NEWS: BA – ditch High Life onboard, Routes for new B777s with Club Suites inc Maldives & short haul changes

BA ditches inflight magazines onboard

Airlines have ditched inflight magazines due to the risk of transmission of coronavirus. BA have taken the opportunity to remove their magazines permanently from onboard and go online. Obviously this will save a substantial amount of money both in reducing the amount of weight onboard and the production costs. As someone who never reads it, I don’t really care but I do worry about older travellers who would not have a device with them capable of being able to read it on. I do like the fact that they will email it to Executive Club customers so you can read it even if you aren’t travelling at the moment. 

British Airways’ onboard magazine, High Life, is moving online to ba.com and will offer access to content for customers before, during and after a flight. Created with the publishing house, Cedar, the magazine will also include a new section for Business Life which will replace the current on-board paper versions of both publications. 

Each issue will include monthly audio stories, photo experiences, and live panels so customers can experience the magic of travel on the go wherever they are in the world. The magazine will continue to feature first-person stories from travel experts and carefully curated guides for exploring cities across the world.  

As well as trusted travel content, High Life digital will keep customers updated with any changes to the airline’s customer experience and route network. The new digital format also means that the airline can update content in real-time with any developments in this Covid-19 era.

The magazine will be emailed to five million Executive Club customers every month and customers can download the magazine on board, using the airline’s in-flight WIFI for free. 

High Life will also continue to offer British Airways’ partners and advertisers new opportunities to reach the airline’s customers with products and offers, through BA media*

Hamish McVey, British Airways’ Head of Brand and Marketing said: “Our High Life magazine has been a source for travel inspiration for our customers for nearly half a century. When we trialled moving High Life online at the beginning of this year, it was a great success.

“We know our customers value technology and a contactless journey, especially in the current climate, so we are delighted to now be able to provide over five million customers a month with digital High Life.  We hope this new digital magazine will help customers plan their holidays with our expert holiday guides, as well as provide the latest information as we make important changes to our customer experience.”

Clare Broadbent, Cedar’s CEO said, “High Life online is now here: online, on email, and on board through your personal device, bringing wonderful and trusted travel inspiration to bigger audiences than ever before. With High Life’s mix of expert writers, photographers and audio-visual storytellers sharing the latest travel ideas from around the world, we can’t wait to help travellers to dream, plan and take off in 2020 and beyond.” 

The airline’s on-board magazine, first took to the skies 47 years ago in 1973 and has provided British Airways’ customers with inspiration ever since. The magazine has document significant milestones in the airline’s history including the launch of Concorde and the A380, as well as featuring cover stars such as Sir Paul McCartney, Tracey Emin, Idris Elba and HRH The Prince of Wales.

BA routes for new B777-300s

British Airways new B777-300s have the new Club Suite and a more modern first class too, similar to the B787.

Club has been increased in size to what was known as super-high J on the B747s, with 76 seats instead of the current 56. First class has also been reduced down to 8 seats only.

The new cabin has three sections as you can see in the pictures below:

Although there are not really any bad seats with the new Club Suite, there are some that may be more desirable than others. The front mini cabin just has a bulkhead dividing it from the rest of the large main cabin. If you are concerned about crying babies though, it does have a bassinet right in the middle of the cabin. My choice would probably be the second mini-cabin which shows no bassinets and should be more intimate and quiet. 

As usual, the aircraft could be on any number of routes, so it will be hard to guarantee to get the Club Suite seat unless you are flying on an A350 route. Even then aircraft substitutions happen and BA have no responsibility to move your booking if the aircraft changes.

It is now easier to spot since in last week’s schedule update BA begin to display aircraft code 77W, representing the new 4-class 777-300ER aircraft. (Normally the airline lists Boeing 777-200ER/-300ER aircraft under aircraft code “777”). 

For winter 2020/21 season, the new 4-class 777-300ER aircraft is scheduled to operate following routes.

• London Heathrow – Hong Kong 4 of 7 weekly
• London Heathrow – Los Angeles BA281/280 2 of 7 weekly
• London Heathrow – Male 3 weekly (4 weekly from 05DEC20)
• London Heathrow – New York JFK BA115/176

Summer 2021 sees the 777-300ER serving New York and Riyadh. However, at this stage this is very uncertain. 

• London Heathrow – New York JFK
  BA175/112 Daily
  BA173/116 Daily
  BA115/176 Day x46
• London Heathrow – Riyadh 3 of 7 weekly

BA’s reductions for short-haul in Winter 2020

British Airways has adjusted its planned European operations for the months of November and December 2020. 

Based on 15 November 20, London Heathrow departures show a reduction from 1334 to 778 weekly flights. As the following list is based on week of 15 November 20, certain routes may see frequency variations on certain weeks when winter schedules begin on 25 October. 

We can expect further changes to be filed in the next few weeks. If you get a cancellation message for a flight, don’t panic. The chances are that there is another flight that day or a day either side that you can move onto. This can usually be done online using Manage My Booking but if not you will need to call them.

London Heathrow – Amsterdam Reduce from 61 to 38 weekly
London Heathrow – Athens Reduce from 20 to 14 weekly
London Heathrow – Barcelona Reduce from 60 to 36 weekly
London Heathrow – Basel/Mulhouse Reduce from 29 to 15 weekly
London Heathrow – Berlin Reduce from 49 to 28 weekly
London Heathrow – Billund Reduce from 7 to 4 weekly
London Heathrow – Bologna Reduce from 21 to 13 weekly
London Heathrow – Brussels Reduce from 41 to 22 weekly
London Heathrow – Bucharest Reduce from 14 to 7 weekly
London Heathrow – Budapest Reduce from 20 to 12 weekly
London Heathrow – Copenhagen Reduce from 37 to 24 weekly
London Heathrow – Dublin Reduce from 54 to 32 weekly
London Heathrow – Dusseldorf Reduce from 41 to 23 weekly
London Heathrow – Frankfurt Reduce from 39 to 22 weekly
London Heathrow – Geneva Reduce from 79 to 45 weekly
London Heathrow – Gibraltar Reduce from 9 to 5 weekly
London Heathrow – Gothenburg Reduce from 21 to 11 weekly
London Heathrow – Hamburg Reduce from 35 to 20 weekly
London Heathrow – Hannover Reduce from 12 to 7 weekly
London Heathrow – Istanbul Reduce from 14 to 7 weekly
London Heathrow – Krakow Reduce from 7 to 3 weekly
London Heathrow – Larnaca Reduce from 14 to 7 weekly
London Heathrow – Lisbon Reduce from 28 to 15 weekly
London Heathrow – Luxembourg Reduce from 21 to 11 weekly
London Heathrow – Lyon Reduce from 21 to 12 weekly
London Heathrow – Madrid Reduce from 42 to 31 weekly
London Heathrow – Malaga Reduce from 4 to 3 weekly
London Heathrow – Marseille Reduce from 20 to 11 weekly
London Heathrow – Milan Linate Reduce from 54 to 31 weekly
London Heathrow – Milan Malpensa Reduce from 13 to 8 weekly
London Heathrow – Moscow Domodedovo 13 weekly
London Heathrow – Munich Reduce from 46 to 26 weekly
London Heathrow – Nice Reduce from 35 to 19 weekly
London Heathrow – Oslo Reduce from 25 to 19 weekly
London Heathrow – Paris CDG Reduce from 47 to 30 weekly
London Heathrow – Pisa Reduce from 7 to 4 weekly
London Heathrow – Prague Reduce from 34 to 18 weekly
London Heathrow – Reykjavik Keflavik Reduce from 7 to 4 weekly
London Heathrow – Rome Reduce from 38 to 22 weekly
London Heathrow – Sofia Reduce from 8 to 4 weekly
London Heathrow – Stockholm Arlanda Reduce from 32 to 16 weekly
London Heathrow – Stuttgart Reduce from 12 to 6 weekly
London Heathrow – Tenerife South INCREASE from 1 to 2 weekly
London Heathrow – Toulouse Reduce from 21 to 12 weekly
London Heathrow – Valencia Reduce from 7 to 3 weekly
London Heathrow – Venice Reduce from 9 to 5 weekly
London Heathrow – Vienna Reduce from 36 to 21 weekly
London Heathrow – Warsaw Reduce from 14 to 11 weekly
London Heathrow – Zagreb Reduce from 9 to 4 weekly
London Heathrow – Zurich Reduce from 46 to 27 weekly

On London Heathrow – Innsbruck route operating from December 2020, BA will increase service by 1 additional weekly flight. 

HT: Routes online