NEWS & OFFERS: BA franchise Comair suspends operations, Finnair & Virgin UK offers and Qatar confirm move to T4

BA franchise Comair suspends operations

In March BA’s South African Comair franchise hit the headline when it was indefinitely grounded over safety concerns. Now it has been grounded again but this time due to a lack of funds. Comair also operates low-cost airline Kulula. This will reduce airline capacity in  South Africa by 40%. The airline are saying they believe that additional funding will be secured but at present ticket sales and flights are suspended. 

Finnair new UK and Ex EU business class offers

I recently flew long haul with Finnair for the first time and overall I was impressed with their new product and business class seat, particularly the outbound flight. I had a few hiccups with the loading of wines and menus plus the crew were not nearly as good on the way home, but overall it was still a good flight. There are some new offers for Finnair which are great value and get BA Avios and tier points if you want to credit to them. Be aware that Finnair offer light fares which do not include luggage, seat selection or lounge access unless you have status in oneworld or Finnair.

UK departures:

• Helsinki £526
• Bangkok £1613
• Delhi £1519
• Mumbai £1349

Ex Eu:

• Stockholm – Bangkok £1351
• Stockholm – Singapore £1362
• Stockholm – Seoul £1228

Sales period: 24 May–7 June 2022. Travel period: Helsinki: 1 September–30 September 2022

You can check prices here.

Virgin Atlantic offer clarity on £200 discount

I wrote about Virgin offering £200 off flights but it was not clear if it applied to certain routes. They have now clarified that it will apply from  Wednesday 1^st June and Monday 13^th June to save up to £200 on flights to Orlando, New York, Antigua, and The Bahamas when you fly by 15^th October 2022. 

Here are the full discounts and dates:

Get up to £200 off per person saving when booking flights to Orlando. Save up to £100 off Economy Light, Classic, and Delight, up to £150 off Premium, and up to £200 off Upper Class. Saving is already applied to the prices shown.

This promotion applies to all new return, Virgin Atlantic-operated flight bookings to Orlando from London Heathrow, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Belfast for travel completed within the following dates (London Heathrow 1st June – October 15th, 2022, excluding 21st July – 24th August 2022, Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast 1st June – 15th October 2022) .

Get £200 off per person saving when booking flights to New York from Manchester in Upper class for travel completed within the following dates 1st July – 4th September 2022. Saving is already applied to the prices shown. This promotion applies to all new return, Virgin Atlantic-operated flight bookings to New York from Manchester in Upper Class.

Get up to £100 off per person saving when booking flights to Antigua and The Bahamas (Nassau). Save up to £50 off Economy Light, Classic, and Delight, up to £75 off Premium, and up to £100 off Upper Class. This promotion applies to all new return, Virgin Atlantic-operated flight bookings to Antigua and The Bahamas (Nassau) for travel completed within the following dates 1st June – 15th October 2022.

You can check prices and book here with Virgin Atlantic. 

Qatar Airways confirms T4 move

Qatar has officially confirmed that it will move back to Heathrow’s T4 on 14 June when the terminal reopens. This should help some of the crowding at T5 in the lounges and security at certain times. During the past couple of years, Qatar has been renovating their Premium lounge as well as expanding it. It was already great before so I look forward to seeing what it is like after the refurbishment!

An official statement from Qatar Airways said “Qatar Airways operations at London Heathrow Airport (LHR) will be moving to Terminal 4, effective June 14th 2022. Passengers are advised that flight QR11 will be the first arrival into Terminal 4.”