British Airways

[lbaspotter]

All the more reason to continue support British Airways London Heathrow - Leeds/Bradford route, with this mornings news that the average rail fare will be going up an inflation busting 4.1% in the new year and again in 2015.....

 

[ryan]

I flew up on the 1344 last night and it had 84 on board, however the return only had 17 booked. Fear not though, the late southbounds from MAN are also lightly loaded.

 

[stewief1]

Flew the BA1341 (LBA-LHR) yesterday and the load was about 60-70 pax at a guess. At check-in it was good to see that the majority of pax were connecting onto long haul flights, SFO, Chennai, Nairobi, Boston, JFK to name a few, or connecting to short-haul european cities like myself. Interestingly, it seemed that the BA pax were being advised to use the fast-track security lane (is this normal ?). Also noted quite a few other premium pax in the lounge which were also on the flight. Crew were friendly and professional with good communication form the flight deck. Quick round with refreshments and a snack then we were descending into LHR. Parked up on an international stand at T5 so we were bussed to the terminal (is this routine?). All in all, very satisfactory service and so much quicker than the train in my mind.

 

[stars&sids]

I see BA used Titan 733 G-ZAPZ on this mornings 1340 shuttle flight.

 

[ridgeback]

BA sub a Titan 737/757 when they're short of a/c. They are generally assigned to Shuttle duties but normally EDI/NCL. Think it's re first time they've come to Leeds.

PS Stewie the international gate thing is a bit of a pain. 6 stands at T5 are domestic (501-506) and from these you can walk straight out of the terminal or proceed straight up an escalator to departures for your connecting flight which is terrific. Sadly 6 gates isn't enough and occasionally domestics end up on an international gate. When this happens the procedure is for a set of steps to be placed to a rear door and pax disembark to be bussed a short distance to walk into domestic arrivals by gate 501. It adds time to the arrival process (particularly annoying if you happen to be on a tight conx) and furthermore if you have checked in online and got yourself a seat near the front of the shuttle (or been awarded this as a frequent flier ) you end up disembarking last onto the bus. It never goes down well and is a pain but its worth bearing in mind:

A) it doesnt happen very often
B) it is a problem partly of our route's making as the 6 gates were calculated to cover MAN/NCL/GLA/EDI/ABZ and now they have our 3 flts to accommodate !
C) its still way better than going to T1 and having that terminal change to negotiate

Might I also add that all domestics get their fair share. I noted a full A321 from GLA the other morning got 507 while the 1341 got 501. Purely luck of the draw with whats available when you leave the stack. Hope that helps.

 

[whoshotjimmi]

As always, Ridgeback, your insight into this operation is fascinating and invaluable. Long may it continue!

 

[lbaspotter]

I see there are currently some big problems on trains operating between Leeds and London as the overhead lines are down between Retford & Newark on the East Coast Mainline.

Do British Airways have any flexibility in there fleet to put a larger aircraft on this evenings Shuttle SHT1344/1345 service? Its a shame if not, as they might filled either a A320 or A321...

 

[User0001]

There is very little slack in the A321 schedules. They are probably the most intensively used Airbus out of the A320 family.

They are used when advance booking are strong, especially on the 'mixed fleet' routes of MAN/KPB/LED/PRG where the A321 is the largest aircraft that can be used before a B777 could be pulled up as opposed to the Euro B767's of Eurofleet.

The ex-BMED A321's have lower capacities than the BA A321's due to the BMED's having lie-flat beds so are not used on Domestics, and are more exclusive to the longer routes of CAI/TLV/GYD.

 

[lbaspotter]

As is to be expected with business orientated routes due to less people travelling I've just noticed that over the 2013/2014 Christmas and New Year’s period British Airways will be operating a reduced schedule on the London Heathrow – Leeds/Bradford route. Overall it looks as though 30x rotations have been cancelled in total.

British Airways revised winter 2013/14 London Heathrow - Leeds/Bradford schedule


Monday
BA1346 = LHR 07:45 LBA 08:55
BA1347 = LBA 09:30 LHR 10:40
BA1342 = LHR 13:00 LBA 14:10
BA1343 = LBA 14:50 LHR 16:00
BA1344 = LHR 19:05 LBA 20:15 (Non op Dec 23nd, 30th & Jan 6th & 13th)
BA1345 = LBA 20:50 LHR 21:55 (Non op Dec 23nd, 30th & Jan 6th & 13th)
Tuesday
BA1346 = LHR 07:45 LBA 08:55
BA1347 = LBA 09:30 LHR 10:40
BA1342 = LHR 13:00 LBA 14:10
BA1343 = LBA 14:45 LHR 15:55
BA1344 = LHR 19:05 LBA 20:15 (Non op Dec 24th, 31st & Jan 7th & 14th)
BA1345 = LBA 20:50 LHR 21:55 (Non op Dec 24th, 31st & Jan 7th & 14th)
Wednesday
BA1346 = LHR 07:45 LBA 08:55 (Non op Dec 25th)
BA1347 = LBA 09:30 LHR 10:40 (Non op Dec 25th)
BA1342 = LHR 13:00 LBA 14:10 (Non op Dec 25th)
BA1347 = LBA 14:50 LHR 16:00 (Non op Dec 25th)
BA1344 = LHR 19:05 LBA 20:15 (Non op Dec 25th & Jan 1st, 8th & 15th)
BA1345 = LBA 20:50 LHR 21:55 (Non op Dec 25th & Jan 1st, 8th & 15th)
Thursday
BA1346 = LHR 07:45 LBA 08:55
BA1347 = LBA 09:30 LHR 10:40
BA1342 = LHR 13:00 LBA 14:10
BA1343 = LBA 14:45 LHR 15:55
BA1344 = LHR 19:05 LBA 20:15 (Non op Dec 26th & Jan 2nd 9th & 16th)
BA1345 = LBA 20:50 LHR 21:55 (Non op Dec 26th & Jan 2nd 9th & 16th)
Friday
BA1346 = LHR 07:45 LBA 08:55
BA1347 = LBA 09:30 LHR 10:40
BA1342 = LHR 13:00 LBA 14:10
BA1343 = LBA 14:45 LHR 15:55
BA1344 = LHR 19:05 LBA 20:15 (Non op Dec 27th & Jan 3rd 10th & 17th)
BA1345 = LBA 20:50 LHR 21:55 (Non op Dec 27th & Jan 3rd 10th & 17th)
Saturday
BA1346 = LHR 07:45 LBA 08:55
BA1347 = LBA 10:50 LHR 12:00
BA1342 = LHR 15:15 LBA 16:25
BA1343 = LBA 17:10 LHR 18:20
Sunday
BA1346 = LHR 07:45 LBA 08:55
BA1347 = LBA 11:05 LHR 12:15
BA1342 = LHR 15:15 LBA 16:25 (Non op Dec 01st, 08th, 15th & 22nd)
BA1343 = LBA 17:10 LHR 18:20 (Non op Dec 01st, 08th, 15th & 22nd)
BA1344 = LHR 19:05 LBA 20:15 (Non op Dec 22nd, 29th & Jan 5th & 12th)
BA1345 = LBA 20:50 LHR 21:55 (Non op Dec 22nd, 29th & Jan 5th & 12th)

 

[lbaspotter]

Anyone know why the ex bmi british midland Airbus A319, G-DBCE has been operating the Leeds - Heathrow shuttle flights recently? Its Done both the BA1340/1341 & BA1342/1343 rotations first on Sunday and again today...

 

[a300boy]

Sorry I dont know why but the flight is being operated by A319 G-EUPJ this evening.

 

[ridgeback]

Evening all

Shortage of serviceable T5 machines has led to a T1 Airbus being towed over to assist in T5 and its been on a couple of LBA rotations that's all. The ex-BD hulls (well some of them including this one) are still LHR based but normally reside in T1.

BA's Airbus operation has been stretched all summer having lost the use of the Oslo incident a/c since June it is still not flying but is not far away. This is also the reason we have seen a Titan 737 on wet lease occasionally.

I am pleased to report that we are also seeing very good and improving loads on this route in recent weeks.

Bit of a delay on tonight's 1344 but it seems half the operation is running late tonight for some reason. Anyway it's on it's way nicely loaded.

 

[jason1-11]

A few more passengers for the Leeds run as my son and I will be flying up in mid November to visit relatives in Burley in Wharfedale.

Very convenient as we live in West London and cheap because I used my Avios points :good:

 

[ridgeback]

Don't know what I was thinking last night. A fair bit of the BA shorthaul programme was delayed last night as a lot of a/c had been held up during the day due to the latest French ATC [strike]day off[/strike] industrial action.

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

[strike]day off[/strike] industrial action.

Day off is right. :whiteflag:

 

[Aviador]

Don't know what I was thinking last night. A fair bit of the BA shorthaul programme was delayed last night as a lot of a/c had been held up during the day due to the latest French ATC [strike]day off[/strike] industrial action.

 

[White Heather]

According to the LBA MD today, last Thursday evenings flight up from LHR to LBA was, for the first time, completely fully booked. He reported that passenger numbers are now healthy and increasing. I would imagine that the Northern Ballet using the BA flight down to LHR last week also resulted in a pretty full aircraft.

 

[User0001]

I flew down yesterday (weds) on the last flight and there were about 30 on board. I flew back north tonight on the evening flight and the load was 123. Having been allocated 1D it was interesting to see the mix of passengers as they boarded tonight. Passports from India, US, Germany and France were spotted.

 

[lbaspotter]

I flew down yesterday (weds) on the last flight and there were about 30 on board. I flew back north tonight on the evening flight and the load was 123. Having been allocated 1D it was interesting to see the mix of passengers as they boarded tonight. Passports from India, US, Germany and France were spotted.

Its good to hear that the loads are picking up on the Leeds - Heathrow route.

Not that I'm complaining seen as it took us a long time to get the route reinstated after the bmi withdrawal, I just wish BA could look into introducing a night stopper so to be able to offer an earlier southbound service in instead of the current 09:30 departure.

If things stay as they are now the evening southbound will continue to be the worst performing sector due to its lack of connections, That's of course unless your willing to stay over night at a Heathrow hotel. I see it effectively as a positioning sector so for them to get the aircraft back to Heathrow for the next morning first wave of flights with any passengers been an added extra bonus. I just hope BA see it that way as well?

 

[ridgeback]

They do lbaspotter

There's an equivalent service from MAN which has similarly underwhelming loads.

Everyone in BA ops understands the BA1345 for what it is. The other 5 are the marker. By and large they are doing well and improving.