GAXLN

A rather anti-social 0535 EDI-LHR has already been added for S21. Presumably for just that reason. (slot sitting)

Oh dear is that for freight or post maybe and sell main deck for passengers. Thats very very early departure

British Airways has permanently suspended a large number of long-haul routes in response to COVID-19.

https://londonairtravel.com/2020/12/...e-suspensions/

Decimated schedule, but as the article says, appears to be a lot of marginal routes especially in the Americas. Surprised about some of the Asian routes, however they can’t keep operating empty flights indefinitely with governments refusing to reopen their borders. Some of these are really heavy routes although they are clearly trailing the ME3.

Musket90

The 4 digit with a leading "2" format has long been the standard format for any BA Long Haul ( ? shorthaul) service into/out LGW.

It looks like all flights are operating as normal this morning with British Airways from Heathrow.

BA have said they are not canceling any flights that were due to operate and it's up to UK government to ban passengers.

Somewhat awkward if you already have a ticket as you will probably lose your money if you dont fly. On the other hand if you do decide to take up the offer you might well be stuck at your destination.

Netherlands has banned air travel from the UK from midnight. If Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Cyprus etc follows suit it could be an expensive Christmas for some.

BAs 2BN payout !
 

I haven’t seen this thread start yet ?
while other airlines struggle BA have been given 2BN state aid by the UK Government

From a few banks I believe; also understand Wizz U.K. and Easyjet were given funds much earlier on. BA like Virgin were I understand told to strip back and only go to the government as a last resort. That’s what they have done

Have you got a source for that? I've just been searching and can't find a single news item covering it.

Edit, Found this. https://www.businesstraveller.com/bu...xport-finance/

So they haven't been given £2bn state aid, it's a commercial loan partially backed by govt guarantees
... :rolleyes:

BA Bailout
 

Not sure why my first post got deleted ?
But looks like BA got a very secretive handout to the tune of 2BN

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.g...uk-government/

It was moved to the BA thread in the "Airlines, Airports & Routes" forum - and it's not a handout.https://www.businesstraveller.com/bu...xport-finance/

ah yes found it , thanks

I thought they had the money in reserve " in the bank" as it were

I do think it is significant that it is, in large part, underwritten by UK Export Finance (ie the government). It would appear to be an acknowledgment of the importance of BA to the national interest in terms of the connectivity provided which in many cases is not duplicated.

It will be interesting to see if other companies are extended the same courtesy in the coming months.

No - it's a standard process across all industrial sectors, if you meet the criteria, you are eligible.

"Underwritten by the Government" means that if the borrower (in this case BA) defaults, the Government will refund the lender. That's not state aid to the borrower.

It is state aid, if the Govt charges a lower fee for the guarantee, than a commercial (non-state) bank would charge.
It means that BA (or IAG) can borrow money from other lenders at a cheaper interest rate than they would achieve otherwise - a bank lender knows that whatever happens, the loan will still be repaid and thus the risk is significantly lower

If I have a good credit rating, a credit card issuer is more likely to offer me a credit card with a low interest rate; if I am a toerag with a string of CCJs to my name and a history of not paying the mortgage payment each month, I can expect a credit card issuer to take a somewhat different approach. The same principle applies to airlines - those which are very low risk are charged low interest rates on loans, while airlines perceived to be at greater risk have to pay high interest rates on loans. Right now, IAG is not a particularly good credit risk from a bank's perspective, particularly in the knowledge that 2020 was not a good year for them and they probably desperately need a loan to keep going

As usual, DJ6 is correct. There will be a beneficially lower interest rate.

But it still isn’t £2 Billion in state aid as alluded to above. It’s a loan. The state “aid” amounts to the government guarantee, the value of which will be the delta between the actual interest rate charged and what BA would have secured on a commercial loan. I would expect in actual fact that the government will make a profit on the loan over its lifetime.

This is very different to state aid to the likes of Lufthansa and AirFrance/KLM where the government ends up owning a chunk of the company.