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Bits: BA adds three new short haul routes, how to check British Airways lounge loads

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News in brief:

British Airways adds three new short haul routes

BA announced three new routes to Europe yesterday. Because flights have only just been loaded to ba.com, Avios availability should be wide open, even at peak periods.

The first new route is from Gatwick to Rabat in Morocco, image below.

Rabat becomes BA’s third route to Morocco after Marrakech and Agadir (Casablanca is handled by oneworld partner Royal Air Maroc). Flights will start on 5th November and operate every Wednesday and Saturday.

Gatwick will also see the launch of flights to Graz in Austria.

There are currently no flights from any London airport on any airline to Graz, so BA is filling a gap. It becomes the fourth Austrian route after Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruck.

The route will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 21st November.

Finally, London City Airport will see the launch of flights to Madrid.

There will be 11 flights per week, taking the total number of BA services across all airports to 44 per week. This excludes the multiple Iberia flights.

Flights will begin on 1st December.

All three routes will operate year-round. These are not ‘winter only’ services.

British Airways launches flights to Rabat

Check how busy the British Airways Heathrow lounges are

Back in 2022, we posted a link to a handy tool. Whilst it keeps getting flagged in our forum we haven’t mentioned it for three years in an article.

Via this link you can see the current passenger volumes in the British Airways lounges at Heathrow Terminal 5. A screenshot is below, taken at 5pm on Tuesday.

Check how busy the British Airways Heathrow lounges are

Given how far apart the Galleries North and Galleries South lounges are, it could come in useful when deciding which way to go. I doubt many people can face the walk from North to South, or vice versa, if they arrive in one and find it busy.

It is also a reminder that, if your flight departs from the 5B or 5C satellites, the Galleries lounge in Terminal 5B is virtually certain to be quieter than those in the main terminal.

You can check the lounge loads here.

Thanks to Matthias for the reminder.

Comments (57)

  • Nico says:

    Thanks Rob – managed to change my xmas feeder flight to Madrid from Heathrow to City airport

  • Terry Butcher says:

    The Avios app does not even recognise Graz as a destination – and putting in Austria, it omits it

    • tony says:

      The website accepts it for an Avios search (not for cash), but appears to be winter only.

  • Doug says:

    “I doubt many people can face the walk from North to South, or vice versa, if they arrive in one and find it busy.”
    Hey, I’m sure most HfP readers are not that lazy!

    • tony says:

      But there’s not much point if you then walk over and find the situation in South as bad or worse…

    • AJA says:

      I usually choose to go to the north lounge as that’s where the business class checkin is unless I know the gate my plane is departing from is closer to the south lounges or from the B or C gates. But what really annoys is choosing a particular lounge as it’s closer to the planned departure gate and then BA changes the gate while I am in the lounge.

  • Richie says:

    BACF flights to Madrid are a re-launch/re-start.
    I did the route last in 2015.
    BACF’s LCY-BCN flights have gone back to summer seasonal.

  • DreamingOfFirstClass says:

    How do you know if your flight is likely to depart from 5B or 5C hours before the gate is announced ?
    Is there is a list somewhere ?

    • ColinThames says:

      +1

      • PeteM says:

        Broadly, if your flight is long-haul it’ll go from 5B or 5C. Obviously some short-haul flights depart from there too.

        This is a vaguely useful feature that is sometimes correct: https://wayfinding.maps.ba.com/ as it works from the day’s plan.

        But so much changes during the day you cannot rely on it and be ready to come back to 5A if your inbound flight parks there. Once your inbound aircraft has parked (apps like Flighty can help with that) you have a bit more certainty, but, again even then things can change!

    • Nate1309 says:

      If you’ve made a mistake and end up at 5B and are departing from 5A I think you can walk back in the tunnel afaik.

  • Matthias Mahr says:

    Normally the departure screens in T5 show “will depart B Gates” (or C Gates) early on if applicable, even if no gate is displayed.

    Failing that, ask at lounge reception, they usually have the actual gate even if it isn’t publicly displayed yet.

    The B Gates lounge has always been quieter than A Gates in my experience, so I strongly recommend heading there if you can. Plus, for B Gate departures you’re already there rather than having to plan in some margin for the (not always very reliable) train.

  • Rj-24 says:

    Me this morning “oh, new routes”

    Opens article.

    “Oh, Morocco”

    Having used the new Agadir route last year, partly due to availability and expiring companion vouchers, and all 4 family members suffering violent food poisoning in a country ranked top 10 for food poisoning incidents (I found out after – and I have been 40+ times to India and not been ill), I will never visit Morocco again. Iberostar won’t be getting another penny from me either. So many people were ill, the food handling I saw was abysmal. The hotel didn’t care, IHG didn’t want to know. The only perverted saving grace was a significant delay with BA and so we all got £350 back.

    • BBbetter says:

      Damn, was planning a trip there this winter. Is Egypt better? Sharm el Sheik?

      • Rhys says:

        Counterpoint: spent last Easter in Marrakech, didn’t get food poisoning once, including eating from street food vendors.

    • 1ATL says:

      I don’t think you can write off an entire countrys’ culinary safety because you opted to stay in a dodgy all inclusive. Ruffet at the Buffet can happen literally anywhere. Just pick your hotel dining more wisely next time.

  • Lee says:

    My wife once had the idea at T5 to ask the staff at lounge entry which gate our flight was departing from. Although maybe 60 minutes before the gate came up on the screens the receptionist was able to tell us the gate (and even recommended we go to a closer lounge)

    • Rhys says:

      You can often ask at check-in and they’ll give you a good idea (although not 100% confirmed, depending on whether the plane has arrived yet.)

    • Rob says:

      They usually know when you check-in where it will go from, because the incoming flight (for a long haul) is likely to have arrived already. Cynics would suggest that Heathrow wants to keep you in the main bit to keep shopping.

      • jjoohhnn says:

        Indeed.. just ask at check-in or the lounge if it’s likely to go from B or C gates and they’ll tell you!

        Or you can get an idea in advance of where it is planned to go from. If you type in the flight number on flightaware.com it tells you what gate previous flights left from. You can quickly scroll the page, and click on a previous day for over a week worth of flights and see that for example BA67 left from B or C gates over that time so it gives you a good idea.

      • JDB says:

        @Rob – yes, if you check in a couple of hours ahead of a short haul flight, the check in staff will know the expected gate, but it is very subject to change so BA staff are instructed not to communicate what might be misinformation. If, for instance, the aircraft on the pre-planned stand doesn’t leave on time or the inbound arrives later than expected, the gate will likely change. You do also see last minute aircraft changes. If it’s pre-planned to be a remote stand, they may well tell you as that’s a longer boarding process. It’s different for long haul flights given the turnaround times, but even they change and B/C departures are often marked as such long in advance without specific gate numbers.

        Also, the lingering customer hanging around for a gate to be announced isn’t usually the big spender, buying the £60k whisky or Chanel handbag.

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