16:30 Daily
BA375 TLS 21:20 LHR 22:15 Daily

From 27DEC09-20DEC09 & 17JAN10-13FEB10 ONLY
London Heathrow - Toulouse

BA372 LHR 07:05 TLS 09:50 Daily
BA374 LHR 17:40 TLS 20:25 Daily

Toulouse - London Heathrow

BA373 TLS 10:40 LHR 11:35 Daily
BA375 TLS 21:20 LHR 22:15 Daily

BAladdy - if the cuts are as you say (and I have no reason to disbelieve you), it sounds like bookings must be extraordinarily weak compared to previous years. This is not taking out bits of fat, but cutting deep into muscle.

British Airways - no more food on short haul flights under 2.5 hours
 

Just heard on the BBC that as of next Monday BA will stop serving food on short haul flights under 2.5 hours. Surely this can't be true. What's happening in the great greenhouse of LHR??? I'm sure many people will be put off by this and travel on another European Carrier.

Another point - Are Swiss still giving out chocolate coins on their flights? Perhaps BA should look at serving chocolate gold medals in time for the Olympics in 3 years time!!!