British Airways

[lbaspotter]

Well the ex Flybe 7x daily London Heathrow slot pairs are to be handed back to British Airways this weekend.

Now wouldn't it be a good time to start a Leeds-Heathrow slot sitter especially seen as China & the far east is finally starting to reopen? They will need to use them or lose them..

 

[Aviador]

I recall reading our friend at Loganair has already requested the slots for another route.

 

[Finger66]

He had, but that was only 3 pairs for LDY-LHR. Still leaves 4 pairs spare. Now I just wonder..........................

 

[lbaspotter]

I recall reading our friend at Loganair has already requested the slots for another route.

Well Loganair can try, but they haven't got them,. The 7x daily slot pairs definitely return to BA this Sunday February 19th according to the slot coordinator ACL.

But its worth noting that the is nothing stopping Loganair doing a deal to lease some of the slots from BA, they are a codeshare partner after all.

 

[Finger66]

And just think, an ERJ145 3 times a day, night stopping at LBA, with a BA codeshare would work a treat wouldn’t it..................

 

[AirBingley]

Maybe that’s why stand work is ongoing! I’m dreaming! I’m sure Ben Houchen is trying banging on the door to make BA an offer they can’t refuse to add to the 4i or 5 daily flights from MME! I personally would dearly like to see it return so I can book it!

 

[Finger66]

If we don’t get it back now with these additional slots available we may be waving bye bye to the route forever. The appalling ongoing rail situation needs some competition and with a BA interlining agreement the connecting pax have better options than they had with BE. And as I have said before, point to point is not all about going to central London. Some need to go to Reading for example so LHR is attractive. If BA themselves then 2 a day on a schedule similar to what they last had should do ok. The only way we will get a night stopper would be if LM did a codeshare, but that probably is quite a big if I suspect

 

[LBA4EVER]

Its incredible to think we used to have a 5x daily BMA dc9 service back when they were probably less long haul connecting services out of LHR, so with the correct marketing it can be a success.

 

[Finger66]

We actually got up to 5 x 733/734 with BMI at its peak. Oh how times have changed - lots of factors affected that such as airport security and improved trains (for the most part) but today it is more about feeding connections, especially long haul. And I hate to say this, but with the number of direct flights available from over the hill, this does have pax appeal. If we could get some equivalent direct flights then more pax would use these and if the direct flight worked well in only one direction they may be more prepared to connect in the other, rather than have to do it both ways

 

[White Heather]

Its incredible to think we used to have a 5x daily BMA dc9 service back when they were probably less long haul connecting services out of LHR, so with the correct marketing it can be a success.

At one time we actually had 6 a day. We had 5 A319s and an E145 late evening return flight. The first out was BD411, the last return A319 being BD420, then the E145 was added, being BD421/2.

 

[LBAYORKIE]

Well the ex Flybe 7x daily London Heathrow slot pairs are to be handed back to British Airways this weekend.

Now wouldn't it be a good time to start a Leeds-Heathrow slot sitter especially seen as China & the far east is finally starting to reopen? They will need to use them or lose them..

Lets hope LBA

At one time we actually had 6 a day. We had 5 A319s and an E145 late evening return flight. The first out was BD411, the last return A319 being BD420, then the E145 was added, being BD421/2.

I remember touching down at LHR on a BMI EMB145 and seeing the announcement on the internet that they were dropping LBA and MME. Even the crew werent aware. I always took the mid morning departure so in those later days of BMI thry must have had the 145 on that service too.

 

[KARFA]

If we don’t get it back now with these additional slots available we may be waving bye bye to the route forever. The appalling ongoing rail situation needs some competition and with a BA interlining agreement the connecting pax have better options than they had with BE. And as I have said before, point to point is not all about going to central London. Some need to go to Reading for example so LHR is attractive. If BA themselves then 2 a day on a schedule similar to what they last had should do ok. The only way we will get a night stopper would be if LM did a codeshare, but that probably is quite a big if I suspect

Two points -

I can assure you that on the east coast there is not really an appalling rail situation between Leeds and London. LNER has been pretty reliable and cheap (unlike Avanti on the west coast) and I say this from someone who is usually on that line down to London once or twice a week.

How many times does it need to be emphasised and backed up by experience - an LBA to LHR route based on point to point will fail. Talking about the odd person who needs to go to Reading/Slough is clutching at straws - not that going west from LHR is even easy if you wanted to do it.

 

[LBAYORKIE]

Two points -

I can assure you that on the east coast there is not really an appalling rail situation between Leeds and London. LNER has been pretty reliable and cheap (unlike Avanti on the west coast) and I say this from someone who is usually on that line down to London once or twice a week.

How many times does it need to be emphasised and backed up by experience - an LBA to LHR route based on point to point will fail. Talking about the odd person who needs to go to Reading/Slough is clutching at straws - not that going west from LHR is even easy if you wanted to do it.

I agree, travellers to West London will be minimal and not worth considering.

 

[White Heather]

Lets hope LBA

I remember touching down at LHR on a BMI EMB145 and seeing the announcement on the internet that they were dropping LBA and MME. Even the crew werent aware. I always took the mid morning departure so in those later days of BMI thry must have had the 145 on that service too.

Yes, as passenger numbers dwindled the aircraft were downsized on some flights which of course ensured that passenger numbers dwindled further. And in 2009 it was gone after 29 years with British Midland /BMi and around 20 more years before that with BA/Northeast/BKS.

 

[Seasider]

If my memory serves me well, the 4 X A319 + 1 X EMB145, became 4 X A319, then 5 x EMB145 and BMI claimed an improved service because it had gone up to 5 flights a day.
WH was quite right, passengers just dwindled.

 

[Finger66]

Two points -

I can assure you that on the east coast there is not really an appalling rail situation between Leeds and London. LNER has been pretty reliable and cheap (unlike Avanti on the west coast) and I say this from someone who is usually on that line down to London once or twice a week.

How many times does it need to be emphasised and backed up by experience - an LBA to LHR route based on point to point will fail. Talking about the odd person who needs to go to Reading/Slough is clutching at straws - not that going west from LHR is even easy if you wanted to do it.

If you read my post correctly I was not suggesting for one minute that there would be a reliance on point to point. I was just pointing out that that many assume that any point to point would be central London bound and that is not necessarily the case, in just the same way someone in the opposite direction is not necessarily going to go to central Leeds or central Bradford. But any point to point that comes along is useful to top up what would ultimately be a connecting service. As regards rail, it is all appalling whilst strikes are taking place, but yes I agree it's a good, if not great, service - when it's operating

 

[KARFA]

strikes are one day every so often. i am afraid no airline is looking to start routes just because of train strikes. it' pretty irrelevant when BA or anyone else is looking to start/restart domestic routes.

 

[Finger66]

Agreed, they are. But when they are announced only around a month in advance it does put an element of doubt in the travelling public’s mind when trying to plan ahead. Any revived BA service is very much about connections, in just the same way KLM is, but they get some point to point too but it’s not their mainstay. Appreciate water and distance between here an AMS do make trains slightly more time consuming than here and London.

 

[LBAYORKIE]

Flybe returns 86 weekly Heathrow slots to British Airways - what next?

The liquidators of Flybe have returned 43 weekly slot pairs at London Heathrow to British Airways. Do they still come with EU-imposed strings attached?

www.headforpoints.com

 

[Starflyer]

In today's environment where aircraft and crew resources are already stretched, it has to be pretty unlikely that BA will magic up the resources to fly LBA-LHR (or anything else that wasn't in prospect, like MME-LHR, just to be airport-agnostic). The prospect of LBA-LHR making a sudden re-appearance is remote, I fear.