British Airways

[KARFA]

Having flown back into Heathrow this year and then back to good old ‘string of beads’, I have to report that overall the whole process would have been quicker had we actually parked on T5 instead of T3. Despite being on a BA A380, we were dumped onto T3 with quite a few other BA long-hauls parked next to us. Obviously transfers from American Airlines flights are also treated thus.

The transfer involved around a half mile trek through T3 just to get to the transfer bus queue. A fair few minutes wait there to boot, but some good spotting opportunities from the bus!! There was then a long bus journey under various taxiways, including getting stuck behind a tug hauling baggage trolleys at around 3mph. Once we got to T5, more long walks and escalators. The queue to get through immigration was horrendous. The queue at security screening was no better. So, from getting off the plane at T3 to finally getting into the departure lounge in T5 took no less than 70 minutes!!

Yes some BA routes still use T3, and this includes some of the long haul routes as well. From memory I thin YVR, MIA, LAS, PHX are all T3. All BA domestic routes are T5.

The distances in T3 are quite long, and especially from the A380 gates which are right at the end of one of the piers. Just for others benefit - you basically get an airside transfer bus to T5 and then do immigration and security in T5. The immigration for those connecting on to domestic and DUB flights in T5 is separate from arrivals immigration. Until recently it could often have long queues as there were no e-passport gates and EU/non-EU were mixed in one line. A few months ago they have put in 4/5 e-passport gates and if you have an Eu/EEA passport this massively improves the experience and is very quick and then you are upstairs for security.

Also as an alternative when you arrive at T5 off the airside bus there is no reason you can't just go landside so use the immigration for arrivals, out through the baggage hall, lifts up to departures, and use security of your choice (north, south, first wing) to go in to the departures area.

It sounds like you had a poor experience though taking 70 minutes. I think my transfers between the two terminals are around 45 minutes on average - I may be doing another this Sunday morning actually.

The outbound experience had however been much easier as we arrived in T5 from Manny and the transfer to our long-haul flight was much quicker.

As you say, the T5-T5 connections where you are arriving on a domestic flight and then departing on another T5 flight are very easy. Usually short walk off the airbridge to the connections point which involves a quick boarding pass scan, then straight up the escalator in to the departures area.

 

[Silvercity]

I think it is fair to say that LBA's new management are very much 'on the case' and share our concerns, especially regarding tactical cancellations. The night stopper is an on-going wish, as it has been since the route started, but BA obviously don't see that the costs will be justifiable, which is odd given that they do at all their other domestic departure points. Clearly the likes of EDI pax have a much longer trip to London by train ,which makes the air option more desirable, but MAN has just as good a rail option at we do in Leeds, and they sustain a night stopper and always have done. If LBA ever did get a night stopper, it would be interesting to see how many passengers who currently use the early MAN flight, would switch to the LBA night stopper? I know there are many business folk who go West to catch their early flight because there isn't one at LBA. Perhaps there lies the problem? Perhaps BA are concerned that LBA's gain might be MAN's loss.

When I worked in business travel we were located in Runcorn we sold British Midland from Liverpool to Heathrow and BA from Manchester to Heathrow. We were actualy closer to the BMA service but we sold more BA ex MAN because passengers just used to think Manchester which is a shame some didn't support the local option.

 

[Seasider]

Wimp

I do this quite a few times with connections and to be fair I haven’t missed any yet.

I wouldn't be surprised that quite a few people think like this. The members of this forum have far greater knowledge of flights/airlines/airports than "Joe Public" so when they read in the media that a flight is canceled, diverted to another airport, they are not aware that this is a very small percentage of total flights and that it is unlikely to happen to them.
I have flown 74 times into LBA (50/50 summer/winter) and I have never been diverted, yet I hear of people saying they never fly from LBA because they may get diverted. They do not seem to think that other airports have diversions. That is LBA management's job to get that point over to them.

 

[a300boy]

What we need to do is improve the infrastructure somehow to prevent the needless diversions we see too often.

 

[KARFA]

I wouldn't be surprised that quite a few people think like this. The members of this forum have far greater knowledge of flights/airlines/airports than "Joe Public" so when they read in the media that a flight is canceled, diverted to another airport, they are not aware that this is a very small percentage of total flights and that it is unlikely to happen to them.
I have flown 74 times into LBA (50/50 summer/winter) and I have never been diverted, yet I hear of people saying they never fly from LBA because they may get diverted. They do not seem to think that other airports have diversions. That is LBA management's job to get that point over to them.

Same here. I have done in the hundreds of flights in to LBA and no diversions yet (touch wood). I hear exactly the same urban myths about LBA being unreliable in winter and I usually try to counter it with my ow experience.

 

[Seasider]

What we need to do is improve the infrastructure somehow to prevent the needless diversions we see too often.

That would be very expensive and you would still have the possibility of diversions. We need to change the mindset of the travelling public and that is relatively inexpensive - but a very difficult task. As I said, that is the job of LBA management if they want to realise the full potential of LBA.

 

[michael]

every airport has diversions at some stage, even LHR and the big nasty M over the hill. We were waiting in a lightening storm to come out of Orlando in summer (3 hour delay) and most of the incoming flights were diverted to Miami or Fort Lauderdale. It's the perception that LBA is more prone to diversions that needs to be addressed.Don't forget that earlier this week LBA gained a Portugese diversion from ......................Manchester!!

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

The way bang on about LBA and it's diversions it should be re-named Funchal.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

every airport has diversions at some stage, even LHR and the big nasty M over the hill. We were waiting in a lightening storm to come out of Orlando in summer (3 hour delay) and most of the incoming flights were diverted to Miami or Fort Lauderdale. It's the perception that LBA is more prone to diversions that needs to be addressed.Don't forget that earlier this week LBA gained a Portugese diversion from ......................Manchester!!

Unfortunately, the CAA no longer publishes airport diversion tables but when they did it was possible to ascertain that airports such as LBA and BRS (the two on top of small mountains and the two that are usually the ones associated with diversions) actually fared better than some smaller airports if the number of annual flights was divided by the number of annual diversions.

 

[a300boy]

Within the industry Leeds is seen as the stand out most difficult and challenging airport in the Uk to operate from and to. What anyone else thinks is ok by me I just agree with the industry opinion I worked in for 45 years and wont be changing it any time soon.

 

[Aviador]

Within the industry Leeds is seen as the stand out most difficult and challenging airport in the Uk to operate from and to. What anyone else thinks is ok by me I just agree with the industry opinion I worked in for 45 years and wont be changing it any time soon.

I'm no pilot, nor have I ever tried flying lessons. I only recently carried out a simulated approach into runway 14 at LBA and it is easy to tell why LBA is regarded as a challenging airport within the industry. Make that a real-time landing and add in some typical LBA weather and you can thoroughly appreciate the skill involved.

 

[Tarn Spotter]

I have flown 74 times into LBA (50/50 summer/winter) and I have never been diverted, yet I hear of people saying they never fly from LBA because they may get diverted. They do not seem to think that other airports have diversions. That is LBA management's job to get that point over to them.

I certainly have no idea how many times I have flown in and out of LBA in the last 50 years, but I do know until retirement it was at least 4 times every month, year in year out.
I can say I only have had diverts when the airport closed after 10pm in the old days. Delays for weather only once in the last 5 years, 5 hours due to snow, and cancellations nil within 48 hours this century.
In the u.k. my worst winter airport for cancellations on the day is Stansted (only use in winter), in the last 10 years, 2 due to M11 snow and probably as an average flying out 6 times during winter, 2 have been cancelled every year due to weather. I stopped using Stansted last winter purely due to weather cancellations. Those flights not cancelled were prone to often 2 hour weather delays, all early morning.

Within the industry Leeds is seen as the stand out most difficult and challenging airport in the Uk to operate from and to.

All the pilots I have met over the year and those who have transported me in and out of LBA on private jets have spoken how they feel LBA does challenge them but in a rewarding way, as they often have to use all their training and skill to land at LBA, therefore concentration levels are at maximum.
I was lucky enough to sit in the cockpit to land at the old HK airport in the 80's, I would say that was challenging and were the pilot totally in control.

 

[Bigman]

Daft question, but if we are looking to get better connections into European cities, why don't they try and get BA Cityflyer to operate into London City? An ER170 could easily park overnight on Stand 1.

 

[KARFA]

Daft question, but if we are looking to get better connections into European cities, why don't they try and get BA Cityflyer to operate into London City? An ER170 could easily park overnight on Stand 1.

I think that's extremely unlikely - there isn't a daily service from MAN either. There are only a handful of European destinations served from LCY anyway so not a great deal of scope for connections, unlike LHR.

The only possibility I can think of may be a once a week northbound and sourthbound if LBA is included in Cityflyer's plans to operate more direct routes from the regions in to Europe. This year they have done quite a few weekend routes from MAN, EDI, BRS, and BHX direct to places like FLR, IBZ, ALC, and AGP. As part of this there is a positioning up to MAN from LCY on a Thursday and positioning back down on Sunday so you can book on a LCY-MAN and MAN-LCY flight - but it isn't really operated as a regular MAN-LCY service. I guess there is a possibility Cityflyer could look at routes from LBA in to Europe and as part of that we could get a LBA-LCY flight.

 

[lbaspotter]

I’ve decided to give the plane a rest and try the Virgin East Coast First Class offering instead this Friday between London and Leeds

Is British Airway's reliability that bad, Or is it either timing or cost wise decision?

 

[jason1-11]

Purely convenience LBASpotter as I'm only 10 minutes from Kings X on Friday afternoon.

I'll be back on a BA service to Leeds soon hopefully as I want to keep my silver medal position as the 2nd most frequent F4A user of the service after KARFA obviously.

 

[KARFA]

Is British Airway's reliability that bad, Or is it either timing or cost wise decision?

It really isn't too bad. In terms of cancellations either on the day or notified the day before I have maybe had 4-5 flights cancelled on me out of nearly 200 in the last 4 years - mostly due to weather and flow rate restrictions at LHR rather than issues at LBA. There are the forward frequency reductions (like the ones we will see in Q1 2018) but these are notified and put in the timetable least 3-4 months out.

Purely convenience LBASpotter as I'm only 10 minutes from Kings X on Friday afternoon.

I'll be back on a BA service to Leeds soon hopefully as I want to keep my silver medal position as the 2nd most frequent F4A user of the service after KARFA obviously.

I'll let you off

I am sure there are a few people on the route more frequently than me - I am just a leisure traveler rather than doing it regularly for work so I seem to average 5-8 flights per month.

 

[whoshotjimmi]

To add to this, I've wanted to book return flights to Heathrow numerous times over the last year or so and been thwarted due to the lack of evening service. The next time I wanted to travel was the week before Christmas. There was a suitable outbound but no suitable inbound. It can't be just me that is having this problem and, as KARFA says there will be people who use the service far more than I do so will come up against this problem more often.

I really don't know why BA are messing around with the schedule as much as they are doing. It does feel a lot like cutting off the nose to spite the face. Not having the flights available must be losing more potential passenger revenue than the money that is saved. Particularly as it is so hit and miss.

 

[SNOWMAN]

hi lbaspotter
would you please have a look around the BA leeds h/row network,i was told on monday that they were
dropping back to just 1 flight per day (am).
with thanks
sm1

 

[tleeds]

I’m aware over the xmas period and across into January there are some days with 2 or even 1 BA rotation.

Think LbaSpotter or another member posted a brief snippet into the Winter Sch a few posts back in the thread.