Transportation Industry

Company Watch - British Airways

AirGuide Business, Sept 8, 2008

Sep 7, 2008

British Airways has now confirmed that it will begin Heathrow-Hyderabad flights on December 6 following Kingfisher Airlines introducing Heathrow-Bangalore last week, and Mumbai from the start of the winter season 26 October. he UK-India is certainly heating up. British Airways says the Indian market is now its second largest long haul after the United States. Besides Hyderabad the airline flies to Bangalore, Chennai (Madras), Kolkata (Calcutta), Delhi and Mumbai (Bombay). It competes on various routes with a number of carriers including Air India, Jet Airways and Virgin Atlantic, besides the new Kingfisher operation. bmi introduced a short lived Mumbai route in 2006, and the airlines of the Gulf offer non-direct competition but only on a price basis. British Airways will operate Boeing 777 equipment on the route five times per week, with a four-class layout. Flight time is around nine hours. For more information visit www.ba.com Sep 6, 2008

British Airways flew 10.17 billion RPKs in August, a 1.6% fall from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 1.9% to 13.16 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 2.7 points to 77.3%. Sep 4, 2008

British Airways said on Wednesday its traffic fell by 1.6 percent in August, led by a slump in economy passengers. The airline, which says current trading conditions are the worst ever, said the volume of business class flyers edged up on last year but those who fill the cheaper seats shied away following recent ticket price increases and teething problems at Heathrow's Terminal 5. British Air has recently added surcharges to tickets to cover the rising cost of fuel. It has also announced plans to merge with Spanish rival Iberia, a deal that has spawned a three-way transatlantic alliance with American Airlines. The British airline said its load factor dropped over 2.7 percentage points to 77.3 percent during the month. Sep 3, 2008

The UK-Russia aviation treaty restricts rivals British Airways and Aeroflot to each operating a maximum of 21 flights a week from London. Bmi has made use of its partnership with the Russian Federation carrier Transeaero, which is also increasing its daily flights. The two airlines will now offer between them, four flights daily in each direction, with convenient connections for passengers with onward flights. Sep 5, 2008

British Airways Crash Likely Caused By Ice In Fuel. A British Airways plane crash at London's Heathrow Airport in January was likely caused by ice in the plane's fuel system, a report into the incident said on Thursday. The accident, which seriously injured one passenger when the plane landed 1,000 feet short of its intended runway, was not the fault of the flight crew, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said in an interim report into the incident. It also ruled out problems with the amount or quality of the fuel, focusing instead on the build up of ice in the system. The Boeing 777 aircraft, which used engines from Rolls Royce, had flown into London's Heathrow from Beijing. "There are no safety recommendations specific to British Airways. We will work closely with the relevant regulatory authorities and comply with any requirements issued to all operators (of the aircraft)," the British carrier said in a statement. The AAIB report said the incident was unique and the investigation would continue. "Extensive data analysis has revealed that not only has there never been a previous occurrence of this type on the Boeing 777, but also that this is the first known occurrence of this nature in any large modern transport aircraft," it said. Sep 4, 2008

British Airways yesterday opened a dedicated business class check-in zone at Heathrow T5. The new area, located in Zone H, is signposted at the far southern end of the terminal next to the first class area and security gate. Business class passengers can now take advantage of 16 fast bag drops[sup.1] for those with hold luggage only, 16 check-in kiosks and four customer service desks for travellers embarking on more complicated journeys. Despite the new facilities, BA still recommends customers check-in online and select their seats up to 24 hours before arriving at the airport, by visiting www.ba.com/managemybooking Sep 2, 2008

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