British Airways extends suspension of flights between Bangkok and London Heathrow

[webfact]

Komenton / Shutterstock.com

 

By Online Reporter

 

British Airways is set to continue the suspension of its direct flights between Bangkok and London Heathrow.

 

The airline first suspended the flights in Dec 2021, citing a decline in demand during the pandemic.

 

The flights had been due to resume in November 2022 ahead of what would typically be the high season for tourism in Thailand.

 

However, the airline has now confirmed that it will extend the suspension of its service to Bangkok.

 

Full story: https://www.huahintoday.com/thailand-news/british-airways-extends-suspension-of-flights-between-bangkok-and-london-heathrow/

 

-- © Copyright Hua Hin Today 2022-07-21

 

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[petermik]

Wonder what TAT`s reaction to that will be?

[mr_lob]

2 hours ago, petermik said:

Wonder what TAT`s reaction to that will be?

I'm sure they'll form a committee to discuss it

[Excel]

Has anybody checked with BA that confirms the story from "HuaHintoday" ?

[RichardColeman]

probably less to do with demand than the ability to sort themselves and their cancellations and baggage collection out

[edwinchester]

"For flights to Bangkok, British Airways is instead offering a service via Doha with Qatar Airways."

 

Tried a dummy booking and the price is insane for an economy flight....55k bht and up. EVA must be very happy at this news.

[hotandsticky]

7 minutes ago, edwinchester said:

"For flights to Bangkok, British Airways is instead offering a service via Doha with Qatar Airways."

 

Tried a dummy booking and the price is insane for an economy flight....55k bht and up. EVA must be very happy at this news.

 

 

...and THAI airways..

[edwinchester]

Just now, hotandsticky said:

 

 

...and THAI airways..

I don't even mention that shower, still owed money from two and a half years ago so will never use them again.

[topt]

I note, unlike the previous announcement, no date was given in the article for the resumption so open ended at the moment.......

[Guderian]

TAT only wants quality tourists, so that pretty much rules out anyone arriving by BA, they're worse than RyanAir these days.

[sandyf]

51 minutes ago, edwinchester said:

"For flights to Bangkok, British Airways is instead offering a service via Doha with Qatar Airways."

Nothing new there, been doing that since the Thai airports reopened. Qatar is the major shareholder in the company that owns BA.

The extension of the suspended flights was a foregone conclusion. Heathrow has ordered airlines to cut their schedules, not add to them.

 

Bosses at the west London airport have reportedly told carriers to consider reducing the number of seats - in some cases by as much as 25 per cent - on individual flights to avoid having to cancel them altogether. 

It comes amid a stalemate between the travel hub and airlines over the decision to cap the number of departing passengers to just 100,000 per day.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11018185/Heathrow-tells-airlines-reduce-number-seats-order-meet-airports-passenger-cap.html

 

[treetops]

1 hour ago, Excel said:

Has anybody checked with BA that confirms the story from "HuaHintoday" ?

The delay to late March 2023 in restarting the LHR-BKK passenger flights was reported in early April so not sure why it's coming up again now.

 

https://aeroroutes.com/eng/220408-banw22as4

 

https://www.headforpoints.com/2022/04/09/british-airways-drops-bangkok/

 

[Boomer6969]

Good management with a pragmatic view of the months and years to come.

[mrfill]

27 minutes ago, sandyf said:

Nothing new there, been doing that since the Thai airports reopened. Qatar is the major shareholder in the company that owns BA.

The extension of the suspended flights was a foregone conclusion. Heathrow has ordered airlines to cut their schedules, not add to them.

 

Bosses at the west London airport have reportedly told carriers to consider reducing the number of seats - in some cases by as much as 25 per cent - on individual flights to avoid having to cancel them altogether. 

It comes amid a stalemate between the travel hub and airlines over the decision to cap the number of departing passengers to just 100,000 per day.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11018185/Heathrow-tells-airlines-reduce-number-seats-order-meet-airports-passenger-cap.html

 

And some airlines have told Heathrow to stuff it...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62163254

[sandyf]

34 minutes ago, mrfill said:

And some airlines have told Heathrow to stuff it...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62163254

Yes, but the media made a meal  out of it. 

I saw the Emirates CEO on the news and rhetoric wasn't quite as confrontational.

His view was they would work something out to avoid cancellations but dodged the question on ticket sales..

[treetops]

52 minutes ago, mrfill said:

And some airlines have told Heathrow to stuff it...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62163254

And they (the airline) about turned just a day or two later.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62182881

 

[3NUMBAS]

still all hardup for pilots baggag guys and trolly dollies ,,no 1st class pax either

[superal]

1 hour ago, mrfill said:

And some airlines have told Heathrow to stuff it...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62163254

As we all know Heathrow was/is asking previously employed check in & baggage handlers , if they would like their jobs back but on less money and worse terms . Most have refused as they have got better paid jobs . This is serious mismanagement by the airport seniors . Many travellers are business people who rely on their regular flights . Answer has to be , pay the airport workers decent wages or have a government enquiry into the running of the business that is a vital transport industry to the UK  

[Donga]

Bangkok airport was packed to the rafters last Sunday and our Thai Airways flight to Paris had over 95% occupancy.

Can't talk for London Heathrow, but Paris is very busy.

[Bangkok Barry]

3 hours ago, Excel said:

Has anybody checked with BA that confirms the story from "HuaHintoday" ?

I'm guessing that you didn't read the link.

[Bangkok Barry]

Well, airlines don't fly to where there is little demand. Dropping Bangkok for the next high season should be a wakeup call for TAT. But I doubt that it will be.

[Excel]

24 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I'm guessing that you didn't read the link.

I'm guessing you did but simply made an assumption ????

[brewsterbudgen]

3 hours ago, edwinchester said:

I don't even mention that shower, still owed money from two and a half years ago so will never use them again.

At least BA were quick to give full refunds from cancelled Covid flights from 2020.

[Bangkok Barry]

5 minutes ago, Excel said:

I'm guessing you did but simply made an assumption ????

I made the assumption because, if you had read the link, you wouldn't have asked the question.
In a statement to Business Traveller, the airline said: “We regularly keep our extensive global network under review, and we’ve taken the decision to extend the suspension of our Bangkok service. We’re in contact with affected customers to apologise, advise them of their consumer rights and offer them alternative options, including a refund or rebooking.”

[Excel]

4 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I made the assumption because, if you had read the link, you wouldn't have asked the question.
In a statement to Business Traveller, the airline said: “We regularly keep our extensive global network under review, and we’ve taken the decision to extend the suspension of our Bangkok service. We’re in contact with affected customers to apologise, advise them of their consumer rights and offer them alternative options, including a refund or rebooking.”

But they stated that in April, so nothing has changed even though a 3 month old report in HuaHinToday gave the impression it was new news, which it was not, hence my comment has BA confirmed it, meaning has it been extended beyond April next year ( as per Aprils announcement ), which clearly they have not so BA's old statement is still the current situation, not another one as that rag was suggesting. ?

[The Hammer2021]

2 hours ago, Boomer6969 said:

Good management with a pragmatic view of the months and years to come.

Dreadfully airline. Awful crew , incompetent management. The clue is in BRITISH Airways

[Chongalulu]

2 hours ago, sandyf said:

Nothing new there, been doing that since the Thai airports reopened. Qatar is the major shareholder in the company that owns BA.

The extension of the suspended flights was a foregone conclusion. Heathrow has ordered airlines to cut their schedules, not add to them.

 

Bosses at the west London airport have reportedly told carriers to consider reducing the number of seats - in some cases by as much as 25 per cent - on individual flights to avoid having to cancel them altogether. 

It comes amid a stalemate between the travel hub and airlines over the decision to cap the number of departing passengers to just 100,000 per day.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11018185/Heathrow-tells-airlines-reduce-number-seats-order-meet-airports-passenger-cap.html

 

I would think this really only pertains to the current peak of European summer holidays season and they would have largely sorted this issue come November (winter) . The vast majority of BAs cancellations related to European short haul,so I’m inclined to think that their commercial managers still think that Thailand is not going to be worth the effort for the country’s usual high season,or is still too unpredictable based on its behavior over the pandemic to be worth the risk /investment of reopening  (and I’m inclined to agree) . 
Do many here imagine that compared to normal November- January tourist figures Thailand will not only attract a fraction of those numbers ?

[Chongalulu]

14 minutes ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Dreadfully airline. Awful crew , incompetent management. The clue is in BRITISH Airways

Another clue which you’ve overlooked is that it is wholly owned by a SPANISH company IAG. You may with some merit decry the passenger experience but pre pandemic it was highly successful commercially making very good profits. So that rather pulls the rug from under most of your argument..

[Bangkok Barry]

42 minutes ago, Excel said:

But they stated that in April, so nothing has changed even though a 3 month old report in HuaHinToday gave the impression it was new news, which it was not, hence my comment has BA confirmed it, meaning has it been extended beyond April next year ( as per Aprils announcement ), which clearly they have not so BA's old statement is still the current situation, not another one as that rag was suggesting. ?

Again, you are not reading links. In this case, to Business Traveller in the linked HuaHinToday article, in which the editor of that magazine says that he spoke to BA on the 20th July. So, hardly old news.

[Excel]

Just now, Bangkok Barry said:

Again, you are not reading links. In this case, to Business Traveller in the linked HuaHinToday article, in which the editor of that magazine says that he spoke to BA on the 20th July. So, hardly old news.

No he spoke to BA maybe and they simply reiterated their position from April obviously.