Does anybody know what the traffic figures are for the nightflight of BA from Heathrow to Johannesburg? This is a daily flight. Is it always full if you known that approx. 30 minutes later SAA has also a nightflight to Johannesburg?
I'm taking next friday this flight to make a trip in South Africa.
Request: BA nightflight to Johannesburg
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Jense
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Sabena_690
- Posts: 3378
- Joined: 20 Sep 2002, 00:00
F4 A2 J8 C8 D7 I5 W9 T4 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 R0 V0 N9 L9 S9 Q9 O9
Economy looks quite open, but this reservation output is only an indication. The flight might be almost full as well (with BA opening most booking classes to 'fill' the last seats, or even to overbook it).
Have you reserved your seats already? Only 6 window seats are left for pre-assignment!
In case you have e-tickets, I recommend you to check-in online in the BA manage-my-booking-section (www.ba.com). You can select your seats as well over there.
Have a nice flight! I hope to see a trip report?
Frederic
Economy looks quite open, but this reservation output is only an indication. The flight might be almost full as well (with BA opening most booking classes to 'fill' the last seats, or even to overbook it).
Have you reserved your seats already? Only 6 window seats are left for pre-assignment!
In case you have e-tickets, I recommend you to check-in online in the BA manage-my-booking-section (www.ba.com). You can select your seats as well over there.
Have a nice flight! I hope to see a trip report?
Frederic
Brussels Airlines - Flying Your Way
The seats are indeed reserved.
What thus it mean all those figures? Are these the rows with the empty places.
Thanks for your comment. I will place a report after my return. My first stop is Heathrow then Johannesburg. Then domestic flight to Port Elisabeth, drive to Cape Town. Flight from Cape Town to Heathrow and back to Brussels.
It's a whole way you can see.
What thus it mean all those figures? Are these the rows with the empty places.
Thanks for your comment. I will place a report after my return. My first stop is Heathrow then Johannesburg. Then domestic flight to Port Elisabeth, drive to Cape Town. Flight from Cape Town to Heathrow and back to Brussels.
It's a whole way you can see.
Each letter typically represents a specific class/fare/conditionsAtlantis wrote:
What thus it mean all those figures? Are these the rows with the empty places.
For instance:
First class:
F = First class, A = First class discounted,
BIz class:
C = Business class, J = Business class (premium), , D = Business (discounted), etc.
Eco:
Y = Economy and K, L, M, N, etc. are all "economy" with specific conditions.
The number after the letter ("L 9") is the minimum availability in this class.
Allow me to add my personal experience about this specific flight.
Check inn at Zaventem went within 1 minute, but no upgrade possible , should be asked at Heatthrow.
The flight departed well from Brussels in a brand new A320. We were 10 minutes ahead on time, on such a short flight. But than misery started. There was no docking and we waited a long time for a bus. The bus brought us to a subterminal, from where another bus departed to term 1, I think. You have to walk different corridors, you have no idea where you are. Just follow the signs.
At the BA stand I asked to get the upgrade to Economy plus. But all seats were sold. Even in first.
In Term 1 I had a very good and well served evening dinner at the italian restaurant in the corner.
It took 1 hour to board, 400 passengers remember!
The flight departed 45 minutes late. (no show pax, exloading luggage)
The 31 inch seatpitch is too narrow. Food was good. (mashed potatoes with sausages and gravy/ mash & bangers) Slept some hours upright.
Upon arrival at JNB there was no docking, all in the busses on a windy morning airport. Lucky that the thunderstorms come some hours later.
There were just 4 immigration booths , so it took 45 minutes to pass imigration. That is bad.
I had a very good business trip in SA. Connections flights with Kulula, all booked through the website.
I couldn't get in touch with the SA office of BA to reconfirm my flight. Desperately, I just phoned the Brussels office, and it was done in 10 seconds. (your belgian mobile works good in SA)
Return flight was much worse. Check inn went smoothly. Just 10 minutes waiting. By the way, don't forget to keep all your bills and cashier notes. You get a correct tax refund in the transit zone. Just for goods, not for services as hotels or car rent.
JNB international isn' t big. Just some shops and food outlets. But there is a real SA souvenir shop. Good for the folks back home. I used up all my rands from the tax refund to buy souvenirs.
Boarding was slow again, completely full. When boarding I suddenly knew it would be a disaster: there was a entertainment box next to my feet. I really couldn't move my feet the whole 10 hours. 1 week afterwards I still had painful knees and anckles. There was quite some turbulence as well. Landing the next morning, after a night I hardly slept an hour, was also in turbulence. We arrived half an hour late.
The return flight to BRU was again on a new A320 . To make my last flying minutes worse, the last 10 minutes were in heavy turbulence. I started to feel it, you understand. It was really time I was on the ground.
So, conclusions:
BA is very professional, clean, informative, rather correct. But the flights are utterly full. Do try to upgrade to economy-plus by paying an extra +- 300 euro or you get stuck in a tiny 31 inch seat with an enterteinment box next to your feet.
On the BA website, try to get corridor/aisle seats. Don't count on getting an emergency exit seat, brother.
Don't forget to reconfirm your return flight.
Enjoy Table mountain, the Chiraz wine, the biltong dried meat, kudusteak, Victoria Warf shopping (maybe Michael Jackson gonna return here ) , the seals in the harbour, Port Elisabeth bathing and surf. But pay for the upgrade.
My personnal conclusion: next trip to SA in September : I will check out Nationwide. They fly a 767 with much more seatpitch from Gatwick. The ticket is more expensive. But it is still lower than the BA economy plus or the upgraded equivalent with Virgin. I will not take KLM/ Air France/SA Air/ Lufthansa/ Emirates because they al have the narrow seats. I don't care for the lost miles. I do even think about using the alternative of Air Namibia which is on the brink to use a A340 (34 inch seat pitch) instead of its old MD11, departing from Frankfurt.
Check inn at Zaventem went within 1 minute, but no upgrade possible , should be asked at Heatthrow.
The flight departed well from Brussels in a brand new A320. We were 10 minutes ahead on time, on such a short flight. But than misery started. There was no docking and we waited a long time for a bus. The bus brought us to a subterminal, from where another bus departed to term 1, I think. You have to walk different corridors, you have no idea where you are. Just follow the signs.
At the BA stand I asked to get the upgrade to Economy plus. But all seats were sold. Even in first.
In Term 1 I had a very good and well served evening dinner at the italian restaurant in the corner.
It took 1 hour to board, 400 passengers remember!
The flight departed 45 minutes late. (no show pax, exloading luggage)
The 31 inch seatpitch is too narrow. Food was good. (mashed potatoes with sausages and gravy/ mash & bangers) Slept some hours upright.
Upon arrival at JNB there was no docking, all in the busses on a windy morning airport. Lucky that the thunderstorms come some hours later.
There were just 4 immigration booths , so it took 45 minutes to pass imigration. That is bad.
I had a very good business trip in SA. Connections flights with Kulula, all booked through the website.
I couldn't get in touch with the SA office of BA to reconfirm my flight. Desperately, I just phoned the Brussels office, and it was done in 10 seconds. (your belgian mobile works good in SA)
Return flight was much worse. Check inn went smoothly. Just 10 minutes waiting. By the way, don't forget to keep all your bills and cashier notes. You get a correct tax refund in the transit zone. Just for goods, not for services as hotels or car rent.
JNB international isn' t big. Just some shops and food outlets. But there is a real SA souvenir shop. Good for the folks back home. I used up all my rands from the tax refund to buy souvenirs.
Boarding was slow again, completely full. When boarding I suddenly knew it would be a disaster: there was a entertainment box next to my feet. I really couldn't move my feet the whole 10 hours. 1 week afterwards I still had painful knees and anckles. There was quite some turbulence as well. Landing the next morning, after a night I hardly slept an hour, was also in turbulence. We arrived half an hour late.
The return flight to BRU was again on a new A320 . To make my last flying minutes worse, the last 10 minutes were in heavy turbulence. I started to feel it, you understand. It was really time I was on the ground.
So, conclusions:
BA is very professional, clean, informative, rather correct. But the flights are utterly full. Do try to upgrade to economy-plus by paying an extra +- 300 euro or you get stuck in a tiny 31 inch seat with an enterteinment box next to your feet.
On the BA website, try to get corridor/aisle seats. Don't count on getting an emergency exit seat, brother.
Don't forget to reconfirm your return flight.
Enjoy Table mountain, the Chiraz wine, the biltong dried meat, kudusteak, Victoria Warf shopping (maybe Michael Jackson gonna return here ) , the seals in the harbour, Port Elisabeth bathing and surf. But pay for the upgrade.
My personnal conclusion: next trip to SA in September : I will check out Nationwide. They fly a 767 with much more seatpitch from Gatwick. The ticket is more expensive. But it is still lower than the BA economy plus or the upgraded equivalent with Virgin. I will not take KLM/ Air France/SA Air/ Lufthansa/ Emirates because they al have the narrow seats. I don't care for the lost miles. I do even think about using the alternative of Air Namibia which is on the brink to use a A340 (34 inch seat pitch) instead of its old MD11, departing from Frankfurt.
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Sabena_690
- Posts: 3378
- Joined: 20 Sep 2002, 00:00
Thanks for the report, regi!
However: the A343's that Air Namibia will get are the ex-Sabena OO-SCY and OO-SCZ (currently flying for LH). Unless Air Namibia plans to reconfigure those aircraft, the seats will have the same 31-32inch seatpitch!
About IFE boxes: everybody is screaming for PVT's and IFE. Those boxes are the 'painful' consequence...
Frederic
However: the A343's that Air Namibia will get are the ex-Sabena OO-SCY and OO-SCZ (currently flying for LH). Unless Air Namibia plans to reconfigure those aircraft, the seats will have the same 31-32inch seatpitch!
About IFE boxes: everybody is screaming for PVT's and IFE. Those boxes are the 'painful' consequence...
Frederic
Brussels Airlines - Flying Your Way
I recommend you try flying KQ on your next flight. I'm willing to bet u'll have a much better experience.regi wrote:I will not take KLM/ Air France/SA Air/ Lufthansa/ Emirates because they al have the narrow seats. I don't care for the lost miles. I do even think about using the alternative of Air Namibia which is on the brink to use a A340 (34 inch seat pitch) instead of its old MD11, departing from Frankfurt.
Cheers,
Walter.
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Jense
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Sabena_690
- Posts: 3378
- Joined: 20 Sep 2002, 00:00
1 inch does make a difference in my opinion. I measure 1m93, and clearly feel the difference between a 31 inch and a 32 inch seat. It doesn't matter on a 1h flight, but it would be an important factor for me on a longhaul flight.Jense wrote:Don't complain about the Y-seats, they're all almost the same. Does 1 inch really makes the difference? Guess not...
I recommend you to fly an A32S of BA: take a seat in front of row 12 on your outbound flight (where seats are still convertible to C-class, INCLUSIVE 34 inch seatpitch), and return in the back of an A32S (31 inch seatpitch). The difference is huge!
Frederic
Brussels Airlines - Flying Your Way
I consider it a right to complain about the seat pitch. I am the customer and the customer is right. If I consider seatpitch on a 10 hour night flight more important than inflight entertainment , so will be it.
Just look around how many people do watch movies during the middle of the night. Very few. So, the older system with the overhead monitors, which are switched off around midnight, are not so bad after all.
By the way, I have forgotten about the Kenian Airline. But I read a report that a passenger who booked on Kenian Airlines was flying on a KLM plane with much less comfort. Kenian is owned by KLM by the way (but I don't know how they do it now after the merger with AF)
Just look around how many people do watch movies during the middle of the night. Very few. So, the older system with the overhead monitors, which are switched off around midnight, are not so bad after all.
By the way, I have forgotten about the Kenian Airline. But I read a report that a passenger who booked on Kenian Airlines was flying on a KLM plane with much less comfort. Kenian is owned by KLM by the way (but I don't know how they do it now after the merger with AF)
@ Regi,
Many thanks for your story, much appreciate.
But, I hope that everything will go smootly.
Is it normal that the flight Brussels - Heathrow have no docking?
And also at JNB, I saw on an "old" picture that there is no docking at JNB, there were standing the B747 of BA and The B747 of Sabena on the apron.
Is it always that they were served with a bus and with with the finger?
Many thanks for your story, much appreciate.
But, I hope that everything will go smootly.
Is it normal that the flight Brussels - Heathrow have no docking?
And also at JNB, I saw on an "old" picture that there is no docking at JNB, there were standing the B747 of BA and The B747 of Sabena on the apron.
Is it always that they were served with a bus and with with the finger?
Atlantis, it's impossible to predict where the plane will be parked: could be docked, could be on the tarmac. Doesn't matter anyway, busses will then bring you to the terminal. It will be very cold but sunny next Saturday morning (6° C early morning, 18°C around noon).
As somebody else said, there's a long queue at passport control. I agree, and they are never in a hurry there... However, you can win some time there! You will see there are two sections: South African passport holders and non South Africans. Take the non-SA queue the closest to the SA queue: those SA guys go through fast, and when the queue is gone, the passport supervisor allows non-SA's to proceed to the SA desk. Just prepare yourself to it, and RUN forward as soon as he/she gives the sign.
http://www.acsa.co.za/acsa/FlightInfo/F ... hedule.htm
As somebody else said, there's a long queue at passport control. I agree, and they are never in a hurry there... However, you can win some time there! You will see there are two sections: South African passport holders and non South Africans. Take the non-SA queue the closest to the SA queue: those SA guys go through fast, and when the queue is gone, the passport supervisor allows non-SA's to proceed to the SA desk. Just prepare yourself to it, and RUN forward as soon as he/she gives the sign.
http://www.acsa.co.za/acsa/FlightInfo/F ... hedule.htm
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Sabena_690
- Posts: 3378
- Joined: 20 Sep 2002, 00:00
It doesn't happen too much that BA aircraft have to park remotely, the chance is fairly big that you will arrive at a normal gate.Atlantis wrote:Is it normal that the flight Brussels - Heathrow have no docking?
About your BRU-LHR-JNB trip: don't forget that you will have to connect from Terminal 4 to Terminal 1, as JNB flights arrive at/depart from T1.
How do you have to connect from T4 to T1? It's very easy (just follow the signs), but this guide may help you as well:
Arriving at Terminal 4, departing from Terminal 1
- On your arrival at Terminal 4, follow signs for Flight Connections Terminals 1, 2 and 3
- Take the British Airways transfer bus to Terminals 1 & 2 ( the Flight Connections Centre )
- On arrival at the Flight Connections Centre, go through Security
- If you are travelling onwards on British Airways and do not have a boarding card for your next flight, please check-in at the British Airways Flight Connections desks in the departure lounge. If you are travelling on any other airline, please check-in at your onward airline's desks in the Flight Connections Centre
- If you are taking an onward flight within the UK, Republic of Ireland or Channel Islands, follow signs to UK, Republic of Ireland and Channel Islands Terminal 1 departures. For any other Terminal 1 departure, follow signs for Terminal 1 International departures
- Television monitors will display departure gate information one hour prior to departure
- You need to be at your departure gate at least 40 minutes before departure time
- If you are not onboard your aircraft 10 minutes before departure time, you may not be allowed to fly and your baggage will be taken off the plane
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About Terminal 1: once you have passed security, and walk through the Flight Connections Centre, you will have to take the stairs down. Once you are one level lower, you'll be able to go the a central waiting area. I recommend you however to turn right, as there is a small seating area as well over there with excellent views of Terminal 4 and the 27L-09R runway!
Hope this helps! Enjoy your flights...
Frederic
Brussels Airlines - Flying Your Way
It depends on how you arrange your booking. You have the alternative between using KLM or Kenya Airways. If you want to use KQ, then u can be scheduled to KQ operated flights, either out of LHR or AMS (KQ has twice daily flights to these destinations.)regi wrote:But I read a report that a passenger who booked on Kenian Airlines was flying on a KLM plane with much less comfort.
Kenya Airways is not owned by KLM. KLM is a strategic partner in the airline and holds 26% of the stakes in the airline with the rest being held by KQ staff, Kenyan public & institutions and i think about 1% in selected foreign investors. The merger between KLM/AF has not affected this in anyway.regi wrote:Kenian is owned by KLM by the way (but I don't know how they do it now after the merger with AF)
Cheers,
Walter.