BA redeploys planes to tap luxury leisure routes

British Airways, Europe's third largest airline, will use planes freed up by the slump in business travel to start flying to longhaul leisure destinations such as Las Vegas, Jamaica and the Maldives. Five of the six new routes that the Londonbased carrier will begin for its winter timetable are to vacation hotspots, including Sharm El-Sheikh on the Red Sea and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

"Initial bookings are very encouraging, Richard Tams, head of UK sales," said in an interview. "We chose the routes carefully where we think demand will hold up," Tams said by telephone. "We don't normally have the aircraft available, so this has given us the opportunity to build some business there."

Passenger numbers fell 2.8 per cent in the five months through August, prompting British Airways to park 16 aircraft and cut capacity by 5 per cent for the coming October-March timetable. The carrier's new routes are targeted at upscale resorts catering to wealthier clients who are less likely to rein in spending in the recession, Tams said. "There is still a very healthy market in premium leisure," the executive said in the September 4 interview. The passengers are high-end travellers who not only want comfort at the resort but also on the way there. British Airways will deploy widebody Boeing 777 aircraft for the new routes. The service to Las Vegas will leave from London Heathrow and others from the UK capital's Gatwick airport. The flight to Montego Bay in Jamaica is being revived after a four-year gap, while services to Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt were dropped last year when the company sold its GB Airways subsidiary to EasyJet. British Airways will this month also begin an experimental business-class-only service from London City airport to New York using two Airbus SAS A318 narrowbody planes.

The new service was announced on February 1 last year. The airline will scrap short-haul flights from Gatwick to Malta, Krakow in Poland, and to Alicante, Palma, Madrid and Barcelona in Spain. British Airways will also screen its first UK television commercial for two years this month. The airline said it's taking advantage of a drop in advertising prices.

Source:
Financial Chronicle
Date-8 September 2009
Edition- New Delhi