It seems the fallout from the Qantas joining up with Emirates to provide deep codesharing is eliciting a response from British Airways.
From 31st March 2013, British Airways will switch its London – Singapore – Sydney and London – Singapore routes to Terminal 5, whilst switch the equipment used on the London – Singapore – Sydney route from Boeing 747-400’s to the airlines relativity new Boeing 777-300ER’s which feature more Club World and World Traveller Plus seats aboard the service.
Type F C WT+ WT 747-400 Mid J 14 52 36 227 777-300 ER 14 56 44 186
The airline that states that these changes ”confirm British Airways’ commitment to Australia”.
Operating an ultra-long haul route consumes a lot of airline resources – both in terms of actual aircraft (as this route requires a fair few aircraft to run the route), ground resources (the plane has 5 hours idle at Sydney), and commitment as this route isn’t the biggest money spinner in the long run.
But putting the newest equipment on and showing a commitment is something British Airways is hoping to show – and to keep its customers from going to the combined Emirates/Qantas tie-up.
Although how long this route can run as a matter of pride is to be questioned…