Heathrow
First Class travel to Moscow with BA tops summer season flight changes
It’s all change at British Airways as the airline increase capacity and adds a First Class cabin option on its long haul service.
British Airways set to return to Tripoli in May
British Airways are set to resume flight to the Libyan capital Tripoli from May.
Emirates launches Wi-Fi connectivity on Airbus A380 fleet
Passengers on a growing number of Emirates Airbus A380 aircraft can now surf, share, email, or tweet their way across the Emirates network as the airline launches Wi-Fi internet connectivity with leading industry service provider, OnAir. Read more
UK strike forces Etihad to cancel London bound flights
With a huge strike expected this Wednesday Etihad have taken steps to avoid passengers getting stranded in huge delays at passport control. Read more
British Airways modify Heathrow hangar to fit new A380 aircraft
British Airways has completed the latest phase of a multi-million pound redevelopment of its Heathrow engineering base as it prepares for the arrival of its new fleet of Airbus A380 super jumbos. Read more
Continental Airlines celebrates 25 years flying to the UK
Continental Airlines today celebrates the 25th anniversary of its first flight from the United Kingdom. The inaugural flight from London Gatwick to Houston on the 29th April 1985 began a quarter of a century of growth in the UK, as the airline expanded its operations to seven airports and up to 14 daily flights – 12 to its New York hub, Newark Liberty International Airport, and two to Houston.
Continental has become the only trans-Atlantic carrier with a significant presence in the UK regions, while the Open Skies treaty in March 2008 gave the carrier access to London Heathrow for the first time, and heralded the start of a significant expansion into that market. Indeed, by October 31, 2010 when Continental begins a fifth daily service to New York, the airline will have seven daily trans-Atlantic flights from Heathrow (two to Houston).
Continental was also the first-ever airline to offer scheduled non-stop trans-Atlantic flights from Edinburgh, Bristol and Belfast, and has now operated services to New York from Glasgow for almost 12 years, from Birmingham for almost 13 years and from Manchester for almost 15 years. For many of the UK cities that the airline serves, it offers the only direct route to New York.
Bob Schumacher, Senior Director – UK & Ireland, said: “Although we’re an American carrier, the UK is one of our most important markets. The last 25 years have seen us grow from being a small player at London Gatwick to operating trans-Atlantic flights from more UK airports than any other airline and now being a major operator at Heathrow. People often talk about the ‘special relationship’ between the UK and the US and the Continental success story here is strong evidence of this bond. We look forward to another successful 25 years and helping many more people fly between the two countries for business and leisure.”
Continental Airlines’ UK milestones
o April 1985 – Inaugural flight from London Gatwick to Houston
o June 1987 – Inaugural flight from London Gatwick to New York
o 1992 – Introduction of BusinessFirst on UK services
o July 1995 – Inaugural flight from Manchester to New York
o July 1997 – Inaugural flight from Birmingham to New York
o July 1998 – Inaugural flight from Glasgow to New York
o January 1999 – Introduction of Boeing 777 on London Gatwick-New York route
o June 2004 – Inaugural flight from Edinburgh to New York
o May 2005 – Inaugural flight from Bristol to New York
o May 2005 – Inaugural flight from Belfast to New York
o March 2008 – Inaugural flights from London Heathrow to New York and Houston
o October 2009 – Continental joins Star Alliance, the world’s largest and most comprehensive airline alliance
o November 2009 – Aircraft featuring new BusinessFirst flat-bed seat start serving the UK
bmi adds 4,500 seats to (cash in on?) help BA customers affected by second phase of strike
bmi has added 4,500 seats to its normal Heathrow flight schedule to help BA customers affected by the four day strike starting at midnight on Friday 26 March.
The airline, the second largest at Heathrow, is adding flights and upgrading aircraft to provide extra seating capacity, repeating the efforts which last weekend helped thousands of customers complete their travel.
Good availability exists on all competitive routes out of Heathrow, with lead-in fares starting from £57 one-way including all taxes. bmi, like BA, does not charge additional fees for check-in, hold baggage or seat assignment. Routes include Aberdeen, Amsterdam (Sat only), Cairo, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Jeddah, Manchester, Moscow, Riyadh as well as Berlin and Vienna which launch on Sunday. In addition the rest of bmi’s schedule will be running as normal.
bmi is also offering BA Silver and Gold Executive cardholders using its services access to the bmi lounges including The Great British Lounge, bmi’s flagship international lounge at London Heathrow.
Continental launches mobile boarding passes at Heathrow
Continental Airlines today announced the expansion of its mobile boarding pass service to London’s Heathrow Airport, becoming the first carrier to offer paperless boarding passes on nonstop flights from the United Kingdom to the U.S.
The service allows customers to receive boarding passes electronically on their mobile phones or personal digital assistants (PDAs) and eliminates the need for paper boarding passes.
“We are pleased to add Heathrow to the growing list of airports we serve with mobile boarding passes,” said Martin Hand, Continental’s vice president of reservations and eCommerce.
“Customers have told us this is the type of product improvement they want, and we will continue to expand the self-service technology to more of our domestic and international destinations.”
Mobile boarding passes display a two-dimensional bar code along with passenger and flight information, which scanners at the security checkpoint and boarding gate validate. The technology prevents manipulation or duplication of the boarding passes and heightens security.
In addition to boarding passes, Continental provides access to enhanced flight information through mobile devices. Customers may view onboard amenities and standby lists, as well as track the status of their flights.
Continental was the first carrier to offer paperless boarding passes in the U.S. in a pilot programme with the Transportation Security Administration that began in December 2007. The airline currently offers mobile boarding passes at 42 airports, including its hubs in New York, Houston and Cleveland. Continental was the first U.S. carrier to offer mobile boarding passes from an international destination when it launched the service at Frankfurt Airport late last year.
Continental operates five flights per day from Heathrow – three to its New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport, and two to Houston. The airline announced recently that it will add a fourth daily service to the Heathrow-New York route in March and a fifth daily service in
October, bringing the total number of Continental daily departures from Heathrow to seven. Continental also announced that effective June 2, 2010 all aircraft scheduled for its flights departing Heathrow will feature new, flat bed seats in BusinessFirst, its business-class cabin.
In addition to its Heathrow services, Continental operates non-stop services to New York from Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester, as well as Dublin and Shannon, serving more cities in the U.K. and Ireland than any other trans-Atlantic airline.
Continental’s Heathrow flights operate from Terminal 4.
