More new routes to come for BA this winter
British Airways today announced the second phase of changes to its winter 2012 Heathrow schedule.
Highlights include:
New routes from Heathrow to Alicante and Rotterdam
Increase in services to Gibraltar and Tel Aviv
Newly embodied A321s bring Club World with flat beds to mid haul destinations
Cape Town and Riyadh flights to be retimed with early morning arrivals in London
British Airways Riyadh flight to be served by a bigger aircraft
Former bmi routes to Almaty, Amman, Baku, Beirut, Freetown and Tbilisi become new British Airways destinations
Amritsar, Bishkek, Casablanca, Dammam, Khartoum, and Yerevan suspended and overlap routes Cairo, Moscow, Riyadh and Jeddah rationalised
The acquisition of bmi will further benefit customers as BA launches a new three-a-day service to Rotterdam in the Netherlands from December 9, and three flights per week to Alicante in Spain from October 28.
From October 28, BA will operate a new timetable to former bmi routes Almaty, Amman, Baku, Beirut and Freetown. Tbilisi, which will now become a direct flight, will also move over to become a BA route from October 13.
All of these routes will be operated by British Airways aircraft and crew, offering the airline’s service style.
BA flights to Gibraltar will increase from seven to nine flights a week from October 28, with additional services operating on Saturdays and Sundays. The airline will also take over bmi’s flights to Dublin.
The Tel Aviv route will benefit from an increase in flights from 14 to 20 services per week from October 28. A mix of B767 and B777 aircraft have traditionally flown the route but, from the new year, revamped A321s will exclusively serve it, offering customers the World Traveller (long-haul economy) cabin complete with up-to-date audio video on demand and Club World with its fully flat bed.
Due to poor revenue performance, bmi’s services to Dammam (from September 16), Bishkek and Khartoum (from October 1), Yerevan (from October 13) and Amritsar and Casablanca (from October 28) will be suspended.
BA’s services to Cairo and Moscow will continue as normal, though bmi’s flights to the cities will cease from September 5 and October 12 respectively due to restrictions on the number of flights the airline is allowed to operate to both destinations.
From September 16, bmi’s Riyadh and Jeddah services will also stop as BA already serves these routes.
BA’s Riyadh service will now have a Boeing 747 on the route, rather than a smaller 777. The flight will be retimed, as will the airline’s second daily Cape Town service when it is reintroduced for the South African peak season from October 28.
Both services will arrive at Heathrow in the early morning, enabling customers to land in time for a full working day in London, and increasing opportunities for connections.
Due to the volume of changes being made to BA’s network for winter 2012, these schedule changes will be amended on ba.com in stages over the next few days.
Keith Williams, British Airways’ CEO, said: “The acquisition of bmi is already starting to make a difference and we are announcing significant changes to both longhaul and shorthaul destinations for the benefit of our customers.
“We will have seven new routes: Heathrow to Seoul, Alicante, Leeds Bradford, Rotterdam and Zagreb and Gatwick to Las Vegas and Barcelona. We’re also taking on the majority of bmi’s flying to nearby destinations including Belfast and Dublin, and further afield, such as Almaty, Amman and Beirut. And we have recently returned to the Isle of Man, and will be increasing the number of seats we fly to Scotland. This is great news for customers.”
The exterior and interior design of bmi aircraft are gradually being transformed into BA’s style, a process that will be completed in early 2013.
The Airbus A319s and A320s will be refitted with Club Europe and Euro Traveller style cabins and the mid-haul A321s will have an updated World Traveller cabin, complete with audio video on demand and seat back televisions, and a Club World cabin with flat beds. Customers on any aircraft with a BA look and feel will receive the airline’s catering and service style.
