BA pulling Kiev and St Petersburg routes effective 4 Oct 2019
May 18, 2019, 2:54 pm
#47
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May 18, 2019, 11:58 pm
#48
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 8
Must they offer to reroute me?
Hi all, registered to say thank you so much for this information about BA dropping Kiev and St Petersburg, did ask BA but they insisted I can only have a refund and they won't be offering any rerouting... I got a bit clued up last year after Qatar cancelled my flight just before takeoff so I'm under the impression it's MY choice about whether to have a refund or have them re-route me, right? See from BA.com and here that the options seem to be LHR-LED via Moscow or Helsinki. They tried telling me they couldn't reroute as other carriers not Oneworld until I reminded them that S7 are Oneworld and Nordic and Globus are affiliate Oneworld members. After that they said I couldn't be rerouted unless the cancellation was less than 24 hours.. so have a strong impression they want to refund me then?
Will wait a bit as suggested here, thank you. The only other sub Ł200 return flights London- LED are Brussels Airlines, but if the LHR Brussels is late in there is no later connection with them on that day and nor the next day so imagine would be rerouted with aeroflot via Moscow or somewhere and a very long journey and late arrival into LED so I'm really loathe to have a refund and book that instead
Is it possible that BA have a similar reason for dropping this route LHR-LED as Pobeda, ie Russian customs inspections affecting turn around times?
Thanks again.
Will wait a bit as suggested here, thank you. The only other sub Ł200 return flights London- LED are Brussels Airlines, but if the LHR Brussels is late in there is no later connection with them on that day and nor the next day so imagine would be rerouted with aeroflot via Moscow or somewhere and a very long journey and late arrival into LED so I'm really loathe to have a refund and book that instead
Is it possible that BA have a similar reason for dropping this route LHR-LED as Pobeda, ie Russian customs inspections affecting turn around times?
Thanks again.
May 19, 2019, 2:02 am
#50
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Hi all, registered to say thank you so much for this information about BA dropping Kiev and St Petersburg, did ask BA but they insisted I can only have a refund and they won't be offering any rerouting... I got a bit clued up last year after Qatar cancelled my flight just before takeoff so I'm under the impression it's MY choice about whether to have a refund or have them re-route me, right? See from BA.com and here that the options seem to be LHR-LED via Moscow or Helsinki. They tried telling me they couldn't reroute as other carriers not Oneworld until I reminded them that S7 are Oneworld and Nordic and Globus are affiliate Oneworld members. After that they said I couldn't be rerouted unless the cancellation was less than 24 hours.. so have a strong impression they want to refund me then?
Will wait a bit as suggested here, thank you. The only other sub Ł200 return flights London- LED are Brussels Airlines, but if the LHR Brussels is late in there is no later connection with them on that day and nor the next day so imagine would be rerouted with aeroflot via Moscow or somewhere and a very long journey and late arrival into LED so I'm really loathe to have a refund and book that instead
Is it possible that BA have a similar reason for dropping this route LHR-LED as Pobeda, ie Russian customs inspections affecting turn around times?
Thanks again.
Will wait a bit as suggested here, thank you. The only other sub Ł200 return flights London- LED are Brussels Airlines, but if the LHR Brussels is late in there is no later connection with them on that day and nor the next day so imagine would be rerouted with aeroflot via Moscow or somewhere and a very long journey and late arrival into LED so I'm really loathe to have a refund and book that instead
Is it possible that BA have a similar reason for dropping this route LHR-LED as Pobeda, ie Russian customs inspections affecting turn around times?
Thanks again.
May 19, 2019, 5:21 am
#51
Join Date: May 2005
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I don't think there are any customs inspections. The reason is quite simple - BA can't compete because it can't/does not want to offer a convenient schedule for either point-to-point or connecting passengers. Even if BA is often the cheapest on these routes, passengers still opt to fly with competitors for the scheduling reasons. BA started losing passengers on these routes even when it was still a 'full service" airline (which in a way shows how little the 'service' really matters for purchasing decisions). Without changing the schedule BA would not have had a chance, and the airline decided that it could utilize the LHR slots more profitably by flying elsewhere. I would not be surprised if MOW reverts back to shorthaul aircraft soon,
May 19, 2019, 11:19 am
#52
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: LHR/SEA/YVR
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Agree wholeheartedly. BA could have made both routes work by moving outbound to a late evening with inbound arriving early morning. Realistically speaking Heathrow is only reasonable as a transfer airport if going to Americas or Ireland. Current schedule with both flights arriving between 4 and 6 pm makes it impossible to connect to anywhere but Asia or continental Europe. Who would (outside of this community) even consider traveling from LED to ICN or PEK via LHR?
May 19, 2019, 12:40 pm
#53
Join Date: Jul 2011
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Agree wholeheartedly. BA could have made both routes work by moving outbound to a late evening with inbound arriving early morning. Realistically speaking Heathrow is only reasonable as a transfer airport if going to Americas or Ireland. Current schedule with both flights arriving between 4 and 6 pm makes it impossible to connect to anywhere but Asia or continental Europe. Who would (outside of this community) even consider traveling from LED to ICN or PEK via LHR?
May 19, 2019, 12:45 pm
#54
Join Date: Jun 2018
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BREAKING NEWS!!!!! Stop the presses......
Now I cannot promise that this will work for everyone right now however I just managed to rebook LED. Rebooking conditions haven't been issued yet and the best contact centre staff could hope for was "hopefully sometime this week" as they are in the dark as much as us as pax. I asked if she could look at X flight and was told I couldnt use the routing as it uses Nordic. She was unable to book so after accepting it's not her fault I asked for a manager who told me in no uncertain terms Nordic are nothing to do with OW and in quite a snooty manner I was wrong so I had them go to the OW website and asked them to read out the affiliates list, then explain how I was wrong and how I couldn't be rebooked - suffice to say I have just been re booked LHR-HEL ( AY) HEL-LED( N7) then BA direct back from DME-LHR.
As the rules haven't been published yet I think some understanding on the agents part is needed and a, if need be, firm but fair hand with a manager. I just thought those of you looking to rebook should at least be near, if not there when it comes to getting it sorted.
Now I cannot promise that this will work for everyone right now however I just managed to rebook LED. Rebooking conditions haven't been issued yet and the best contact centre staff could hope for was "hopefully sometime this week" as they are in the dark as much as us as pax. I asked if she could look at X flight and was told I couldnt use the routing as it uses Nordic. She was unable to book so after accepting it's not her fault I asked for a manager who told me in no uncertain terms Nordic are nothing to do with OW and in quite a snooty manner I was wrong so I had them go to the OW website and asked them to read out the affiliates list, then explain how I was wrong and how I couldn't be rebooked - suffice to say I have just been re booked LHR-HEL ( AY) HEL-LED( N7) then BA direct back from DME-LHR.
As the rules haven't been published yet I think some understanding on the agents part is needed and a, if need be, firm but fair hand with a manager. I just thought those of you looking to rebook should at least be near, if not there when it comes to getting it sorted.
May 19, 2019, 2:13 pm
#56
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: LHR/SEA/YVR
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Sorry, I must be missing the point but why rush rebooking of a flight which is at least 5 months ahead? Wouldn't waiting a week until rebooking rules have been issued make this process a tad faster and hassle free?
May 19, 2019, 5:01 pm
#58
Join Date: Sep 2013
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This is very sad news, although I don't use either route. BA seems to be a bit of a nonentity in Eastern Europe these days. Meanwhile they seem to be adding plenty of leisure routes. Of course they cannot and should not operate routes at a loss, but these are two pretty significant destinations to chop IMO.
May 19, 2019, 8:09 pm
#59
Join Date: Jun 2018
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As it happens I was simply calling to ask if the rules had been published yet( because the better half had requested me to and i'm not stupid enough to say no lol) and after a little chat the agent actually pushed to look for me and to try and resolve the matter sooner rather than later.
That said as there were only 5 seats left on the flight ( in business class) despite it being 5 months away it was possibly a good move
That said as there were only 5 seats left on the flight ( in business class) despite it being 5 months away it was possibly a good move
May 20, 2019, 9:15 am
#60
Join Date: May 2007
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This is really disappointing, myself and a whole bunch of my team travel frequently from LHR to LED monthly. Whilst Rossiya/Aeroflot offer a cheaper service (and food), the times are a bit pants going out as you get in late