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British Airways adds new weekend flights from Birmingham and Bristol

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No sooner has British Airways confirmed their new weekend services to Europe from Manchester (see here) than BA has announced routes from Birmingham and Bristol this summer.

It is a long time – 10 years for Birmingham – since the BA logo was last seen at a check-in counter at either of these airports.

As with the Manchester service, these flights will use one of the Embraer 190 aircraft which are usually based at London City Airport but which sit idle over the weekend whilst City is closed.

Both airports are gaining the same routes – Ibiza, Malaga, Palma and, a surprise fourth choice, Florence.

All flights operate once a week.  The operating dates are 20th May – 30th September 2017 for Ibiza / Palma and 20th May – 28th October for Florence / Malaga.

Here’s the timetable:

Birmingham – Florence

  • Outbound 19.20 – 22.40 Saturday
  • Inbound 17.10 – 18.35 Saturday

Birmingham – Ibiza

  • Outbound 22.10 – 01.45 + 1 Saturday
  • Inbound 19.50 – 21.25 Saturday

Birmingham – Malaga

  • Outbound 23.05 – 02.55 + 1 Saturday
  • Inbound 20.25 – 22.20 Saturday

Birmingham – Palma

  • Outbound 23.00 – 02.30 + 1 Saturday
  • Inbound 20.40 – 22.15 Saturday

Bristol – Florence

  • Outbound 13.10 – 16.25 Saturday
  • Inbound 11.05 – 12.25 Saturday

Bristol – Ibiza

  • Outbound 15.25 – 18.50 Saturday
  • Inbound 13.10 – 14.40 Saturday

Bristol – Malaga

  • Outbound 16.00 – 19.40 Saturday
  • Inbound 13.30 – 15.15 Saturday

Bristol – Palma

  • Outbound 16.30 – 19.55 Saturday
  • Inbound 14.15 – 15.45 Saturday

These times don’t match up between inbound and outbound flights because the aircraft are switching between Birmingham and Bristol rotations.  The flight which lands in Palma from Bristol at 19.55, for example, returns at 20.40 but heads to Birmingham.

These will be two class flights so Club Europe is an option.  That said, the Embraer aircraft used are 2 x 2 seating throughout so the only difference will be lounge access and a free meal.

The flights are available for booking at ba.com.  As a minimum, you will have 2 x Club Europe and 4 x Eurotraveller seats available for Avios redemption.


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Comments (59)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • James says:

    Just tried to book school holidays bristol to Florence and comes up with error message.

    • Lee says:

      I tried to book the same route yesterday but also got an error. The route and availability show up but when selecting flights it just shows an error about not being able to book online.

  • Hingeless says:

    Why didn’t they think about deploying idle aircraft earlier?

    • Lewis Watson says:

      They used to charter them I remember booking Thomas Cook airlines from Glasgow to Spain years ago and was a BA city flyer

  • Leo says:

    How old is that picture? There’s retro and there’s retro.

  • Mike says:

    Great news on Bristol.

    Competes with Easyjet which will be half the price at least.

  • Debitan says:

    Why have you got a picture of Birmingham from the 1960s?

    • Worzel says:

      Thaat picture of Burninumm airport looks pos-tively futuristic to me, you shouldah seen Bristle airport back then!
      🙂 .

      • Rob says:

        Because it is quite cool, don’t you think?

        I thought it would give HFP readers in Spain and Florence an idea of what they would see if they decided to spend a week in Birmingham using these new services ……

        • Leo says:

          To be fair it looks nothing like that now at all. I’m not sure it’s improved mind you. If Worzel thinks that view is futuristic Lord knows what he’s make of the new version.

      • LB says:

        Worzel, that’s not the airport – that’s New Street Railway Station.

  • Lewis says:

    I wonder if these routes will be BoB? Stansted and City don’t have it yet

    • John says:

      Probably. BOB may be starting with the summer schedule on 26 March according to a comment on FT.

  • Danksy says:

    about blinkin time too! I can now put my ba avios to use without having to drive for 2 hrs!

  • Liz says:

    Love the old picture – my hubby started working for Commercial Union Assurance back in 1975 and I started in 1980. They eventually merged with the GA then Norwich Union to become Aviva – great to see the old signage! Great company to work for!

    • James67 says:

      Liz, very late last night I left a suggestion for you to considef with your payment options. Not sure if you will have seen it.

      • Liz says:

        Yes I did thanks – we will phone and see it they take debit payments first then think again !

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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