British Airways Confirms Rio Growth

British Airways (BA) has confirmed that it is to double capacity on its flights from London Heathrow to Rio de Janeiro this winter, as first revealed by The HUB on April 8. The airline currently offers three flights per week on the route, but has confirmed that from November 3 it will add another three weekly rotations meaning that the flights will operate every day except Mondays.

“We are experiencing a real increase in demand for Rio and by doubling the number of departures, we are able to offer our customers more choice and greater availability,” said Neil Cottrell, Head of Network Planning, British Airways. “Brazil is also experiencing strong economic growth and this capacity increase is a great opportunity for British Airways to be part of that growth.”

BA competes directly with TAM Airlines between the two cities, while a large amount of traffic from the UK also flies via other European capitals. Approximately 95,000 O&D passengers travelled between the two airports in the past year with BA accounting for 37 per cent and TAM Airlines 24 per cent of this traffic.

Schedule:

BA249 LHR1215 – 2155GIG 777 x1
BA248 GIG2325 – 1235+1LHR 777 x1