POWERED BY TAKE TWO TRAVEL SOLUTIONS
News Update: Friday 15th October 2021
In this update we bring you a new interactive map courtesy of Lufthansa, an update on US and India travel restrictions, BA A380’s expansion and anyone can be scammed…
BA ramps up capacity
A380 flights will resume in November with extra capacity on key US transatlantic routes.
The A380 will operate on the Miami and Los Angeles routes.
There will be several short-haul flights to allow for crew service familiarisation before flying to the US.
A380s will also operate to Dubai in December.
News that the airline’s A380 aircraft is rejoining the fleet follows the announcement that vaccinated travellers will be able to enter the US from November.
BA is set to fly to 23 US airports this winter with up to 246 flights a week.
British Airways will be increasing the number of flights it operates to North America with more services to New York, which will initially be increasing to five a day, followed by eight in December.
The airline will also be operating double-daily services to Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, Dallas, Miami and Toronto, as well as daily services to Philadelphia, Phoenix, Seattle, Atlanta, Denver, Houston and Vancouver
Neil Chernoff, British Airways’ Director of Network and Alliances, said: “This is an exciting time for British Airways and our customers as we see borders re-opening. With welcome news from the US, we are dramatically increasing flights and bringing home some of our A380s to give our customers as many options as possible.”
In addition to frequency increases, in October and November British Airways will restart services to Austin, Orlando, Tampa, San Diego, Las Vegas and Baltimore.
In December the airline will also start flying to Nashville and New Orleans again.
Lufthansa Interactive map
Discover at-a-glance which countries can already be visited without major restrictions – with or without COVID-19 vaccination
India lifts mandatory quarantine for British travellers
India has removes its mandatory quarantine order on British travellers entering India. It follows the recent relaxing of a similar restriction on Indians coming to the UK.
The UK had imposed a compulsory quarantine for Indians even if fully vaccinated due to issues it found with India’s CoWin app certification. That caused a diplomatic spat, leading to India imposing tit-for-tat restrictions.
Now, India says the ‘guidelines stand withdrawn’ and fully-vaxxed Britons can enter India quarantine-free.
Change in policy prompts surge in travel bookings to the US
When the US government announced on 20 September its plans to reopen its borders to fully vaccinated UK and European citizens from November, a surge in subsequent bookings showed the extent of the pent-up demand for transatlantic travel.
Businesses and the travel industry remain on tenterhooks with regards the announcement of a specific reopening date, but bookings have nevertheless skyrocketed. The 8th November is due to be announced today as the start date however we are still waiting for White House confirmation.
Data provided from two sources clearly shows how the change in policy impacted transatlantic bookings from 2021 calendar week 38, with corporate bookings for travel between the UK and US up by 255 per cent compared to week one – and more in the weeks that followed.
At the same time, the US has become its most-booked destination – accounting for more than 24 per cent of business – dislodging domestic UK bookings from the top spot (21 per cent) and pushing the UAE into third (12 per cent).
Qantas completes longest ever flight
A Qantas repatriation flight touched down in Darwin, NT, marking a new: milestone for the Flying Kangaroo. The Buenos Aires to Darwin flight was Qantas ‘longest ever at 17 hours and 25 minutes. The flight repatriated 107 Australians. It was also the longest distance flown by Qantas at 15,020 km.
Pre-pandemic, Qantas’ longest direct passenger flight was London to Perth, with a distance of 14,498 km.
and finally…
Football icon Cristiano Ronaldo has been scammed out of about £250,000 by a travel agent. The agent was entrusted with Ronaldo’s credit card details and skimmed off the money from his accounts over a three-year period.
According to reports, the agent recorded up to 200 trips that the Manchester United player never took. Other players Nani and Manuel Fernandes were also scammed.
The 53-year-old woman was convicted in 2017 and sentenced to four years of probation. She is currently paying back restitution on a monthly basis. Some reports suggest she was even entrusted with Ronaldo’s PIN number.
Our advice…check those credit card statements!!!!
