British Airways (BA) challenged no-frill airlines on Tuesday by announcing a restructuring of its loss-making regional services and a sharp reduction in its budget airfares.
Offering one-way fares costing as little as £25, BA’s regional operation CitiExpress will be renamed BA Connect, with prices slashed by more than 40%, the company said.
Business class will be scrapped from the regional operation and passengers will have to pay for meals. But the practice of restricted and non-changeable tickets also will be ended, with all tickets, no matter how little they cost, being changeable.
Tuesday’s announcement effectively means that BA is once again running a no-frills operation, something it has not done since it launched low-fare airline Go in 1998. BA sold Go in 2001.
The restructuring means that free food and business class on domestic and short-haul routes operated by BA will remain only on flights from Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports.
But business and frequent flyer passengers will be able to buy what the airline calls BA Connect Plus tickets in the new operation. These will include airport lounge access, and one-way prices will start from £110.
BA CitiExpress currently operates from more than a dozen British airports, including Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scotland; and Manchester and Birmingham, England. Countries served include France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.
Bookings for the new regional services can be made beginning on February 1, with BA Connect starting on March 26, the company said.
”The restructuring of the regional business will set us apart in this fiercely competitive market,” said BA CitiExpress managing director David Evans, whose company competes with successful budget carriers such as Ryanair and EasyJet.
”We have an innovative service promise for business and short-break leisure air travelers, offering year-round, one-way prices that match the no-frills airlines and the added service promise and resources of an airline of British Airways’ size and stature.”
BA’s regional services have been losing an estimated £30-million a year. – Sapa-AP