News: BA leasing Boeing 757s from Titan for Gatwick, Cathay resumes daily London flights

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• John says:

  28 Apr28 April 05:17

  Flights on a particular route into HK will still be banned for 5 days if 5 or more passengers test positive on arrival or are found to have faked some documentation, so CX daily flights are risky.

  If you want to fly to or via HKG it’s better to fly a route which is operating every 5 days or less frequently until this policy ceases

  • R001 says:

    28 Apr28 April 06:01

    Short of visiting a dying relative – who’s unlikely to die while you’re in quarantine for a week – it’s very difficult to see a reason to visit Hong Kong right now.

    • G says:

      28 Apr28 April 09:56

      Given how all the appeal of Hong Kong, a small inlet of freedom vs. a totalitarian communist dictatorship, has gone. There’s no reason to visit at all ever again besides for family. Hong Kong will soon die out to Shenzen and Shanghai as China’s business hubs and all that is left over are already relocating to Singapore or KL.

      • Callum says:

        28 Apr28 April 12:31

        I think you severely underestimate how many people cherish freedom for the local population over a nice holiday.

        I know the UAE has slowly been cleaning up it’s act over the last decade (emphasis on the slowly?) but look how many people go there regardless.

        • Rob says:

          28 Apr28 April 12:37

          You wouldn’t be going anywhere if you were desperately concerned for human rights. There are, for example, 69 countries where it is illegal to be gay. That’s 1/3rd of the world gone. Not sure that a country that deports asylum seekers to Rwanda is necessarily the sort of place you’d want to visit either.

          We were actually with a PR company yesterday who wanted to know where we draw the line as a business, because of the nature of some of their clients. We explained it to them, but it is inherently contradictory – it is most easily explained by awarding two scores (one for reader interest in the airline/destination and another based on the record of the country), adding the two together and then drawing a line below a certain number.

        • John says:

          28 Apr28 April 20:08

          Well HK will soon be allowing tourists while mainland China won’t be for a long time, and HK is visa free for much of the world and mainland China was only generally visa free for western country citizens if doing some TWOV thing. Eventually HK will stop having its own immigration rules and then there will be no reason to choose HK over (e.g.) Shanghai for a casual visit.

  • Sam says:

    28 Apr28 April 13:15

    Totally agree. Not to mention the hotels have become less lenient on the change policy nowadays, with many become non-refundable. Had a Cathay flight cancelled and hotel said I would use the one and only chance of free cancellation, I then decided to make a stopover in Bangkok as I put no hopes CX can operate daily flights in June. I won’t risk having £500+ out of my pocket because of an issue the airline won’t compensate.

• Frenske says:

  28 Apr28 April 05:39

  Just hope that they have sufficient crew for that leased plane. Otherwise it is an expensive plane.

  • Rob says:

    28 Apr28 April 07:35

    It will be wet leased with Titan crew. BA has no shortage of aircraft. I doubt BA crew are even certified to work a 757.

• TimM says:

  28 Apr28 April 05:52

  “Will BA opt for this?”. No. I think “‘proper’ business class seats” on short-haul flights are a relic of the past, sadly. We have all become too accustomed to shoddy standards.

  • qrfan says:

    28 Apr28 April 06:44

    Only in Europe. American, Cathay, Qantas, JAL etc. will all sell you a proper business class seat and many of the flights are no longer than southern European flights from London. Time for a comeback.

    • Nick says:

      28 Apr28 April 09:01

      Fixed cabins don’t have flexible configs or curtains so would be a scheduling nightmare. BA can turn an A320 from DUS (3 rows of Club) to a TFS (12 rows of Club) with no problem. AA-style aircraft couldn’t do that. If it came here there would be much more disruption if/when anything went tech.

      • Sam says:

        28 Apr28 April 13:18

        @Nick well that’s what Qantas/American/Cathay etc are facing too, doesn’t justify why we have to take up with an expansive economy class seat for the benefit of the airline.

        • qrfan says:

          28 Apr28 April 19:15

          Exactly. It can obviously be done. Once you’ve flown a domestic configuration JAL 787 you’ll never look at a ba a321 in the same way again. Totally different league of comfort.

    • Sam says:

      28 Apr28 April 13:19

      @qrfan TAP has a real business class seat (I.W. Wider and different seat than the economy class behind) on some of their A321neo.

• NvT1115 says:

  28 Apr28 April 06:47

  Flying on Titan 757 next Weds to Malta. Not at all happy how they have reallocated the seating however. Despite booking six months ago BA have now split a couple travelling for a special occasion. The algorithm used is strange as it has blocked all aisle seats in Club so no option of moving seats to sit together – not a great start imo. Spoke to BAEC as soon as notified last night but nothing could be done

  • The real Swiss Tony says:

    28 Apr28 April 07:09

    Expert flyer suggest they’re not blocked but have already been assigned. Also is an all-Y configured plane by the look of things with just the middle seat empty, as only 5 rows of big J seats infront of the second door. Your flight has 7 rows.

    • NvT1115 says:

      28 Apr28 April 07:21

      Thanks for looking Tony. Still cannot fathom why they would split a couple with BAEC status travelling on the same booking. We have our seating preferences saved in our profiles. So frustrating…

      • The real Swiss Tony says:

        28 Apr28 April 07:35

        My money would be on the fact they have made the J cabin smaller. Probably don’t want to sell the pairs of seats in row 7 as J (as you can only sell one), so the curtain now sits at row 6. 1D & 1F are currently blocked, so they might open up on – I think – Sunday.

        • lumma says:

          28 Apr28 April 08:44

          Why would they only sell one? It’s only a guarantee that there’s no middle seat in Club Europe, not that you have an empty seat next to you.

        • tony says:

          28 Apr28 April 09:00

          I recall that in the old configuration A321s where BA had a pair of seats like that near the exit, if sold as J they would only sell the aisle.

  • ChrisBCN says:

    28 Apr28 April 08:54

    I’m guessing you are not on the same PNR?

    • NvT1115 says:

      28 Apr28 April 09:12

      We are on the same booking which is worrying…

• Hans Patel says:

  28 Apr28 April 07:47

  I December this year I am transiting through HK with BA and with Cathy to Singapore on a separate ticket. Has anyone done this and know the rules?

  • Rob says:

    28 Apr28 April 08:57

    Doesn’t matter what the rules are now, frankly. Ask on 1 December.

• Guy Incognito says:

  28 Apr28 April 08:14

  What can passengers expect with Iberia Express in Club? We have been told we’ve been shifted onto one of those services in July, but can change to another flight for free.

  • ChrisBCN says:

    28 Apr28 April 08:56

    Exactly the same as on BA.

  • Rob says:

    28 Apr28 April 08:56

    Same BA food, substantially higher quality crew looking at reports so far.

    • Nick says:

      28 Apr28 April 09:03

      Crappier seats (Recaro slimline) throughout. Definitely no need to change flight though. Only real other difference is the bilingual safety demo.

• Will says:

  28 Apr28 April 08:18

  I’ve got a soft spot for the 757, it just looks “right”.

  • Anne says:

    28 Apr28 April 19:34

    Same here. It’s such a well proportioned plane.

• Catalan says:

  28 Apr28 April 09:11

  I’ve been on one of the Titan B757s. Lovely comfortable seats with excellent legroom in economy class. I would consider this an upgrade if flying BA from Gatwick.

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