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Industrial Action in Southern Europe.

Further to our update below, posted on 7th November, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) strike, backed by unions in Greece, Portugal, Spain and the Canary Islands, could lead to many flights being disrupted for up to three days this week (13-15 November).

Passengers booked to fly on all affected European sectors should therefore checkin online for the most up to date information regarding their flight/s. Easyjet has already cancelled many of its flights to countries in southern Europe. British Airways said passengers due to travel to or from Spain on Wednesday 14 November can change to another date free of charge; they also warned that there could be disruptions on services to other European countries.

Iberia has cancelled more than 350 flights this week, including those on the Madrid to London route as a result of the strike, which affects air traffic controlers. TAP Portugal has announced that London to Lisbon flights will also be affected on 13 November and 15 November.

Tomorrow’s industrial action, which has been organised by the European Trade Union Confederation, is in response to austerity measures being taken by the governments of several southern European countries. Protest marches, rallies and strikes will affect different countries at different times.

BA To Move SIN & SYD Services To T5.

British Airways is to move its London Heathrow-Singapore-Sydney services to Terminal 5 from the end of March 2013.

The airline will also roster its new B777-300ER aircraft onto the route from this date. BA says the changes ”confirm British Airways’ commitment to Australia”, following the
news that Qantas will end its joint business agreement with BA and strike up a new partnership with Emirates.

BA’s Sydney flights currently depart from Terminal 3 using B747-400 aircraft, but will move to Terminal 5 from 31st March, from where the majority of the carrier’s flights
already operate. The airline’s new B777-300ER aircraft feature a four-class World Traveller, World Traveller Plus, Club World and First layout.

British Airways News.

British Airways and Japan Airlines (JAL) have recently announced the start of a joint business agreement which will involve both airlines sharing revenue on certain flights between Europe and Japan. 

The joint business will benefit customers by providing better links between Europe and Japan, greater choice of flights to more destinations, enhanced frequent flyer benefits and the potential to launch new routes as well as improved transfers for customers to destinations in Europe and within Japan, through enhancing and expanding the codeshare network beyond the two airlines’ respective hub cities. 

As a result of the joint business, JAL will offer new codeshare destinations to Belfast, Helsinki, Frankfurt and Gothenburg on British Airways operated flights. British Airways will extend its reach to more destinations in Japan by codesharing on flights to Kansai, Okayama, Izumo, Okinawa, Nagasaki, Hiroshima and Kagoshima. 

Customers participating in JAL and British Airways’ loyalty programmes will continue to enjoy reciprocal benefits as customers of oneworld®, and are expected to further benefit from future opportunities to earn and redeem miles on each airline’s flights more easily as a result of the increased codesharing and joint promotions.

Complimentary Porter Trial – British Airways is currently running trials of a complimentary porter service for all First and Gold card holders flying from London Heathrow Terminal 5. The trial has aleady started and will finish on October 17th, if successful the service will be made permanent.

New Alicante Route – British Airways is launching another new route from London Gatwick, with the start of services to Alicante from 31 March 2013.

The London Gatwick to Alicante services will commence from the beginning of the Summer 2013 season, in addition to the 3 services per week already operating during the Winter 2012 season from London Heathrow.

Services are already on sale.

 

 

Qatar Airways To Join Oneworld.

Qatar Airways has officially announced that it will join the Oneworld airline alliance after weeks of speculation.

The Doha-based carrier is the first of the three major airlines based in the Gulf (the others being Emirates and Etihad) to sign for any of the global airline alliances.
The implementation will take 12-18 months to complete and British Airways will serve as Qatar’s sponsor.

Qatar Airways will be Oneworld’s second member airline based in the Middle East, alongside Royal Jordanian, which became the first airline from the region to join any
of the global alliances when it became a member in 2007.

Qatar Airways’ network serves 120 destinations in 70 countries in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, North and South America, Asia and Australasia.
Fifteen of its destinations and three countries – Iran, Rwanda and the Seychelles – will be new to Oneworld.

Once Qatar Airways’ implementation is complete, and of most interest to business travellers, frequent flyer card holders of other Oneworld airlines will be able to earn and
burn when flying with Qatar and access their lounges.

BMIbaby Ceases Operations

September 9th saw BMIbaby operate its last ever flight. Following the recent sale of BMI & BMIbaby to British Airways’ parent company IAG, and despite discussions with several interested buyers, IAG has taken the decision to close the airline.