British Airways (BA) once again turned to it’s tried and tested formula of rolling out the red carpet to announce its latest long-haul aircraft deployment by using Sex and the City star Kristin Davis to add some sparkle and Hollywood glamour as it revealed that Singapore will be the fifth destination to be served on a scheduled basis by its Airbus A380s.
The carrier confirmed that it will introduce the superjumbo on three weekly rotations on the London Heathrow – Singapore Changi route from October 28, 2014, significantly increasing the number of available seats it has on offer on the route. The A380 will feature on the BA11 service on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and the returning BA12, operating on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Flights on other days will continue to be operated by a Boeing 747 with the 777-300ER, calling into Singapore as part of the BA15/16 Heathrow to Sydney route.
BA now has four A380s, having taken delivery of the latest aircraft on January 14, 2014 with a further four deliveries expected later in the year. The airline utilises the type to Los Angeles and Hong Kong, and services to Johannesburg started on February 12, 2014. The airline will begin flights to Washington DC on the super jumbo from September 1, 2014.
“Our new A380s are helping fly even more customers in great comfort and style to destinations around the world,” said Richard Tams, head of UK & Ireland sales, British Airways. “We’re delighted that our customers travelling to and from Singapore will be able to experience the benefits this amazing aircraft has to offer, thanks to our multi-billion pound investment in new aircraft, products and services.”
BA competes directly with Singapore Airlines on the London Heathrow – Singapore Changi route and has just a 27.6 per cent share of the seat capacity on offer this month. The Asian carrier already deploys its A380s on its multiple daily operation on the route. BA’s former Pacific partner, Qantas, also previously served the route but has subsequently routed its flights between Australia and the UK via Dubai from April 2013 following its commercial partnership with Emirates Airline.
Oneworld alliance member BA, is continuing to improve services for customers and will roll out more new aircraft, including Airbus A380s, Boeing 787s, 777-300ERs and A320s across its worldwide network as deliveries continue over the next three years. A total of twenty new aircraft will be joining the fleet in 2014. This includes a further four Dreamliners, with new 787 services being launched to Hyderabad from March 30, 2014, Chengdu from May 5, 2014, Philadelphia from June 5, 2014 and Calgary from July 5, 2014. Four further 777-300ER deliveries will further support its long-haul operations.
In the analysis below we look in greater detail at the London Heathrow – Singapore Changi route pair highlighting total passenger demand, O&D demand and the relevant O&D traffic shares of BA and Singapore Airlines.
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