BA news • December 2015
New routes from Heathrow, Gatwick and London City; the Boeing 787-9 takes flight; plus, how the airport process is being streamlined to make your journey easier
New year, new routes from Heathrow
Biarritz in France, Mahon in Menorca and Palermo in Sicily will be the latest short-haul routes to join BA’s growing European network from summer 2016.
Customers will also be able to enjoy a more frequent service to Hanover (from 29 March) and Budapest (from 3 May). Krakow will get three extra flights a week (from 7 May), and there will be an additional six flights per week to both Stockholm and Venice (from 3 May).
Around the 2016 May Bank Holiday, five other European destinations will get two extra flights each a week: Split, Palma and Berlin on 30 April, Gibraltar from 1 May, and Olbia in Sardinia from 3 May.
Explore the world from Gatwick
Travelling to New York will be easier than ever when BA starts offering direct flights from Gatwick from 1 May 2016. It will be the only airline to do so from all three of London’s main airports: Gatwick, Heathrow and London City.
The airline will also start twice-weekly, non-stop flights to San Jose in Costa Rica on 27 April, plus direct flights to Lima in Peru from 4 May. There are also two new short-haul routes set to start to the Iberian Peninsula: Valencia, which began on 6 November, and Porto from 1 February 2016.
From the Docklands to the Dordogne
Wine lovers will soon be able to take advantage of BA’s new route from London City to Bergerac, France. The summer-only flights will operate up to four times a week from May through to September 2016.
Plane speaking
British Airways’ first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner made its inaugural flight to Delhi on 25 October 2015. At the send-off from London Heathrow, the aircraft was ‘blessed’ with a garland and bindi, while the door was decorated with a bespoke henna print.
The new 787s are part of BA’s £5 billion investment programme, with 42 more destined to join the airline over the coming years. In addition to the Indian route, the 787-9 started flying to Abu Dhabi and Muscat on 5 November, and will begin flying to Kuala Lumpur in December 2015 and Austin in February 2016.
In it for the long-haul
Long-haul flights will now depart from Heathrow Terminal 3. Routes include Miami, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Denver, Vancouver, Cape Town, Accra and Nairobi.
Join the fast track
Fast Track customers flying from Heathrow Terminal 5 can now use a new entrance to the left of North Security. The facility is designed to offer a more seamless security process for premium customers and leads directly to the North Fast Track security lanes.
Borderline brilliant
Heathrow Terminal 5 now has 15 of the newest generation e-passport gates, to help arriving customers get through passport control more quickly. When customers scan their e-passport at the barrier, the system runs a facial recognition check. If you’re eligible to enter the UK, the gate will open automatically – all in a matter of seconds.
For more details on any of these stories, visit ba.com
This article has been tagged BA, Travel Tips