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In news that probably won’t play too well with those working in the oil & gas industry (amongst others), British Airways has announced that it’s cancelling is 6x/week service between London and Baku (Azerbaijan). The airline has said that it has decided to “to suspend flights to and from Baku in Azerbaijan as they are no longer commercially viable”
The current Baku service runs on the following schedule:
BA145 LHR 10:00 – 19:35 GYD (Daily except Saturday)
BA144 GYD 20:50 – 22:50 LHR (Daily except Saturday)
Per British Airways:
The final service will depart Heathrow on 29 April 2016, with the return flight from Baku departing on 29 April 2016.
If you’re booked to fly to/from Baku at some point after 29 April 2016 British Airways will notify you of the cancellation but, if you haven’t received a notification yet, I wouldn’t hang around – book an alternative flight asap before your choices dwindle.
This was one of the British Airways routes that was served by the airline’s internationally configured Airbus A321 aircraft (which I think are a throwback to British Midland…but I’m not 100% sure on that one) and, while that may not sound particularly interesting, it did mean that the premium cabin offering was a lot better than the appalling cabin offered on most A321 routes.
The cabin is configured in an alternating 1-2 formation…..
Screenshot from SeatGuru
…and that means that every row has, what is often known as, a throne seat:
The other two seats in the row are perfect for a couple traveling together and, to be honest, not exactly terrible even if you don’t know the person next to you.
These seats are Thompson Aero seats that convert to fully flat beds and come with 15.4″ touchscreen IFE screens and a massage function!
These are by far and away the best seat you’ll find on a British Airways narrow body aircraft.
If I remember correctly, British Airways has seven of these aircraft in total (or at least they did have…there’s a chance they’ve sold them off or started refitting the cabins to match the horrible Club Europe seats I pass by all the time on my way to the more comfortable exit row seats in Economy Class).
So, what’s to become of the aircraft freed up by this route cancellation and what’s happening/what’s happened to the seven aircraft as a whole? If anyone knows please post in the comments section as I’d love to have one more flight on one of these A321 before they get the Club Europe treatment or get moved on.
Featured Image: British Airways A321 courtesy of Chris via Flickr
