British Airways

[ridgeback]

So they do..... Although only 2 days a week which won't suit everybody.

 

[a300boy]

Tonights Heathrow operation has also been cancelled. Anyone know why ?

 

[bobleeds]

I was on Saturday 25/10 09:35 to LHR and the flight was full load as near as makes no difference. Sunday afternoon return was less packed to the rafters but I heard arrival personnel at LBA mention a load of 91. very good flights both directions

 

[yorkguy]

I was on Saturday 25/10 at 15.40 with around 70 pax. Transferred at LHR to CPT flight, but sadly my luggage didn't. Currently in Cape Town with BA saying they are "still tracing my bags". Their communication strategy is appalling when anything goes wrong - crashing website, unanswered phone calls, etc.

 

[User0001]

I believe Mondays LBA cancellation was due to G-TTOB going tech at MAN (currently still in the Monarch hangar), and thus the LBA (and NCL) flights were canned and the NCL aircraft sent to MAN.

 

[User0001]

Interesting to note, BA are adding an extra 5 weekly night stopper at MAN.

This means 2 aircraft will night stop at MAN Mon-Fri, arriving 20:25 and 21:15, then departing 06:15 and 06:50.

While I have no doubt this is a part faction to little red ending in March, if they can quickly whip up enough slack to add another MAN night stopper, why is LBA finding it hard to get one?

 

[Aviador]

Needless to say really. Manchester airport has deeper pockets.

 

[User0001]

I can assure you Aviador, as someone at the BA end, MAN has not paid in any way for these flights.

I don't have much to do with the domestic flights anymore, but, I do take a look at the MAN and LBA files occasionally, and I can tell you categorically everything is 'above board', and what MAN gets BA expansion wise, LBA has more than a fair shot at getting too.

 

[cmj]

I would guess it's easier to add another night stop at MAN as they are already set up to do it and BA can be pretty sure they wil sell the seats.

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

104 outbound this morning ... I know cause I was on flight deck before departure.
Return this aft around the 50-60 mark. I went to the pilot exhibition at T5.

 

[yorkguy]

Over 100 on the 18.20 from LHR last night. Recognised another 4 people who had been on my flight from CPT.

 

[yorkguy]

In the last 3 days BA has gone from rock bottom in my estimation to up there again. On my recent trip from LBA to CPT they lost my bags til the day I returned, and never contacted me once re the issue. Then the return flight was pulled 2 nights running cos of different tech issues and on the 3rd night they flew a replacement 747 down. The BA ground staff in CPT were worse than useless and even called the police in when 300+ angry passengers demanded information. I arrived back in LBA 58 hours later than scheduled to a hefty overstay charge in the car park.
But I have to say customer services have been fantastically helpful since my return. They've already arranged the EU flight delay compensation and paid the car park charges. They're also paying all my additional expenses from the baggage delay. I'm now waiting for an additional gesture of goodwill for all of my inconvenience. Let's see...............

 

[Tarn Spotter]

Leeds must be well thought of down at BA head office. Just planninga trip to the states for a family member (well dad's paying so in charge) Put in the information from LHR to destination, then Lba. The LBa flights came out cheaper overall (well every £1.80 counts), still using the same LHR flights.
Will we be able to boook through the cases to the destination from Leeds?

 

[White Heather]

You should be able to Tarn Spotter. Bags on at LBA and next time they see them should be at the final destination, wherever that might be.

 

[lbaspotter]

Just read the following article and noticed that the airlines London Heathrow - Rotterdam route has been dropped so that the slots could be used for new long haul routes. Now I don't know if this is good news or bad as I seem to recall the Leeds/Bradford route commenced operation at around the same time as the Rotterdam route did back in December 2012.

Source: http://www.ttgdigital.com/news/air-travel/ba-will-keep-domestic-routes-going/4693346.article

BA will keep domestic routes going

British Airways will continue to operate domestic routes from Heathrow “as long as customers want them”, according to Willie Walsh.

Walsh, chief executive of BA’s parent company International Airlines Group, said that BA would continue flying domestic routes from Heathrow even though the carrier plans to convert more short-haul routes into long-haul services

“This will not necessarily mean getting rid of domestic routes,” said Walsh during the Airport Operators Association (AOA) conference in London.

“We stopped Rotterdam and used those flights to grow the long-haul network.

“We will continue to fly to UK airports as long as customers want them – we do it for commercial reasons.”

BA currently flies from Heathrow to UK airports including Aberdeen, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds-Bradford

 

[ChurchFenton]

BA need the short haul to help feed many of the long haul services, I suspect the service from Rotterdam may have a higher percentage of passengers ending their journey in London than the LBA service does, given BA will still serve London - Rotterdam, albeit from LCY instead.

The naysayers (who admittedly seem to mostly reside on other forums) have been predicting LBA's doom even before the route commenced, I've lost count (and interest) at the number of times I've read comments mentioning 'slot-sitter' and 'I'll give it 12 months'. Well, here we are, 2 years on with BA still here, passenger numbers increasing strongly in each of the past few months despite still having less than ideal departure times.

I know as much as the next person as to whether the route is likely to be part of BA's long term plans, but it has already outlasted the predictions of many of the self proclaimed 'experts' who were quick to dismiss it. I'm sure if BA found the route to be a dud it would have been long gone and slots used to increase other short haul routes, so I take encouragement that it's here, gaining momentum and providing a valuable link globally from the region (as KLM successfully does too).

 

[ridgeback]

On the money that CF I'd say...

 

[jason1-11]

Was talking all things BA yesterday with an A320 pilot and he stated the airline was short of flight deck crew due to a heavy summer flying programme leaving pilots short of hours. There had been a strategic cull of flights to compensate which may answer why the Leeds flight has gone down to a double daily operation at times this winter.

 

[jason1-11]

Flew up on the 1344 last night. Estimated low 100's on board. Usual excellent service as per usual.

 

[lbaspotter]

Its good to see that the British Airways Leeds/Bradford - London Heathrow shuttle is now back up to operating 3x daily again.