Originally Posted by
jbalmuth
My OT query: are such advance sales to Egypt normal for this time of year?
There's plenty of demand. We've just had the end of Ramadan so most business travel over the last six weeks has been deferred until now. Also, the competing services are all operated by shorthaul config aircraft which a lot of people don't like. Maybe BA should up the price.
Originally Posted by
jbalmuth
If that's the case, then I can absolutely see BA trying to replace such a flight with a wetlease charter (though obviously not the QR ones discussed in another thread
). Any insights would be appreciated.
Obtaining a wetlease charter in the height of summer is not easy in Europe. All the aircraft are already on lease. That is why BA is requesting special permission from the UK's civil aviation authority to use non-EU aircraft. BA might be able to rustle up another aircraft from somewhere but probably the leasing companies aren't too keen on sending their aircraft to Egypt anyway. Plus the high number of seats sold make it unlikely that BA would want to merge flights or cancel flights. Can't say for sure, but I would think it would be pretty low on the cancellation list.
When BA does do wetleasing, it is based on their scheduling and crewing requirements, they don't care which "type" of passenger is on board.
What I'd say is, keep a close eye on it (I assume you have the My Flights App or a similar live monitoring app watching your PNR for changes), make sure sure you know your alternative options, but try not to worry too much until next week.