British Airways goes for the jugular
After last month's announcement that
One World members may no longer accrue mileage or cash in rewards on El Al after October 31, British Airways (one of the airlines in One World) is
going for the jugular, by adding one flight per day, bringing its weekly total to 20 flights.
Starting in the summer of 2015, British Airways is raising the seat
capacity on the London-Tel Aviv route by about 50%, the airline
announced today. Six weekly flights will be added, raising the total
number to 20. British Airways says that it operates a longhaul service
on its Tel Aviv-London route, despite the relatively short flight
duration and distance, offering advanced entertainment systems with
personal touchscreens, high quality catering and free offering of
quality soft and alcoholic beverages. All the airline flights on the
route are operated via Heathrow Terminal 5.
British Airways Israel Manager Yael Katan said, “Due to the growing
demand for our service to London and long-distance flights, we have
decided to expand our Israel operation, with a significant increase in
seat capacity and frequency. In addition, we have recently changed our
schedule in order to offer convenient connections to various North
American destinations, specifically in the West Coast which are
extremely popular with our Israeli passengers, such as San Francisco,
Los Angeles and Vegas.”
I don't think this is going to matter to the occasional pleasure traveler, who will continue to choose El Al, but for business travelers for whom scheduling and frequent flier miles matter (El Al is the only airline that takes away your miles even if you have activity in your account), this is deadly. El Al is often several hundred dollars cheaper than British (I've seen a difference of $300-400 in my own reservations), so if British cuts its fares to El Al's levels or close to them, business travelers will be far more likely to choose British.
Labels: Ben Gurion Airport, British Airways, El Al, London Heathrow Airport, One World, travel
British columnist: What if a Hamas rocket downed a British Airways plane?
Finally, a British columnist other than Melanie Phillips and Robin Shepherd (and probably a couple of others I'm forgetting) who gets it. Meet
Richard Littlejohn of the Daily Mail.
Explain the difference.
Paramilitaries fire a missile which brings down a civilian airliner over Ukraine.
They are widely condemned as murderous gangsters and war criminals who must be hunted down and brought to justice.
Another ruthless gang of paramilitaries fire missiles at a civilian airport in Israel.
They are hailed as heroic ‘resistance fighters’ and receive widespread support in the West.
Let’s just imagine, for a moment, that a rocket fired from Gaza had hit a plane coming in to land at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.
What if a British Airways jet had been brought down over Israel, with a similar loss of life to the 298 people who perished on Malaysian flight MH17?
Would it still be considered appropriate to hold yet another march through London this weekend, waving banners proclaiming ‘We are all Hamas now’?
Look, let me make one thing absolutely clear: what’s happening in Gaza is a terrible tragedy, especially the deaths of non-combatants. No one with a shred of humanity can fail to be disturbed by the plight of innocent children caught in the crossfire.
No, what depresses me is the one-sided apportioning of blame, the idea that Israel is the ‘aggressor’ in this conflict.
Read the whole thing.
Shabbat Shalom everyone.
Labels: Ben Gurion Airport, British Airways, British anti-Semitism, Gaza, Hamas, Hamas rockets, Operation Protective Edge
FAA extends flight ban, most European airlines join
The Federal Aviation Administration has extended its ban on American carriers flying to Ben Gurion Airport for another 24 hours until 7:15 pm Israel time on Thursday, and
most European carriers (with the notable exception of British Airways) have joined.
Delta, United and US Airways all cancelled their scheduled flights for Wednesday, as did a raft of European carriers including Germany's Lufthansa, Air France, Poland's LOT and others.
"We will continue to suspend flying to and from Tel Aviv ... and will continue to coordinate with the FAA to ensure the safety of our customers and employees," a United spokeswoman said.
"We plan these things conservatively," added US carrier Delta's chief executive Richard Anderson, speaking on the CNBC business news cable channel. "But we will need concrete information from our government that lets us draw an independent conclusion ... that it's going to be safe for our passengers and our employees."
Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Finnair, Iberia, Lufthansa, Air Berlin, Aegean and SAS cancelled services to Tel Aviv, as did Turkish Air. British Airways flights continued.
"At the moment there is no reliable new information that would justify a resumption of flight service," said Lufthansa in a statement.
Austrian, which carries up to 700 passengers between Vienna and Tel Aviv every day, and SAS said they would review the situation for Thursday.
Aeroflot and Romanian carrier TAROM, on the other hand, said they would resume flights Wednesday after cancelling Tuesday. Air Canada cancelled one flight on Wednesday and another Thursday.
I don't see Alitalia on the list. Hmmm.
This is a huge incentive for the IDF to take care of business ASAP.
Labels: Ben Gurion Airport, British Airways, El Al, Hamas rockets, IDF, Operation Protective Edge
Do you fly British Airways?
Those of you who have been readers for a while have probably read some of my stories about the security at London's
Heathrow Airport, where I generally change planes at least once or twice a year. Well, here's something to think about the next time you fly
British Airways.... Of course, there's no mention of the British Airways' employees religion.... I'll bet he's Amish (NOT!)....
Labels: airport security, British Airways, London Heathrow Airport
