British Airways Cancels A Route & Brings Forward A380 Service To Vancouver

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British Airways has finally succumbed to what most people in the know thought was inevitable even before the route was launched – it has cancelled its route to/from Chengdu. As fascinating as Pandas are (Chengdu is the research base for the Giant Panda breeding program) I’ve never understood what made British Airways believe that a service between London and Chengdu was a good idea.

If you want to visit these guys in Chengdu you won’t be doing it with BA after 12 January

British Airways has operated the London – Chengdu route for over three years offering 5 weekly flights in the summer and 3 weekly flights in the winter throughout that period….but bookings on the route have never been good.

A statement from British Airways said:

We regret that we have decided to suspend the Heathrow to Chengdu route. We have a proud tradition of flying to China but despite operating this route for three years it is not commercially viable.

At the time the route was announced back in 2013 there were rumours that it was going to be pulled before it even started thanks to the terrible advance bookings BA was seeing but the route was launched anyway and it limped along for 3 years – perhaps the airline’s hierarchy forgot the route was even operating 🙂

British Airways is no longer taking reservations for flights no longer accepting reservations for flights on/after 15 January 2017.

The last flight from London will be on 12 January and the last flight from Chengdu will be on 13 January.

This is the schedule British Airways was using for the Winter season….

BA089 LHR 1610 – 1035+1 day CTU (Tue, Thu, Sun)
BA088 CTU 1205 – 1525 LHR (Mon, Wed, Fri)

….so, if you’re booked on either of those flights after 12/13 January, you should contact British Airways asap if you haven’t already heard from the airline.

British Airways A380 Service To Vancouver Brought Forward

Image courtesy of Ronnie McDonald via Flickr

British Airways commenced A380 service to Vancouver back in May but, for the winter season, the airline has reverted back to operating the route with one of its antiquated 747s.

The A380 wasn’t due to reappear on the Vancouver route before June next year but, in the latest schedule update, it looks as if BA will once again offer A380 service to Vancouver from 1 May 2017.

Planned schedule is as follows [HT: Airlineroute.net]

BA085 LHR 17:15 – 18:45 YVR (Fri & Sat)
BA085 LHR 17:20 – 18:50 YVR (Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Sun)

BA084 YVR 20:45 – 13:55+1 day LHR (Daily)

The A380 may only be coming back a month early but, based on my recent experience of a British Airways 747 in Economy class (review coming soon) and recent experiences of British Airways First Class in both the 747 and the A380, this is a big bonus for travelers.

The fact is that a lot of the British Airways 747s are really showing their age and offer a vastly inferior product to what you’ll find on the A380. On the 747 I recently flew in there was no power for the Economy Class seats and the entertainment screens and controls were a throwback to the late 1990’s.

The screen and remote control in the exit row on a British Airways 747

But apart from the improved onboard amenities there’s another reason to cheer the early return of the A380 – award availability.

The A380 offers 97 Business Class seats (vs 52 on the 747) and 55 Premium Economy seats (vs 36 on the 747) so finding an award in one of those cabins in May should now be considerably easier.

Of course just because there’s an A380 on the Vancouver route doesn’t always mean things go according to plan 🙂