The LHR - TLV (via LCA) restarts tomorrow. I'm thinking of booking this in a couple of months. A few questions (if anyone knows yet):
- will passengers have to get off at LCA?
- I assume it's just the one Club Europe meal now being served?
- is the aircracft being catered / fuelled at LCA for the return or will some of this be done at TLV?
- I think I read that crews swap in LCA and do LCA-TLV-LHR?
- on previous direct flights, rules stated that everyone had to be in their seats and strapped up 30 mins prior to arrival - will there be any time to unfasten belts?

The service is earmarked to operate direct without stopping from June so a lot of your questions will be irrelevant for when you're thinking about travelling.

Until then...

No passengers will not get off in LCA
1x meal service between LHR-LCA
My understanding is the service crew changes in both directions during the 45 minutes technical stop in LCA.
Given the very short (under 1hr flight time) between LCA-TLV it's highly unlikely the seat belt sign will be off for long if at all.

No, passengers will stay onboard.
Yes.
​​​​​​Fuelled in LCA, catered at LHR.
Yes.
Yes.

So is it refuelled at LCA for the TLV-LHR leg as well? That seems like a waste and will make it quite heavy for landing in TLV? It's on the ground in TLV for longer than in LCA so surely makes sense to refuel in TLV?

Often aircraft tanker fuel, nothing unusual or unsafe. Everything is done to make the time on the ground as short as possible.

No because there is a crew change at LCA as crew are not staying overnight in TLV

I understand about crew change in LCA. This has nothing to do with refuelling in LCA though? I don't understand the reason for not refuelling in TLV as it's scheduled to be on the ground there longer than at LCA?

The aircraft is refuelled in LCA for the TLV - LHR sector because BA want the ability to fly the aircraft directly back to LHR should they not be able to land in TLV for any reason - also 1 of the reasons for the crew change in LCA as well.

Pilot37

The cost of fuel could be the reason. I know a lot of yachts in the Greek Islands make a specific trek to Turkish islands to fuel up. Perhaps fuel prices at LCA make it worth while.

Ah! This makes total sense. Thanks for clarifying.

Out of interest, why wouldn't they just return to LCA?

Why not get a job in BA Operations and then you could be the one answering our questions? 🤭

Ha! I wish!

I would assume to avoid the extra time and another set of landing fees and other expenses there.

Is BA being overly cautious? UA, for example, has been running nonstops between EWR and TLV for a few weeks now, with no intermediate technical stops.

Yes, or a concern about crew hours on a LCA-not quite TLV - LCA to LHR would exceed duty hours.

Many airlines are back� I believe AC from YYZ this week as well.

I do think they are being overly cautious. And I�m unsure what changes about the security situation between now and when they cut out the LCA stop� certainly nothing that�s a certainty at this point.

Flight time limitations - 3 sector day would be limiting and potentially require an additional flight crew member. A LCA-TLV but div to LHR is all one sector and well with limits. 2 sectors also fine. 3 and beyond can start to become challenging with longer legs.
this is why charter airlines of old that swapped aircraft between MAN/LGW bases etc would never roster flight crew LGW-PFO-LGW-MAN, can�t be done. They�d do LGW-PFO-LGW and if LGW wasn�t their base, position on a BA 290x service LGW-MAN, a MAN based crew might have positioned MAN-LGW on BA 290x as the PFO-LGW leg was being flown, and then pick up their 737/757/320(1) and position it empty back up to MAN. The reverse also happened and the same with other UK bases. Those were the glory years. ;-)

So back to the point. 2 crew, 2 sectors, molto bene. 3-4 sectors, you�d better hope those sector lengths are no more than 2 hours.