British Airways suspends all flights to Bangkok until Oct 2022

[Neeranam]

23 minutes ago, mrfill said:

That reminds me of a similar run in the early 2000s. Had a 3 hour layover at Moscow and then onto this DC10 replica to BKK. When it throttled up, the whole plane shook quite violently and continued to do that until we were well clear of the ground. Several of the overhead lockers flew open but this all seemed quite normal to the seasoned weightlifters on board, who carried on their trolley duties manfully....  I also recall the 'Irish pub' in the airport had the most un-Irish and grumpy barman ever. He could even make the Guinness go flat in seconds.

 

ADDED...  Apologies for such a similar locker story. Had only got to page 4 of comments.. It was certainly one of my more 'exciting' flights.

Aeroflot was bad for me but luxury compared with Bangladesh Biman from BKK to Calcutta.

I was sat at the airport for 30 hours, then two nights at Dakha transit lounge, to then get extradited from India as my visa had expired, then back to Bangladesh, where the British Embassy was closed for 5days. Also missed my Emirates flight from India to London:(.

[superal]

9 hours ago, jacko45k said:

My last BA flight was 3 years ago now.... Biz Class. I got a good hostess on the return leg.. she was from Eastern Europe. The rest of it was awful, old equipment, delays, poor meals, left trapped in Jetways... boy I hate Heathrow! 

     My last BA flight was also 3 or 4 years ago BKk to UK return . BKK to UK flight , food was disgusting , seats were old and uncomfortable ( economy ) , leg room was tight . All the flight attendants were middle aged gay guys with the 5 day beard growth look .     They appeared quite manly , until they spoke . However on the plus side I ordered a bloody Mary which must have been 80% vodka that put me to sleep for a few hours . There was one female stewardess who looked old enough to be my mother and I am 74 .  Uk to BKK was much better with good food and service and not too many passengers which allowed me to lay down for some sleep . BTW , I never found their fares to be cheap , in fact quite the opposite , especially if I wanted to book a one way ticket which often came out as more costly than the return ticket .

[Saanim]

4 hours ago, TropicalGuy said:

Yes, made the “safety record” point in my post here. Best Pilots around , many ex military …..one BA flight landed perfectly with ALL engines out.

Accidents happen ,... https://www.france24.com/en/20190815-russians-hail-hero-pilot-after-moscow-emergency-landing-1

[Kwasaki]

57 minutes ago, mrfill said:

That reminds me of a similar run in the early 2000s. Had a 3 hour layover at Moscow and then onto this DC10 replica to BKK. When it throttled up, the whole plane shook quite violently and continued to do that until we were well clear of the ground. Several of the overhead lockers flew open but this all seemed quite normal to the seasoned weightlifters on board, who carried on their trolley duties manfully....  I also recall the 'Irish pub' in the airport had the most un-Irish and grumpy barman ever. He could even make the Guinness go flat in seconds.

 

ADDED...  Apologies for such a similar locker story. Had only got to page 4 of comments.. It was certainly one of my more 'exciting' flights.

Maybe it was the same plane 2 years later. ????

[cheapcanuck]

13 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

I would argue a book with confidence program involve no risk of flight cancellation. 
 

Hope they don’t take ‘months’ to refund like all other carriers have during Covid. 
 

An airline which does this looses loyalty as future confidence in the carrier wanes. 
 

Meanwhile other carriers offer reliable solutions (i.e. Finn / Emirates/ Qatar), not direct, but reliable. 

 

Does this also mean the UK thinks Thailand is going to remove it from the Covid green list ??? 

Good question.

[Steve80]

Considering the already expensive flight tickets do not include any hold baggage, and the amount you have to pay for hold baggage, this is no big loss.

 

I also wonder if the new direct Gatwick to Bangkok direct flight on Scoot has something to do with this (also more expensive than connecting middle east carriers as prices do not include hold baggage), however for me Heathrow is now a better choice since the UK re-nationalisation of the train system train prices to Gatwick Airport have gone through the roof and a single from where I live to Gatwick Airport would cost more than £40 and Heathrow less than £20 using the Underground.

 

Brit<deleted> Airways are also opening a new budget airline at Gatwick to cut costs by offering staff less benefits, so we may see that then open a budget root from Gatwick to compete with Scoot.

[DaRoadrunner]

I guess BA saw the ridiculous regs for entry in to Thailand and realised the tourists won't come.

Question is, how long will it take the Thais to come to the same conclusion and do away with the stupid regs?

Past experience of Thai logic would suggest we may have a long wait.

[LoeiI]

14 hours ago, Johnny Mac said:

Just as well nobody uses them. Awful airline.

Who on earth flies BA ? utter Kack

[Albert Zweistein]

3 hours ago, Dont confuse me said:

Travel via Spain, Germany, Switzerland, slightly more expensive but doable.

Via the EU ??????????????????????????/

[Dont confuse me]

14 minutes ago, Albert Zweistein said:

Via the EU ??????????????????????????/

Yes!!!!!

[Albert Zweistein]

1 hour ago, Dont confuse me said:

Yes!!!!!

Surprise !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tony125]

17 hours ago, nausea said:

Well, that sends an unequivocable message about any significant recovery in the short term, at least as far as the UK market is concerned. 

As well as this news

 

Europeans reimpose restrictions as omicron sweeps continent

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/europeans-reimpose-restrictions-as-omicron-sweeps-continent/ar-AARWCfn?li=BBnb7Kz

[RichardColeman]

6 hours ago, Will B Good said:

Little bit misleading....only suspending direct flights.

Actually its really just a continuation of their current non direct policy. 

[ukrules]

I've been long waiting (pre covid) for the day when the airlines have simply had enough of the Thai governments BS and decided to pull out. It's been on the cards for a long time for various reasons.

 

I hope they never resume this route and many other airlines follow their lead.

 

 

[kiwikeith]

18 hours ago, robblok said:

Best of British fails the Brits, but what are people moaning about how bad it is for Thailand. Instead of being outraged at a Brit company.

 

I mean looks bad for a company to do such a thing. Bad times a head. I read today the UK is overrun by by covid. Not much different in the Netherlands there is full lockdown. 

If the data from SA is going to be similar in other countries, then everyone is going to be exposed, will they shut down the world's airlines over Omicron, I think this is over reaction, signs in Gautau, hope I spelt that right, where Omicron started is that the peak is tapering already and it has displaced delta very quickly.

If you look at the data available on the Internet hospital numbers are down and oxygen use is way down compared to the Delta data in SA. If this happens everywhere it is likely that Delta will be displaced, and we may end up with a mild strain. Let's hope that it will turn out that way, and that this will possibly be the start of the end of the pandemic. 

[RichardColeman]

1 hour ago, kiwikeith said:

Let's hope that it will turn out that way, and that this will possibly be the start of the end of the pandemic. 

yes, but can the battered Thai tourism put up with another 6 months of economic destruction. Some places have taken out huge loans and used all their finances up to get through to a 'potential opening up again' for a high season and may well just give up if there is another 6 months of needless chaos laying ahead. And if China as we expect decides no tourism next year too then it will be 9 months before tourism even starts drip feeding again

[Chongalulu]

13 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I agree. I was on a THAI flight from Dubai and a fight broke out between two passengers as one was annoyed at the person in front putting his seat back too far for his liking. The crew all vanished and it was left to the passengers to calm things down. Utterly useless.

And as you say, BA isn't as bad as it's made out to be, just not as good as it used to be and poor compared to the ME carriers.

So you had in"fight" entertainment? ???? 

[Oblomov]

20 hours ago, clivebaxter said:

BA have been Spanish owned for some time, it's not a British company

Don't forget the 25% owned by Qatar. 

[supersomchai]

Booked BA in january now there are no direct flights available to thailand

now (no availability for thai airways)

only brunai in late feb).☹️
Got my money back and booked Singapore . 

Anyone else managed to grab a direct flight recently?

 

[Andycoops]

Couldn't care less, as I haven't flown on the trash for years, lazy, grumpy staff, uncompetitive fares, <deleted> food is not for me.

[vandeventer]

23 hours ago, herfiehandbag said:

They must have taken a long hard look at the prospects for any resurgence in tourism here...

They could be the first of many, seeing Thailand only wants tourist with suitcases filled with money to enter

[Stargeezr]

With the COVID Omicron spikes happening all around the world, I would not be surprised to 

see more airlines slowing down or shutting down their operations for a while. 

 Restrictions are happening in Canada as well, and people are cancelling their trips.

  I can see a small high season for Thailand until October 2022 at least.

[Tropposurfer]

How is a Brit company (publicly listed company, some of the owners are; Iberia Airways - Spain merged with BA then became part of the IAG group, part owned by Brit's, Qatar Airways 10% too) 'failing Brits" when, as a profit designed and operated company it sees little to no human freight in the year projected ahead, and so it curtails services.

 

Edited December 19, 2021 by Tropposurfer

[elgenon]

On 12/17/2021 at 5:39 PM, Tropicalevo said:

A bit more difficult now for the uber-rich British tourists to get here.

Which airline will be the next one to cancel?

Any other ideas TAT?

I fly EVA from the States and they canceled all flights to BKK last year. I just want to spend my money. 555

 

I would hate to have to fly an American airline. I have been seeing they code share with KAL.

[yogi yogi]

17 hours ago, jacko45k said:

There is this wonderful thing called connecting.... Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi are okay, and straight there from Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Brum, with the bonus of avoiding LHR. There is European connections too but who wants to do that!

i thought britain was a major world power country .  to fly anywhere worldwide the brits have to connect thru the middle east?

[jimn]

20 hours ago, Negita43 said:

Can't understand why it would be because of lack of passengers - I flew early December to BKK from UK via Dubai and both flights were full.

Although maybe tourists are put off by the Thai pass conditions - can't be a comforting thought that you might fly to Thailand with Thai Pass then test positive for Covid at the one night quarantine hotel and then have to spend most of the rest of your 2 week holiday there!

That was a codeshare flight using Qatar

[jimn]

I really feel I have to comment to put right the many incorrect assumptions and comments in this thread. The fact is that the BA flights which are cancelled are the BA09 and BA10 direct route LHR BKK and BKK LHR. This route has not flown passengers since April 2020 but has been carrying Cargo. The cancellation is just an extension of the current suspension. BA will still operate Codeshare flights to Bangkok through DOHA with Qatar and through Honk Kong with Cathy Pacific.

 

I hope this is clear.

[Nong Khai Man]

On 12/18/2021 at 8:34 AM, herfiehandbag said:

They must have taken a long hard look at the prospects for any resurgence in tourism here...

Yeah, There WON'T Be Much of that either....

[Nong Khai Man]

22 hours ago, John Drake said:

Pretty soon, the only way to get here will be by tramp steamer.

Nah, What About A Rubber Dinghy ??????     Or A ????    

[transam]

2 hours ago, Tropposurfer said:

How is a Brit company (publicly listed company, some of the owners are; Iberia Airways - Spain merged with BA then became part of the IAG group, part owned by Brit's, Qatar Airways 10% too) 'failing Brits" when, as a profit designed and operated company it sees little to no human freight in the year projected ahead, and so it curtails services.

 

You seem to have forgotten the Covid world shutdown...????