British Airways

[User0001]

BA will move its LBA flights to T5 from 31st March.

Re-timed flights:
BA1340 LHR 0940 LBA 1040
BA1341 LBA 1135 LHR 1235

BA1342 LHR 1410 LBA 1510
BA1343 LBA 1615 LHR 1715

BA1344 LHR 1900 LBA 2000
BA1345 LBA 2105 LHR 2205

All A319 still.

 

[Jordan-34092]

I've just seen this on LBA Twitter site, this surely must be a good thing? I don't think BA would have moved the route if it wasn't performing to expectations.

 

[User0001]

They are doing it as they want all domestics in the same terminal. This also means an actual BA A319 will be used (G-EUP* range).

 

[ridgeback]

The schedule user001 posted is the original S13 of offering.

It has changed considerable since then an the early flight remains broadly similar to today ie LHR 0755- LBA 0855 / LBA 0930 - LHR 1030 approx.

New schedule will be in ba.com later today/tonight.

Rgds

 

[User0001]

Yes schedules can be changed again.

Didn't realise it hadn't uploaded yet as my screen says schedule was uploaded at 0931 today.

Not involved in the LBA moves as my team focuses on new routes and now outstation observation.

 

[whoshotjimmi]

Just for the information, today's flight 1347 took off runway 14 from the intersection with Taxiway Alpha. It was airborne just past Taxyway Lima. I know it is not exactly the heaviest A319 in the sky today but I was still massively impressed by that take off performance.

As an aside, whilst watching this, I became the coldest I have ever been.

 

[cmj]

Looks like the new schedule is something like this:

BA1340 LHR 07:55 to LBA 08:55
BA1341 LBA 09:30 to LHR 10:30

BA1342 LHR 12:35 to LBA 13:35
BA1343 LBA 15:50 to LHR 16:50

BA1344 LHR 19:00 to LBA 20:00
BA1345 LBA 21:00 to LHR 22:00

 

[lbaspotter]

Here is the new fully revised British Airways Summer 2013 schedule

London Heathrow (Terminal 5) to Leeds/Bradford
BA1340 07:20 08:20 --------------------------- SAT ----
BA1340 07:50 08:50 -------------------------------- SUN
BA1340 07:55 08:55 MON TUE WED THU FRI ---------
BA1342 12:35 13:35 MON TUE WED THU FRI ---- SUN
BA1342 13:50 14:50 --------------------------- SAT ----
BA1344 19:30 20:30 MON TUE WED THU FRI ---- SUN

Leeds/Bradford to London Heathrow (Terminal 5)
BA1341 09:30 10:30 MON ---- WED THU FRI ---------
BA1341 10:05 11:05 -------------------------------- SUN
BA1341 10:15 11:15 ---- TUE ---------------------------
BA1341 10:35 11:35 --------------------------- SAT ----
BA1343 15:05 16:05 MON TUE ----- THU FRI ---- SUN
BA1343 15:15 16:15 ----------- WED -------------------
BA1343 15:45 16:45 --------------------------- SAT ----
BA1345 21:10 22:10 MON TUE WED THU FRI ---- SUN

 

[a300boy]

so only 2 flight on a Saturday so its a fair cut back on our present operation. However to be positive let hope it increases load factors and makes the route viable.

 

[ridgeback]

I think this demonstrates BA doing their best to make this work.

The original plan was 3 rotations and I always felt 4 was too ambitious


New 0755 north from T5 should do much better than current 0700 from T1. One hour later and a lot of people can make it from Longhaul inbounds if they arrive T5 by 0655.

The 1341 is performing well and remains at a similar time.

The current 2 midday rotations are quiet and are now combined and will hopefully do much better.

The 1344 at 1900ish is doing very well currently (60-90 most days) and remains.

The late 1345 southbound will remain as a poor performer I expect.

The pre-Xmas sales push will deliver leisure traffic non of which we will have seen yet and the T5 change can only be a good thing and improve figures.

If we keep all the current pax on these flights and gaining new as above hopefully load factors will improve considerably.

One final not is that in T5, BA 319's have 132 seats whereas the ex-BMI ones have 144 so that in itself gives better load factors (& a more comfortable journey)

 

[White Heather]

Today's lunchtime flight from LHR is cancelled already - I presume as they will be expecting LHR to become snow affected by then, so some domestics already being pulled.

 

[airforced]

I'm please to see that from 31 March the flights will arrive/depart from LHR T5. This should encourage even more passengers to interline with BA from LHR as I'm sure the trek from T1 to T5 would have put a number of folk off despite assurances to the contrary from BA and others.

Next improvement BA - a night stopper please.

 

[LBA787]

Great news really happy about the terminal 5 news. I'm thinking of a trip to NYC in may so as long as it's not overly expensive I will use BA via LHR.

:crazy:

 

[Tarn Spotter]

Wish BA had told me when we booked our flights late December about the move to T5, decided too little time on our connecting flight from trip from T1 to T5, decided rather wait 3 hours. Will have to read BA rules about changing flights, waiting to see if they advise use change on terminal, then asked about flight change. Not the end of the world was going to explore T5, may still do this. Tickets purchased in B A sale, say non changeable.

 

[whoshotjimmi]

Interestingly, a lot of talk before the flights to Heathrow commenced regarded BA pulling the plug if there were too many cancellations or diverts due to poor weather at LBA. I do believe that the vast majority (if not all) of the cancellations to the route thus far have been due to problems at Heathrow or within BA.

I am one of the fiercest critics of LBA's performance in poor weather - I still believe much more could be done to improve it. Having said that, considering the location of the airfield, they don't do too bad. It's amazing to see just how many more cancellations there have been at LBA since BA arrived.

 

[flyboy]

Reliability is the most important feature of any public transport service. The number of cancellations between LBA and LHR since the flights started is worrying and will undoubtedly have an effect on passenger confidence. Does anyone know what proportion of flights have been cancelled, for whatever reason, since the service began?

 

[White Heather]

It appears to be a fact of life at Heathrow that if the going gets tough, the domestic routes are likely to be cancelled, with the shorter sectors being the most at risk. Manchester and Newcastle have both had shuttles cancelled today so it is not just LBA. It does indicate where the priority lies at LHR and it is hardly surprisinig that if bad weather reduces the airports capacity to handle flights, the short haul domestics are vulnerable. According to the news both runways were closed for part of the day and there were also low viz procedures in force earlier today. It must be a pain though when your flight North is axed. I don't suppose it will bel such a problem with better weather in Spring and Summer.

 

[User0001]

Interestingly, a lot of talk before the flights to Heathrow commenced regarded BA pulling the plug if there were too many cancellations or diverts due to poor weather at LBA. I do believe that the vast majority (if not all) of the cancellations to the route thus far have been due to problems at Heathrow or within BA.

I am one of the fiercest critics of LBA's performance in poor weather - I still believe much more could be done to improve it. Having said that, considering the location of the airfield, they don't do too bad. It's amazing to see just how many more cancellations there have been at LBA since BA arrived.

There were 170 scheduled sectors in December and I believe 158 operated, giving a 93% reliability rate. Of the 12 that didn't operate, I believe 4 were due to weather at the LBA end. This was 1 inbound which diverted to MAN and the return was cancelled and 1 inbound and 1 outbound cancellation due to ice on the runway at LBA.

In terms of LBA weather in general, I'm not sure what cost effective solutions there are. For the last few years, the average diversion rate due to low visibility is around 60 - 80 flights per year from a total volume of 17,000 arrivals - i.e. a visibility related diversion rate of 0.5%. The airport will lose somewhere in the region of £20,000 in landing fees from this. The only feasible fix, without major engineering works on the 32 end, is an upgrade to CAT2 on the 14 end, which conservatively would be in the region of £2 million to buy, install, change all of the lighting etc. That's also £2 million that wouldn't be spent on passenger facilities for the 99.5% of customers not affected by weather and who demand more space and better facilities airside. It's still debatable whether the CAA would actually approve the lower g/s on 14 to match the maximum slope angle permitted under the regulations - 3.25% from memory.

 

[ridgeback]

It's correct to say that most canx hv been caused at LHR.

Every SH flight was canx yest from 1500, the whole operation was in meltdown and people have to accept that, awful though it is.

The one diversion was regrettable as the a/c was working to Cat 2 limits or wld have got in. The ATC outage the other week cost LBA a rotation but all in all I think the 319's are proving the right machine for getting into LBA and on the whole I think it's a pretty reliable operation.

LHR and winter always leads to a bit of disruption, LBA isn't singled out for it, and Spring onwards shd see better reliability and, hopefully, fuller aeroplanes.

PS is have though the train is struggling in the snow also although I haven't checked.

 

[lbaspotter]

It would seem now that the night stopping British Airways Airbus A319, G-DBCC has gone tech as the early BA1341 has still not departed Leeds yet.

So maybe be a chance of an upgrade to Airbus A320 for this afternoon's BA1342/1343 rotations and the chance of 2x BA aircraft on the deck at LBA together for the first time.