rapidex

Germania has extensive experience of ACMI wet leases.Some years ago they had 20 aircraft leased to Air Berlin, painted in Air Berlin colours with standard Air Berlin seating. Depending on the length of the lease they can and will repaint the aircraft, change seating and re uniform the cabin crew.

They were an extremely reliable operator for Air Berlin, and most passengers were unaware they were not flying on an Air Berlin aircraft. It will be interesting to see what level of conformity BA goes to with these wet leases, but obtaining extra aircraft and training sufficient crews will take quite some time.

paulaf

One thing seems to be different to BA in that there is no Club section to book unfortunately it's all ET.

paulaf

Does anyone know how new this route Is? Just a bit worried as hardly any seats are booked what are the chances of them cancelling this flight and bumping us onto the earlier one that is way too early?

Can anyone see how many seats are sold please BA2702 15 Feb and BA2703 22 Feb many thanks.

NWIFlyer

If BA is wetleasing the aircraft, it seems highly unlikely there’s insufficient demand to run the service ... and if it’s there to protect a slot, then it’s definitely going to operate.

At just shy of six weeks from travel, knowing the loads does not give any sort of reliable indication either - in fact, it might even worry you more unnecessarily!

I would personally relax a little - there’s nothing you can change, it’s a relatively short flight, you’re certainly not going to have a new BA Recaro seat - so whatever the differences are they’re going to be minimal in the scheme of things.

rapidex

How do you know how many seats are booked? If you are looking at the seat selection chart that is a rather unreliable method of determining seat sales. Only BA can determine this, otherwise there are 9 seats available. The lack of club seats may be determined by the type of lease agreement BA has entered into. If BA have decided not to offer Club Europe on Germania operated flights then that is a commercial decision, or it may be just too soon for all the flight classes to be loaded.

luxurytravelled

Lanzarote is also getting some additional Germania operated flights - decent pricing for half term as well!

paulaf

Last question - on the seat map rows 3 and 4 are priced higher than the rest of the ET cabin but it doesn't say why - does anyone know if its because they have extra legroom? Some seat plans for Germania have "best seats" at the front.

corporate-wage-slave

Speculation here since I don't know (but somewhat doubt) there is extra legroom there. But BA do that on their main shorthaul services even though there is no extra leg room. Row 1 and 2 will be kept for Golds (and perhaps Silvers), the next block will be free for Silvers but a higher charge for anyone else. Human nature appears to have a preference to sitting towards the front but frankly it is logically crackers: that area is usually the most congested in the aisle and most congested in the overhead lockers. Each row takes about 10 to 20 seconds to disembark so you may be paying mightily for the privilege of waiting longer for the return of checked luggage. I can see the point in paying for exit row seats, I can (just about) see the point of trying to keep a group of passengers together though Theoretical Seating has largely removed the danger of being split. Maybe there is an argument if there is another flight or a tight bus connections or something and HBO. I can't really see the point in paying for anything else on shorthaul.

Ldnn1

For me a few rows further forward can make all the difference to my onward journey - especially at LGW where Thameslink trains aren't so frequent. It's a 'Sliding Doors' issue - can be the difference between making or not making first bus if a bus gate, also the few seconds it might potentially save being ahead of others at e-gates, making or not making a shuttle if at LGW North (not on BA now)... ultimately leading to making or not making a particular train where that few seconds can translate into a 20/30 min delay depending on times.

All that said, whether I'd pay extra for the privilege is a different question.

LordBuckethead

1) BA rarely does that... the EU261 costs (and risk of bad publicity) are too high. Only if tech aircraft are involved.
2) Read the 'Gatwick slots' thread... these flights have been set up (at considerable cost!) because they have to something - and quickly - in order to keep the expensive Monarch slots they bought. Common sense therefore dictates that they would be more likely to fly them empty - or sell the rest very cheap last-minute - rather than lose out on the slots.

rapidex

BA have got their timing right with this.The through trains from peterborough calling at Stevenage St Pancras and a number of other stations start in may, so no changing train for those north of London.This will make LGW a much more appealing start point. The extra flights will soon fill up.

RolfD

cramp airplane ( seat pitch 28")

GMI1

Hello everyone wondering about Germania. We flew with them many times from Manchester and Gatwick and the are a great airline. They will offer a complementary service which is a hot meal on longer flights or sandwich on shorter ones, all soft drinks included but alcohol is to be paid for. Seat pitch is bigger than BA and seats recline. They also offer in flight entertainment with drop down screens but as this is a sub charter contract its up to BA if they use it or not, they may not want them too as BA dont offer it so the may ask them not too lol. Great airline with great crews you will enjoy it we always do with them.

corporate-wage-slave

Welcome to Flyertalk GMI1, and welcome to the BA forum. It's really good to see you here and indeed for sharing your experiences with Germania - which is more than I able to do! It sounds like BA's passengers on this service will be in good hands. Normally on these sorts of leases BA will set the catering provision, but I guess we ought to see what actually happens, But thank very much for giving us that insight. Welcome on board.

Passmethesickbag

Just came off a Germania-operated flight (AGP-LGW). Feeling quite nostalgic, as they were basically serving the entire old BA ET service for free. The A319 was crewed by three hard-working, competent, and cheerful FAs. I tried greeting them in German but it turned out the crew were all British except for the Captain (made the same mistake and tried speaking Norwegian on my first Norwegian flight — they were all Polish!).