BA cancels London-Tunis flights

British Airways is suspending its five times a week service from London Gatwick to Tunis from the winter season, which starts on 27 October.

“The flights don't make a profitable contribution to our business,” said a BA spokesman. “We are always reviewing our route network to ensure it is in line with the needs of our customers.”

Customers booked to fly with British Airways after 25 October will be offered a full refund.

BA confirms A380 for South Africa

British Airways is taking the Airbus A380 to South Africa, with tickets already on sale.

The airline aims to start flying the A380 to Johannesburg from 12 February 2014, although the date for the inaugural flight may be earlier. Initially, it will operate three times a week, increasing to six weekly services by March 2014. These flights will be part of the airline’s normal schedule to South Africa’s commercial capital.

Since British Airways took delivery of its first superjumbo earlier this month, Johannesburg is only the third A380 route to be confirmed after Los Angeles and Hong Kong.

To mark the announcement, British Airways is offering discounts of up to 40% from South Africa to London across all cabins. World Traveller fares start from R8,380, World Traveller Plus from R15,380, Club World from R30,380 and First from R53,380. The launch special runs until 31 August for travel from 12 February to 21 June 2014. Fares include all taxes and surcharges, but may vary slightly on the day of purchase due to exchange rate fluctuations.

British Airways’ A380s can accommodate 469 customers across four cabins. That includes 14 in First Class, whilst Club World (Business Class) customers can choose from 44 seats on the main deck, or 53 seats on the upper deck. The upper deck seats will be arranged in a new 2:3:2 configuration across the cabin. The 55 World Traveller Plus (Premier Economy) seats are located on the upper deck, while World Traveller (Economy) customers can choose seats on both the main and upper deck. The aircraft’s innovative design makes it much quieter during take-off and landing, and the cabin has the lowest noise level of any existing passenger aircraft.
 

More BA Flights to Africa

British Airways is increasing its West African schedule, adding a fourth weekly flight to Sierra Leone and Liberia.
The announcement comes just nine months after the airline started operating on the routes and will add 33% more capacity between Freetown, Monrovia and London. The flight will arrive at London Heathrow Terminal 5 at 16h00 on a Friday evening, allowing same-day connections to Washington and saving the need for an overnight transit and visa.
 The new service starts on 31 October using Boeing 767 aircraft in a three-cabin configuration - World Traveller, World Traveller Plus and Club World. The flight is currently on sale. BA will increase its schedule to Marrakech from daily to 10 flights a week and a third weekly service to Agadir, also in October.
In East and Southern Africa, it has upped the Nairobi frequencies to eight a week. In South Africa earlier this year, BA confirmed three additional frequencies to Johannesburg on top of the existing double-daily schedule.

BA Boosts African Network

British Airways is increasing its presence in Africa with additional flights to Morocco. In October, the airline will fly to Marrakech 10 times a week and there will be three flights a week to Agadir. 
This complements its 16 other routes in 15 countries across the continent. Other recent schedule increases include three more flights to Johannesburg and double daily direct flights between Cape Town and London during South Africa’s summer peak season. 
In addition to its international network, British Airways’ South African franchise partner Comair operates over 700 domestic and regional departures a week in South and Southern Africa, including the recent addition of Maputo.

Comair Celebrates Inaugural Maputo Flight

 British Airways (operated by Comair within southern Africa) has launched its flights between O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and Maputo International Airport in Mozambique.
 It’s a 65-minute flight and British Airways’ fleet of Boeing 737-300 and 400s will operate this route with daily return flights and a double daily service on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
Flights have been timed to enable ease of connectivity for international travellers transferring through ORT to Maputo. Passengers on this route will have a choice of two cabins: Club (Business Class) or Traveller (Economy Class).
Club customers can check in for their flight at the dedicated Club check-in counters and relax in the departure lounges, while waiting for their flight. All customers are provided with complimentary onboard refreshments, appropriate to the time of day.

BA Completes Interesting Research

Online check-in has been voted the best travel innovation, in a study of over 2,000 European travellers by British Airways. The top five technological innovations, heralded for immeasurably improving short-haul travel, are: Online check-in; electronic tickets; option to choose your seat online; mobile boarding pass; kiosk check-in. “It is clear from this study that customers appreciate the brilliance of self-service,” said Frank Van Der Post, British Airways’ managing director of brands and customer experience. Looking to the future, participants in the study also threw down the gauntlet to the industry with a wish list of further innovations. Nearly one in five travellers (18%) said they would like to fly in an aeroplane with a panoramic roof, while 10% opted for a special ‘child-zone’ with nannies on board.

BA Boasting New First Class

 British Airways is rolling out its new flagship First Class cabin, across its long-haul fleet. The same cabin will also grace its 12 A380s, the first of which will be delivered in July this year.
 The suites in the new cabin are wider, and the seat, which folds down into a 6ft 6” bed at the turn of an i-drive-like dial, is more comfortable, with a sprung diaphragm replacing the earlier foam mattress. Customers have their own double windows, with an electronic blind, similar to those on private jets.
There’s also a personal wardrobe, with space to hang a jacket or suit, and a shoe compartment. As well as the main table, a side table has been incorporated into the arm of the suite for people who want to continue working while they eat.
The main table can also be folded in half to become a writing desk, complete with leather trim. Although the suite doesn’t quite double as a private cinema, at 15-inches the in-flight entertainment screen is almost twice the size of its predecessor. As well as an array of in-flight movies, music and entertainment, it also allows customers to view content from personal MP3 players on the main screen.
The trademark First pyjamas remain a staple offering and while changing, an onboard turndown service converts the seat into a bed complete with an Egyptian-cotton mattress, duvet and pillow. Practical perks include three items of luggage weighing up to 32kgs each, a dedicated check-in area and access to the fast-track security channels. There’s also the network of over 60 dedicated British Airways lounges and 90 partner lounges worldwide.
 The crown jewels are the Galleries Lounges in Heathrow’s Terminal 5. Here the Concorde Room provides a fully-serviced Concorde Bar and restaurant, concierge desk and boardroom. This exclusive facility is mirrored at New York’s JFK airport. There’s also the larger Galleries First Lounge, with its Gold Bar, Wine Gallery and work and entertainment zones.
Two large Elemis Travel Spas, with six treatment rooms each and a slightly smaller four-room version in the satellite terminal, enable customers to de-stress before a flight. For customers arriving at Terminal 5, there’s the Galleries Arrivals lounge, also offering an Elimis Travel Spa as well as 94 shower rooms, cabanas with infinity bathrooms and a valet service.

BA Pilots Switch to iPads

British Airways is equipping its 3,600 pilots with iPads to further improve customer service and operational efficiency levels. The move, which follows the airline’s rollout of iPads across its cabin crew and ground operations teams, is part of the company’s £5bn investment in new products and technology. By having access to additional real-time operational data, shared with ground colleagues, pilots will be able to plan the flight more efficiently, using the most accurate information available pre-departure. This means flight crew can provide customers with faster and more accurate flight information. With the latest operational updates, customers will be better informed and able to make plans if their flight time has changed for any reason. Pilots will also be able to use historic and current data, supplied by the customer, to provide an even more personalised service during the flight.

BA Maps out Seat Plans on New Aircraft

With the first of the airline’s new long-haul aircraft only six months away from delivery, British Airways has announced the cabin design and layout for its Boeing 787 and Airbus A380 aircraft. 214 customers will enjoy the comforts of the new BA Dreamliner, and the A380 will be the largest aircraft in the BA fleet, with 469 customers. The 24 Dreamliners and 12 A380s will feature the elegant cabin designs fitted on British Airways’ new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. All eight 787-8s will feature a new Club World 2:3:2 layout, the latest generation World Traveller and World Traveller Plus seats. In addition, the new A380 will also have an enhanced version of First. British Airways is set to be the first European airline to operate both new aircraft types, with its first Dreamliner arriving in May and A380 deliveries starting in July. The BA Dreamliner will have 35 seats for customers in the new Club World triple configuration of 2:3:2; 25 seats in a World Traveller Plus layout of 2:3:2; and a further 154 seats for those travelling in World Traveller, with a 3:3:3 configuration. On the British Airways A380, there will be 14 seats in First on the main deck, with extra personal and stowage space; the Club World cabin will feature 44 seats in a 2:4:2 configuration; and there will be 199 seats in World Traveller, with a 3:4:3 layout. The A380 upper deck will feature 53 seats in the new Club World triple configuration of 2:3:2; 55 seats in a 2:3:2 World Traveller Plus layout; and World Traveller will have 104 seats in a 2:4:2 configuration. Both new aircraft will also feature the airline’s latest Thales in-flight entertainment system. Customers will also benefit from new larger screens in all cabins and an easier to use system with shortcut buttons. They will also be able to connect personal devices, such as laptops and use the in-seat power available for the first time in all cabins.

BA Ramps Up Inflight Entertainment

British Airways has become the first UK airline to enable customers to watch their in-flight entertainment screens from the second they reach their seat to the moment they arrive at their destination. BA customers will now be able to spend even more time – up to an hour more – enjoying movies, top TV shows and a wide selection of music onboard the airline’s flights. The extension to in-flight entertainment is part of a £5 billion investment programme by British Airways, which includes new aircraft, refurbished cabins and better lounges. In line with other UK carriers, BA currently starts its in-flight entertainment system once the aircraft has taken off and following various announcements, and turns it off 15-20 minutes before the aircraft lands. The airline was given the green light by the Civil Aviation Authority to introduce extended in-flight entertainment on its fleet of long haul aircraft.

Comair and Mango Go Head to Head

A fight is brewing between the remaining two competitors in the South African budget airline space. Against the background of the recent filing for liquidation by 1Time and the debate that has ensued over the role of state-subsidised Mango, Comair Limited has highlighted that Mango, as a separate legal entity from SAA and a state-owned enterprise, is legally required to publish its financial statements, which it allegedly has not done since its inception six years ago.
 Comair operates kulula.com and British Airways in the local market, and says that it believes that the funding of Mango with tax payers money partly contributed to the failure of 1Time. Mango CEO Nico Bezuidenhout has responded by stating that Mango will only reveal its financials, if kulula does so first. CEO of Comair, Erik Venter responded that Comair, as a listed company on the JSE, releases detailed financial results every six months in accordance with the Companies Act, the rules of the JSE and based on International Financial Reporting Standards.
 “Comair has an obligation to reveal its results as a listed company,” said Venter. “Kulula.com is merely a brand of Comair Limited – it is not a separate company from Comair. Although Mango is a subsidiary of SAA, it is a separate company and needs to report as such.” No doubt, this is not the last we are going to hear of South Africa’s two budget airlines going head to head, as the competition whittles away and the fight over the remaining piece of the pie intensifies.

New Booking Tool for BA

Customers visiting ba.com will now find it easier to book flights on the British Airways website, thanks to a new registration scheme. The new service offers customers a simple registration option during the booking process, so they can save their personal details to make future bookings easier and quicker. When customers log in, their personal information and APIS details are automatically entered to every new booking, taking out the hassle of adding them each time.
 Like other online retailers, such as Amazon, the new British Airways easy registration option allows customers to quickly sign up, providing only their name, email address and password, or to log into their existing registered customer or Executive Club account, while in the booking process. A post-login landing page will display all upcoming flights, providing easy access to bookings.
 Registered customers will also have an option to easily convert their account to an Executive Club account, while existing Club members will be able to see all their flights, not just those containing their frequent flyer number. Later next year, ba.com will also introduce the ability to save payment card details, making booking for customers even quicker.

BA Change at ORT

COMAIR has advised that all British Airways passengers travelling from O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg will need to check in for regional flights at Terminal B – domestic departures, effective 10 March.

The following routes will be affected: Johannesburg-Harare; Johannesburg-Victoria Falls; Johannesburg-Livingstone; Johannesburg-Windhoek; Johannesburg-Mauritius.