British Airways new home at Heathrow Airport

British Airways will unveil the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow airport in March which will be the home for BA handling passengers flying in from the Middle East.

"We've moving into a new home at Heathrow and we are confident that is enough for us to remain at the forefront," Paul Starrs, country manager for BA in Dubai, told Gulf News recently.

BA announced in October that the airline is undergoing a $200 million premium class facelift which will include lie-flat seats along with other features.

The airline have also said they will be pumping in $8.2 billion to add 12 A380s and 24 Boeing 787 Dreamliners to its existing fleet. This will be the airline's largest aircraft order in nine years.

Planes collide on runway at Heathrow

A British Airways 747 and a Sri Lankan Airlines Airbus A340 were involved in a collision whilst taxiing at Heathrow.

There were no injuries and BA confirmed there was indeed a collision and that investigations were underway.

A BAA spokesman said "Heathrow airport can confirm that two aircraft were involved in an incident earlier this evening on the ground. There are no reported injuries."

A spokeswoman for Sri Lankan Airlines said "It is reported that the wing tips of the two aircraft brushed against each other while taxiing. No injuries were reported. All passengers have been transferred to city hotels until alternate travel arrangements are made during the course of the day."

A passenger onboard the Sri Lankan has said that they hit the BA jet from behind: "We turned our wing, almost hit what looked like the tail end of the British Airways flight, and we ended up chopping off a bit of wing. It cut through it like butter," said Danish journalist Annasofie Flamand.

"It's pretty incredible to see something like that in a place like Heathrow airport. Thank God it was on the ground and not in the air."

The aircraft was then being inspected to assess the extent of the damage.

Meanwhile, passengers were given the option of a refund or to stay the night in a hotel and leave on the next available flight.

Watch out BA and Virgin Atlantic!

BA and Virgin Atlantic will have to watch out, BMI are planning new transatlantic flights. However the move isn’t expected to challenge the two main airlines for at least five years.

The new UK to US route is expected to begin from March 31st next year. Fares across the Atlantic will are expected to be slashed following the open skies deal signed earlier allowing EU airlines to fly to anywhere in the US.

BMI chairman Sir Michael Bishop said: "This is a programme that will last three to five years. We will not over-expand the business or anything like that."

Following suit is low budget carrier Ryanair who are also thinking of introducing a low price transatlantic service.

If these airlines get me to New York cheaper then I think it’s great news!

Extra charge for extra baggage

Passengers travelling with British Airways could be facing charges up to £240 for carrying an extra bag. Check-in staff have been told to act discreetly regarding the charges.

A sympathetic approach could be used towards those who didn’t know of the extra charges yet this period of consideration would only last until the end of September.

A spokeswoman said: “We were always going to do it this way; to have a slow introduction to make sure passengers are aware of the changes. Even so, it is a very small number, less than 2%, of passengers that the new rules effects.”

From today any second bags being checked in will be charged £30 one way on domestic flights, £60 on European flights and up to £120 on long haul flights.

Passengers have always been able to check in a second bag with no extra charge so long as the overall weight of the luggage doesn’t exceed the specified weight restriction. BA has also cut the allowed weight of baggage from 32kg to 23kg on domestic flights.

Free flights scrapped

Plans for allowing Senior Directors free first class flights to destinations of their choice have been discarded after only a matter of hours since it was announced.

In a meeting involving BA’s Executive Management the somewhat questionable proposal was rejected by Chief Executive Willie Walsh.

Martin Broughton apparently approved the scheme more than a week ago yet a BA spokesman said, “Martin fully supports the decision.”

Flights slashed by more than half price

British Airways have slashed many flight prices by as much as 68% to try and lure back customers. Last week’s strike crisis left many flights with empty seats and now BA want to appeal to customers to take advantage of many unforeseen empty flights and grab extra cheap seats.

This may seem generous yet Senior Executives of the company are being offered FREE first class tickets to any destination of their choice. Slashed ticket prices don’t seem as good now.

Hope as Talks Resume

UK air passengers are keeping their fingers crossed that BA and the Transport and General Workers Union can today broker a deal to avoid a scheduled two day walkout by British Airways cabin crew later this week.

Talks went well last night and it is hoped further progress can be made today to avoid the planned strike.

Meanwhile, thousands of passengers are hoping to get an early getaway on holidays and business trips to avoid the impending confusion that will occur if the union action goes ahead.

Long queues of people gathered at Gatwick airport yesterday trying to book available seats.

We all hope a speedy and fair agreement can be reached over pay and sick leave for all BA cabin crew.

Talks on BA strikes continue

Talks over the pending BA cabin crew strikes were resumed today to try and prevent such a predictable outcome. Whatever the result, passengers will still suffer as flights have already been cancelled leaving and arriving at London airports.

Andrew Dodgson Union spokesman for General Workers said
“The carrier has cancelled all flights to and from London's Heathrow airport -- Europe's busiest -- and several more from its Gatwick terminal on Tuesday and Wednesday next week because of the planned strike.”

Further strikes are in the pipeline for 5-7 February if issues are still undecided. Talks between the airline and the Union (representing 11,000 cabin crew) are centred on pay and policies for sick leave.

Strikes that do go ahead will end up costing the airline at least 10-15 million pounds a day. The quicker these issues are resolved the better for everyone.

Cabin Crew Strike Action Goes Ahead

Talks have broken down between BA and the T and G Union and the two-day strike by thousands of British Airways cabin crew is to go ahead as planned on January 30 and 31.

BA claim union officials rejected its plans to end the dispute over sickness, pay and staff issues.

The airline will now advise passengers to make alternative arrangements when hundreds of flights are cancelled.

BA had hoped the union would completely cancel the strike, saying that enough progress had been made in the talks.

Chief executive Willie Walsh said: "We are bitterly disappointed that the T and G has refused to respond positively to the serious proposals we have made."

Of the 14,000 cabin crew working for BA about 11,000 are members of the T and G.

The union had postponed the strike action for 24 hours to allow more time for talks.

Disappointed T and G union deputy general secretary Jack Dromey said BA had squandered a "sincere gesture of goodwill" as the move was designed to open up a "new relationship between BA and the cabin crew".

He said BA "has failed to hear the voice of common sense" by rejecting its proposals.

T and G claim a new regime on sickness pay, introduced 18 months ago, means BA staff are forced to work when they are ill.

BA insists the measures were needed to cut high levels of sickness absence.

Staff now take an average of 12 days' off sick each year - down from 22 days before the new rules were brought in, the airline says.

Starter pay rates for crew members is also subject to dispute.