Farewell BA38/39, Hello BA88/89?!
Feb 21, 2020, 7:11 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 40
Farewell BA38/39, Hello BA88/89?!
I have just been informed that my return Beijing flights in October (BA38/39) have been cancelled and replaced with BA88/89. The departure and arrival times are only minimally different.
Does this mean BA38/39 is no more? Out of interest, why would BA go to the trouble of changing a long-standing flight number and replacing it with another (which if I am not mistaken used to be on Chengdu flights)? Seems very odd to me. It’s been 38/39 to Beijing for as long as I can remember.
Does this mean BA38/39 is no more? Out of interest, why would BA go to the trouble of changing a long-standing flight number and replacing it with another (which if I am not mistaken used to be on Chengdu flights)? Seems very odd to me. It’s been 38/39 to Beijing for as long as I can remember.
Feb 21, 2020, 7:19 am
#2
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: BCN
Programs: BA GGL, IB, LH, IHG Gold
Posts: 582
Two quick ideas
a) after the long suspension of flights to BJS, coming back with a flight number that is considered lucky in Chinese culture,
b) keeping the 38/39 rotation open for a future return to PEK, and 88/89 for PKX specifically
a) after the long suspension of flights to BJS, coming back with a flight number that is considered lucky in Chinese culture,
b) keeping the 38/39 rotation open for a future return to PEK, and 88/89 for PKX specifically
Feb 21, 2020, 7:26 am
#3
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 2,221
A third possibility is, at the request of the airport authorities. If there is another inbound flight with a similar number arriving at a similar time, for example.
Feb 21, 2020, 7:31 am
#4
Join Date: Oct 2019
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 2
I have just been informed that my return Beijing flights in October (BA38/39) have been cancelled and replaced with BA88/89. The departure and arrival times are only minimally different.
Does this mean BA38/39 is no more? Out of interest, why would BA go to the trouble of changing a long-standing flight number and replacing it with another (which if I am not mistaken used to be on Chengdu flights)? Seems very odd to me. It’s been 38/39 to Beijing for as long as I can remember.
Does this mean BA38/39 is no more? Out of interest, why would BA go to the trouble of changing a long-standing flight number and replacing it with another (which if I am not mistaken used to be on Chengdu flights)? Seems very odd to me. It’s been 38/39 to Beijing for as long as I can remember.
Feb 21, 2020, 7:44 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 40
I did enquire as to why the flight number has changed but no reason was given by the pleasant lady on the phone except that it corresponds with an aircraft type change.
Feb 21, 2020, 8:34 am
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
Feb 21, 2020, 9:35 am
#9
Moderator: Qatar Airways
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: LHR/NCE/MIA
Programs: BAEC GfL & GGL, SQ Gold, Amex Centurion, Mucci des Chevaliers des Bons Mots et Qui Savent Moucher
Posts: 8,949
Feb 24, 2020, 4:00 am
#10
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Beijing
Programs: SK EBG, BAEC Gold
Posts: 932
Just seen in the "Extra 100000 Club World Reward Seats Released" thread this text:The destinations excluded from the 100,000 seat availability in the offer are: Chatam Islands, Cape Town, Durban, Hong Kong, Incheon, Kansai, Kuala Lumpur, Muscat, Nassau, Narita, Beijing, Beijing Daxing, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney
My bolding - Probably just an error - but maybe BA38/39 are being kept for occasional use at the older PEK airport? (he said hopefully ...)
My bolding - Probably just an error - but maybe BA38/39 are being kept for occasional use at the older PEK airport? (he said hopefully ...)
Feb 24, 2020, 4:09 am
#11
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: NT Australia
Programs: QF WP
Posts: 4,160
Just seen in the "Extra 100000 Club World Reward Seats Released" thread this text:The destinations excluded from the 100,000 seat availability in the offer are: Chatam Islands, Cape Town, Durban, Hong Kong, Incheon , Kansai, Kuala Lumpur, Muscat, Nassau, Narita, Beijing, BeijingDaxing, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney
My bolding - Probably just an error - but maybe BA38/39 are being kept for occasional use at the older PEK airport? (he said hopefully ...)
My bolding - Probably just an error - but maybe BA38/39 are being kept for occasional use at the older PEK airport? (he said hopefully ...)
Feb 24, 2020, 4:36 am
#12
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Beijing
Programs: SK EBG, BAEC Gold
Posts: 932
Feb 24, 2020, 5:03 am
#13
Join Date: Jun 2009
Programs: BA GGL/GfL; Hilton Diamond; Marriott Ambassador; IHG Diamond;
Posts: 263
I would hazard a guess that the author started with IATA codes and converted to names, so rather than Chatham Islands (CHT), this was meant to be either CPT (most likely given the reference to Cape Town immediately after), or CLT (less likely, given no other US destinations are included).
Feb 24, 2020, 6:14 am
#14
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: LHR Air Traffic Control
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 875
No, this would only affect the callsign, not the flight number. Many flights already have different callsign/flt no. pairings for this reason. i.e. BAW939 = BA939, but BAW27G = BA727.
Feb 24, 2020, 3:59 pm
#15
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
Is that the same everywhere in the world, though? ISTR that the BA25/BA26 pair (HKG) was renumbered to BA31/BA32 because of the possibility of callsign/flight number confusion over China, which IIRC does not permit callsigns that are not aligned with flight numbers.