British Airways adds daily London-Melbourne flights

British Airways today announced an expanded long-haul network, including daily flights from London to Melbourne (above).

The airline’s long-haul route network is set to grow by 9%, it said in a media statement with new destinations including Melbourne and Colombo in Sri Lanka.

The expansion also includes a boost to winter capacity on several popular leisure routes including Cape Town, Tokyo and Bridgetown in Barbados.

As a result of the situation in the Middle East. British Airways has added seven extra return services to Bangkok and Singapore in the last week and will continue to review its schedule and add additional flights to destinations as needed, the airline said.

“We’re delighted to announce sizeable growth to our flying schedule for winter 2026, including two notable new destinations that I’m confident will prove popular with our customers," said Neil Chernoff, British Airways’ Chief Planning and Strategy Officer.

"We’re also increasing services across several high-demand routes around the world. Together, these changes represent a significant investment in our long-haul leisure network, adding even more options and choice for our customers.

"Elsewhere, we know there is short-term demand as a result of the situation in the Middle East. To support customers with alternative routes from popular destinations we have already launched additional flights, and we will continue to monitor customer demand and add flights to our schedule if we’re able to do so.”

BA will commence daily flights to Melbourne in Australia from January 9, 2027, launching in time for the Australian Open and the Melbourne Grand Prix.

Flights will operate year-round from London Heathrow, via Kuala Lumpur.

Customers will have a choice of four cabin classes: World Traveller (economy), World Traveller Plus (premium economy), Club World (business class) and First.

British Airways masters the art of weasel words

British Airways appears to have mastered the art of weasel words.

The British flag carrier has always stood out from its rivals by offering two or three hot breakfast options on its Club Europe business class flights to leading European capitals.

No more.

And the removal of hot breakfasts is not a cutback, or a reduction. Instead, BA describes it as a "simplification".

As of January 7, BA will be "modifying" the breakfast service on many of its short flights within Europe for those lucky enough to be business class.

The airline currently offers two or three hot options but will instead simply have one option on select routes -a fruit plate, yogurt, and a heated pastry.

This policy will apply on flights to and from Amsterdam (AMS), Belfast (BHD), Brussels (BRU), Dublin (DUB), Jersey (JER), Manchester (MAN), Newcastle (NCL), and Paris (CDG). All other routes will continue to receive a full hot breakfast. For now.

British Airways says it is making this change in order for cabin crew to have “more time in the cabin with customers".

Which is, of course, BS. The only interaction most passengers want with crew is to get breakfast.

To be fair, European rivals (like Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, SWISS, etc do not serve hot breakfasts on short flights. But BA appears to be reducing one of its points of difference to save money.

Cost cutting pure and simple despite BA claiming its Club Europe service is "feature packed" and a "perfect combination of efficiency, convenience and comfort". 

British Airways ranked bottom of the class

It is the news no airline wants to hear: that it has been named worst in the world. 

I haven't flown British Airways for a very long time. Not since some uniformed haridan shouted "just wait!" at me when I was foolish enough to request a snack. 

And apparently things have not improved. 

British Airways has dropped to the bottom of consumer group Which?’s annual satisfaction survey for the first time, alongside the appalling Air Canada.

Which? asked nearly 8,000 UK travellers across more than 9,000 flights to rank airlines based on punctuality, customer service, seat comfort, food and value for money. 

It then merged those findings with delays and cancellation data from the Civil Aviation Authority to compile its final list.

So British Airways, which once called itself the ‘world’s favourite airline’ is hated by its own customers. 

The airline got an overall customer rating of 62% for long-haul flights. It only mustered up two out of five stars in several categories, including seat comfort, food and drink and value for money. 

But Which? says the problem isn’t necessarily that BA has got worse (it actually improved on its 2018 score of 50%), but that other airlines have got better.

Though BA got an even lower score of 57% in Which?’s short-haul ranking, it didn’t come dead last. It scored higher than Lufthansa, Wizz Air and Ryanair (which earned just one star for seat comfort and food and drink).

Here's the long-haul list, with Australia's Qantas ranking fourth: 

Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airways, Emirates, Qantas, Virgin Atlantic, Air France, Delta Airlines, KLM
United Airlines, Qatar Airways, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Tui Airways, Aer Lingus
American Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Air Canada/ British Airways. 

Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: “British Airways' poor performance in our survey shows how far it has fallen from the days when it was seen as setting the standards others should aspire to.

“There’s a clear disparity between airlines at the top and at the bottom of the rankings. The top performers show it is possible to give passengers good service at a time when delays, cancellations and terrible customer service have become almost the norm.

“Some airlines seem to think they can get away with treating their customers badly, knowing they are unlikely to face consequences in a sector with weak regulations.” 

British Airways said the research was "entirely at odds with comments from the hundreds of thousands of customers" who travel on their airline. Well they would, wouldn't they?

For short-haul airlines in Europe, Jet2 took first place for the fourth consecutive year.

British Airways trims US flights - but it has nothing to do with the election

British Airways has cut two more daily US flights - but it has nothing to do with a reduction in bookings after the election of Donald Trump.

The cutbacks are due to a projected lack of aircraft due to maintenance issues, new portal Travel Mole reports.

BA is temporarily scrapping daily flights to Dallas/Fort Worth for the next northern summer with the flight suspension from March to October 2025.

Additionally, the airline will remove the second daily flight from London to Miami, which was only recently announced as a year-round service.

The airline has already cut New York flights from London Gatwick due to issues over the delivery of engines and parts from Rolls-Royce.

“We’ve taken this action because we do not believe the issue will be solved quickly, and we want to offer our customers the certainty they deserve,” the airline said in a statement.

“We’ve apologised to those affected and are able to offer the vast majority a flight the same day with British Airways or one of our partner airlines.”

BA’s transatlantic partner American Airlines will help pick up the slack for Dallas and Miami.

American said it is resuming its second-daily flight to London Heathrow from South Florida.

British Airways cancels hundreds of flights

British Airways has been forced to cancel hundreds of long-haul flights over the next few months, blaming what it says are engine issues. 

BA says it has been forced to ground several aircraft, news portal Travel Mole reports.

The airline will cut daily flights from London Gatwick to New York JFK over the northern hemisphere winter.

BA blames delays on receiving spare parts and replacement Trent 1000 engines that power its Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

The airline operates a fleet of 40 787s.

Five of its 787s are to be grounded and it says some Boeing 777 planes also need routine maintenance.

“We’ve taken this action because we do not believe the issue will be solved quickly," the airline said in a statement. "We want to offer our customers the certainty they deserve.” 

BA will cut one flight a day from London Heathrow to Doha and postpone the re-start of Kuala Lumpur flights, which were scheduled to resume next month.

Airlines have Georgia on their minds

Georgia is a potential new travel hot spot from London.

The Georgian capital Tbilisi is to get two new direct air links from the UK with British Airways and and budget carrier easyJet both announcing new flights this week.

BA will launch flights from London Heathrow to Tbilisi four times per week from March 30 next year.

It will offer a two-class service on each flight with Club Europe (business class) and Euro Traveller (economy), news hub Travel Mole reports.

“We’re delighted to welcome Tbilisi flights back into our route network, after our last scheduled service in 2013,” said Neil Chernoff, BA's chief planning and strategy officer.

“We expect this to be a popular route with the leisure market, which has seen a strong comeback since 2019, as well as with those looking to enjoy direct flights to visit friends and family.”

Georgia is known for its rich history, culture, and picturesque scenery and has an 8,000-year-old history of winemaking.

Tbilisi is located on the banks of the Mtkvari River and tourism highlights include canyons and caves near Kutaisi and multiple UNESCO World Heritage sites are nearby. One of Europe’s oldest capitals, Tbilisi has been the cultural, political, and economic centre of Georgia for 15 centuries. 

At the heart of the city lies historic Old Tbilisi, which was built during the early Middle Ages.

Mariam Kvrivishvili, deputy minister at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, said: “We are proud that British Airways has decided to enter the Georgian market, which is important recognition for our country.”

easyJet, meanwhile, announced it will launch Tbilisi flights for the very first time with a new route from London Luton.

The inaugural flight will take off on April 1, 2025, and will operate twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays throughout the summer season.

The airline has also launched new routes to Tbilisi from Geneva and Milan Malpensa.

Image: Georgia Travel

Another British Airways flight goes nowhere

British Airways is nothing if not consistent.

For the second month running BA passengers have spent hours in the air before being deposited back where they started from.

The latest hours-long ‘flight to nowhere’ was caused by an in-flight "technical issue", Travel Mole reports.

Flight BA31 was en route from London Heathrow to Hong Kong earlier this week before turning around and heading back to Heathrow, where it landed safely.

The flight had got as far as flying over Turkmenistan when the pilot made a U-turn. Overall the flight was in the air for 11 hours.

“The flight returned to London Heathrow as a precaution due to a minor technical issue,” the airline said.

“It landed safely and customers disembarked as normal. We’ve apologised for the disruption to their journey.” An apology! How generous of them.

This latest stuff up followed last month's BA 8,000km flight to nowhere over the Atlantic.

The Heathrow flight bound for Houston turned around near the US-Canada border after a technical fault. It also returned to home base.

The 9 1/2-hour flight to nowhere

Imagine being on a plane for over nine hours and going nowhere.

Passengers on board a British Airways flight from Heathrow ended up back at their departure point this week after a nine-hour plus ‘flight to nowhere’, Travel Mole reported.

The Houston-bound flight had reached North America but then turned around and returned to London Heathrow due to a “minor technical issue”. It flew 7,779km.

The Boeing Dreamliner jet had just crossed the Canada-US border when the pilots were alerted to the issue.

It was apparently not serious enough to warrant an emergency diversion so the plane returned to the UK.

The flight to nowhere was in the air nine and a half hours, crossing the Atlantic Ocean twice.

BA hasn’t disclosed what the technical glitch was but the plane landed without incident at back at Heathrow.

“The flight returned to London Heathrow as a precaution due to a minor technical issue. It landed safely and customers disembarked as normal,” BA said in a statement.

“We’ve apologised to our customers for the disruption to their journey.” 

I’d be wanting a whole lot more than an apology. What a nightmare scenario.

Passengers were all re-booked onto alternative flights to Houston. Hotels and information on how to claim for any additional expenses, were also provided.

PR woes for British Airways

It has been a week of bad publicity for British Airways.

First, two BA flight attendants were fired after a video of them appearing to mock Asian passengers circulated on social media.

A viral TikTok item showed crew members making a racist gesture and mocking the Chinese accent.

The airline confirmed it had sacked the duo, Travel Mole confirmed.

Meanwhile, the airline was subject to ridicule after it was reported that passengers were informed midway through a flight that the food and drink on their menu cards would cost more than the stated prices.

The announcement was made by a steward over the PA system to those on board a flight from Athens to Heathrow. 

Card payment readers had already been adjusted to charge higher rates.

One of the passengers on board the flight told The Sun newspaper: ‘We were all shocked. Why did they suddenly put the prices up without warning anyone?

Earlier in the month a BA Boeing 777-200ER flying from New York-JFK to London-Gatwick (LGW) was forced to divert to St John’s in Newfoundland, Canada, after one of the pilots became incapacitated.

And over the weekend, a BA flight from London Gatwick declared an emergency on descent into Cape Town, but landed without incident.

Death is in the air: a deadly time

It has been a deadly time for flyers with two deaths on board commercial aircraft over the past few days.

A British Airways flight attendant collapsed and died in front of seated passengers just prior to take off at London Heathrow, Travel Mole reported.

The 52-year-old man was preparing for departure on a flight scheduled to fly to Hong Kong.

The captain called for medical assistance, and a passenger helped with CPR. Emergency services personnel attended the scene but the man could not be saved.

“Sadly, despite the best efforts of our crews, a patient was pronounced dead at the scene,’ London Ambulance Service said.

The early evening incident caused the flight to be delayed overnight.

Passengers were accommodated in local hotels and departed the following day.

A BA spokesperson said: ‘Our thoughts are with our colleagues’ friends and family at this incredibly sad time."

Just a week earlier a BA flight attendant was found dead in a layover hotel room in the US prior to a flight from Newark to London Heathrow.

A passenger was, meanwhile, discovered dead in a toilet cubicle on a Jet2 flight from Tenerife in Spain bound for Manchester.

Cabin crew found the man dead after other passengers became concerned at the length of time the toilet was occupied.

The flight was then diverted to Cork in Ireland.

A Jet2 spokesperson said: “Flight LS918 from Tenerife to Manchester diverted to Cork Airport due to a customer requiring medical attention.

“Regrettably, we can confirm that the customer sadly passed away. This was an extremely difficult situation for our crew. Our thoughts are with the customer’s family and friends.”

Image: Tiago Gomes, Scop.io 

New technology aims to help airport users

Ever rushed through an unfamiliar airport trying to find your gate?

New technology may help hapless travellers who get lost in airports.

British Airways announced this week that it is trialling a new digital wayfinding tool to speed up passenger flows through London Heathrow.

The new tech offers maps of both London Heathrow Terminal 5 and Terminal 3, helping customers to quickly locate their departure gate, Travel Mole reports.

It also gives passengers instructions on how to find shops, lounges and restaurants. So money is the real motivation.

But the new wayfinding tool also allows customers to save time and reduce the chance of missing a flight.

Through an interactive map, customers can click on areas including shops and view information about their exact location, opening times, and a description on items on sale.

It also shows bathrooms, seating areas and information points.

Customers connecting between flights, can input their inbound and connecting flight details to be given step-by-step instructions to their designated gate.

The trial is available to all customers travelling through London Heathrow, and they can access the tool through QR codes on digital screens.

As part of the trial, links to wayfinding have also been sent to all customers travelling into London Heathrow and connecting from destinations including New York JFK, Dubai, Mexico City and Houston.

Calum Laming, BA's Chief Commercial Officer, said: “The interactive map is simple to use, allowing our customers to easily locate their departure gates.”

When maniacs strike: Are you safe when flying?

Do you ever wonder why heavy glass bottles are allowed on international flights, but knitting needles, plastic water bottles and nail clippers can be banned and confiscated?

Simple answer. It is all about money - in this case for airport duty free outlets.

It is clear that a heavy Champagne bottle, or magnum of whisky, makes a pretty handy weapon. 

As passengers on the British Airways flight discovered this week.

British media reported that a passenger was stabbed during a violent incident on a Caribbean bound flight from London's Gatwick Airport.

It was reported that a man stormed into aircraft galley area, allegedly smashed a bottle and used it as a weapon during an argument with another passenger.

One man suffered a large wound with lots of blood, according to media reports.

“We’re shocked that anyone would act in this way and are grateful to our highly trained cabin crew and the customers who supported them,” a British Airways spokesperson said.

“We want to assure customers that this behaviour will never be tolerated.”

Which is all well and good.

Except flight crew are not capable of stopping incidents like this. They are fewer in number than they used to be - and a lot of them are not physically capable of ending a brawl.

The plane eventually landed safely and as scheduled at Hewanorra International Airport (above) on the island of Saint Lucia.

The St Lucia Times reported that the alleged assailant was arrested and the incident is currently under investigation. 

How safe do you feel? 

Are the lights of Cincinnati calling you?

I know next to nothing about Cincinnati.

OK. I remember the TV show WKRP in Cincinnati, and I've heard of the Cincinnati Bengals football team. And, of course, there was that Scott Walker song.

The name is hard to spell and the city is in Ohio.

Wikipedia tells me it is on the border of Kentucky and with 2.26 million people it is the 30th largest city in the US.

Oh, and it is the latest US destination for British Airways.

Flights from London Heathrow to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport will run five times weekly during the summer and four times a week during winter.

The reason is, I suspect, not because Cincinnati is a tourism magnet, but because the Cincinnati metropolitan area extends across south-western Ohio, northern Kentucky and into south-eastern Indiana.

That means a catchment area of more than 11 million people within 200km of the airport. Which is a whole lot of Americans who might want to visit Europe.

“When we look at the Cincinnati region, we see a vibrant part of the US with a great mix of business and leisure travellers,” Neil Chernoff, director of networks and alliances for BA told Travel Mole.

For Cincinnati region customers, BA offers connections via Heathrow to nearly 200 destinations in 65 countries.

Candace McGraw, CEO, CVG Airport, said: “This Cincinnati flight route offers tremendous growth opportunities for business travel, economic development, and tourism between the UK and our region.”

Cincinnati flights will be flown on Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 aircraft. 

I'm sure it is very nice place - but I'm afraid it is not on my bucket list. 

And not even the local bacon and maple donuts are going to convince me.  

Britain is not so great when it comes to travel technology

If there was a world championship for travel cock-ups then post-Brexit Britain would be a near certainty for a gold medal.

The past 48 hours have been particularly impressive.

British Airways, as is often the case, led the way with ‘chaos’ with a second day of flight cancellations following an IT issue.

BA cancelled at least 42 flights on Saturday due to knock-on effects.

Most were on short-haul routes from and to Heathrow Airport. The IT glitch grounded around 80 flights on Friday.

All passengers have been advised to check their flight status before leaving for the airport

“While the vast majority of our flights continue to operate, we have cancelled some of our short-haul flights from Heathrow,” BA said.

BA says most cancellations are on routes where there are multiple departures a day, Travel Mole reported.

In-coming passengers, meanwhile, suffered delays of up to four hours after passport e-gates failed.

Travellers were stuck in queues at airports including Heathrow, Manchester and Gatwick.

All airports across the country using the technology were affected.

The e-gate system speeds up passport control by allowing some passengers to scan their own passports. It uses facial recognition to verify identity and captures the traveller's image.

People flying into the UK had to have their passports checked manually, with larger airports with e-gates most affected.

Travel is back baby, as airlines start turning a profit

The travel industry continues its post-Covid bounce back with airlines starting to report positive figures.

IAG, the parent company of British Airways, reported this week that it saw a quarterly January to March profit for the first time since 2019.

BA made €9m (£7.9m) in operating airline profit, citing higher yields with lower fuel costs for the turnaround, Travel Mole reported.

It lost £660m during the same period in 2022.

Routes from Europe to both North and South America have recovered to pre-pandemic levels, IAG said, but it reported business travel is still sluggish.

“IAG has delivered a strong first quarter financial performance, as group airlines recovered capacity to close to pre-pandemic levels,” said CEO Luis Gallego.

“All our airlines performed above expectations.

“We are seeing healthy forward bookings with leisure demand strong.”

IAG says it will still be slightly short of a full pre-pandemic recovery by the end of 2023 but expects to be at 97% of 2019 levels by then.

The IAG company also operates airlines including Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling.

Is it time to say goodbye to paper passports forever?

Is it time to say goodbye to passports forever?

British Airways to trial biometric technology to enable passengers to travel through their departure airport without showing their passport.

Customers involved in the airline’s trial at Heathrow Airport terminal 5 can scan their face, passport and boarding pass on their smartphone ahead of travel.

When they arrive at the airport, Smart Bio-Pod cameras can verify their identity in under three seconds, Travel Mole reports.

David Breeze, Operations Transformation Manager for British Airways, said: “This is a secure and efficient tool that makes for a smarter airport experience, which will reduce the time it takes us to board aircraft.

“The technology also frees our people up to look after more complex customer enquiries."

The trial will run for six months using British Airways flights to Malaga, Spain, as the test case.

Customers who opt in will be invited to make use of the Fast-Track security lane and priority boarding.

If successful, they process is expected to be extended to more international flights.

It follows the introduction of automated biometric technology on British Airways’ domestic flights in 2017. That technology records customers’ facial scans at security and matches it to them at the boarding gate.

Given Australia's speed of take-up of new technology, we should see this come into operation in around 2035.

Fly on holiday direct from the city centre

One of the great things about being in Europe - and particularly London - is the huge number of excellent travel destination options within a couple of hours of flight time.

Last-minute trips to Portugal. or maybe Hungary, are easily organised and can sometimes be snapped up for a pittance.

And for those who hate a long journey to and from an airport, British Airways is launching four new routes across Europe for the summer season out of London City Airport.

Customers can now book flights to Barcelona, Luxembourg, Milan and Thessaloniki.

Flights to all four destinations will operate on BA CityFlyer’s Embraer E190 aircraft.

The season kicks off with daily Luxembourg and Milan services from March 27, Travel Mole reports.

Thessaloniki launches on June 18, operating once a week on Saturday, and from June 19, Barcelona flights will operate six times a week.

Tom Stoddart, Managing Director of BA CityFlyer, said: "As customers start to plan their next summer getaway, we wanted to offer new routes to some of the most popular European destinations."

Seasonal services to Jersey and Guernsey are also returning. Flights will operate on Monday and Friday from June 20 to September 2 (the summer does not last very long in the UK).

Good news for flyers from Britain to Asian destinations

British Airways customers will get added connectivity across south-east Asia when flying into Singapore as Covid-19 lockdowns ease.

BA customers can now connect to multiple destinations in the ASEAN region on Jetstar Asia services from Singapore's Changi Airport, Travel Mole reports.

Eligible British Airways A customers will now be able to connect to Bangkok, Phuket, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Jakarta, Surabaya, Manila, Clark, Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City on flights operated by Jetstar Asia.

Baggage can be through checked in to their final destination with boarding passes given to connecting passengers on arrival at Changi Airport.


Customers will then be guided to the Transit Holding Area in the terminal.


"We are delighted to be able to offer new travel options on Jetstar Asia to customers connecting via Singapore," said Noella Ferns, British Airways' head of sales for the Asia Pacific region.


"We welcome this opportunity as it provides our customers great flexibility and options to travel to their favourite destinations in Asia."

British Airways has also introduced a number of measures at airports and onboard to look after the safety of its customers and crew. 

These include social distancing measures, the wearing of face masks (which remain in place) and hand sanitiser stations. 

Before travel, customers will also receive details of how they can prepare for their journey, including information on discounted testing providers.

Australians, of course, are still in an international lockdown thanks to the incompetence of the Morrison Government when it comes to getting people vaccinated.