British Airways covid updates: terminal and airport moves, catering cuts, cargo-only flights

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• James walker says:

  1 Apr1 April 07:39

  Given world’s oil price that’s the lowest for decades and possibly staying this way for a while, surely it’s appropriate to expect British Airways to eradicate their ‘fuel surcharge’ currently applied to tickets which can cost up to $400 ( almost 12 barrels of oil!)

  • Blindman says:

    1 Apr1 April 07:55

    It’s not a fuel charge, they changed the name a while back.

    Still money grabbing.

  • ken says:

    1 Apr1 April 09:30

    more like it will be an excuse to increase the charges in 2021.
    “we are only paying $25 a barrel and now its $60”

• Matty says:

  1 Apr1 April 07:43

  Pretzels in Euro Traveller and a biscuit in Club. It’s April 1st, right?

  • Lady London says:

    1 Apr1 April 11:26

    They used to do that as a “second meal” on the 11 hour flight from SFO.

• Oz says:

  1 Apr1 April 07:52

  In these very difficult times BA still manage to get it wrong, and other providers shine. We flew back from Oz via BA (SYD-SIN-LHR-MAN) and were grateful for the flight but it felt more repatriation rather than Business class. We experienced the “minimalist approach” adopted by BA, mentioned in the comments and found our 36 hour journey really difficult.

  Our friends flew Qatar and had an entirely different experience. Here’s what they shared with me regarding their flight home.

  “Qatar were excellent from checking in, very pleasant, greeting on board, very friendly, continually asking if we enjoyed flight, how was the food etc, all done with a smile all be through masks. We were offered drinks throughout both flights and could ring at any time. I asked for orange juice on first flight which was a night flight so in darkness most of the time, I received the orange juice and a snack box which turned out to be a mini burger and chips! We had dinner at the beginning of flight which had menu choice, starter, main and dessert, with drinks and a delicious breakfast before landing at Doha of fresh fruit salad, yogurt which was thick and creamy, choice of main and warm pastry”

  Night and day !!!

  Times are tough and going to get tougher, so BA really ought to think more carefully in these situations. Continue to treat you customers like this and they will leave you!!

  • Catalan says:

    1 Apr1 April 08:20

    Qatar were able to provide that ‘luxury’ catering most likely because some poor person from the Indian subcontinent had no choice whether to come to work, COVID-19 or not. I can not imagine Qatar’s catering staff have any rights or any union guidance.
    Please people, put things into perspective and just be grateful some airlines are still operating to get people home!

    • AJA says:

      1 Apr1 April 08:37

      You may be right about no employee protection in Qatar but that doesn’t excuse BA for its actions. Besides I suspect the catering companies have made a lot of their workers redundant. Which is worse, being paid for going to work and observing social-distancing, (easily done if you really want to) or being made redundant?

      • sayling says:

        1 Apr1 April 09:35

        @AJA listening to reports of people being made to report for work in online fulfillment centres, you would think many people would prefer to be unemployed, with no job to return to because their employer has gone bust…
        I’d love to be working at the moment, but it appears many would rather not.

        I’m guessing many of the F&B suppliers have been told their work is not classed as essential, so will not be supplying flights.

    • Aeronaut says:

      1 Apr1 April 08:56

      Well said.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        1 Apr1 April 11:40

        Not really, unless you or OP have been to the facilities and witnessed what is going on its just a Xenophobic comment.

        This is nothing but extreme cost cutting by BA.

        • Lady London says:

          1 Apr1 April 12:19

          +1 Pretty much. They could do better if they wanted to. But given the overall circumstances do you blame the

• AJA says:

  1 Apr1 April 08:31

  I hope all of you that have received the subpar catering are going to write to BA to complain?

  While I accept that BA is operating in very difficult circumstances the catering option could and should be better. The comment above comparing Qatar’s service illustrates that. They say it is to minimise crew interaction with passengers but they still need to be close to you to hand out the tray so it could contain more than it does.

  Why on long haul it only includes water when it could include a can of beer and two small bottles of wine of each colour is beyond me.

  The flights aren’t full, except perhaps the emergency repatriation services, so it wouldn’t cost very much to be more imaginative.

  Besides you all paid the usual fares, no reduction offered so they should offer as normal a service in return. They could have handled it so much better. I bet you’d all be more amenable if they automatically gave you a few thousand Avios. Think of the positive PR that would generate. But sadly no…..

  I’d write and ask for 5000 Avios at the very minimum.

  • P says:

    1 Apr1 April 09:57

    It would be far more useful if HFP put some ‘meat’ on their statements instead of just writing the ‘what’ – explain why decisions have been made and give some background.

    ‘catering could and should be better’ – flights are currently being operated with minimum legal crew complements. This, coupled with direction from PHE in their document “Principles of safe working for flight crews”, makes delivery of any kind of cabin service challenging.

    The PHE document clearly states “Minimise contact with the passengers. Minimum contact is a combination of time and distance”. It also notes that whenever possible a minimum of 2m should be observed. It’s extremely difficult to observe social distancing onboard particularly in a full economy cabin – no queuing for the toilets, no chatting in the galleys. At least, minimising cabin service helps in some way to protect the crews.

    I believe the reason behind not serving alcohol is to conserve the stock BA have. Suppliers are not operating, producers aren’t producing. When normal service routines resume its better to have a back up of stock to be able to access immediately rather than wait weeks/months for the supple chain to catch up.

    This sense of entitlement saddens me in this current climate. Why are people still travelling?? Full flights are still arriving daily from NYC – the most infected city worldwide – and these passengers enter the UK with no screening, no quarantine restrictions. That’s what we should be worrying about right now!

    • riku2 says:

      1 Apr1 April 11:09

      At Helsinki airport they closed the train station to avoid returning passengers taking public transport. Now you either go home in your own car or are put on a specially chartered bus/taxi (for free) but arrivals from overseas shouldn’t mix with the general public until their quarantine time is over.
      To use the bus to the airport you must either show an airport employee badge or domestic flight booking details.

    • AJA says:

      1 Apr1 April 16:58

      P, How is the crew more adversely affected if they are serving a tray that contains a bottle of wine with a decent sandwich vs a tray with a crap sandwich and a bottle of water? I am not saying multiple service is required. I am just not sure why the tray can’t contain a decent sandwich and both wine and water? It smacks of cost cutting to me and yet BA won’t give a few thousand Avios in return.

      If the reason behind this move is to conserve stocks of alcohol then that is even more of a reason to complain. It is a deliberate decision to deny current customers something that BA has in the warehouse. Who knows when “normal” service will be returning? It is a poor show on BA’s part.

      I will not comment as to the reasons why people are still travelling because quite frankly I have no idea why they are. I am sure passengers are very grateful. But if the airline is flying then it is because people are willing to pay them to transport them. I have no idea if flights between London and New York are still full. I bow to your superior knowledge on that.

  • JB says:

    1 Apr1 April 14:00

    What a ‘first world problems’ post this is, sadly. Possibly written by the sort of person that would ask why their in-flight food is late, even if a fellow passenger was having a heart attack in the same cabin. People are dying, so a lack of a cucumber sandwich on a flight probably isn’t of concern to most passengers at the moment…

    • AJA says:

      1 Apr1 April 16:44

      JB I understand that it is a very “first world problem” but I most definitely am not the sort of person who complains at the drop of a hat. You assume wrongly about me. People are still travelling for a number of reasons and I am not going to tell them off for doing so. I am sure anyone who gets delivered safely to their destination is grateful to the airline for doing so but that does not mean the airline can excuse itself from delivering an acceptable and imaginative meal. If the airlines are still flying and charging the fares they do for whichever cabin they are flying then the customer is entitled to receive as normal a service as possible. The inflight catering could and should be better. If not then customers are entitled to complain.

      • JB says:

        1 Apr1 April 17:19

        Apologies for the misrepresentation of you. It is just a bit of a shame reading a very trivial complaint about in-flight food in the current situation. Taking the time to send a complaint to BA about their food seems incredibly trivial and pointless at this time. Any other time would be fine, of course, but this is not a normal time. I would think that the majority or people at the moment are, or should be, staying at home or flying with the sole purpose of getting home and not travelling for ‘enjoyment’. Complaining about a lack of a sandwich and a gin and tonic at this time just feels a bit insensitive.

  • Alex Sm says:

    1 Apr1 April 16:39

    No one should stop them from giving affected passengers a few ‘000s Avios to compensate for inconvenience caused

• EJH says:

  1 Apr1 April 08:49

  Re termination of Helsinki – if I have an existing RFS booking am I entitled to request BA reroute me on Finnair (same day, as close in time as possible) or do I need to rebook myself (and pay any increase in miles/cash required). In normal times would just call BA but I’m sure others have more pressing queries (booking isn’t until Q4). Appreciate any advice, thanks!

  • Mikeact says:

    1 Apr1 April 09:16

    Q4 ? I’d hang in there and forget it until nearer the time.

  • riku2 says:

    1 Apr1 April 09:55

    When BA dropped the HEL flights from 2x daily to 1x daily BA switched my outstanding RFS bookings to AY. I had to call them though since by default they changed my cancelled flight to the remaining BA flight. But in your case the flights go from 1x daily to 0x daily so they might pro-actively switch you to AY.

    • EJH says:

      1 Apr1 April 10:50

      Thanks – that’s helpful. No automatic switch yet (and for some reason I can only rebook myself online to an AY fight 2 days prior which doesn’t work). Looks like may have to call when the CV chaos is over.

  • Matthew says:

    1 Apr1 April 11:13

    Option to rebook onto Finnair available online in MMB

  • Lady London says:

    1 Apr1 April 11:14

    Yes you are entitled. Avios bookings have same EU261 rights as those paid for with money. The rights to rerouting under this include your right to advise you still need to do the journey at reasonably close to the times you booked, say on the same day, and it is up to them to provide you free of charge a ticket that does that. If they do not have flights a available, or even if they cancelled the route, they are still obliged to provide you a ticket even on another airline.

    Rob did an article in the past year or less about Helsinki and tier points – some timings on Finnair have better aircraft. Though as your flight is December it’s a new flight season so things could change.

    When things quiet down a bit, to allow anyone needing more urgent travel mods to get through, if I were you I would call and get this sorted out.

    You do not have to take a refund, and given AY cash costs I wouldn’t. In the case of a reroute, even if the airline did have flights but no avios seats available on them, note that the airline is not allowed to say they can only rebook you on flights with award seats. They have to put you in any available seat in same class if you’re being rerouted.

    • EJH says:

      1 Apr1 April 11:19

      Thanks again all 🙂

• ken says:

  1 Apr1 April 09:27

  Never seen such ridiculous entitlement.

  Oh boo-hoo, they won’t give me any alcohol.

  What is the matter with people that they can’t travel 12 hours without the desperate need to shovel alcohol down their snout ?

  I’d be glad to be getting home – particularly the cretinous people who have gone for holidays in the last 15 days.
  They almost deserve to be left out there.

  • Novice says:

    1 Apr1 April 09:35

    I agree.

    I understand about food being important but alcohol dehydrates a person in air in the best of times so why do people want alcohol now when it’s best to be in optimal health.

  • Jordan D says:

    1 Apr1 April 09:55

    Ah, self entitled fools like Ken who make blasé comments like “almost deserve to be left out there”. You have absolutely no idea why people have travelled or the reasons behind it.

    My father rushed to India to be with his dying mother, who has subsequently passed away, and is now stuck there because of the implementation of International Flight bans from India and then a lock down. He’s not there for a holiday and he had flights home booked for the 4th and then 6th which BA cancelled.

    So maybe take a moment to stop and have a think before you make stupid comments.

    • Novice says:

      1 Apr1 April 11:05

      Sorry about your dad and your gran. And to clear up I only agree with Ken about the alcohol and nothing else.

    • ken says:

      1 Apr1 April 12:10

      “cretinous people who have gone for holidays in the last 15 days”.

      So past the date when government advised against non-essential travel.

      Sorry about your dad and his mum – I’ve full sympathy for anyone flying in those circumstances.
      Hope he gets home soon, his position entirely different than those whining about wine and trying to chisel compensation.

      • AMW says:

        1 Apr1 April 16:43

        Completely agree Ken

    • Mikeact says:

      2 Apr2 April 19:42

      He specifically said people who had gone on holiday, to which I agree.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    1 Apr1 April 18:15

    BA was more than happy to take their money but not offering the service they have promised (and yes they were still promising it). These people are complaining about commercial flights they have paid a lot of money for in good faith not repatriation flights put on by the government.

    They are still selling £500/600 upgrades to CW Advertising enhanced catering and bar/champagne when that’s clearly not being offered onboard.

    If BA no longer wants to fly and provide the service they promised they could utilise their alliance partners and rebook their customers on Qatar or AA etc but they don’t want to do that either as it’s revenue for someone else.

• 90kp says:

  1 Apr1 April 10:07

  Hello – do we know if the move from LHR T3 -> T5 permanent (When it says ‘all future services’ in the article), or if this a temporary measure until all the services are back up and running again?

  • Rhys says:

    1 Apr1 April 10:24

    I don’t think anyone can predict what will happen next week let alone a few months’ time. Suffice to say that if demand significantly rebounds BA will need T3 capacity. If not, it can consolidate operations at T5. I would suggest it is fairly like we see them returning to T3 but it’s difficult to say on what timescale. It could be months or years.

    • Lady London says:

      1 Apr1 April 11:17

      Weren’t there rumours BA was going to consolidate all flights in T5 anyway?

      I can’t see them going back to Gatwick for Ali g time even after more normal operations return. Unless there is a cargo need there?

      • Rhys says:

        1 Apr1 April 11:25

        There were rumours AA was gonna join BA in T5, but that wouldn’t be possible unless some capacity was shifted from T5 to other terminals

• Jonny Price says:

  1 Apr1 April 10:23

  How do you know flights to Helsinki have been permanently axed vs temporarily suspended? The vast majority of BA destinations are suspended at the minute.

  Also – the news about London City, Gatwick and Heathrow Terminal 3 flights all “moving” to Heathrow Terminal 5 is interesting – as most are cancelled.

  I just counted the number of operating BA flights on the Heathrow Terminal 5 departures list today. There are just 28 departures – and only two of which would normally be departing elsewhere (Barcelona from Terminal 3 and the Isle of Man from London City).

  • Matthew says:

    1 Apr1 April 11:15

    My booking to HEL in Jan 2021 is cancelled. Route no longer bookable for any dates.

    • Lady London says:

      1 Apr1 April 11:19

      You do not have to accept a refund in this case, most definitely not. Please see my other reply on this thread close to here.

  • Gerry says:

    1 Apr1 April 13:19

    So there is a new airline to be announced as flying to/from LHR…….. Loganair!

    The IOM- LHR flight is the switch from LCY. A flash of tartan should put a smile on your face. 😎

    • ADS says:

      1 Apr1 April 17:28

      i just saw a little propellor plane heading into LHR … confusing since FlyBE are gone …

      turns out it was Loganair’s ATR42 !

      is this the first time an ATR42 has flow into LHR regularly ?

      • Catalan says:

        1 Apr1 April 23:13

        Nope. Air France used to operate their ATR into LHR T4 a few years ago.

        • ADS says:

          2 Apr2 April 11:15

          wow – didn’t know that AF had ever wasted a slot with such a tiny plane.

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