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British Airways cancels BA1, London City to New York, and Beirut

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The A318, ‘all business class’ British Airways flight from London City Airport to New York JFK may have met its match.

The last flight (for a while) will be Wednesday 25th March, allowing British Airways to escape its EC261 compensation obligations by cancelling more than 14 days in advance.

In theory, the flight is set to return in September and tickets can still be purchased for the autumn.  Nothing is certain, of course, and we may have seen the end of it.

BA1 A318 interior view

Of course, when I reviewed the flight last year I titled the first part “Review: Should British Airways scrap BA1, the ‘all business’ London City to New York service?“.

I felt that the lack of property IFE and the 2×2 open seating was no longer good enough.  The extension of Global Entry meant that the ability to clear immigration in Shannon was also becoming less of a draw, and Crossrail will soon make Heathrow a lot nearer to Canary Wharf.

British Airways drops Beirut

Talking of dropping flights, British Airways has dropped – permanently – flights to Beirut.

This is not linked to coronavirus, and indeed the cancellation does not take effect until 12th May.

As it happens, this is exactly the same time that British Airways gets back 12 daily slot pairs from Flybe.  Beirut uses an ex-BMI A321 short-haul aircraft, albeit with proper business class seats, and this aircraft could cover a number of short-haul flights in the Flybe slots.

The economic situation in Lebanon has been troublesome for some time and it appears that the volume of passengers is no longer there to make the route viable.  Royal Jordanian will remain a oneworld option via Amman.

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Comments (298)

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

  • AndyF says:
    12 Mar12 March 15:15

    OT : Curious Aj Bell – Hargreaves – Or Charles Stanley any thoughts on the best provider for the coming weeks?

    • AndyF says:
      12 Mar12 March 15:32

      I’m leaning towards Aj Bell. They work out cheaper – Although best isn’t always the cheapest and I have no experience using them as a provider? Can you hold individual shares within an ISA wrapper or is it a funds only approach.

      • Lady London says:
        12 Mar12 March 15:53

        If you search the site above there is an excellent article comparing platforms I think the key search would be something like DIY investing. You could then check with your chosen provider if anything changed since date of that article but it’s an excellent comparison and would give a first answer to all your questions

      • AJA says:
        12 Mar12 March 16:54

        Both Hargreaves and AJ Bell are good. They’re all much the same.. HL is not the cheapest but there’s not a lot in it. For a £20k holding I think AJ Bell is about £20 per annum cheaper than HL. Obviously if your ISA is worth £500k then that becomes more of an issue. You can hold individual company shares as well as funds such as Fundsmith within a Stocks and Shares ISA.

    • Lady London says:
      12 Mar12 March 15:36

      @Shoestring any chance you could repost the 15 y gilts graph link please? My new Chinese phone let me save the link previously, but its latest update won’t let me retrieve it …:-)

    • AndyF says:
      12 Mar12 March 16:27

      That’s very helpful and Stocks and Shares ISA. thank you for the reading.

  • Harry T says:
    12 Mar12 March 16:02

    My partner and I are booked on QF1 (Sydney to London) on 16th March. We are currently in Australia. We paid £110 each to book extra legroom seats in economy on the economy mini cabin on the upper deck of the A380. However, I’ve just checked the seat map and it has changed to what appears to be a refurbished A380. Therefore economy is now only on the lower deck. We have automatically been changed to two middle seats! To compound matters further, the app and website will not allow me to change my seats at all – it gives me an error message that says “A payment is in progress. A seat selection request is in progress. You cannot make changes to your seats at this time. Please contact your issuing agent.”

    Obviously we do not want to sit in two middle seats after paying for extra legroom seats in a far superior cabin arrangement. I’ve tried to call the UK and Australian Qantas call centres but the wait times are ranging from 1-3 hours. I haven’t been able to get through to anyone. Can anyone suggest a way to resolve this dilemma without spending hours of our holiday on the phone waiting for Qantas to pick up?

    • Anna says:
      12 Mar12 March 16:24

      Are you in a position to go to the airport before your return date and speak to Qantas staff? Or does the company have travel shops there? I agree it’s a stinker but there will be some sort of clause in your booking saying they can change your seats for “operational reasons”. Failing all that, you may have to wait until online check in to see I you can move seats (then get to the airport ASAP).

      • Harry T says:
        12 Mar12 March 23:20

        @Anna we are currently in Melbourne so I think our best chance may be to find a human at Sydney airport, when we get there five hours before our flight (getting a Qantas domestic flight there). Can not get through to Qantas by any channel. Unsure if Melbourne airport could help us, and there’s no travel shops or ticket offices.

    • BJ says:
      12 Mar12 March 16:31

      If you are in a major city with an office it might be best just to go there. Tbh though, I don’t know if airlines even have ticket offices these days. Doubt the plane will be full so you can lilely sort it out to your satisfaction at the airport. I think they have parked all their a380s so you will be flying something else and that might explain the online issues.

      • AJA says:
        12 Mar12 March 16:34

        The A380s are still flying. Qantas will only ground them on 20 April when the flight changes to a 787/9 and will fly via Perth rather than Singapore.

        • Lyn says:
          12 Mar12 March 16:41

          Yes, but the refurbished Qantas A380’s have extra premium economy seats in place of the economy seats in the small rear cabin upstairs. The timing of the change is really bad luck for Harry T. Also for Qantas I suspect because it will be harder to fill the extra premium economy seats in the current economic and travel environment.

          • BJ says:
            12 Mar12 March 17:00

            Might work out in their favour, they might get a PE seat in the end seeing as they paid for extra legroom.

      • Harry T says:
        12 Mar12 March 23:15

        @BJ currently in Melbourne. No ticket office as far as I can see. I’m unsure if the staff at Melbourne Tullamarine could help – either way it would cost over an hour of our holiday and at least 70 AUD for Uber. I think we are probably beat at this stage to just try and enjoy our holiday, and try our luck at Sydney airport before we fly. Looks like the Melbourne Grand Prix is probably cancelled too!

    • Lyn says:
      12 Mar12 March 16:54

      What bad luck, Harry T. Qantas are probably swamped after the cuts they’ve recently announced to their routes. Early morning in Australia is usually the best time to call their Australian call centre when it opens, at least if you choose the frequent flyer option. I don’t think Qantas have city offives any more do they? It sounds as if you might be within T-80 now? Which could make things harder, or perhaps easier. i doubt it on-line check-in would help if you can’t make changes now. Are their social media options such as Twitter a possibility?

      • Harry T says:
        12 Mar12 March 23:16

        Thanks, Lyn. We have messaged them on Twitter and their app but no joy so far!

        • Lyn says:
          12 Mar12 March 23:55

          Fingers crossed. But if that doesn’t work perhaps you could try at Tullamarine before your domestic light? As you probably know the Qantas international terminal is adjacent to the domestic one in Melbourne (unlike Sydney) – I would try there (at the International terminal) if you can get there a bit early. Hopefully you can find a manager to take pity on you, especially if they aren’t busy checking in for an international flight.

          I honestly don’t see how they could have sold all the extra premium economy seats if they have only just swapped the plane. As BJ said, you have a good argument for why they might upgrade you instead of someone else, and it would save them having to give you a refund for your seat assignments. You could also try phoning as soon as their frequent flyer centre opens in the morning just in case they answer quickly. It’s bad luck about the Grand Prix.

          • Harry T says:
            13 Mar13 March 02:56

            Thanks, that’s a great idea – we will try at Tullamarine.

            The Grand Prix being cancelled gives us a bit more time to explore more of Melbourne so there’s a silver lining.

    • AJA says:
      12 Mar12 March 17:09

      Harry have you tried accessing your booking on Finnair’s website? Their’s seems to be able to do things that BA’s can’t do. If that doesn’t work I think you are limited to getting to the airport early and trying to get another pair of seats at check-in. I was also going to suggest asking on FT but I think I’ve just seen your posting there. Be aware that FT only allows you 5 postings in your first 24 hours.

      • Harry T says:
        12 Mar12 March 23:14

        @AJA thanks but no joy with Finnair. Yes, that’s me on Flyertalk. Not getting offered a callback option by Qantas, can’t text them, and they are ignoring app messaging.

  • Anna says:
    12 Mar12 March 16:06

    Cruise companies now cancelling altogether, Princess and Viking seem to have definitely confirmed all cruises being shelved for 2 months.

  • Anna says:
    12 Mar12 March 16:27

    So UK not closing schools etc at the moment – can’t think of a better way to get us onto Trump’s no-fly list 😡

    • Nick_C says:
      12 Mar12 March 18:43

      While you are as entitled to your opinion as anyone else on the Clapham Omnibus, why should I place more credence in your view than that of the Government Chief Scientific Advisor and the Chief Medical Officer?

      • Anna says:
        12 Mar12 March 18:55

        Well for a start they work for the government, whereas Professor John Ashton, who also disagrees with them, doesn’t.

        • Nick_C says:
          12 Mar12 March 19:07

          A Labour Party member who resorts to the most disgusting language when publicly disagreeing with people. No surprise HE is criticising the Government.

          • Anna says:
            12 Mar12 March 19:33

            He has been a vocal critic of health reforms by both the Tories and Labour. And I dare say much better qualified to do so than you or me! That’s me done thrusting and parrying for the night.

      • Shoestring says:
        12 Mar12 March 18:57

        heh heh! but nobody’s ever asking others to do anything but make up their own mind & proffering some views that may or may not be useful or at least pause for thought/ stimulus to further comments

        now lay off Anna she’s worried about pulling off her grand retirement trip that looks a bit dodgy at the moment 🙂

        same as my Easter hols

        • Anna says:
          12 Mar12 March 19:02

          Lol! It wouldn’t be so bad but my OH is refusing to retire with me so there’s no chance of re-scheduling until next year now when he can book some more leave ☹️

          • Shoestring says:
            12 Mar12 March 19:07

            seems we have a few Snowflakes out there – definitely not including Nick_C in that comment though 🙂

            good to see a few thrusts & parries with decent logic in the thinking and never attacking the person but the idea

          • Shoestring says:
            12 Mar12 March 19:35

            obvs not @Anna either 🙂

          • Cat says:
            12 Mar12 March 23:09

            Anna’s absolutely right, for the simple reason that children are the ideal vector. They pick their nose, they bite their fingernails, they don’t wash their hands after using the loo (speaking of which, the loos are cleaned thoroughly every day, but you should see the state they’re in by the end of the day), and no matter what they say, I just can’t get them to cough and sneeze into a tissue, or their elbows (I’m now instructing my kids to “dab” – how has it come to this?). And that’s the secondary ones – the primary kids are even more gross! They can catch the virus, but it doesn’t appear to affect many of them too badly, so they’re the perfect asymptomatic transmitter.

            Ask anyone who’s been a teacher (or anyone who has put their child through school) what that first couple of years is like for picking up viruses that do the rounds, until your immune system gets a bit more used to it.

          • Lady London says:
            12 Mar12 March 23:46

            I used to work with someone with us both facing the same way, not closely working but in same workgroup, with a 1-metre gap between our desks.

            Her son was in his second or third year of school and everything he got, I got a touch of. She used to mention what illess he’d brought home each time so I knew. She, on the other hand, never caught anything.

          • Lady London says:
            12 Mar12 March 23:48

            We had a rule at home when I was a kid that immediately upon returning from school we had to wash our hands. We didn’t catch much.

  • Aston100 says:
    12 Mar12 March 16:54

    I need to pay a relative £1k per month for a few years.
    Have setup a standing order to do this.
    However, they are happy to accept via any payment method.
    I’m not familiar with the miles and points schemes that people talk about on here involving revolut, curve etc. Would any of those allow me to make a £1k monthly transfer and help me earn some points whilst doing so?

    Thanks

    • TGLoyalty says:
      12 Mar12 March 17:12

      Revolut

      • Aston100 says:
        12 Mar12 March 17:36

        Thanks. What would be a good card to use for this please? I do keep seeing comments here about unexpected charges. Cash advance fees, limits etc

        I just want to send a fixed amount of £1k every month to a relative.

        Thanks

        • Anna says:
          12 Mar12 March 18:56

          I don’t think you would be able to do that with Revolut all in one go. YMMV though!

        • TGLoyalty says:
          12 Mar12 March 20:08

          What cards do you have already?

          IHG doesn’t charge a fee but you might get a small amount of interest, just pay it off quickly as it hits to escape that. You will have to top up over a week or so in £200/£300 chunks though.

          Hilton might be ok as I heard VISA has been changed / fixed but not sure.

          • Aston100 says:
            12 Mar12 March 20:36

            Thank you.
            I don’t have any cards at the moment other than Amex and the free IHG.
            Happy to signup for any that will allow me to make the £1k per month transfer.

        • Polly says:
          12 Mar12 March 22:57

          Aston,why don’t you PayPal with Amex the relative the money every month. That’s how my daughter pays rent, using her Amex.

          • Aston100 says:
            12 Mar12 March 23:45

            Hi Polly, I read a recent comment on this site that more than a few hundred pounds every now and again might cause problems with Amex.
            Is that not true?

  • Shoestring says:
    12 Mar12 March 17:05

    Latest: anybody showing flu-like symptoms is being asked to self-isolate for 7 days

    • BJ says:
      12 Mar12 March 17:21

      Where does the 7 days come from, what’s the logic behind that?

      • meta says:
        12 Mar12 March 17:43

        Apparently after 7 days you won’t have a normal flu anymore, so you will know if you have corona or not! Absolutely no scientific basis whatsoever. All these advisors seem like they’ve barely finished primary school!

        • Dorset Flyer says:
          12 Mar12 March 17:49

          The science shows that after 5 days the vast majority of people are no longer infectious.
          So the 7 days plays off between benefit and disruption to people’s lives and the economy.

        • Nick_C says:
          12 Mar12 March 18:52

          Patrick Vallance and Chris Whitty have qualifications and experience which lead me to trust their advice. Would you care to list yours?

          • Anna says:
            12 Mar12 March 18:58

            But their advice appears to be at odds with the rest of the planet which I think is what’s causing a bit of doubt!

          • Shoestring says:
            12 Mar12 March 19:14

            everybody in UK Health Central realises the NHS is very stretched already so simply might not cope if the serious infection curve isn’t flattened/ too many essential workers take time off to look after schoolkids when it’s not yet completely necessary

          • BJ says:
            12 Mar12 March 19:49

            @Anna, the extent to which their advice equates/informs to government policy will remain unknown, at least in the short term. If it makes you feel more confident the advice is not coming just from those guys, they are merely the conduit of vast amounts of expertise and knowledge flowing to the top of government. Given the quality of advice provided in the past such as, for example, ‘mad cow disease’ then I would hope the government has seen fit to rely heavily on the advice it has received. That it has responded differently from some others, and in a more measured way, gives me confidence that it has. We are also fortunate that the government and its advisors here are singing from the same hymn sheet and not causing confusion like in the USA.

        • BJ says:
          12 Mar12 March 19:18

          You have to be kidding! It is a matter of good fortune that Chris Whitty just happened yoo be CMO st this time given his specific expertise and interests.

  • Ra says:
    12 Mar12 March 17:06

    Thank you for the tips about trying to find a number which BA answer. Unfortunately still no luck ….

    • AJA says:
      12 Mar12 March 17:16

      Have you tried contacting them via Twitter? That seems to work.

      • Aston100 says:
        12 Mar12 March 17:50

        They’ve twice replied to me approximately 24hrs after I’ve asked a question on twitter

  • Shoestring says:
    12 Mar12 March 19:31

    then we have another ISA position each in 3 weeks’ time if needed

    • Lady London says:
      12 Mar12 March 23:10

      Ta wow just seen your graph. I fear Mr T has just made a bad thing worse by plunging the old Western world into recession Europe first.

      Btw was it a person with first name s you dealt with at the other place? I have started talking with them and that’s who I landed. quite impressed.

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