I think we need our own thread for this!

Speedbird 273 is on her way to San Diego, arriving maybe a few minutes late (about 6:25pm.) On board today is BA's CEO; Mr. Williams will hold a press conference upon arrival at Lindbergh, after clearing Customs in T2.

Press Release for anyone interested:
http://www.san.org/documents/pressre...%20-%20BA%20Inaugural%20Events.pdf

Welcome back to America's Finest City, Speedbird! We're so very happy to see you here again at Lindbergh Field.

(Service is a daily nonstop T7 -- formerly used on the LAS-LHR route -- between SAN and LHR.)

bb

[Edited 2011-06-01 12:58:04]

I've heard through the grapevine that there will be a water canon salute, the flight crew will wave British & US flags out the cockpit windows, and Shamu will be on hand to greet passengers. A few of the SAN regulars plan to be on hand to take pictures.

Edward

Quoting SANFan (Thread starter): I think we need our own thread for this!

We sure do! I posted on the other site that the signage for BA is now up at SAN, however, FL is
still listed up there too! I was wondering if they may return soon. I know airlines often do
that prior to mergers.

I'll be unable to make it down there to see the arrival, but please get some good pictures and a
full report!

Quoting SANMAN66 (Reply 2): We sure do! I posted on the other site that the signage for BA is now up at SAN, however, FL is still listed up there too! I was wondering if they may return soon.

Interesting L. I thought I'd heard on good authority that the FL signage HAD been removed...

Flight 273 is a bit over halfway "back home" now; looks like she's got a bit of a headwind today! About 5 1/4 hours to go. Enjoy your flight Mr. Williams and we look forward to your visit to San Diego!

bb

Welcome back BA! It's been a long eight years. It will be nice to see the 777 over the city again. I wouldn't miss this for the world and plan on being there.

Quoting lindy field (Reply 1):

Yep Ryan for sure. Enjoy the great day guys!

Quoting SANFan (Reply 3): Interesting L. I thought I'd heard on good authority that the FL signage HAD been removed...

I was just down in the area about two hours ago and FL was still up there, right along with
BA. Maybe they have some sort of contract to keep the name up and the contract has not
run out yet? It could be why AM stayed up there so long before it was removed.

Wish I had been at work today, they had a band playing in one of the zones to help launch the new route.

Cant wait to see pics of the 777 landing at SAN  

Stay classy San Diego.

Quoting lhr380 (Reply 7): Wish I had been at work today, they had a band playing in one of the zones to help launch the new route.

Wow! A ceremony on both sides of the pond! I wish I could be there for either one!

Quoting lindy field (Reply 1): A few of the SAN regulars plan to be on hand to take pictures

I sure hope so Edward. I got held up with an emergency out of town so I won't be there either but I hope to see lots of pix, videos, and reports on the speeches (including Keith Williams') upon Speedbird's arrival and departure. I imagine the press will be out in good numbers, and the aviationists should be there too!

Quoting lhr380 (Reply 7): Wish I had been at work today, they had a band playing in one of the zones to help launch the new route.

Thanks for that, lhr'; that's very nice to hear. Possibly had something to do with the BA vip on board...   It doesn't get much more vip than him!

Happy flying, Speedbird!

bb

For anybody heading for the airport, 273 Heavy is just about an hour out of SAN, still fighting an increasing headwind; she's over NE Arizona now and ETA is showing 18:28 at this time.

bb

When I was in SAN earlier this year, I saw the advertisements in the airport for this route. It said that the return is going to be non-stop. Previous discussions on this forum indicated that when BA had this flight before, the a/c would make a one-stop in PHX. Is this revamp of the route going to be non-stop heading back to LHR, and if not, are they taking restrictions on the SAN - LHR leg? Just curious.


How I would love to be sitting up on the hillside in that park with a BA B777 coming in!!!!

~H81

Quoting B6JFKH81 (Reply 12): Is this revamp of the route going to be non-stop heading back to LHR, and if not, are they taking restrictions on the SAN - LHR leg? Just curious. How I would love to be sitting up on the hillside in that park with a BA B777 coming in!!!!

I'll bet there are a lot of folks lining up on various elevations between Balboa Park and runway 27 right now awaiting her arrival.

She's about :08 out now.

There is probably a hit on cargo capacity but I'm not sure exactly what that might amount to; not enough to worry BA too much! The expectation is that BA will put a 787 on the route as soon as that a/c has joined their fleet.

bb

Quoting B6JFKH81 (Reply 12): Previous discussions on this forum indicated that when BA had this flight before, the a/c would make a one-stop in PHX

It was initially LGW-PHX-SAN. I flew this route back in 1998 on a DC-10.

After the 10s were retired it went to a 744, and at some point (I can't remember when) it got shifted to LHR.

Then (in 2002?) PHX and SAN got delinked and both were 777s. Unortunately SAN subsequently got removed from the network while PHX remained.

Quoting RyanairGuru (Reply 14): It was initially LGW-PHX-SAN. I flew this route back in 1998 on a DC-10.

Initially, in 1989, the service started via LAX, using BA's recently acquired B Cal resources, including their DC-10s.

Quoting RyanairGuru (Reply 14): After the 10s were retired it went to a 744, and at some point (I can't remember when) it got shifted to LHR.

In 1996, BA started SAN-service again, this time via PHX, using 10s and u/g'ing to 744s 2 years later.

Quoting RyanairGuru (Reply 14): Then (in 2002?) PHX and SAN got delinked and both were 777s. Unortunately SAN subsequently got removed from the network while PHX remained

N/S SAN-LGW service with the T7 began in 2001, with the opening of the new (current) FIS facilities in T2, and service was then shifted over to Heathrow in 2002, and was suspended in 2003.

As I mentioned earlier, this T7, due to airport geographical constrictions, is not able to take a full cargo load, along with a full load of pax, their baggage, and fuel, and I am not sure exactly how much of a hit there is. In the event of lots of cargo traffic developing, they will undoubtedly truck the excess up to one of the LA flights.

While BA waits for the 787 to come on-line, they obviously did not want to wait and hope nobody else jumped into the SAN-Europe market (a la Zoom), and I expect they are quite confident that the route will be profitable on the T7 while they wait... (Otherwise, today's flight simply would not have happened.)

bb

Great for San Diego!

I love that town. The first time I ever saw a British Airways plane was when I was driving along that road to the west of the airport and a 772 pulled up literally alongside me. What a site!

If they can somehow fill the premium cabins they'll be in good shape.

Interesting as LAS flight 275 (the original SAN flight number) was scheduled to be upgraded to a 744 starting today as well. Appears they still used a 772 though for some reason. Best wishes to BA in SAN, hoping for more success than the last time around.

She didn't stop in PHX for old time's sake, did she?  

Quoting Lambertman (Reply 16): I love that town. The first time I ever saw a British Airways plane was when I was driving along that road to the west of the airport and a 772 pulled up literally alongside me. What a site!

Yes, Harbor Blvd, Laurel Street and Pacific Coast Highway all offer some thrilling sights for us local civil aviation buffs!

Quoting Lambertman (Reply 16): If they can somehow fill the premium cabins they'll be in good shape.

With ATI now in place, I, as well as BA I expect, think this route will finally do admirably and stay for good! And you are certainly right, Lambert', about premium pax being wanted and needed, and I think ATI will certainly help that situation too. SAN is a big AAdvantage city.)

bb

A couple pics from this afternoon.


British Airways returns to SAN by Silver1SWA (Ryan Pastorino), on Flickr


British Airways returns to SAN by Silver1SWA (Ryan Pastorino), on Flickr

[Edited 2011-06-01 21:23:39]

I'm starting to think they don't know how to run that big beautiful T7 around Lindbergh Field in the dark! Inaugural departing flight 272 Heavy has still not departed -- an hour after scheduled departure time! (And let's remember that CEO Williams is standing there at the departure gate watching... Gulp!)

Bon Voyage, Speedbird 272 (I hope!)

bb

Ah, thanks Ryan for finding this thread to post your great pix on! Fantastic! And I love the flags out the cockpit windows (as promised!)

I don't know what's going on but the inaugural departure flight has STILL not left the gate; now estimated out in about 10 minutes! Anyone with BA got any insight as to the problem? (Training or catering issues? Mechanical? I'm figuring it's not weather-related...)

bb

AT 2245
British Airways shows 2250.
Flight Aware now shows a 2310 departure. Maybe that includes estimated taxi time.
Let's hope they don't bust the curfew on day #1
SAN.org doesn't show BA flights - probably a glitch.

Hey CAL,

I was just about to post the same info. It was a great day down there and the lot was completely full. I'll get some photos up soon, although none can compete with Ryan's! The clouds parted just in time for a sunny arrival. My husband and I met some other Anetters for the first time and everyone had fun.

BA.com still shows 22:50. Flightaware shows 23:10 departure.

I'm listening to ATC right now and 272 Heavy is just about to roll on 27! Phew, it was real close to a curfew violation...

(Airborne at about 23:21 -- all of :09 to spare.)

bb

[Edited 2011-06-01 23:22:13]

Quoting SANFan (Reply 22): And I love the flags out the cockpit windows (as promised!)

Well, you know how we Brits like our Pomp and Ceremony  

Quoting garpd (Reply 27): Well, you know how we Brits like our Pomp and Ceremony

And I hope you all appreciate us washing your plane upon arrival for no charge!  

Nice all around. I just want to find out what that departure delay was and also find out what Mr. Williams had to say at his speeches. (He will be in town here for at least another day -- more receptions tomorrow -- so I hope someone will report anything important he has said.)

bb

Quoting AnonymousInSAN (Reply 25): Looks like she departed.

Does anyone know why she was delayed? Mechanical? Or the party lasted longer than
expected?

Quoting SANFan (Reply 28): And I hope you all appreciate us washing your plane upon arrival for no charge!

Hey, we're not talking about Air France here  

Free is good.

[Edited 2011-06-01 23:49:52]

I remember seeing the BA 744s at SAN years ago. Great to see that BA is back. It would be sweet if they upgrade the service later on to a 77W. 

Quoting Eightball (Reply 31): Great to see that BA is back. It would be sweet if they upgrade the service later on to a 77W.

Well, as has been mentioned, I certainly see an equipment upgrade on the route in the not-too-distant future but I think it will be to that plastic contraption that Boeing is trying get certified these days! (And that will be exciting enough for me, thank you very much...) In fact, I wouldn't be too surprised if SAN-LHR ended up being one of, if not even, THE first of their routes to see the Dreamliner. Stay tuned...

bb

Sorry chaps, I'm afraid I don't understand what is meant by 'FL being up there with BA' at the airport.. Could someone elighten me what 'FL' is?

Quoting BeakerLTN (Reply 33): Sorry chaps, I'm afraid I don't understand what is meant by 'FL being up there with BA' at the airport.. Could someone elighten me what 'FL' is

Sorry 'LTN, that's some local SAN-stuff. (FL is "AirTran Airlines" that has dropped service here at SAN but their signage remains up, resulting in some confusion as to what's going on with them.) Definitely off-topic for this thread with absolutely nothing to do with BA or Speedbird or the inaugural flight today.

bb

Its worth noting that the SAN service starting yesterday used the B777 that previously served LAS, and that LAS, as from 1/6 was upgraded to a B744, with G-CIVD doing the inaugural flight on BA275.

Great pics Ryan!

A great day for SD. Hope the marriage lasts a very long time.

Quoting tarantulalv (Reply 17): was scheduled to be upgraded to a 744 starting today as well. Appears they still used a 772 though for some reason

Were you looking at flightaware by any chance? If you saw the info on the right it still said 777, but the plane itself showed a 744, and per reply 35, IVD operated the LHR LAS route yesterday.

Quoting NIKV69 (Reply 36): Great pics Ryan! A great day for SD. Hope the marriage lasts a very long time.

Agreed! I was so pumped to be there for the inaugural arrival. Here's my pic-



And just for fun, here's my pic of one of the final arrivals of the old BA275 flight. This one was captured on October 12, 2003, only 2 weeks before the last flight-

Quoting AnonymousInSAN (Reply 25):

That picture shows only part of the crowd there today (yesterday). It was a tremendous turnout, I had no idea SAN had such a big spotting community! I was pleased to see there were a lot of kids and families there too, in addition to the many photographers and spotters with scanners and binoculars. Overall, a great event!

I would still like to request any info about the delayed departure (a bit over 3 hours) of 272 this evening out of SAN. Can anyone find out what happened?

Ten minutes more of a delay and BA would have had the joy of handing over a rather large check to the SDIA for a curfew violation -- and from what I've heard, not even Mr. Williams himself would have been able to get that ticket "fixed"! Ouch!

Any insight would be most appreciated.

Flight 272 is being pushed home nicely by the tailwind that slowed her down (as a headwind) coming westbound. Looks right now like about a 80 kts push (over Eastern Montana) but arrival in LHR, as of now, is still over 3 1/2 hours behind schedule!

bb

I had been thinking, possibly the reason for the 3 hour delay, maybe it had something to do with the
crew change deadheading into SAN for the flight back to LHR, and the flight they were on
was delayed possibly because of bad weather somewhere,or mechanical.

It appears that there was some issue with the baggage processing in SAN while resulted in the delay.

Quoting Speedbird2155 (Reply 41): It appears that there was some issue with the baggage processing in SAN while resulted in the

thanks for the info! a tad embarassing...

Looks like yesterday's inaugural flt 272 arrived LHR at 17:09 (June 2), just under 3 hours tardy.

Thanks for the info about the cause of the delay out of SAN last night '2155. That's what I was affraid of and yes, robso', that is a bit disturbing. (Especially when the CEO of BA was, I imagine, right there at the departure gate at SAN watching and waiting for the flight to leave!) If it was a training (personnel) issue, we might very well see some new folks working tonight's departure... In any case, I would expect whatever that problem was, it WILL be fixed!

bb

Here is a link to a picture thread that was started in honor of the new LHR-SAN-LHR service by BA: BA 273 Innagural Flight: LHR-SAN Pics

Enjoy the discussion and images!  

Rgds

SA7700

Why did BA remove the flight 8 years ago?

Thanks for posting the awesome pics you guys. SAN is a great place to take photos.

Did both flights have healthy loads in all classes?

Quoting goblin211 (Reply 45): Why did BA remove the flight 8 years ago?

Oh man, let's not get that debate going again... AFAIK, nothing has ever been confirmed but everyone has their opinions and most include a bunch of reasons including lack of ATI, lack of premium pax, lack of cargo, various financial and economic situations, etc. Take your pick... all or some of the above!

Important thing: the serious issues have changed and overall, the situation is much better now (not perfect since the terrain of Pt Loma still exists, fuel is way high, and there are some economic issues with us) but obviously BA thinks the situation is very viable, the community of San Diego is behind this (and will support it), and I think we have a winner!

I see this whole happening as a true vote of confidence in our little corner of the world by a world-class, major league foreign-based air carrier who hasn't given up on us and sees this surprising-to-many market as an excellent opportunity for all involved.

Finally, In the past, BA has been an involved member of the San Diego community and I expect that status will continue. We welcome them back and look forward to long and satisfying relationship!

Quoting laca773 (Reply 46): Did both flights have healthy loads in all classes?

A question I would love to hear the answer to as well. Anyone able and willing to share some numbers?

bb

Quoting goblin211 (Reply 45): Why did BA remove the flight 8 years ago?

BA was having some problems. Passenger loads dropped because the nonstop flight started
shortly after 9-11,(The flight used to stop in PHX,) the war in Iraq caused a spike in fuel prices, because of low passenger loads, BA had trouble filling the first class section on the SAN-LHR flight. The economic downturn hurt BA just like most other airlines. BA was forced to cut the SAN flight,
along with other routes to remain profitable. AAdvantge members could not redeem miles on BA because of a "Fly
American" rule in place. All of these problems caused the SAN-LHR flight to become unprofitable, forcing BA to cut the flight. The nonstop SAN-LHR flight was a victim of bad timing.

[Edited 2011-06-02 11:58:57]

The joint venture with AA should help ensure the success of this route. The addition of the 787 to BA's fleet will make things even rosier.

Great to see BA returning to my hometown and thanks for the pics!

I guess congratulations are due to the coastal hamlet of SAN for getting BA to dispatch a 777 their way! It must be a huge event there!

Don't BA/AA have their equivalent of a PrivatAir charter that could operate the route with an A-318?

Quoting Boeing747_600 (Reply 50): Don't BA/AA have their equivalent of a PrivatAir charter that could operate the route with an A-318?

I doubt very much the 318 could make it from SNN to SAN

SNN-JFK is about 3081 miles
SNN-SAN is about 5146 miles

Max range fully loaded is only 3,100 miles or so, so even with the fewer seats on the 2 LCY aircraft, I doubt it could make it all the way with out another stop

Quoting lhr380 (Reply 51): Max range fully loaded is only 3,100 miles or so, so even with the fewer seats on the 2 LCY aircraft, I doubt it could make it all the way with out another stop

How about an LGW - CLE - SAN routing? That way, service can be provided to two hamlets with one flight!

Since there still seems to be some interest in the whole story of Speedbird's return to Lindbergh Field, I thought I'd post a link to our local newspaper's article that appeared today (complete with a great photo of the T7 on final over downtown -- keep in mind, in San Diego, that is very close to touchdown on runway 27!):
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2...ives-non-stop-service-london-anot/
If nothing else, it offers more "explanations" of the history, some of the little-known (and hard to believe?) stat's about San Diego's international travel market, and a nice play-by-play of the festivities.

Enjoy the read!

bb

I did not realize that this service started. I guess it will do well, but I am not sure... there is a reason they stopped it before, according to what I saw in the other thread it was stopped. I like the e/q they chose to put on the flight. I also love the pictures.

Thank you for all comments/answers,

laxboeingman

Quoting Boeing747_600 (Reply 50): I guess congratulations are due to the coastal hamlet of SAN for getting BA to dispatch a 777 their way! It must be a huge event there!

What? San Diego is a metro of over 3 million people.

NS

Quoting SANFan (Reply 53): more "explanations"

So still nothing on the departure delay. I am hoping someone will be able to provide the skinny on it. I guess we'll see how it does tonight.

Tugg

A few more pics...


IMG_3074 by Silver1SWA (Ryan Pastorino), on Flickr


IMG_3085final by Silver1SWA (Ryan Pastorino), on Flickr


IMG_3092 by Silver1SWA (Ryan Pastorino), on Flickr

Excellent shots, Ryan! It looks beautiful in that early evening light!

Today's flifo: June 2 - flt 273 arrived SAN ~ :25 late (apparently due to headwinds)
The departure of flt 272 is delayed again tonight (June 2) -- about :40 behind as of now... Hmmmmmm. Not a good trend developing here...

bb

Quoting Boeing747_600 (Reply 52): How about an LGW - CLE - SAN routing? That way, service can be provided to two hamlets with one flight!

The whole point of the LCY service is being able to clear Customs etc before getting to the US in SNN. Its also about using the great position LCY is in for Business traffic from the city. Moving it to LGW/LHR takes that away.

Quoting SANFan (Reply 59): The departure of flt 272 is delayed again tonight (June 2) -- about :40 behind as of now... Hmmmmmm. Not a good trend developing here...

But it is moving tonight. The return trip looks to be only 9.5 hours! Should arrive on time because of those tailwinds.

Im so happy for San Diego! This is awesome news..............May this beautiful continue to grace your skys.......