News Forum - British Airways flights to Thailand suspended until 2023

[Thaiger]

British Airways isn’t heading back to Bangkok until at least next year. Tour operators were hoping the British flagship carrier would be adding regular flights again between Heathrow and Bangkok in time for Thailand’s high season, just when the winter kicks in in the UK. British Airways was originally set to resume flights in November this year but has now reviewed this decision and made no commitment to restarting services between Heathrow and Suvarnabhumi.  BA says that Bangkok, and Thailand, “is not top of BA’s list for resumption, as it is predominantly low-yield tourist traffic”. (Low-yield traffic are passengers who […]

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[Pinetree]

Good news for me.  I can't stand BA at any price, literally, I wouldn't fly with them again if all their tickets were to be half price.  An appalling airline , flying out of an equally appalling airport in LHR. 

[JJJ]

It’s also pretty hard to fly from the UK to Thailand and avoid Russia, Ukraine, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. 

Thai Airways doesn’t have the Russia issue. 
 

 

[Davelee]

Wait I thought Thailand was trying to get the luxury LV crowd like the UK.. Oh wait nevermind. 

[ExpatPattaya]

All airlines should be suspended until they switch to hydrogen or electric.  Climate change needs to be dealt with now .  No one needs to fly, you can see and visit with relatives on video calls and watch youtubes of the places you want to go and realize the money you save and the earth you are protecting until fossil fuel free transport is available

[DesperateOldHand]

8 minutes ago, ExpatPattaya said:

All airlines should be suspended until they switch to hydrogen or electric.  Climate change needs to be dealt with now .  No one needs to fly, you can see and visit with relatives on video calls and watch youtubes of the places you want to go and realize the money you save and the earth you are protecting until fossil fuel free transport is available

Should've been acting on this a couple of decades ago. 

Long been too late. 

All of a sudden, the warm and fuzzy fashionable climate reactionary is quite futile. 

Though, I understand that all things Kharma are making a comeback. 

Deserved.

[ChrisS]

No loss to me as BA have for years now been a budget airline without budget pricing. They would only ever be a 'last resort' airline for me. The downside though is that with reduced capacity UK to Thailand the prices on other airlines will rise.

[Saunk]

1 hour ago, ExpatPattaya said:

All airlines should be suspended until they switch to hydrogen or electric.  Climate change needs to be dealt with now .  No one needs to fly, you can see and visit with relatives on video calls and watch youtubes of the places you want to go and realize the money you save and the earth you are protecting until fossil fuel free transport is available

Coming from someone whom I'm guessing is sixty plus years old and has lived their life with all amenities at hand and now wants others to sacrifice for the good of the world.  Such a righteous person you are.

[palooka]

Pnut will be pissed off on this news.  Anything in media that is negative to Thai tourism is trouble.

Plus TAT will have to revise their numbers again.

P.S.  think BA a crap airline to avoid anyway.

[palooka]

1 hour ago, ExpatPattaya said:

All airlines should be suspended until they switch to hydrogen or electric.  Climate change needs to be dealt with now .  No one needs to fly, you can see and visit with relatives on video calls and watch youtubes of the places you want to go and realize the money you save and the earth you are protecting until fossil fuel free transport is available

No one listened in 1988 when they had a climate summit with some of the best minds in the world in attendance. The summit recommendations were for drastic changes starting immediately or the climate change would be irreversible in 15 years. 

Well they did nothing for over 20 years and guess what?

For those that want to check it was a CSIRO summit in Australia.

[Guest1]

2 hours ago, ExpatPattaya said:

All airlines should be suspended until they switch to hydrogen or electric.  Climate change needs to be dealt with now .  No one needs to fly, you can see and visit with relatives on video calls and watch youtubes of the places you want to go and realize the money you save and the earth you are protecting until fossil fuel free transport is available

Says the expat in Pattaya!

[Guest1]

1 hour ago, palooka said:

Pnut will be pissed off on this news.  Anything in media that is negative to Thai tourism is trouble.

Plus TAT will have to revise their numbers again.

P.S.  think BA a crap airline to avoid anyway.

That is not negative to Thai tourism. It just make the middle East Airlines and their travel hubs more busy!

Perhaps BA can't fill for sure a plane London-Bangkok, but the middle east hubs collecting from all over Europe and are be able to target all countries in the east of them. Notb just Bangkok. PLUS: Lesser jet fuel prices. And in co op with Qatar Air, they still are be able to offer flights. 

[samiam123]

4 hours ago, ExpatPattaya said:

All airlines should be suspended until they switch to hydrogen or electric.  Climate change needs to be dealt with now .  No one needs to fly, you can see and visit with relatives on video calls and watch youtubes of the places you want to go and realize the money you save and the earth you are protecting until fossil fuel free transport is available

Such awesome practical advice. 

[Artemis080]

4 hours ago, ChrisS said:

No loss to me as BA have for years now been a budget airline without budget pricing. They would only ever be a 'last resort' airline for me. The downside though is that with reduced capacity UK to Thailand the prices on other airlines will rise.

I agree, BA is terrible. I switched to Asian airlines years back.
I think people underestimate just how wild airfares could get. Inflation, fuel hedges expiring, increased staff costs, operating costs of airports etc. Add in cost of living pressures and short haul is going to look more attractive.

[Highlandman]

18 hours ago, JJJ said:

It’s also pretty hard to fly from the UK to Thailand and avoid Russia, Ukraine, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. 

Thai Airways doesn’t have the Russia issue. 
 

Why would Iraq and Iran need to be avoided? Most airlines are overflying both countries without issue. Until relatively recently, Afghanistan was being overflown too, now airlines take a diversion just south of Afghanistan, over southern Pakistan.

Thai Airways DOES have the "Russia issue". They're not currently overflying Russia.

In any case, flights between Thailand and Europe don't need to overfly Russia anyway, unless they're heading to Helsinki and maybe Stockholm. It's these two cities where flying times have increased. From London, it's more or less the same as usual.

The issue here has to do with several factors: Thailand is a very low yield destination. There are hardly any business travelers. It's pretty much all holidaymakers and VFRs (mostly Thais married to Britons traveling back and forth). Also, there is a staff shortage, so deploying flights to Thailand, a destination that doesn't generate a lot of revenue for BA makes little sense. I used to think Thailand was very popular with the English, but it looks like that is no longer the case. Therefore, don't be surprised if BA permanently suspends the London-Bangkok route.

[Highlandman]

16 hours ago, ExpatPattaya said:

All airlines should be suspended until they switch to hydrogen or electric.  Climate change needs to be dealt with now .  No one needs to fly, you can see and visit with relatives on video calls and watch youtubes of the places you want to go and realize the money you save and the earth you are protecting until fossil fuel free transport is available

Yes, let's destroy the world economy so you can virtue signal. Let's see whether you change your tune when you have nothing left to eat because trade has ground to a halt, and what happens when Thais starve because there is no more tourism, thanks to your idea.

[Benroon]

16 hours ago, ExpatPattaya said:

All airlines should be suspended until they switch to hydrogen or electric.  Climate change needs to be dealt with now .  No one needs to fly, you can see and visit with relatives on video calls and watch youtubes of the places you want to go and realize the money you save and the earth you are protecting until fossil fuel free transport is available

You swam here ?

[Leeshard]

Used to fly with BA Bangkok-London return before the pandemic hit and found them perfectly acceptable. They were cheaper than both Thai Airways and the middle eastern airlines that required a tiresome stopover. Etihad used to scare me with their recorded Muslim prayer before take off - something about ‘Allah Akbah’  -  and I just hoped they wouldn’t come down the aisle looking for infidels. 

[TWS60]

1 hour ago, Highlandman said:

Yes, let's destroy the world economy so you can virtue signal. Let's see whether you change your tune when you have nothing left to eat because trade has ground to a halt, and what happens when Thais starve because there is no more tourism, thanks to your idea.

A pinch of (imported) salt does wonders for a failing Antiphrasis detector, and low iron(y).

Virtue signaling, and exaggerated  hyperbole, are as bad as each other. 

[Homburg]

An unexpected move by BA as there is very limited choice for a direct flight from LHR to BKK nowadays and who wants an exhausting stopover? Certainly not on the return flight when you have to be ready for work the next day! I can recall BA, QANTAS, Thai and EVA all flying direct. It seems that BA assessed insufficient demand from premium (profitable) customers and decided to allocate its scarce resources elsewhere, but perhaps it's not the route that has insufficient demand, but BA? The last time I flew with BA they treated me to a totally unnecessary 2 hour and 50 minute delay, the reason for which magically evaporated as the 3 hour limit for payment of compensation approached. They then dumped all the passengers in a virtually closed LHR, with no support and a very, very long wait for taxis. I have avoided them ever since. Premium customers want premium service, not just a bigger seat. Last month my flight from LHR to BKK on TG was delayed 90 minutes due to the mayhem at LHR so those with connecting flights to SGN and PNH missed their flights. Thai Airways sent two staff to collect all these passengers, rebooked them, told them which gate to go to and when and then booked all of them into the Thai Airways lounge to await their replacement flights. A faultless response from TG. BA? Best Avoided.

[TheDirtyDurian]

4 hours ago, Leeshard said:

Used to fly with BA Bangkok-London return before the pandemic hit and found them perfectly acceptable. They were cheaper than both Thai Airways and the middle eastern airlines that required a tiresome stopover. Etihad used to scare me with their recorded Muslim prayer before take off - something about ‘Allah Akbah’  -  and I just hoped they wouldn’t come down the aisle looking for infidels. 

You got scared by a prayer for safe travel??  

 

[Khunmark]

6 hours ago, Highlandman said:

Yes, let's destroy the world economy so you can virtue signal. Let's see whether you change your tune when you have nothing left to eat because trade has ground to a halt, and what happens when Thais starve because there is no more tourism, thanks to your idea.

Pretty sure his comments were tongue in check. But while we are on the subject, the idea that trade would grind to halt if the airlines closed down is arrant nonsense. As is the suggestion that Thais would starve if there was no tourism. If Thais were to starve it would be because the price of food was too high relative to income. As Thailand is a net exporter of food, the price of food could easily be controlled with the stroke of a pen.