Chance of cancellation LHR to Rome July 5
 

Hi, I am booked to fly to Rome on July 5 with BA. It’s really really important that I get there without delay. I am now super anxious that my flight might get cancelled due to COVID. I am even considering to book another flight with BA for the same route and on the same day, but unsure whether multiple booking violates BA’s rules.

Any advice or insight will be much appreciated!

Both BA flights have reasonable loads on the outbound, less so on the inbounds. It is doubtful that they would be cancelled.
The worst that can happen is that they cancel you flight and offer to book you on the other one.

With quarantine relaxation expected on 4 July, I would not worry much.

Welcome to Flyertalk Dorara! I agree with brunos, you do not have much to worry about because Covid-19 cancellations are done weeks in advance as the programme is adapted from month to month. So between late May and early June, a lot of flights to Rome were cancelled, but those that were maintained have pretty much as much of a chance to go as a scheduled flight a week before it takes place in "normal" times, possibly even slightly better given the lack of alternatives.

Moreover, as he mentions, there is talk that a number of countries including Italy might be exempt from the UK quarantine from 4 July with that being announced in just a few days. Of course, we won't be sure till it happens, but if it does (and the Government seems to proceed by "leaking" information a few days before to look for initial reactions before making formal announcements so there is a good chance that like previous such leaks, this one might well be confirmed), this would likely result in more flights being added rather than the other way round.

Of course, major events like a second and brutal second wave in Italy could always change that.

Thank you Brunos, that’s very reassuring. It’s just there are very limited seats left on the second one, and I get worried that I may be left with no other options.

thank you so much for such detailed answer, super helpful!

Dorara, Even if LHR/FCO x 2 both cancelled, BA is also flying to Milan or (if you really do need to get there) there are also Ryanair flights to Ciampino and to other Italian cities. Train from Milan or any Ryanair destination to Rome is easy. So if there's a second wave of COVID, you may be unlucky but if it's merely LHR/FCO cancellations for operational reasons (which is unlikely), there are still plenty of other ways of reaching Rome.

Dorara, Further to above, if BA were to cancel but Italy to remain open, if you're in a position to splurge, travel London to Rome via Doha on QR, and chose your QF flights carefully to ensure you get Q-suites. Much nicer than Ryanair :)

Thank you! Flight to Milan and train to Rome sounds like a good back-up plan!

I have seen they cancelled London - Santorini the 2nd of July very recently.
We are expected to fly 4th of July, so I’m wondering if they use to cancel weeks in advances or days ? Thank you

I’m guess that’s perhaps because there aren’t enough passengers on that flight? In my case, the flight to Rome is quite fully booked, there were only 2 seats left when I made my booking. But as you can tell, I’m no expert. Hopefully someone else can give you a better answer.

Greek destinations are very different to Italian ones. Italy Is open to UK originating visitors - Greece currently is not, and won’t be in a week’s time. The UK flight ban lasts until 29th June, and the UK is unlikely to be included in the lifting of international arrivals on 1st July. BA probably doesn’t want to cancel the Santorini flights, but it doesn’t have any choice - the Greek government likely won’t let them fly, so the cancellation is out of their control.

Don't worry, doesn't Alitalia have several flights a day as well as a back up?

To answer the question raised here (and elsewhere) about when BA cancels: this of course can come at any point, even after boarding, and it's complicated by BA putting up a comprehensive timetable for 8 weeks from now and then gradually scaling it down week by week (and as someone with a huge number cancellations in recent months, the ensuring workoad is getting quite exasperating). However around about 16 days to departure the main process of cancellations tends to stop, and anything after that is likely to be a genuinely unavoidable cancellation which was not easy to foresee. There is a 14 day timescale within EC261 which rightly tends to concentrate airlines' approach to this, though up to now the protection of EC261 is more limited than in normal times.