BA announces first routes, equipment for US-Europe flights

[DAL767-400ER]

No surprise on the timing given AF's announcement of LAX-LHR just yesterday:

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article3039895.ece

BRITISH AIRWAYS has appointed a group of top executives to the board of BA European, a new subsidiary that will start flights from European cities to America next summer.

The “airline within an airline” is expected to fly from Paris and Brussels to New York from May.

The operation is a radical departure for BA, which has never made � and never legally been allowed to make � transatlantic flights from continental cities direct to the US. Instead, it has concentrated operations at Heathrow, its UK base.

The official launch for BA European is expected within the next month. It is not known what brand it will fly under, but it is expected to operate two Boeing 757s with about 102 seats in two classes, Club World and World Traveller Plus.

BA European is BA’s response to the introduction of “open skies” between Europe and America, which allows European airlines to fly from anywhere in Europe to the US, and vice versa.

[Will_Power]

This sounds ground-breaking! Will the 752's have winglets, or do they have that range with out them? Do they alread have some with winglets? I dont know very much about the european airlines
sorry I ask so many questions

[AA 1818]

And so the war begins!

Well, I sincerly hope that this simply translates to lower prices for consumers. Some competition on these cash-cow routes might proove good or consumers, but at the same time, I hope that the competition does not drive the flag-carriers to nasty measures, and end up hurting them in the long-run.

[DAL767-400ER]

This sounds ground-breaking!

Tell that to airlines like Maxjet, Silverjet, L'Avion or PrivatAir .

Will the 752's have winglets, or do they have that range with out them?

They will most definitely have winglets. The 752s would have the range, but you can always reduce fuel burn .

Do they alread have some with winglets?

Not yet.

[uy707]

Choice of equipment is interesting as the SevenFive makes it back to the BA group of companies. Too bad for them they cannot fully restore British European Airways/BEA brand name ....so much as the 757 would have looked classy in BEA's 60s' RedSquare livery.

[DAL767-400ER]

Choice of equipment is interesting as the SevenFive makes it back to the BA group of companies.

It never left .

so much as the 757 would have looked classy in BEA's 60s' RedSquare livery.

A Retro BEA 757, oh hell yeah .

[TAP-A343]

I just wonder why BA needs to create a new subsidiary for these flights.

Regards.

[ATrude777]

Ok..I want to see STL-LON on this airline!

*steps off the dream box*

Alex

[DAL767-400ER]

I just wonder why BA needs to create a new subsidiary for these flights.

Don't know for sure, but could be a couple of reasons:
-Work relations, read: "Project Lauren" employees ending up on other (lower) payscales than their colleagues at mainline
-Bureaucratic reasons, read: With the fleet not touching the UK, other tax rules apply etc.
-Marketing

[BA747-436]

BA need to be thinking about retiring their 75's not retro-fitting them for a premium market! Hell they've been around for up to 25 years. To put it in perspective, Eastern airlines (USA) acquired their 75's at the same time as BA.....

[AA 1818]

BA need to be thinking about retiring their 75's not retro-fitting them for a premium market! Hell they've been around for up to 25 years. To put it in perspective, Eastern airlines (USA) acquired their 75's at the same time as BA.....

Retiring them, and replacing them with what? I mean, yeah the 757s are old, but what will compensate for them? Surely we cannot expect that we will be seeing A321s taking up the slack? The 757 is a great aircraft and will be flying for decades to come. I just think that right now, they simply do not have a 757 replacement, and will not be ordering one (Either more A321s or even further-fetched 737-900s - both of which are not true 757 replacements) soon. The 757 is a great aircraft, sans replacement, and as of such indespensible.

[DAL767-400ER]

Well, there isn't really a plane that could replace the 757, especially range-wise. An A321 on its way from JFK to Europe would go down somewhere to the west of Ireland, perhaps migth just glide in to SNN. Even the 739ER with all auxiliary fuel tanks would just about make it to AMS, CDG or MAD. Places like FRA, MXP or ZRH would be outside the range. The only plane in the range/size of the 757 that can do those routes is the 757. You'd either have to go larger with the 767, which either be too old as well (762ER) or too large (763ER). And wanting to go smaller, the only options would be ACJs or BBJs, which, even if in a family with other jets, would still represent a new subtype for BA's fleet. Not to mention that BA would have to pay for them to begin with, whereas they obviously have paid of their 757s at least a decade ago .

[BA747-436]

Another point that i thought id chuck in the mix is that BA cabin crews are very close to their 900 block hours per year and therfore BA is having to (ironicly) charter Monarch aircraft/crew to opperate on some of BA's routes out of LGW. Another fantastic screw up by BA managment.... With this in mind I really think new EU route structuring shouldn't really be their number one priority, although BA has always been of the thinking that the premium market is the one to devote 100% of their time to, and I guess is BA don't snap the routes up others surely will.

[AA 1818]

No surprise on the timing given AF's announcement of LAX-LHR just yesterday:

This announcement seems to be taking a swing at carriers like Maxjet and EOS rather than AF. I mean, yes, AF does compete with them on the route, but I see them going after the premium cabin-carriers. Best of luck to them! With that few seats, does the range of the 757 allow it to go much futher (such as from continental Europe to ATL, MIA, IAD, ORD)? It's just that we see carriers using their fully-loaded 757s to do trans-Atlantic routes, with fewer seats, shouldn't the range be better?

[DAL767-400ER]

This announcement seems to be taking a swing at carriers like Maxjet and EOS rather than AF. I mean, yes, AF does compete with them on the route, but I see them going after the premium cabin-carriers.

If BA were going after the premium carriers, they'd go into ORY instead of CDG, because that's where L'Avion is, and most importantly, would also enter STN an LTN to fight with the others, yet these 757s will be used outside of London, despite LON being the main market under pressure from the premium carriers.