British Airways is broadening its network, with a host of new short-haul routes to the summer sun. But how does an airline pick a new a route? BA network development manager Ravesh Narang explains it all… 

How do you choose a new route?
We look at changing demand for a range of cities and combine it with economic growth, trade development between the countries and the wider appeal of that destination to both business and leisure travellers.

So which new destinations can we fly to this summer?
We have three new routes – Mykonos, Santorini and Porto. But we also want to increase customer choice to destinations we already fly to, so we will be launching routes from Heathrow to Malaga and Faro (which are already served from Gatwick and London City) and from Edinburgh to Ibiza.

What was the thinking behind those routes?
We haven’t really developed our Greek schedule for many years, and the demand to both Mykonos and Santorini is robust and growing. The new Ibiza route is a logical addition because Edinburgh is an important market in our domestic network, and we have a loyal customer base there. Ibiza is a popular summer-sun route, and the two combined provided an opportunity for BA to widen its network outside London.

What about the recently launched BA route to Austin?
Austin has been one of the fastest growing local economies in the US. We already carry quite a few passengers to Austin via our Dallas services, and we could see that market was growing. From a leisure perspective, there’s also a lot of buzz around the destination – Austin hosted the 2012 and 2013 Formula One United States Grand Prix and is the venue for the famous SXSW music festival.

What sorts of challenges do you face when you set up a new route?
Each destination is unique and has its own intricacies. For example, Mykonos has a slightly different runway from the standard European runways, and our pilots required specialist training for landing and take-off there.

Do you take feedback from passengers into account?
A great deal. We consult lots of stakeholders, including people who deal with customers directly. We want to make sure we can generate sufficient demand to make that service economically viable. A number of customers also write to us directly to share their ideas.

It sounds like a complicated process. How long does it take from selecting a destination to actually flying there?
It depends on the region and the degree of risk involved in starting scheduled services. For emerging markets, it could take a few years to see not only how the economy is developing and growing, but also the interest from key customers who would use that service. For more established cities, the lead times are much shorter. Generally at a minimum, we’re planning the schedules about nine months to a year in advance.

Find out more about BA’s new and existing routes on ba.com

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This article has been tagged BA, Destination