Originally Posted by
corporate-wage-slave
1) Calcutta: the largest city in the Commonwealth no longer served by BA. It ticks all BA's boxes so it's a mystery to me why it hasn't happened, at least at the 787-8 level.
Wild guess here, but I suspect this has to do with the infrastructure, politics and/or travel patterns of the populace in the area -- the airport is only served by ME3 and regional carriers, and is not served by any long hauls.
It's a shame as the city seems to have seen better times (e.g., around the time of Around the World in 80 Days) but seems to have fallen to the wayside in the last century or so.
Originally Posted by
corporate-wage-slave
2) Taipei, for the reasons mentioned, though I think the route is potentially expensive to staff and the competition keeps fares low.
3) Portland OR: This will happen when someone finds a pot of money or a guarantee of some sort. Ditto Salt Lake City, St Louis, maybe Louisiana.
4) Osaka/Kyoto: the largest city area not served by BA.
would this (and other Japanese cities) have to do with the excellent rail options in Japan?
Originally Posted by
corporate-wage-slave
5) Belgrade - quite tricky to get there at the moment. Case for Minsk and the Baltic republics too, maybe Ljubljana ex LGW, but I bet Zakynthos will get added soon.
6) Perth WA: just to show off, so unfortunately it won't happen.
Now: bear in mind BA are recruiting like never before: every single day a new flight crew member is recruited (350 in 2016). Cabin crew recruitment is running at twice the level from 3 years ago, 1,600 in 2016, and will bring the total flying crew number to 20,000 by year end, the highest in the company's 96 year history. These figures don't include BACF, SUN-AIR or Comair, who I think are all also recruiting. They aren't all going on standby surely?
This is all very insightful, thanks. ^^