Pe@rson From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 18883 posts, RR: 54 Posted (8 years 4 months 2 weeks 10 hours ago) and read 2456 times:
How is BA performing on its Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, Entebbe, Uganda, and Lusaka, Zambia, routes? All of these are currently served non-stop and thrice-weekly using the 763. I have checked some prices for random dates and BA is obviously expensive – between £550 and £600 for a one-week stay. It is rare to find a deal under £500 on any airline for any of those routes. A five-day trip, not involving a Saturday stay, will cost over £1,300 to Lusaka on BA.
BA also used to serve Gaborone, Botswana, and Lilongwe, Malawi, using the 744. The VFR demand must exist, what with both countries being formerly British colonies, as must the demand from full leisure passengers, in view of, for instance, the excellent national parks in those countries. Accordingly, I am curious about whether a service, say twice-weekly using the 763, routing London-Lilongwe-Gaborone would work.
"Everyone writing for the Telegraph knows that the way to grab eyeballs is with Ryanair and/or sex."
Hardiwv From Brazil, joined Oct 2004, 8780 posts, RR: 52 Reply 1, posted (8 years 4 months 2 weeks 10 hours ago) and read 2428 times:
Note that on these routes, and in East Africa in general, KLM has mananged to make important inroads and get an important market share of the traffic.
KL coshare/partnership arrangement with KQ, with two daily flights AMS-NBO, allows for onward connection from NBO to East African destinations. KL also flies daily to two destinations in Tanzania: DAR and JRO.
About BA fares, if you would try to book your ticket from another European airport, connecting in LHR, you would get a (much) cheaper air fare. The same with KLM - departing from LHR is cheaper then from AMS - this is the way airlines compete on other airline's territory.
Pe@rson From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 18883 posts, RR: 54 Reply 2, posted (8 years 4 months 2 weeks 10 hours ago) and read 2420 times:
The fares for KLM is still normally over £500 and sometimes with 2 stops from DAR/EBB to LHR. Not the most convenient nor great value, what with BA's non-stop service normally £50 or so more - but non-stop.
By the way, I am not actually going - I am just curious.
"Everyone writing for the Telegraph knows that the way to grab eyeballs is with Ryanair and/or sex."
FlyCaledonian From United Kingdom, joined Dec 2003, 1970 posts, RR: 3 Reply 4, posted (8 years 4 months 1 week 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 2182 times:
Gaborone was dropped some years ago, at the same time as Durban, both of which were served as extension from Johannesburg. With the BA franchise agreement with Comair in place the extension of a flight to Durban was no longer required. No flights are provided to Gaborone though, despite the importance of Botswana's diamond industry, so I guess the market is no longer of sufficient importance to BA.
Lilongwe was served via Lusaka and later Harare with a 747, then finally Nairobi before finally being dropped last year. Again, BA now has Regional Air providing a connection from Nairobi with its 737s, obviously cheaper than BA flying a 747-400 onto Lilongwe! Unfortunately the Seychelles have disappeared from the BA network, but then BA is being very ruthless in dropping under performing routes these days.
Dar es Salaam, Entebbe and Lusaka must be fairly profitable routes for BA as the carrier did switch to serving them nonstop with the 767 as opposed to combined or via another destination (BA used to operate London-Nairobi-Entebbe/Dar es Salaam, then London-Entebbe-Dar es Salaam, while Lusaka was served via Harare). All three routes will lose FIRST later this year as the 767s are dusked, though they will benefit from having the Club World Flat beds, World Traveller Plus and World Traveller with PTVs. Be interesting to see if any increases in frequency take place if rumours BA is to utilise an additional four 767s on longhaul routes materialise.
FlyCaledonian From United Kingdom, joined Dec 2003, 1970 posts, RR: 3 Reply 6, posted (8 years 4 months 1 week 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 2153 times:
Thanks for confirming that AlanUK. Any idea where they are to be used? Are they to increase frequency on existing routes, or will BA use them to replace some 777s, possibly increasing the frequency (e.g. going twice daily on the LHR-YUL route)? Adding four aircraft points to some changes on the longhauls coming, especially with PVG hoping to be added later this summer (five times weekly), plus the need for 747-400s to operate the MAA (six times weekly from two) and BLR (three times weekly) flights. Dropping BOG, CCS, JED and RYD won't even release two 777s a week, So I guess the 767s will be used to do that somehow.
FlyCaledonian From United Kingdom, joined Dec 2003, 1970 posts, RR: 3 Reply 8, posted (8 years 4 months 1 week 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 2143 times:
BA inherited from BCal a LGW-LUN-GAB routing twice weekly with the DC-10, later split so that GAB was served via JNB and LUN either direct (with an extension to LLW) or via HRE. That was in the late 1980s when BA still operated some JNB flights via NBO, EBB and DAR were served via NBO and SEZ and MRU were served via AUH or BAH. Another ex-BCAl route at that time was the twice weekly Gatwick-Banjul-Freetown-Monrovia service in West Africa!
B747-4U3 From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2002, 983 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (8 years 4 months 1 week 6 days 3 hours ago) and read 2082 times:
Just for your information, I read a while back in BA news that BA were talking with Regional Airlines (Their franchise partner in NBO), to provide a connecting service from NBO to SEZ. I don't know if anything will come of it. Personally I think SEZ is a bad choice as they are competing with Air Seychelles who have a twice weekly non-stop service and are normally much cheaper than BA.
Xkorpyoh From United States of America, joined Oct 2004, 813 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (8 years 4 months 1 week 5 days 18 hours ago) and read 1974 times:
PTVs on 767s?!?! really?! . I am actullay booked on those flights, BA LHR-DAR & EBB-LHR, in november and was kinda upset that it was a 767 and not 747 because of the lack of PTV (Yes...i need them on a 9 hour flight). This is good news if it really happens.
FLycaledonian: where did you get that info? do you think they will have the PTV by this coming November?
FlyCaledonian From United Kingdom, joined Dec 2003, 1970 posts, RR: 3 Reply 13, posted (8 years 4 months 1 week 5 days 9 hours ago) and read 1885 times:
FLYYUL, twice daily LHR-YUL was merely an example if BA was to use additional 767s to increase frequency and release a 777 for other operations.
Xkorpyoh, the dusked 767s will have PTVs. FIRST is being removed, Club World cradle seats replaced by the Flat beds (presumably with the improved cushions, new dividers, etc), World Traveller Plus fitted and World Traveller will have PTVs so that BA will offer the same product across its 767/77/747 fleet. Work is due to start in the next couple of months, though apart from the fact four shorthaul aircraft are apparently being upgraded to longhaul along with the existing nine longhaul ones, I haven't heard or seen anything on here as regards timescales for completion.
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