British Airways - Afrikan Heroes

British Airways Reinstates January Johannesburg A380 Flights

December 30, 2021

After the UK government scrapped its red-list again, British Airways reinstated Airbus A380 flights to Johannesburg in January. The airline had pushed back the launch to February after the eruption of the Omicron COVID-19 variant led to a slew of new travel restrictions earlier in December.

British Airways is in the process of reactivating its entire Airbus A380 fleet, having relaunched long-haul double-decker flights earlier this month. Having spent the best part of the past year on the UK’s red-list, South Africa is experiencing huge travel demand, making the southern African nation a no-brainer for the world’s largest passenger aircraft.

Early November, British Airways planned to fly the Airbus A380 to Johannesburg from January 10th. This was due to operate as a daily service alongside a Boeing 777 service.

The schedule was thrown into chaos when the Omicron variant was discovered, as the UK reactivated the red list for South Africa and a handful of neighbouring countries. Not expecting the situation to change rapidly, British Airways pulled the A380 from its Johannesburg schedule until February but left the daily 777 services intact.

According to schedule data from aviation data experts Cirium, and as shown on ba.com, British Airways has now placed the Airbus A380 back on flights to Johannesburg from January 17th. However, it won’t be as previously scheduled. Rather than running alongside the Boeing 777 service as BA55 & BA56, the A380 will replace the Boeing 777 on the existing BA57 and BA58 services for the foreseeable future.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

British Airways Announces New Codeshare With Kenya Airways

October 29, 2021

British Airways (BA) and Kenya Airways have signed a codeshare agreement in a move designed to boost business travel and tourism between African destinations and Europe. In a statement released on October 21, 2021, the flagship carrier of the United Kingdom said that thanks to the new codeshare with Kenya Airways, BA customers can seamlessly connect on Kenya Airways flights within Africa.Based at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, British Airways customers can now connect to 20 destinations in East and Central Africa. The Kenya Airways destinations list includes Douala, Zanzibar, Lusaka, Mombasa, Addis Ababa, and Entebbe. British Airways customers can also take advantage of Kenya Airways flights to the Indian Ocean tourist destinations of Mauritius and the Seychelles.In the mutually benefitting codeshare, Kenya Airways customers can effortlessly transfer from British Airways London Heathrow Airport (LHR) hub to 26 destinations within Europe. BA European destinations from Heathrow include flights to Glasgow, Madrid, Milan, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and holiday destinations around the Mediterranean Sea.Currently, British Airways flies from London to Nairobi four days a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, with a three-class configured Boeing 777-200. Kenya Airways offers five flights a week between Nairobi and London every day except Wednesdays and Fridays. On the route, Kenya Airways has deployed one of its nine flagship Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners.

When speaking about the new codeshare in the British Airways statement, British Airways Head of Alliances Christopher Fordyce said: “After a difficult 20 months with global travel restrictions, it’s fantastic to see travel between the UK and Africa resuming. We are really pleased to be able to offer our customers access to even more destinations across the region thanks to our new codeshare agreement with Kenya Airways, making that bucket list trip even easier to plan.”In another statement, Chief Commercial and Customer Officer at Kenya Airways, Julius Thairu said:“The codeshare agreement with British Airways to provide our travelers with a seamless journey to and from Europe and Africa is very strategic. It will increase choices for thousands of passengers and will allow for smooth connectivity to a significant number of new destinations – particularly throughout Africa and Europe. By harnessing our complementary strengths, it will also provide benefits to aid the recovery of international travel and meet the increasing demand.”