Virgin Atlantic has released its summary financial results and annual report for 2023 with an overall loss before tax and exceptional items of £139 million. https://corporate.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/media/press-releases/virgin-atlantic-2023-financial-results.html https://corporate.virginatlantic.co...
Jump to postBA will add a second daily flight from Heathrow to Barbados next winter, with flights appearing to be cut at Gatwick:
https://twitter.com/LondonAirTravel/sta ... 15289?s=20
Virgin Atlantic has launched a new codeshare partnership with fellow SkyTeam member Kenya Airways: https://corporate.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/media/press-releases/virgin-atlantic-and-kenya-airways.html Virgin Atlantic and Kenya Airways are pleased to announce a new codeshare partnership agreement, p...
Jump to postI think there's been a misinterpretation of IAG's results announcement, that is not to do with Iberia or LEVEL but, as mentioned in the main thread for Ireland, Aer Lingus. If you look at the slide deck, it says in the fleet plan on slide 19 that for Aer Lingus and Vueling "sustainable collecti...
Jump to postThe Head for Points website cites a report that Norse has appointed an advisor to sell a stake in the airline: https://www.headforpoints.com/2024/01/31/norse-atlantic-to-sell-a-material-ownership-stake As announced in November 2023, Seabury Securities (Seabury), was appointed as strategic advisor to...
Jump to postOn EI axing LGW-DUB I can understand the competitive pressures, but sometimes the lack of connectivity between IAG hubs / focus airports seems bizarre. You'd think BACF could sustain LCY-MAD with the connectivity to Iberia's hub.
Jump to postVery concerned to read of another incident involving a BA pilot being attacked in Johannesburg: https://news.sky.com/story/british-airways-pilot-kidnapped-and-tortured-during-stopover-shopping-trip-13046022 The pilot was reportedly approached by a woman in a supermarket car park, north of the Melros...
Jump to postHas it been confirmed that Virgin Atlantic is extending its leases of 787-9 aircraft? I see a lot of complaints from frequent flyers that these don’t feature the latest Upper Class seat. Virgin will have a problem if it doesn’t refurbish these aircraft by the time BA has the Club Suite on all Heathr...
Jump to postSo.....I'm surprised no comments yet about the article in last Saturday's Daily Mail - yes, I know, not the best source - that CEO Sean Doyle is going to do a £7billion overhaul of BA to " return the airline to it's formal glory " - saying he's identified 600 problems that needs tackling....
Jump to postHadn't heard about the original video until now. Classic Barbra Streisand effect in action. Seems like a ludicrously over the top reaction from QR. I think most people recognise vloggers massively exaggerate the most minor inconvenience for clicks and gloss over the sensationalised all caps titles. ...
Jump to postThe presentation by BA executives at IAG's Capital Markets Day is online from around 1:20 minutes in: https://player.vimeo.com/video/886923576 BA is promising a lot in terms of IT and operational improvements at Heathrow but, like the Club Suite upgrades, it looks like there's a couple of years to w...
Jump to postI don't think LEVEL will return to Paris. Willie Walsh seemed surprised at how hard it is to crack loyalty to local carriers - which seemed odd given the experience BA had with OpenSkies and that was clearly aimed at US, rather than French, customers.
Jump to postBA confirmed plans to refurbish the A380s with the Club Suite four years ago. It was due to start this year, but was obviously delayed due to the pandemic and supply chain issues.
Jump to postIn one of a number of announcements today Norse Atlantic Airways has appointed Seabury Securities UK Ltd as strategic advisors/ https://news.cision.com/norse-atlantic-airways-as/r/norse-atlantic-airways-appoints-strategic-advisors,c3874995 As referred to in the company's Q3 results, released on 31[s...
Jump to postSuspect one reason why VS struggled against BA is a weaker position in the US point of sale market as BA has both AA and onward connections to drive traffic.
As far outbound leisure traffic from the UK is concerned, with a weak pound and inflation, the US is now very expensive.
Whilst there are areas I’d like to see BA spending money on (eg a full refurbishment of LHR lounges, rather than a “refresh”) it is encouraging that they are starting to pay down debt.
Jump to postGood to see BA starting to restore the non-US route network.
Jump to postWill we ever see an order for A321LR/XLR aircraft for BA? Is it seen as too small for long haul operations at LHR?
Jump to postBen Smith has given an interview to Richard Quest at CNN.
He says the main factor behind SAS leaving Star Alliance for SkyTeam was that it was at a disadvantage in not being part of the Star Alliance transatlantic joint venture:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O5A-pEVU70
SANFan wrote:And when does this all start? (Effective date please.)
British Airways will increase LHR-SAN to twice daily in summer 2024:
https://www.twitter.com/londonairtravel ... 0zwTbRWkkw
Some interesting comments on the workings of BA CityFlyer and BA Euroflyer by its CEO Tom Stoddard: https://www.headforpoints.com/2023/09/14/tom-stoddart-interview/ In particular, it seems that London City airport securing additional operating hours is vital to BACF securing new aircraft: We sit at ...
Jump to postUnfortunately, unless you are earning commissions for credit card referrals, it’s the only business model that works for free news websites.
Keep churning out absolutely massive volumes of content every day to get clicks and stay at the top of Google search results.
The original plan before COVID was the last 747 would be retired in February 2024. Though, with delivery delays and it would probably have been extended.
Jump to postI think the original plan was that later deliveries of the A350-1000s would have First, but this evidently changed post COVID.
Jump to postCan't seem to find it on this schedule: https://www.britishairways.com/cms/global/pdfs/Summer_BA_Timetable_5.pdf But it does list the aircraft for BA95 as a 747-400 which is pretty crazy for YUL. I think that might be an error. The 777-200 was operating on LHR-YUL at that time, and I seriously doub...
Jump to postBA has kept SYD even thought it could easily deploy the aircraft elsewhere right now. Before COVID Willie Walsh expressed a desire for BA to return to MEL. As for BA and Qantas, outside of their obligations as OneWorld members there is minimal co-operation between the two. They no longer have joint ...
Jump to postBA is upgrading the complimentary snack on short haul flights at Gatwick & Heathrow from a small packet of pretzels to banana cake/flapjacks.
It’s a small change but it feels like things are moving in the right direction.
With BA hoping to build back to pre-COVID levels of long haul capacity over the next couple of years, I wonder where the additional capacity will be deployed. I am doubtful many of the suspended routes will return. These were AUH, BKK, CHS, DMM, DUR, ICN, KIX, KUL, JED, LIM, MCT, SEZ, YYC There's pl...
Jump to postWith a large passenger base on its doorstep BA is never going to have all the bells and whistles of the ME3, but someone should have put a stop to the constant meddling and fiddling with the soft product a long time ago. I’ve lost count of the number of times BA has trumpeted improvements like ice c...
Jump to postI’m assuming the reference to the world’s largest joint business means the number of countries covered, rather than passengers or revenues.
All the articles linked to above are regurgitating the same joint press release.
I guess you have to praise the quick thinking of the crew but I wonder if this was approved by BA HQ and what they made out of it? Had a similar experience flying back to Heathrow when the chillers failed mid flight and a truncated breakfast was offered in Club World and I don’t think WT/WT+ got any...
Jump to postIberia has been added to the BA & Qatar Airways joint business and will fly between Madrid & Doha from 11 December: https://grupo.iberia.com/news/25072023/iberia-joins-british-airways-and-qatar-airways-to-expand-the-worlds-largest-airline-joint-business As a result of the joint business, Ibe...
Jump to postIAG was certainly interested in TAP 10 or so years ago. It would help improve its position in South America following the loss of the LATAM partnership. Though, given IAG's current debt levels and it has yet to clear the Air Europa acquisition past the competition authorities, it may be too much to ...
Jump to postIAG and BA’s original idea under Willie Walsh / Alex Cruz was to lease second hand A380s. It was discounted because the cost of retrofitting a single aircraft was put at $50 million. Whilst BA desperately needs more long haul capacity, I suspect they’ll sit out the Boeing delivery delays rather than...
Jump to postHope the captain makes a full recovery. Sadly, there seems little prospect of the security situation in South Africa improving.
Jump to postIf it does happen, it will be interesting to see whether it is full membership or the slimmed down "Oneworld Connect" membership. Fiji Airways is still the only Oneworld connect member.
Jump to postI believe there were British Airways transatlantic flights from Gatwick operated by USAir crews during their partnership in the 1990s.
Although not on board aircraft, I understand there have been secondments of staff between AA & BA under their transatlantic joint business.
jamsco99 wrote:I'm booked on ba 94/95 in December. Prefer the 787
BA switching some 787 routes to a 777 for the winter season, presumably because the 787-8 refit programme:
https://twitter.com/londonairtravel/sta ... 0zwTbRWkkw
I’m a little surprised by the timing of Alan Joyce’s departure.
I would have thought he would want to stay for the launch of Project Sunrise.
I guess the board probably thought his succession can’t wait any longer.
The exact ratio will depend on individual negotiations, but like many commercial landlords Heathrow charges its retail tenants a combined fixed rent and percentage of turnover. Commercial landlords can be quite ruthless in ejecting tenants if they think someone else can generate higher turnover in t...
Jump to postBA is temporarily switching NUE, PSA and VLC from Heathrow to Gatwick from 29 March to 10 April.
Does not bode well for the Easter getaway at Heathrow…
Following the planned liquidation of Flybe, 43 weekly Heathrow slot pairs have transferred back to British Airways for the current winter season.
The current winter season Heathrow slots have gone back to BA:
https://twitter.com/londonairtravel/sta ... 8106625028
Jump to postFollowing the planned liquidation of Flybe, 43 weekly Heathrow slot pairs have transferred back to British Airways for the current winter season.
Rudenko wrote:I see BA Engineering has given its customer airlines at LHR including Singapore, MH etc 50 days notice!! Shame as in the 90s BA had engineering support for the vast amount of carriers at LHR
The administrators have ended the search for potential buyers. https://news.sky.com/story/flybe-faces-permanent-grounding-after-rescue-talks-with-bidders-stall-12811660 Sky News has learnt that Interpath Advisory, the insolvency practitioner, has terminated talks with potential buyers, which were re...
Jump to postIt’s hard to judge from the photos - there are no doubt some details that will be easier to spot in person - but I’m surprised at the apparent amount of grey & red. This really could be for any airline. I was expecting something distinctive like the Vivienne Westwood uniforms for Virgin Atlantic...
Jump to postI think The Times is overplaying Luis Gallego's comments on the investors call. IAG never gives anything away before it actually makes an acquisition.
IAG really needs to focus on repairing its balance sheet and getting its airline operations back on track before it thinks about another acquisition.
JetBlue has also confirmed its offer: http://otp.investis.com/clients/us/jetblue_airways/usn/usnews-story.aspx?cid=981&newsid=82372 NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU) today confirmed it has submitted a proposal to the Board of Directors of Spirit (NYSE: SAVE) to acquire Spirit fo...
Jump to postFrom experience in other industries, the simple practicality of distance and time zones between the UK and Australia would have made the merger difficult. Communication and decision making would have been much slower, leading to frustration on all sides. Whilst there have no doubt been mistakes by I...
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