British Airways extends suspension of flights between Bangkok and London Heathrow

[Bangkok Barry]

3 minutes ago, Excel said:

4 minutes ago, 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.

Stop digging a hole for yourself. You're beginning to make yourself look stupid.

[Excel]

2 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Stop digging a hole for yourself. You're beginning to make yourself look stupid.

I beg your pardon, don't call anyone stupid when you can not grasp simple facts yourself. The only ones that could have that label is the rag that dragged up 3 month old news in an attempt to get more readers, but then don't tell me you work for that outfit, it would explain a lot????????

[Jumbo1968]

B.A. I believe still have 1 flight a day freight only, we flew with KLM a year ago, 20 people on a 777, I spoke with one of the cabin staff asking why KLM can afford to fly empty planes, he replied they were full with freight which they make more money from than passengers. 

[edwinchester]

1 hour ago, brewsterbudgen said:

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

Good to hear. Never had a bad flight with BA and always found them to be excellent value. Last flight with them was upgraded to Clubworld as it was my birthday which was a bonus. I for one hope they start their non-stop BKK flights from the UK soon.

[jethro69]

8 hours ago, petermik said:

Wonder what TAT`s reaction to that will be?

Raise the 2023 forecast from 30 to 40 millions.

[MrJ2U]

8 hours 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.

Seasoned traveler would choose EVA over BA any day.

 

Great airline. 

[hotchilli]

19 hours ago, petermik said:

Wonder what TAT`s reaction to that will be?

Thai Airways flights from LHR fully booked... tourists can't wait to get here?

[sandyf]

13 hours ago, nchuckle said:

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 ?

The current problems at Heathrow are open ended and would have forced BA to make a statement, an extension being the obvious outcome.

As BA are currently selling tickets from London to Bangkok on 2 different routes, via Doha or Hong Kong, they are not going to be in a hurry to bring back the direct flights. The previous arrangement was based on an aircraft going from LHR to BKK and back in 24 hours, something that may now have problems, only open to speculation.

[Jumbo1968]

24 minutes ago, sandyf said:

The current problems at Heathrow are open ended and would have forced BA to make a statement, an extension being the obvious outcome.

As BA are currently selling tickets from London to Bangkok on 2 different routes, via Doha or Hong Kong, they are not going to be in a hurry to bring back the direct flights. The previous arrangement was based on an aircraft going from LHR to BKK and back in 24 hours, something that may now have problems, only open to speculation.

I would imagine staff shortage, they would need 2 sets of staff with one taking over for the return flight after staying in Bangkok. There is currently a shortage of staff so if B.A. can accommodate their passengers on other flights they will do until the staff shortage is resolved.

[superal]

3 hours ago, Jumbo1968 said:

I would imagine staff shortage, they would need 2 sets of staff with one taking over for the return flight after staying in Bangkok. There is currently a shortage of staff so if B.A. can accommodate their passengers on other flights they will do until the staff shortage is resolved.

So now we have a choice of 3 direct flights from London to Bangkok . They are 1/ Eva Air 

2/ Thai Air  3/ Scoot Air . Current prices are around £2000 return for Thai and Eva . I struggled with the Scoot Air web page as most dates they have no flights it seems but I did find a one way flight BKK to Gatwick in about 2 weeks time at 34,000 baht  ( £770 ). They are a budget  airline owned by Singapore Air . Have flown with them but not again  Eva number 1 , Thai 2 , B.A. 3  and Scoot 4 . Prices down to £6-700 return in September with Eva . B.A. must have done a feasibility study on the UK to BKK and realised that the route will cause them staffing problems ,

[Jumbo1968]

1 minute ago, superal said:

So now we have a choice of 3 direct flights from London to Bangkok . They are 1/ Eva Air 

2/ Thai Air  3/ Scoot Air . Current prices are around £2000 return for Thai and Eva . I struggled with the Scoot Air web page as most dates they have no flights it seems but I did find a one way flight BKK to Gatwick in about 2 weeks time at 34,000 baht  ( £770 ). They are a budget  airline owned by Singapore Air . Have flown with them but not again  Eva number 1 , Thai 2 , B.A. 3  and Scoot 4 . Prices down to £6-700 return in September with Eva . B.A. must have done a feasibility study on the UK to BKK and realised that the route will cause them staffing problems ,

Scoot don’t fly every day so there is a limited number of flights.

[sandyf]

5 hours ago, Jumbo1968 said:

I would imagine staff shortage, they would need 2 sets of staff with one taking over for the return flight after staying in Bangkok. There is currently a shortage of staff so if B.A. can accommodate their passengers on other flights they will do until the staff shortage is resolved.

At this point in time you are probably right, but I did have something else in mind.

In 2019 I ended up in a legal battle with BA over compensation. I was on a flight from BKK to Manchester that came in too late for the last flight to Manchester and I ended up being 18 hours late into Manchester.

BA blamed the weather at BKK for a delay of 20 minutes out of BKK but there was more to it than that. Between the time I bought my ticket and the time of the flight, BA had to adjust the route which increased the flight time both ways by over an hour. Passengers were never informed and they just tried to turn the aircraft round in a reduced time.

If BA are still faced with the extended route times they may see the route as potentially problematic.

[The Hammer2021]

20 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

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.

There is demand but BA and LHR can not meet demand.  Too many passengers lol

[Jumbo1968]

1 minute ago, The Hammer2021 said:

There is demand but BA and LHR can not meet demand.  Too many passengers lol

Not enough staff is the problem, loads were made redundant during Covid now they can’t get them back.

[internationalism]

Emirates now has some 35% of thai international passenger load. 
that is a very strong position, the other airlines, including thai airways, have only some 2% on average. 
any new airline getting on this market would be marginalised and in price war with emirates. 

Also thai airways had already at least 2 sales thiis year. The last sale lasted the whole June, with european prices starting from 22k, as one member stated here earlier. That for direct flights. 
TG well night have another 1-2 sales this uear with rock bottom prices for early birds. 
BA would be in direct competition to TG. 
 

what really matters are european summer holidays. 
Thai holiday season from November might not materialise, for many different reasons. 

I dont care for BA, mediocre experience with them - they have overloaded one of my flights, and tha was expensive one (i have checked in online, finally they got me on that fligjt as the last passenger boarding, and seated on business.
I also wont use their partner, Qatar, for an outdated airport (no bathroom at gates, no free shower airside - which for me is essential for layover). 

Edited July 22, 2022 by internationalism

[CG1 Blue]

On 7/21/2022 at 1:18 PM, edwinchester said:

Good to hear. Never had a bad flight with BA and always found them to be excellent value. Last flight with them was upgraded to Clubworld as it was my birthday which was a bonus. I for one hope they start their non-stop BKK flights from the UK soon.

Totally agree. I can never understand all the negativity towards BA. In over 20 years using them for flights to/from Asia I've probably had 1 bad experience.

[CG1 Blue]

12 hours ago, superal said:

So now we have a choice of 3 direct flights from London to Bangkok . They are 1/ Eva Air 

2/ Thai Air  3/ Scoot Air . Current prices are around £2000 return for Thai and Eva . I struggled with the Scoot Air web page as most dates they have no flights it seems but I did find a one way flight BKK to Gatwick in about 2 weeks time at 34,000 baht  ( £770 ). They are a budget  airline owned by Singapore Air . Have flown with them but not again  Eva number 1 , Thai 2 , B.A. 3  and Scoot 4 . Prices down to £6-700 return in September with Eva . B.A. must have done a feasibility study on the UK to BKK and realised that the route will cause them staffing problems ,

I've never considered using Eva, but I will now. How do they compare in terms of comforts to BA (all classes)? 

I assume I wouldn't get an English breakfast flying with Eva ????

 

I've used TG a few times. but only trans Asia. Always been happy enough with them.

[Andycoops]

Couldn't care less, haven't flown with them in more than 20years.

Overpriced tickets, <deleted> service and grumpy unfriendly staff.

[superal]

9 hours ago, CG1 Blue said:

I've never considered using Eva, but I will now. How do they compare in terms of comforts to BA (all classes)? 

I assume I wouldn't get an English breakfast flying with Eva ????

 

I've used TG a few times. but only trans Asia. Always been happy enough with them.

I think Eva set the bench mark on non stop UK to Thailand . There was a time when I preferred Thai Air but that was 5 years ago or more . I cannot comment on business class etc as I always fly economy . I have flown Eva a dozen times or more and their service is superior to BAs. The flight crew are always polite and helpful with service with a smile . Their food is always a decent quality and normally there is a choice of 2 meals .  I have never had an English breakfast on any flight but there has been sausage and scrambled egg etc but in their business class , named royal laurel , I believe , there will be more choices . 

[Jumbo1968]

On a B.A. flight I mentioned to the Flight Attendant that it was cold in the aircraft, she replied probably because we are flying very up, she was blond !

[jaizan]

The Scoot Website shows next to no flights for September and subsequent months. Every day I click on is the same as below.    If they are quitting already, I wish they would declare it.

Whilst I have no intention of flying BA, I would at least value the competition for fares.

So this leaves EVA and Thai.   I used to prefer EVA, but they now have some quite high prices.   

So it's either Thai, or an indirect flight.   

 

I've been using indirect flights in the last two years.   However, getting on a flight in London at about 21:30, having a few drinks, taking a sleeping tablet and waking up somewhere over Myanmar is preferable to an indirect flight, involving waking up in the middle of the trip for a walk around some airport in the middle-east.   

 

Edited July 27, 2022 by jaizan

[The Hammer2021]

On 7/21/2022 at 7:18 PM, edwinchester said:

Good to hear. Never had a bad flight with BA and always found them to be excellent value. Last flight with them was upgraded to Clubworld as it was my birthday which was a bonus. I for one hope they start their non-stop BKK flights from the UK soon.

.

Edited July 27, 2022 by The Hammer2021

[The Hammer2021]

Only had one good flight out of dozens and then I paid  premium  economy.  The worst,  most impolite crew I've ever experienced frequently  hostile and confrontional.