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Bits: BA cancelling strike flights from 1st July, Gatwick Express cancelling trains from Thursday

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News in brief:

British Airways cancelling flights pre-strike

British Airways seems more worried about the upcoming 16-day strike by Mixed Fleet crew members than it was for previous strikes.  Perhaps it is the higher summer passenger loads, which make it harder to consolidate two flights into one.

As I wrote recently, BA is planning to lease nine fully-crewed Qatar Airways short-haul aircraft for two months.  This would cover the strike and give BA some extra flexibility over the summer.

No long-haul flights have been cancelled in previous strikes.  This is NOT the case this time.

The following services have already been cancelled:

1 July – BA079 (Muscat)
2 July – BA080 (Muscat) & BA083 (Abuja)
3 July – BA082 (Abuja) & BA125 (Bahrain)
4 July – BA124 (Bahrain) & BA109 (Dubai) & BA173 (NYC) & BA112 (NYC)
5 July – BA108 (Dubai) & BA133 (Jeddah) & BA075 (Lagos) & BA074 (Lagos)
6 July – BA132 (Jeddah) & BA67 (Phil’) & BA66 (Phil’) & BA083 (Abuja)
7 July – BA083 (Abuja)

More will presumably follow for the latter half of the strike.

British Airways is generally slow at telling people their flights have been cancelled.  The best thing to do is download the free MyFlights app to your phone (iOS only) (I reviewed MyFlights here).  MyFlights checks the Amadeus booking system on a regular basis and notifies you if there are any changes to your flights, well before BA will tell you.  This allows you to beat the rush to rebook.

As for other flights, BA is saying “we are still reviewing our shorthaul services.”

Remember that only Heathrow services will be impacted.  You have no chance of disruption if you are flying from another airport.

Gatwick Express new trains

Gatwick Express cancellations resume tomorrow

Drivers on Southern Railway and Gatwick Express are resuming their overtime ban tomorrow, Thursday.

This is an open-ended overtime ban which will lead to considerable disruption for the forseable future.

The RMT union has also called a one day strike for 10th July.

Details of the revised and much reduced Southern and Gatwick Express timetable from tomorrow are here.

If you are travelling to Gatwick, take a Thameslink service from Blackfriars or another Thameslink station which will be unaffected.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (105)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • the real harry1 says:
    28 Jun28 June 14:52

    do I get the right to re-routing if my flight is cancelled due to a strike?

    • the real harry1 says:
      28 Jun28 June 15:03

      My plane has been cancelled due to industrial action

      If your flight is cancelled due to an exceptional circumstance, you are automatically entitled to the care and assistance set out above (meals, accommodation, transport etc). In addition to this you are entitled to re-routing at the earliest opportunity, or for a refund and a return to your original departure point (ie If you are flying from London Heathrow to Sydney via Charles de Gaulle and industrial action leaves you stranded in Paris, you can request to be flown back to London).

  • Brian W says:
    28 Jun28 June 15:58

    O/T Bits – MyFlights app had notified me today of an aircraft change on my flight on Friday TXL – AUH from an A330 to a B772. As Air Berlin don’t have any triple 7’s does anyone know if they have started using Etihad aircraft?

    Just trying to figure out whose metal I’ll be on now. Amy thoughts appreciated.

  • David says:
    28 Jun28 June 16:51

    Mine appeared within a few days (maybe 3?) of hitting the £500 spend

  • Nick M says:
    28 Jun28 June 17:12

    Sorry, completely OT – I am looking to book a seat (not lap) for a 4 month old, and the BA twitter team told me that this needs to be done over the phone (I’m fairly sure I have done this online before though) – am I correct in thinking that they will therefore waive any additional fees? Do you think I’d have much luck asking to also make/add an Avios booking to the same reservation?

  • Chris says:
    28 Jun28 June 17:34

    OT: what’s the cap on amex points for referrals. I had the gold originally. Referred 4 ppl giving 36k. I upgraded to plat and it says limit is 90k. But does that only apply if I’m referring plat to plat? I’m hoping to refer 3-4 gold cards soon and want to make sure they’ll all go through. Thanks

  • Andy says:
    28 Jun28 June 17:39

    I can see Tesco scrapping avios points to concentrate more on price.

    • the real harry1 says:
      28 Jun28 June 18:26

      I can see Tesco zoning in on stuff it did extremely well in the past – Dunhumby & understanding consumers – Tesco Boost – truly exciting & innovative Clubcard Rewards/ loyalty prog

      & using that to gain competitive advantage

  • Rob says:
    28 Jun28 June 18:32

    Are the any android equivalent apps that check the flight status on Amadeus?

    • Londonbus says:
      28 Jun28 June 22:14

      Checkmytrip?

    • Alan says:
      28 Jun28 June 22:59

      Not yet, although now MyFlights has a paid-for option they might develop one. In the meantime you can still use the web version and register your flights there.

    • the_real_a says:
      29 Jun29 June 14:52

      Tripit does the same. There is a free version, it will send SMS of changes. Web and Android apps available.

    • Sian says:
      29 Jun29 June 19:20

      I have MyFlights on Android. It has just notified me that one of my BA flights on Saturday has changed, but only 30 minutes later than normal.

  • James says:
    29 Jun29 June 01:59

    OT – But Gatwick related !!

    Which is the best Gatwick North Priority Pass lounge ?? Is No 1 Lounge still vastly overcrowded due to BA’s closure of its lounges ???
    Not sure I want to fight through all the grumpy BA passengers angry at the lack of champagne (As I would be too – I’m O/W Emerald). In fact I hear that Priority Pass members will be turned away to keep space for BA passengers available.
    So is this still happening at No 1?
    And what’s the best lounge at the moment.
    Have 5 people in total, 4 able to get access via PP from Amex Plat and one we’ll need to pay for.
    Cheers.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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