doubt they’d be offering champagne on any final flights. Yes, Theres always a risk at incurring DM wrath but they do very occasionally do positive reporting... I think it would depend on how the flights were organised and marketed.

On the wider piece, QF were at pains to point out they were bringing in new and fuel efficient aircraft and this was a send off, not a party as such. The focus was on seeing out an aircraft that they had operated for almost 50 years. Lots of retired staff and passengers out there to talk to the press about the human side etc.

this thread really boils down to a few key questions.

1) is it technically possible to run these flights? I would say it’s likely. The aircraft are still serviceable, the crews are still current, QF has shown flights can be run from a covid pax point of view. Potential issues with handling at destination airport or whether the flights end up back at Heathrow and then flown out after (ala Concorde).

2) is there Sufficient demand for these flights to cover their costs? Again, likely. QF has shown that there certainly was in Australia. The BA Twitter team highlighted to me the other day that there have been receiving a lots of requests for running final flights.

3) is there sufficient will across BA departments to make it happen? Engineering, management flight ops etc. It sounds like there is internal debate, with management happy if they cover their costs. Engineering wise it may take additional efforts to service aircraft for pax rather than ferrying. QF seemed to manage this though.

4) is it a good PR move for BA? This is the one that is most up for debate I think. We have seen the pros and cons debated already. I can see both sides and it may very well depend on the wider Covid-19 situation.