BA adds Osaka from March 2019 [Confirmed]
Sep 25, 2018, 4:39 am
#48
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold, A3 *Gold
Posts: 887
I beg to differ - horrible timing meaning sleep is impossible. The return should be a good time though - I see a good possibility to combine the JL 19:00 Haneda flight from Heathrow with this return from Osaka for my future Japan trips.
Edit: No Friday service scuppers my above idea so might be difficult to find a use for this. Also, on all the dates I looked at the Finnair connecting service is half the price of BA and only takes 2 to 3 hours longer - that would be difficult to ignore, especially if tier points are needed.
Edit: No Friday service scuppers my above idea so might be difficult to find a use for this. Also, on all the dates I looked at the Finnair connecting service is half the price of BA and only takes 2 to 3 hours longer - that would be difficult to ignore, especially if tier points are needed.
Last edited by RobDBA; Sep 25, 2018 at 4:56 am
Sep 25, 2018, 4:52 am
#50
Join Date: Jan 2006
Programs: SAS Eurobonus - Blue / Emirates Skywards - Blue
Posts: 618
Just done a random dummy booking in Y for my favourite itinerary of MAN -> KIX...ouch look at the pricing.
AY is wooping BA's ... on the pricing for random dates in April.
The outward leg is £300 cheaper!!!!! AND it's 2 hours shorter!!!! At £427 cheaper in economy I'm not gonna pay for the privilege of traveling on BA AND it take LONGER!!!!. I'll stick with AY thanks. BA isn't going to take AY's traffic from the regions with these kind of prices unless it starts to get a LOT more competitive - cheaper and faster makes AY a no brainer.
AY is wooping BA's ... on the pricing for random dates in April.
The outward leg is £300 cheaper!!!!! AND it's 2 hours shorter!!!! At £427 cheaper in economy I'm not gonna pay for the privilege of traveling on BA AND it take LONGER!!!!. I'll stick with AY thanks. BA isn't going to take AY's traffic from the regions with these kind of prices unless it starts to get a LOT more competitive - cheaper and faster makes AY a no brainer.
Last edited by mrploddy; Sep 25, 2018 at 4:59 am
Sep 25, 2018, 5:31 am
#51
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The annoyance for me is that the inaugural flight is on Sunday 31 March, and the inaugural Pittsburgh flight is on Tuesday. Now a B2B to Osaka is probably in the ridiculous-even-for-FT category, but even then the turnaround time in KIX is an ambitious 1 hour 40 minutes. I guess if there is one place where they could make it work, it would be KIX.
Pricing is best left a day or two, or even longer, it isn't unusual to see strange things at this stage.
Pricing is best left a day or two, or even longer, it isn't unusual to see strange things at this stage.
Sep 25, 2018, 5:46 am
#52
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: SAV/HHH
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Posts: 1,293
The only other long haul I can think of is Pittsburgh. I assume this count includes LCY and short haul flights. Can anyone summarize?
Sep 25, 2018, 5:51 am
#53
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Sep 25, 2018, 6:02 am
#54
Join Date: Jan 2006
Programs: SAS Eurobonus - Blue / Emirates Skywards - Blue
Posts: 618
The annoyance for me is that the inaugural flight is on Sunday 31 March, and the inaugural Pittsburgh flight is on Tuesday. Now a B2B to Osaka is probably in the ridiculous-even-for-FT category, but even then the turnaround time in KIX is an ambitious 1 hour 40 minutes. I guess if there is one place where they could make it work, it would be KIX.
Pricing is best left a day or two, or even longer, it isn't unusual to see strange things at this stage.
Pricing is best left a day or two, or even longer, it isn't unusual to see strange things at this stage.
As for a B2B - yes there is an airside transfer route so not necessary to go through customs / immigration and I would say for the most part you won't see a lot of transfers at KIX so you should get through transfer security very quickly.
Not sure what lounge they will use but the one used by MH was very forgettable.
I think KIX is one of the best airports out there and bests LHR by a mile ( well when it's fully functional and not having bridge issues of course)
Be interested to see if BA makes an effort to take some of AY's UK -> Japan traffic from the regions like MAN as they have made a lot of effort to focus on price and shortest transfer time possible - their initial opening gambit of prices doesn't ennthrall / inspire me right now nthought.
Sep 25, 2018, 6:46 am
#55
Join Date: Jan 2006
Programs: AAdvantage Asia Miles Air China
Posts: 870
Be interested to see if BA makes an effort to take some of AY's UK -> Japan traffic from the regions like MAN as they have made a lot of effort to focus on price and shortest transfer time possible - their initial opening gambit of prices doesn't ennthrall / inspire me right now nthought.
From Business Traveller http://www.businesstraveller.com/bus...oint-ventures/
'4. British Airways + Japan Airlines + Finnair + Iberia British Airways entered into a Siberian joint venture with Japan Airlines, also a member of the Oneworld family, in 2012. After feeling left out in the cold, Finnair was welcomed with a warm embrace two years later, followed by Iberia in 2016. The four airlines now align prices and schedules on flights between Europe and Japan.'
Sep 25, 2018, 7:20 am
#56
Join Date: Jan 2006
Programs: SAS Eurobonus - Blue / Emirates Skywards - Blue
Posts: 618
Isn't Finnair part of the Siberian JV with BA and JL? So pricing by AY would have been taken into account.
From Business Traveller http://www.businesstraveller.com/bus...oint-ventures/
'4. British Airways + Japan Airlines + Finnair + Iberia British Airways entered into a Siberian joint venture with Japan Airlines, also a member of the Oneworld family, in 2012. After feeling left out in the cold, Finnair was welcomed with a warm embrace two years later, followed by Iberia in 2016. The four airlines now align prices and schedules on flights between Europe and Japan.'
From Business Traveller http://www.businesstraveller.com/bus...oint-ventures/
'4. British Airways + Japan Airlines + Finnair + Iberia British Airways entered into a Siberian joint venture with Japan Airlines, also a member of the Oneworld family, in 2012. After feeling left out in the cold, Finnair was welcomed with a warm embrace two years later, followed by Iberia in 2016. The four airlines now align prices and schedules on flights between Europe and Japan.'
I don't think hundreds of pounds difference in pricing is "harmonised"
If BA wants to compete it's going to have to try harder - I may be proved wrong and more competitive pricing might load in the next couple of days but right now the likes of EK, AY, LH and CX especially with with it's direct HKG flight are taking a lot of Asian traffic in the regions.
Why the heck would I want to fly via LHR when I can go via one of the worlds most efficient airports in HKG or go with AY via HEL who specialise in creating short itineraries to Asia ?
Sep 25, 2018, 7:19 pm
#58
Join Date: Jan 2006
Programs: AAdvantage Asia Miles Air China
Posts: 870
I don't think hundreds of pounds difference in pricing is "harmonised" If BA wants to compete it's going to have to try harder - I may be proved wrong and more competitive pricing might load in the next couple of days but right now the likes of EK, AY, LH and CX especially with with it's direct HKG flight are taking a lot of Asian traffic in the regions. Why the heck would I want to fly via LHR when I can go via one of the worlds most efficient airports in HKG or go with AY via HEL who specialise in creating short itineraries to Asia ?
Thats the great thing about competition, you do have a choice even within a JV so BA still gets a cut when you are flying that JV (which was meant to be my point).
To be fair living in HK with CX's sky high local prices and lowering of standards (sound familiar?) I take the same view as you flying West.
Sep 25, 2018, 7:47 pm
#59
Join Date: Jan 2006
Programs: SAS Eurobonus - Blue / Emirates Skywards - Blue
Posts: 618
'Aligned' does not mean 'harmonised'. JVs co-ordinate pricing rather than meaning they all charge the same. For instance the AA/JL Pacific JV pricing on AA is nearly always cheaper than the flights on JL.
Thats the great thing about competition, you do have a choice even within a JV so BA still gets a cut when you are flying that JV (which was meant to be my point).
To be fair living in HK with CX's sky high local prices and lowering of standards (sound familiar?) I take the same view as you flying West.
Thats the great thing about competition, you do have a choice even within a JV so BA still gets a cut when you are flying that JV (which was meant to be my point).
To be fair living in HK with CX's sky high local prices and lowering of standards (sound familiar?) I take the same view as you flying West.
With UK APD which bumps up the cost of flying via LHR vs flying straight out of the UK not to mention LHR's traffic issues and BA's sometimes scandalous reliability on regional hoppers it doesn't make for a great advert for the UK's flag carrier.
Nor would I want to do a rail connection either - 2.5 hours on Virgin then cross London and either pay through the nose for the HEX or double the time on the tube...
My point is that BA has to start making an effort if it wants to start getting traction back in the regions or of course it could just focus on being "London" airways ......
Sep 26, 2018, 1:06 am
#60
Join Date: Dec 2004
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