itsmeitisss

I think it's actually quite telling that an Ambassador is criticising BA in this way. Note that the Ambassadors are ambassadors for this part of FT, NOT for BA themselves. Of course being involved in this section suggests that ambassador's main travel is on BA. BA themselves would do well to note the growing negativity towards its products from regular users of a BA focussed forum.

weero

They do IMO. It's of inferior quality and looks but it fits my cultural expectations a lot better than what the ME carriers offer. But I can understand that this is very point of view dependent.

I agree with your comment on HKG though. Huge difference. And the CX lounges blow BA's out of the water.
I get your point. For such international carriers it would simply be nice to have non-halal meals as well. I mean they do serve alcohol, so it shouldn't be such a big issue for their culture.
Agree on QF and NZ. Vastly better E+ including food and booze options. CX is meh in E+ which is surprising. And TK's E+ is history .

londonfog

I am not sure what your experience for flying is. Personally, I found CW seats in most planes very narrow (8 seats in a row, really?) and lacking any storage space. They are comfortable to sleep, hell on a daytime flight. On the other hand a seat like the one you find on the mid-haul A321 is great on a day flight but, to me, a bit claustrophobic to sleep.

BA has not fundamentally changed their hard product in almost 20 years. In the meantime others have caught up.

Maybe I do not value privacy as much as others but i do value space and things like power outlets a bit more, hence my assessment.

orbitmic

If you mean in terms of offering meals with non-halal meat, a recent (and rather heated) thread on the BA forum which I do not think that we need to revive suggested that BA already effectively serves halal meals as standard main meals even though not all are.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...alal-meat.html

If you mean serving things like pork in meals, I don't think that this will happen on QR and honestly, I don't mind personally.

To be honest, on the broader question, while all airlines from near and middle eastern airlines (EY, QR, TK, EK, etc) serve halal meals, and I know (as seen in that forum) that some people mind (I am not bothered myself), most of them also happen to serve some of the very best meals available in the air in premium classes.

oxtailsoup

Interesting topic.

I have just completed my first QR J flights to JNB and back.

In my opinion they are far superior to BA J in almost all respects. More akin to the BA F offering. Nice pyjamas and handy Armani mini aftershave in the amenity bag!

Doha was a bit of a monster though, arrived at A gates and had to hike to E21 which was a 20 minute walk.

Found the Qatar staff fantastic, consistent and professional. Not better than the really friendly BA cabin crew you get from time to time but how many of those are left on BA now?

BA is good for their direct routes but falls behind in most other areas.

weero

BA definitely serves non-halal meals but your point is a valid one.

And you are also right that quite a few people like the food offerings on the ME carriers. For me, it was the significantly lower cost that made me try them which now is almost gone for my needs. In terms of food, I'd aim at an Asian carrier.

Calchas

The ambassadors are here to say hello to new people and make everyone feel welcome, or at least, we try! Part of this is the intention we should draw in fresh blood, I mean, new blood; so that these kind of negative themes do not hang over us for too long.

We are not in any way affiliated with BA. Actually maybe this could be made clearer, several people have approached me recently thinking I am some sort of respectable authority figure

Minority views are to be encouraged, so in that spirit, I quite like BA, I even quite like CW. At least you know you will get a lie flat seat and you can sleep. I just arranged a nine hour flight on JL with angle flats... am I insane?

weero

Ah come on that's not the one and sole real reason but just Internet Brand's official rationalisation why new clickbait shall be good for the forum culture and not just for driving ad revenue.

I am friendly to newcomers too but at least include that they do their damage too. The ever same silly and trivial questions, cluttering the forum. I'd take the lamenting culture over that.

Tobias-UK

Yes, but not necessarily for the reason stated

IAN-UK

When did the moderate, conciliarity and evenhanded Weero become such a cynic?

[searching for a shaking-head-in-sadness emoji]

orbitmic

I think Asian carriers are very heterogeneous food-wise. Japanese airlines (both JL and ANA) are among my favourite airlines for food all round. I love Korean airlines too (again, both KE and Asiana) and the new GA (but that will be halal too!). However, CX food while good is not exceptional in J, nor are most Chinese airlines (MU can be good), nor CI or VN (again decent but not great). I wouldn't get out of my way for MH (also halal). SQ and TG are very good too but to be honest I'd personally put TK slightly higher on my list.

And indeed, I think that like you, most people have first experience ME3 for a mixture of any of the following: 1) occasionally outstanding pricing, 2) great network from regional airports (ie if you fly from MAN, NCE, HAM, or VCE you get to fly long haul J all the way), 3) reputation of "luxurious" service.

As mentioned in my earlier post, the service style is not my favourite at all (too bling for my taste and more opulent than elegant) but even if you and I might find things that is not best suited to our taste, from a slightly broader point of view, I have no doubt that they are currently "setting standards" in the sense of pitching at a certain quality level which can make some alternative offerings suddenly feel a bit more underwhelming/dated. In other words, even if we might prefer something else, one can get used to solo flat seats, quality food (regardless of what you think of the style), quality drinks, and clean plating quite quickly and becomea bit spoilt when returning to products which have not changed for a while.

LondonElite

As the single largest shareholder, no one is going to tell QR to sod off!



http://www.es.iairgroup.com/phoenix....holdingsshares

Calchas

It's no one's 'rationalisation' (if it be so) but mine; indeed I've never had contact with anyone who's identified himself as from Internet Brands.

There we might differ!

Don't listen to what they say about me

Calchas

I suspect QR has invested because of the good capital return that appears to be on its way under the current leadership, as well as the opportunities for further integration particularly with cargo and ME/India to US passenger traffic; rather than to effect mass policy changes within IAG. (Indeed I believe it unlawful for a non-EU person to have undue influence over IAG.)

LondonElite

It's probable that a main reason for investment is the attractive financial results that IAG has recently posted, but I am confident that, as with many Qatari investments these days, there is a longer-term strategic objective that far outweighs the short-term share performance.

My point wasn't so much that QR will seek to take over the decision-making at IAG, but rather that, as a ca 10% shareholder (over 50% more than the next largest), their potential influential role is significant (and certainly won't be told to 'sod off')!