British Airways and Loganair finally agree a codeshare deal for 1st September

10 days ago I wrote about how Loganair and British Airways appeared to be playing a complex game of brinkmanship over a new codeshare agreement.

Loganair operates flights to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, primarily from Glasgow, Inverness and Edinburgh.  It is probably best known for its service from Glasgow to Barra, where the plane lands on the beach and the flight times are adjusted to the tide table.

Between 1993 and 2007, Loganair operated as a British Airways franchise.  In 2007, it switched to being a Flybe franchise.  It remained a British Airways codeshare partner, however, and because Flybe is a BA and avios.com partner you have been able to redeem Avios for these services.

Loganair and Flybe are ending their franchise agreement on 1st September 2017.  From that date flights will operate under the Loganair brand.

When this news was first reported in November 2016, it was said that the British Airways codeshares would remain in place.   Then things went very quiet ….

Finally, BA and Loganair have announced a deal

With just two weeks to go – which means that the two airlines will already have lost out on some advance booking business – a new codeshare deal has been announced.

This is what will happen:

Loganair flights from Inverness, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow to the Highlands and Islands will carry a British Airways flight number from 1st September

Loganair flights from Glasgow, Inverness and, erm, Norwich to Manchester will also carry a BA code

It is worth noting that you cannot book these flights on a stand-alone basis with a BA flight number.  They need to connect to another British Airways operated or coded flight.  If you try to book Edinburgh to Sumburgh on ba.com, it tries to sell you Edinburgh – Heathrow, Heathrow – Aberdeen, Aberdeen – Sumburgh!

As well as the obvious permutations, eg Heathrow to Inverness to Sumburgh, the codeshare should also allow routings such as New York JFK to Manchester (on AA, BA coded) to Norwich!

You will earn Avios and British Airways tier points on the Loganair flights when booked under a British Airways code.   Note that Loganair flights are Economy only.

Unfortunately, you cannot redeem Avios on Loganair services, even those which have a British Airways flight number attached.

Flights are already available for booking at ba.com.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is increased to 30,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 30,000 Avios. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card from American Express is increased to 80,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 80,000 Avios! The spend requirement is changed to £10,000 in six months for this offer. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

Huge 80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th December 2024, there are EXCLUSIVE sign-up offers for our readers on the two Capital on Tap small business Visa cards. You can earn 20,000 points on the Business Rewards card and 30,000 points on the new Pro card. Click here to apply.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

20,000 points (ONLY TO 9TH DECEMBER) Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

30,000 points (TO 9TH DECEMBER) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.