BA to change Bangkok to London flight times

[sungod]

Just read an article published in May from BP so cant add the link, but basically BA are changing their times to London. Before it was a night flight both ways, the BKK- LON will now be a day time flight. Some idiot from BA says arriving at Heathrow at 5pm will be more convenient, what about the evening rush hour????? The night time flying was its best selling point, no real reason to use them anymore with cheaper alternatives.

[breadbin]

BA used to have 2 flights a day to BKK that mirrored TG.

[sungod]

Losing the partnership with Qantas and the subsequent Australian legs have a large part to play

[NanLaew]

Route restructuring and, as you say, not having onward destinations or 'fly-through' options at BKK, changes the whole game. Air France/KLM totally reworked their global schedules around this time last year to the same effect that BKK is now a turnaround destination and the BKK-CDG and BKK-AMS flights are both daylight flights. Could also be to be more competitive with the mid-east based carriers on certain time slots and get flyers away from those lucrative stopovers that Qatar, Emirates and the others enjoy.

The downside is no more cheap as chips local hops on big, empty planes to Saigon, Phnom Penh or Taipei. Swiss dropped their Singapore hops ages ago and AFAIK, only Ethiopian, Egypt Air (daily), Royal Jordanian and Lufthansa do Kuala Lumpur these days but Turkish (daily) filled the gap when Lufthansa dropped Saigon after they went to 3-days/week FRA-BKK.

TG will be maintaining their 2 London flights for now and next Fall will have the A380 on one of those flights so that should soak up any of the dischuffed BA fliers... unless they are THAI haters of course.

I can't say the '5PM rush hour' argument holds much water when there's also a 7AM one (once you clear Immigration and Customs). I use the KLM route and find leaving BKK late morning and arriving in ABZ same evening (totally avoiding LHR) is easier.

[Tomtomtom69]

Route restructuring and, as you say, not having onward destinations or 'fly-through' options at BKK, changes the whole game. Air France/KLM totally reworked their global schedules around this time last year to the same effect that BKK is now a turnaround destination and the BKK-CDG and BKK-AMS flights are both daylight flights. Could also be to be more competitive with the mid-east based carriers on certain time slots and get flyers away from those lucrative stopovers that Qatar, Emirates and the others enjoy.

The downside is no more cheap as chips local hops on big, empty planes to Saigon, Phnom Penh or Taipei. Swiss dropped their Singapore hops ages ago and AFAIK, only Ethiopian, Egypt Air (daily), Royal Jordanian and Lufthansa do Kuala Lumpur these days but Turkish (daily) filled the gap when Lufthansa dropped Saigon after they went to 3-days/week FRA-BKK.

TG will be maintaining their 2 London flights for now and next Fall will have the A380 on one of those flights so that should soak up any of the dischuffed BA fliers... unless they are THAI haters of course.

I can't say the '5PM rush hour' argument holds much water when there's also a 7AM one (once you clear Immigration and Customs). I use the KLM route and find leaving BKK late morning and arriving in ABZ same evening (totally avoiding LHR) is easier.

Unless Lufthansa recently dropped BKK-SGN, which I doubt as those flights are full of low budget Vietnamese package tourists, then they still run this route. The other 4 flights go to Kuala Lumpur as you mentioned.

OP, airlines don't schedule their flights based on "rush hour" at the origin or destination city. If that were true, then there should not be any flights out of Suvarnabhumi around 6-7pm, as it's very difficult to make it on time to the airport then, if you are coming by road since it can take 2-3 hours to make it to the airport from downtown at that time.

While I've never flown BA, indeed I've never even been to London before, but if I were to catch that flight, a daytime departure is much more suitable - you can get to London the same day and thus not have to spend half the day in bed upon arrival, catching up on sleep. Night time flights suck big time - although for obvious reasons the flight running in the reverse direction has to fly through the night at least partially. Also, spreading out some of the flights and moving them away from the midnight crush is a good thing as there will be less congestion at Suvarnabhumi as a result.

Another reason why this was a good decision is that now the airline doesn't waste countless hours spent parked at Suvarnabhumi, which is a waste of money and thus the plane can be kept flying thus reducing downtime. My understanding is that currently, this flight arrives at like 2.45pm or something and spends a good 9-10 hours in Bangkok waiting for it's midnight departure slot.

[samtam]

I'm on a night flight BKK-LHR in mid August, which I booked last week. Used to fly KLM via AMS to EDI, but as noted they have cancelled their night flight, (and now do a code share with China Airlines; er, no thanks). BKK seems to be less of a hub as a hub.

Day flights are a pain. What are you supposed to do for 11-12 hours to stay awake, so that you can sleep at the other end?

[samtam]

Found the article. Change will apply on 27 October.

Seem to be fewer and fewer night flights to Europe from the Suv hub.

[samtam]

Found the article. Change will apply on 27 October.

Seem to be fewer and fewer night flights to Europe from the Suv hub.

[galoubet]

Leaving Heathrow at 1505 and arriving at Bangkok at 0920 is pretty much perfect and is a big selling point for me as it gives me all day to get to my Thai destination. Coming back is pretty good too (I always liked EVA's daytime flights). And you can avoid the London rush hour if, like me, you choose to fly back on a Sunday. The flight leaving Bangkok at 1055 is ok but getting to Swampy to get the flight at 0955 when the UK clocks go forward at the end of March is going to be a challenge!

But as a bonus they've also changed planes. No longer the old creaking 747-400 but a newer 777-300ER the same as EVA flies. Better all round in my view. Now if BA have a sale again this summer of their business class seats it'll bring the price down to that of EVA Air. And of course the baggage allowance on BA is far better especially the 23kg allowance for cabin bags. EVA is only a miserly 7kg and I've fallen foul of that. Most embarrassing.

[tw25rw]

23kg for cabin bags? What class is that in?

[GrantSmith]

23kg for cabin bags? What class is that in?

All classes.. As long as you (the passenger) can lift it, it maintains the same bag dimensions and the compartment door can close, it's kosher...

[NanLaew]

...

Day flights are a pain. What are you supposed to do for 11-12 hours to stay awake, so that you can sleep at the other end?

Huh? Leaving Bangkok in the morning, having a long day airborne and arriving at your destination before bed time? What's wrong with that?

What to do for 12 hours? Watch movies, read, catch up on work, eat and maybe a nap.

I mean, would you sleep all day before a long overnight flight?

[NanLaew]

Unless Lufthansa recently dropped BKK-SGN, which I doubt as those flights are full of low budget Vietnamese package tourists, then they still run this route. The other 4 flights go to Kuala Lumpur as you mentioned.

...

It looks like they have. I checked with the latest Star Alliance timetable and it looks like LH only service Bangkok (departing FRA) on Tue, Wed, Fri and Sun. They don't show on the BKK-SGN route on the other days any more. Pity, as I used them frequently for monthly business meeting in Saigon. You must have caught them around the Tet holiday as I never found that sector very busy. Even the KUL flights were pretty quiet.

[hellodolly]

Route restructuring and, as you say, not having onward destinations or 'fly-through' options at BKK, changes the whole game. Air France/KLM totally reworked their global schedules around this time last year to the same effect that BKK is now a turnaround destination and the BKK-CDG and BKK-AMS flights are both daylight flights. Could also be to be more competitive with the mid-east based carriers on certain time slots and get flyers away from those lucrative stopovers that Qatar, Emirates and the others enjoy.

The downside is no more cheap as chips local hops on big, empty planes to Saigon, Phnom Penh or Taipei. Swiss dropped their Singapore hops ages ago and AFAIK, only Ethiopian, Egypt Air (daily), Royal Jordanian and Lufthansa do Kuala Lumpur these days but Turkish (daily) filled the gap when Lufthansa dropped Saigon after they went to 3-days/week FRA-BKK.

TG will be maintaining their 2 London flights for now and next Fall will have the A380 on one of those flights so that should soak up any of the dischuffed BA fliers... unless they are THAI haters of course.

I can't say the '5PM rush hour' argument holds much water when there's also a 7AM one (once you clear Immigration and Customs). I use the KLM route and find leaving BKK late morning and arriving in ABZ same evening (totally avoiding LHR) is easier.

Never flown into London.

But was wondering if the rush hour would still be in effect by the time you collect your baggage and clear customs and immigration?

[samtam]

...

Day flights are a pain. What are you supposed to do for 11-12 hours to stay awake, so that you can sleep at the other end?

Huh? Leaving Bangkok in the morning, having a long day airborne and arriving at your destination before bed time? What's wrong with that?

What to do for 12 hours? Watch movies, read, catch up on work, eat and maybe a nap.

I mean, would you sleep all day before a long overnight flight?

No, I sleep on the long overnight flight. It sure passes the time. Also, when I arrive in LHR I have to transfer to EDI and then I have to drive to Perthshire. If I've slept, then showered at LHR, my driving is a lot safer, (especially when it's dark).

[ToddWeston]

I like the new time, and I prefer terminal 5 over 3.

[Tomtomtom69]

Unless Lufthansa recently dropped BKK-SGN, which I doubt as those flights are full of low budget Vietnamese package tourists, then they still run this route. The other 4 flights go to Kuala Lumpur as you mentioned.

...

It looks like they have. I checked with the latest Star Alliance timetable and it looks like LH only service Bangkok (departing FRA) on Tue, Wed, Fri and Sun. They don't show on the BKK-SGN route on the other days any more. Pity, as I used them frequently for monthly business meeting in Saigon. You must have caught them around the Tet holiday as I never found that sector very busy. Even the KUL flights were pretty quiet.

You were using the wrong timetable. Lufthansa shows this flight still running three times per week, well into next year. The only change is the aircraft type --> instead of a 747-400, an A340-600 will serve the BKK-SGN sector instead (and the FRA-BKK sector as well of course) starting around November. BTW the Star Alliance and even the Lufthansa timetables are screwed up, make a booking to show the real number of flights - from FRA to BKK this is daily and won't change for the foreseeable future.

And nope, I did not travel during the TET festival, but during June and September, both times in business class admittedly, but from what I could gather, the economy class section was quite full. There are also other busy times when lots of Vietnamese travel, for example during the May day holiday (between April 30 and May 2) almost all flights from Bangkok to Saigon were fully booked, including Lufthansa and this was probably the case for flights to Hanoi too.

I have no idea about the SGN-BKK sectors on Lufthansa as both times I only booked one way flights - for the return I either flew out of Phnom Penh or flew back on THAI as the late night return doesn't suit me.

I can imagine that BKK-KUL wouldn't be so busy though - Malaysian tourists don't generally cram together on low budget tours and they have lots of flight options to BKK hence there being fewer passengers on those flights - doesn't surprise me one bit.

Just found this on the Lufthansa website (the flight frequency being accurate for this route, but not for FRA-BKK):

Bangkok (BKK) To Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) Flight number: LH 772 Departs: 16:25 - Friday, 13 December 2013, Bangkok - Suvarnabhumi Int'l (BKK), Thailand Arrives: 18:05 - Friday, 13 December 2013, Ho Chi Minh City (SGN), Vietnam (Terminal 2) Airline: Lufthansa (LH) Aircraft: Airbus A340-600 Info and Seatmap Total Travel Time: 01h40 Day of service: Tu | Fr | Su Flight details may vary between the days

[Stjohnm]

About time to, arriving into LHR at sparrows fart is a right pain, I can see why they've done it the current schedule leaves the plane on the ground @ Swampy loosing money for several hours, this way if the flight arrive early pm it could be used for a trans Atlantic red-eye route, hopefully they'll move BA009/010 to T5 at the same time making transfers easier.

If they can bring their prices inline with those charged by the Middle Eastern airlines then I won't look to anyone else when it comes time to visit the family.

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa app

[Stjohnm]

About time to, arriving into LHR at sparrows fart is a right pain, I can see why they've done it the current schedule leaves the plane on the ground @ Swampy loosing money for several hours, this way if the flight arrive early pm it could be used for a trans Atlantic red-eye route, hopefully they'll move BA009/010 to T5 at the same time making transfers easier.

If they can bring their prices inline with those charged by the Middle Eastern airlines then I won't look to anyone else when it comes time to visit the family.

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa app

[NanLaew]

...

Day flights are a pain. What are you supposed to do for 11-12 hours to stay awake, so that you can sleep at the other end?

Huh? Leaving Bangkok in the morning, having a long day airborne and arriving at your destination before bed time? What's wrong with that?

What to do for 12 hours? Watch movies, read, catch up on work, eat and maybe a nap.

I mean, would you sleep all day before a long overnight flight?

No, I sleep on the long overnight flight. It sure passes the time. Also, when I arrive in LHR I have to transfer to EDI and then I have to drive to Perthshire. If I've slept, then showered at LHR, my driving is a lot safer, (especially when it's dark).

With a late evening drive into Perthshire, I can see why you stopped using KLM! For me, the family castle is only 30 minutes from ABZ so not a chore even getting in at 10PM.

When BA changes, what do you think your options will be then?

[NanLaew]

...

Bangkok (BKK) To Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) Flight number: LH 772 Departs: 16:25 - Friday, 13 December 2013, Bangkok - Suvarnabhumi Int'l (BKK), Thailand Arrives: 18:05 - Friday, 13 December 2013, Ho Chi Minh City (SGN), Vietnam (Terminal 2) Airline: Lufthansa (LH) Aircraft: Airbus A340-600 Info and Seatmap Total Travel Time: 01h40 Day of service: Tu | Fr | Su Flight details may vary between the days

Good to know that it's still available and using a better airplane too!

I guess the latest Star Alliance timetable is buggered. It does show FRA-SGN with LH772 with the BKK stopover but again only on Mo, Tu and Sa, using the 747-400 and the arrival times are totally wrong! But if you look up BKK-SGN non-stop, only the TG flights are shown, nada from LH. The timetable is complete and correct for their KUL service though.

[sungod]

I can't say the '5PM rush hour' argument holds much water when there's also a 7AM one (once you clear Immigration and Customs). I use the KLM route and find leaving BKK late morning and arriving in ABZ same evening (totally avoiding LHR) is easier.

Its a huge difference if you are heading out of London at 5pm with all the other commuters, at 7am they are heading in the other direction.

[galoubet]

I like the new time, and I prefer terminal 5 over 3.

BA flights to Bangkok go from Terminal 3, not terminal 5. (Don't ask me why!) And, as far as I can tell, the new time flights from November onwards will still depart Terminal 3. The website timetable says they depart from Terminal 5 but if you try to book a flight a window pops up telling you (or should I say "telling me") that the flight really departs Terminal 3. I'm still waiting to use Terminal 5.

Like you I think the new times are really good. I don't understand why people want to sleep on planes. I stay awake and enjoy the facilities. You pay enough money for them!

[KittenKong]

If they can bring their prices inline with those charged by the Middle Eastern airlines then I won't look to anyone else when it comes time to visit the family.

My recent LHR/BKK/LHR BA ticket at under GBP550 was cheaper than the likes of Qatar and Emirates, and I got a proper Gin and Tonic and some wine before my meal arrived which is more than the Middle Eastern airlines have ever managed to do. In fact I was very pleased with the service on the flight. No dolly birds, just professional people who actually know how to do their job.

My only objection to the new flight times is that I will probably end up going to BKK on the bus the evening before and staying locally rather than having the hassle and unnecessary expense of getting a cab from Pattaya at some ungodly hour of the morning. The idea of a long daytime flight seems generally preferable to a long overnight flight. On the night flights the airlines often black the cabin out for most of that time, even if it is broad daylight outside. I found it annoying to be sitting in the dark for hours, wide awake yet unable to look at the view outside.

[NanLaew]

I can't say the '5PM rush hour' argument holds much water when there's also a 7AM one (once you clear Immigration and Customs). I use the KLM route and find leaving BKK late morning and arriving in ABZ same evening (totally avoiding LHR) is easier.

Its a huge difference if you are heading out of London at 5pm with all the other commuters, at 7am they are heading in the other direction.

I appreciate that the traffic can be worse depending on where you are headed and what time. I would reckon that both ways, both times would be kinda screwed since, with regard the north/south circular, there's them that lives 'inside' and work 'outside' as well as those living 'outside' that work 'inside'? Regardless to say, anyone counting on the M25 is royally...

Do trains get traffic jams too?

[KittenKong]

BA flights to Bangkok go from Terminal 3, not terminal 5. (Don't ask me why!) And, as far as I can tell, the new time flights from November onwards will still depart Terminal 3.

My booking for next year says I will arrive at T5 and I have not received an email informing me of any change. I would expect to get such an email if they had changed something. It also said T5 online when I bought it.

Not that it makes much difference to me.

[bkk_mike]

BA used to have 2 flights a day to BKK that mirrored TG.

Are you sure?

They had a code-share with Qantas so I remember two flights with BA flight numbers, but one was the Qantas one.

As for time of day - landing at 5pm - by the time you get your bags, etc. - if you're taking the tube in you're reverse commuting - so a lot less busy than it is on the current early morning arrivals. If you're taking the airport express in, intending to get a cab at Paddington, it's still probably a lot better than getting in in the morning.

[samtam]

...

Day flights are a pain. What are you supposed to do for 11-12 hours to stay awake, so that you can sleep at the other end?

Huh? Leaving Bangkok in the morning, having a long day airborne and arriving at your destination before bed time? What's wrong with that?

What to do for 12 hours? Watch movies, read, catch up on work, eat and maybe a nap.

I mean, would you sleep all day before a long overnight flight?

No, I sleep on the long overnight flight. It sure passes the time. Also, when I arrive in LHR I have to transfer to EDI and then I have to drive to Perthshire. If I've slept, then showered at LHR, my driving is a lot safer, (especially when it's dark).

With a late evening drive into Perthshire, I can see why you stopped using KLM! For me, the family castle is only 30 minutes from ABZ so not a chore even getting in at 10PM.

When BA changes, what do you think your options will be then?

When I used KLM it was the night flight too, (via AMS arriving EDI at around 9 am). I don't know which airline I'll use after BA change. The only option seems to be Lufthansa, as the Middle Eastern flights would mean two stopovers. My drive takes 1 hour, but it's the picking up the hire car etc, and if you have a day flight and want to "enjoy all the facilities" of business class that some suggest are there, I'm glad for them. The sense of a short flight created by sleeping 6-8 hours of it with the aid of a pill seems to me more preferable. "Enjoying the facilities" might tempt one to drink a glass or three of champagne, but not if I'm driving at the other end. When I sleep on a night flight I do so straight after take off, foregoing the "enjoyable facilities" of dinner with wine etc etc. It's never going to be the best dining experience whether your in Business of First Class.

Horses for courses obviously, but the options (night time vs. daytime) from the so-called hub of BKK seem to be limited, and getting more so.

[RabC]

BA used to have 2 flights a day to BKK that mirrored TG.

Are you sure?

They had a code-share with Qantas so I remember two flights with BA flight numbers, but one was the Qantas one.

As for time of day - landing at 5pm - by the time you get your bags, etc. - if you're taking the tube in you're reverse commuting - so a lot less busy than it is on the current early morning arrivals. If you're taking the airport express in, intending to get a cab at Paddington, it's still probably a lot better than getting in in the morning.

About 8-9 years ago BA had a dedicated daily LHR-BKK-LHR flight as well as the one that stopped off on its way to Sydney.

[ToddWeston]

I like the new time, and I prefer terminal 5 over 3.

BA flights to Bangkok go from Terminal 3, not terminal 5. (Don't ask me why!) And, as far as I can tell, the new time flights from November onwards will still depart Terminal 3. The website timetable says they depart from Terminal 5 but if you try to book a flight a window pops up telling you (or should I say "telling me") that the flight really departs Terminal 3. I'm still waiting to use Terminal 5.

Like you I think the new times are really good. I don't understand why people want to sleep on planes. I stay awake and enjoy the facilities. You pay enough money for them!

The press release in the BKK POST states terminal 5, perhaps it's a computer issue for now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.