It seems that British Airways is adding some more ground vesicles to help with transfers – with the airline adding Electric London Taxis to it’s fleet
British Airways introducing the Electric London taxi – with @LadySpeedbird greeting. Image, British Airways
The airline is introducing these all-electric vehicles at its home base of Heathrow Airport. They’ll feature all important things like Wi-Fi, phone, laptop and USB charging and a panoramic roof which the airline says is “great for plane spotting.”
Editors Note: British Airways – you know my press telephone number if you want to put that claim to the test ;).
The Electric Taxis will also be air-conditioned, with room for hand luggage.
They will be used with the current chauffeur driven fleet, who drive premium customers around who are in danger of missing a connecting flight at Heathrow airport. Passengers are met air-side and are driven to the side of their next onward aircraft.
Whilst the service is free at the point of use, it is restricted to Premium Passengers only. This includes:
- First Passengers
- Club World or Club Europe Passengers
- British Airways Gold and Silver Executive Club members with connections.
In quotes
Daljit Hayre, British Airways’ Senior Manager, Heathrow Customer Experience said:
“It’s great to see the reaction of customers when they’re met by a London taxi at the side of the aircraft, waiting to take them on to their next flight. They’ve told us how much they appreciate this gesture, plus they love the space in the vehicle for their hand baggage. We’re also really pleased that using new generation electric taxi reduces our carbon footprint.”
Andy Kershaw, British Airways’ Environment Manager added:
British Airways takes its environment responsibilities seriously and this initiative is part of our overall ambition to reduce carbon emissions and those emissions that impact air quality and our local communities.”
Chris Gubbey, CEO of LEVC stated
We’re delighted that British Airways has chosen our electric vehicles to support this innovative new service. We designed the TX eCity with the aim of delighting customers with a more premium experience, and thanks to British Airways even those with the shortest of stays in London can now travel in comfort and style in the world’s most advanced electric taxi.”
A Premium Offering… but don’t dawdle on a Heathrow Connection!
Connections at London Heathrow have always been a bit of entertainment or worry (depending on your point of view) – in case you were going to miss your flight. I’ve always tended to build more time than I need on a connection – just in case.
Those on tighter timetables and late running arrivals will welcome the transfer service (and even the electric taxis)… providing you’ve brought the right fare.
Whilst this will handle the minority of customers – it will be those customers who are paying out an awful lot of money to fly the airline, and expect them to bend over backwards if a plane is late – and this is a great service to offer.
But if you have a connection at Heathrow… never dawdle on it. Premium customer or otherwise!
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