Well it's been talked about on here for ages but it finally looks official- British Airways are re-starting flights to Pakistan with flights to Islamabad

https://www.ttgmedia.com/news/ba-to-lau ... 2019-16445

Let's hope we don't find out how bullet holes get repaired on a plastic plane !

Have to say I’m surprised not based on the financial aspect but security. I didn’t think we’d see BA back in Pakistan. Crew accommodation will be interesting.

Timings announced on Routes Online twitter.

BA261 LHR2115 - 0925+1ISB 788 247
BA260 ISB1110 - 1600LHR 788 135

Resumes 02JUN19 with 787-8.

Where are all the usual contributors who have been wishing for this news and have been mentioning British Airways and Pakistan at every opportunity?

Well done to Pakistan for regaining service by British Airways and well done to British Airways for actually going ahead and resuming Islamabad, I'm sure that the route will perform to expectations and the Pakistani VFR market will welcome this news that British Airways are returning to Pakistan after nearly 20 years absence.

Where is LHR01 ???

I would have thought that with this news of British Airways finally and officially announcing their return to Pakistan he'd be ecstatic, I can't wait to read his response after months of speculation

Pretty amazing how everyone is still freaking out about the Marriott from a decade ago, it makes it pretty obvious who hasn't visited the country in the decade since then. ISB is probably the least dangerous of all the places in Pakistan, a fact most people would know if they had ever visited or even if they just knew it was the capital city. The Brussels attacks do not make Brussels an unsafe city and the Marriott attacks do not make Islamabad an unsafe city. The city has not seen anything remotely comparable in the recent decade which doesn't surprise anyone living there except maybe some A.net posters who obviously aren't. This might shock some of you guys, but there is more than one hotel in ISB. Of all the problems BA crew will have in ISB, finding a place to layover will not be one of them. Anybody who visits ISB is encouraged to explore the city and not waste time indoors and no doubt some locals will pass that advice onto the crew.

Anyway, with that out of the way, this is a great announcement from BA and for Pakistan and it will make it much easier for people to fly there and to increase business in both countries. I look forward to seeing BA and more airlines at ISB in the future.

Cunard wrote:

Regarding Lagos and British Airways crew having to stay in their hotel, is that 100% correct?.

It is strongly recommended that we do not leave the hotel in either Lagos or Abuja. We get security briefings for a variety of destinations. BA has an excellent safety/intelligence/asset protection team that ensures absolutely every base is covered. Islamabad will have been thoroughly checked out and will be on an ongoing basis.

I imagine this route will be seeing frequency increases and capacity upgrades after a few seasons.

Regarding crewing, we bid for our work each month and it's allocated based on a seniority system. That said, everyone is different, what I like others can't stand and vice versa.

Wow!! Finally British Airways returns to Pakistan. Would have been nice to return to KHI too. Regarding crews there was a huge number of Pakistani origin native speakers flying on the Pakistan-LHR route in the 80s including some that were caught up in the war on Kuwait, when BA flew to LHR via KWI from KHI on the Tristars. Including a couple that were awarded when rhey sucessfully evacuated a PIA 747 that landed with the gear up in Islamabad. They were dead heading from KHi to connect onto the ISB-UK flight. Can't recall when they pulled out of Pakistan completely.

Maybe the food and the scenic beauty of the North (acessible) from Islamabad will want you to come to Pakistan lol.

https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe ... 4ak2sJhUWY

Regarding Lagos EK crews don't leave their hotels either. They have a security escort to the airport. There are far scarier places than Islamabad to which BA flies. Unfortunately the Marriott bomb blast is a trump card for some a.netters who want to bring it up to highlight security. Yes it happened and people were killed but hopefully things have changed since then.

Finally questions regarding certain clubs hopefully that was a joke.

Great news for BA and ISB. I'm sure this route will be a success with the British Pakistani community visiting family and vice-versa.

This does not sound like a business decision... if there's a 100% VFR route on the planet, it has to be any route that ends or originates in Pakistan.

Breathe wrote:

Great news for BA and ISL. I'm sure this route will be a success with the British Pakistani community visiting family and vice-versa.

ISL is actually the airport code for the new Istanbul airport, I think you meant ISB.

But yes, it will be a hit not just for British Pakistanis but for Pakistanis everywhere because BA flies almost everywhere.

sonicruiser wrote:

Breathe wrote:

Great news for BA and ISL. I'm sure this route will be a success with the British Pakistani community visiting family and vice-versa.

ISL is actually the airport code for the new Istanbul airport, I think you meant ISB.

But yes, it will be a hit not just for British Pakistanis but for Pakistanis everywhere because BA flies almost everywhere.

Whoops! I have edited that now. Cheers for pointing that out.

Great news and good luck to BA. This may nudge other Western airliners to follow. And here’s to hoping for flights to UET, PEW and KHI.

Islamabad is a perfectly safe city

Islamabad is not that safe, but British Airways has flown worse places, and Pakistani airports are finally starting to follow protocol. So bring on the better options to Europe and America!! I’m thrilled! Congrats to ISB and BA!!

TryToFlySomeday wrote:

Islamabad is not that safe, but British Airways has flown worse places, and Pakistani airports are finally starting to follow protocol. So bring on the better options to Europe and America!! I’m thrilled! Congrats to ISB and BA!!

Looking at the schedule, with a departure ex LHR at 2115 and on the return an arrival at 1600, the flight is not aimed at US connections.

B747forever wrote:

TryToFlySomeday wrote:

Islamabad is not that safe, but British Airways has flown worse places, and Pakistani airports are finally starting to follow protocol. So bring on the better options to Europe and America!! I’m thrilled! Congrats to ISB and BA!!

Looking at the schedule, with a departure ex LHR at 2115 and on the return an arrival at 1600, the flight is not aimed at US connections.

The flight is aimed at O/D on both the UK and Pakistani side, not N/A connections. However, it will be fantastic for Europe connections which Pakistan previously did not have.

Flightsimboy wrote:

There are far scarier places than Islamabad to which BA flies. Unfortunately the Marriott bomb blast is a trump card for some a.netters who want to bring it up to highlight security. Yes it happened and people were killed but hopefully things have changed since then.

I'd urge people to do their own research on this whether its safe or not. The most recent incident I can recollect was at Karachi at the Chinese Consulate just around end Nov '18, thats last month. It's interesting how some on here can be ignorant about whats happening in that country. Almost every month, in some part of the country there are some blasts happening. And a.nets deleting my comments like they don't want the facts to come out on here. Shame.

sonicruiser wrote:

Pretty amazing how everyone is still freaking out about the Marriott from a decade ago, it makes it pretty obvious who hasn't visited the country in the decade since then. ISB is probably the least dangerous of all the places in Pakistan, a fact most people would know if they had ever visited or even if they just knew it was the capital city. The Brussels attacks do not make Brussels an unsafe city and the Marriott attacks do not make Islamabad an unsafe city. The city has not seen anything remotely comparable in the recent decade which doesn't surprise anyone living there except maybe some A.net posters who obviously aren't. This might shock some of you guys, but there is more than one hotel in ISB. Of all the problems BA crew will have in ISB, finding a place to layover will not be one of them. Anybody who visits ISB is encouraged to explore the city and not waste time indoors and no doubt some locals will pass that advice onto the crew.

Anyway, with that out of the way, this is a great announcement from BA and for Pakistan and it will make it much easier for people to fly there and to increase business in both countries. I look forward to seeing BA and more airlines at ISB in the future.

Yeah that's the thing people don't get. Islamabad was an actual planned city that was created after independence and with the military presence in Islambad and Rawalpindi, there really isn't all of the mayhem that you might find in say Karachi. Islamabad is actually quite clean and organized in contrast to the chaos you'd find in an older city in either India or Pakistan. That's not to suggest that there aren't problems (for example, the Red Mosque incident/siege was in Islamabad) but its far better off than Karachi (and Lahore to a lesser extent). But ISB has plenty of good hotels (many of which will have bars for foreign visitors) and its not particularly difficult to find a decent restaurant for the evening.

avier wrote:

Flightsimboy wrote:

There are far scarier places than Islamabad to which BA flies. Unfortunately the Marriott bomb blast is a trump card for some a.netters who want to bring it up to highlight security. Yes it happened and people were killed but hopefully things have changed since then.

I'd urge people to do their own research on this whether its safe or not. The most recent incident I can recollect was at Karachi at the Chinese Consulate just around end Nov '18, thats last month. It's interesting how some on here can be ignorant about whats happening in that country. Almost every month, in some part of the country there are some blasts happening. And a.nets deleting my comments like they don't want the facts to come out on here. Shame.

If you had bothered to look on a map, you would realize Karachi is the farthest city from ISB where BA is flying.

avier wrote:

Flightsimboy wrote:

There are far scarier places than Islamabad to which BA flies. Unfortunately the Marriott bomb blast is a trump card for some a.netters who want to bring it up to highlight security. Yes it happened and people were killed but hopefully things have changed since then.

I'd urge people to do their own research on this whether its safe or not. The most recent incident I can recollect was at Karachi at the Chinese Consulate just around end Nov '18, thats last month. It's interesting how some on here can be ignorant about whats happening in that country. Almost every month, in some part of the country there are some blasts happening. And a.nets deleting my comments like they don't want the facts to come out on here. Shame.

I wouldn't recommend any European airline to fly to Karachi at this point because of safety. The airport itself was attacked in 2014, let alone other places like consulates and hotels. People have been attacked on the road out of the airport as well. Karachi is a victim of some pretty terrible sectarian violence and despite being the largest city in Pakistan, it rightfully has no European airlines serving it. But ISB is on the other side of the country and is a largely homogenous, planned city that is basically run by the military. Its a very different experience. ISB has a BA flight because of the radically different security situation. Karachi is flat out lawless in some parts while other parts are basically ruled by sectarian gangs. Not a good situation for any crew to layover.

This reinstatement won’t negatively effect PKs market share that much but rather it will poach away more of the ME3 market share on the LHR ISB LHR

BAs B788s only carry 214 pax and offer one piece baggage allowance plus it’s a 3 weekly service only.

If BA restarted with at least 5 weekly B788s then PIA would really feel the heat overall but for the time being what BA will poach away from PK is the high yielding J class market share on this sector.

FYI in 2017, 223,000 pax flew LHR ISB LHR versus 259,000 pax MAN ISB MAN !

Good to see normalcy making a slow return to Pakistan.

behramjee wrote:

This reinstatement won’t negatively effect PKs market share that much but rather it will poach away more of the ME3 market share on the LHR ISB LHR

BAs B788s only carry 214 pax and offer one piece baggage allowance plus it’s a 3 weekly service only.

If BA restarted with at least 5 weekly B788s then PIA would really feel the heat overall but for the time being what BA will poach away from PK is the high yielding J class market share on this sector.

FYI in 2017, 223,000 pax flew LHR ISB LHR versus 259,000 pax MAN ISB MAN !

Behramjee is it only one piece baggage and payment for the second bag? Pakistanis travel heavy bags bursting at the seams. I can hardly imagine any Pakistani being content with BA''s one piece baggage concept which might also be at 23kg. Anything over 23 to 32 is usually $50 additional on that free first bag.

sonicruiser wrote:

Breathe wrote:

Great news for BA and ISL. I'm sure this route will be a success with the British Pakistani community visiting family and vice-versa.

ISL is actually the airport code for the new Istanbul airport, I think you meant ISB.

But yes, it will be a hit not just for British Pakistanis but for Pakistanis everywhere because BA flies almost everywhere.

Yeah, 100% correct. I'm of Pakistani descent in the US, and being able to fly to Pakistan via oneworld is great news

musman9853 wrote:

sonicruiser wrote:

Breathe wrote:

Great news for BA and ISL. I'm sure this route will be a success with the British Pakistani community visiting family and vice-versa.

ISL is actually the airport code for the new Istanbul airport, I think you meant ISB.

But yes, it will be a hit not just for British Pakistanis but for Pakistanis everywhere because BA flies almost everywhere.

Yeah, 100% correct. I'm of Pakistani descent in the US, and being able to fly to Pakistan via oneworld is great news

I don't think the flight is actually timed for US connections but it's definitely still bookable although the layover is about 8-10 hours if you do XXX-LHR-ISB because its aimed at the UK/PK market.

Cunard wrote:

Where is LHR01 ???

I would have thought that with this news of British Airways finally and officially announcing their return to Pakistan he'd be ecstatic, I can't wait to read his response after months of speculation

Greetings!!!

It's finally here and looks like the rumours have become true!

Firstly I would like to congratulate BA and Pakistan for the return of Islamabad. As a reminder, BA did serve the 744 6 weekly and was a good profitable route all round.

With the new service being introduced on the 788 and will operate 3x weeky, I personally see them increasing there flights and eventually deploying the 744 or 77W to ISB. With regards to other airlines returning to ISB, I can tell you Cathay Pacific, Malaysian Airlines and Lufthansa are also interested to make a come back.

Keep an eye out everyone

musman9853 wrote:

sonicruiser wrote:

Breathe wrote:

Great news for BA and ISL. I'm sure this route will be a success with the British Pakistani community visiting family and vice-versa.

ISL is actually the airport code for the new Istanbul airport, I think you meant ISB.

But yes, it will be a hit not just for British Pakistanis but for Pakistanis everywhere because BA flies almost everywhere.

Yeah, 100% correct. I'm of Pakistani descent in the US, and being able to fly to Pakistan via oneworld is great news

Couldn't you do that with Qatar?

Great news for all involved! they'll have no problems making money on this route and wouldn't be surprised if they upgauged the route by the start of the summer season. Need to retime the flights so that they can get some North American connections though.

Next Pakistani Destination for BA needs to be Lahore, thats the other market where they can rake it in.

KingB123 wrote:

Great news for all involved! they'll have no problems making money on this route and wouldn't be surprised if they upgauged the route by the start of the summer season. Need to retime the flights so that they can get some North American connections though.

Next Pakistani Destination for BA needs to be Lahore, thats the other market where they can rake it in.

Would love to see the 744 return to Pakistan, and yes LHE has to be next. But we may see CX, LH, and others start ISB first

LHR01 wrote:

Cunard wrote:

Where is LHR01 ???

I would have thought that with this news of British Airways finally and officially announcing their return to Pakistan he'd be ecstatic, I can't wait to read his response after months of speculation

Greetings!!!

It's finally here and looks like the rumours have become true!

Firstly I would like to congratulate BA and Pakistan for the return of Islamabad. As a reminder, BA did serve the 744 6 weekly and was a good profitable route all round.

With the new service being introduced on the 788 and will operate 3x weeky, I personally see them increasing there flights and eventually deploying the 744 or 77W to ISB. With regards to other airlines returning to ISB, I can tell you Cathay Pacific, Malaysian Airlines and Lufthansa are also interested to make a come back.

Keep an eye out everyone

You finally made it to the thread what took you so long I personally have been waiting with great anticipation as and when you would eventually appear

You had quoted this last week, now was it just a suggestion on your part or do you know something that we don't!

I'll say it again but this is fantastic news for the country and the people of Pakistan, the capital city of Pakistan as in Islamabad and fantastic news from British Airways for announcing a return to Pakistan, this is a huge stamp of approval and endorsement for the country as a whole and I just hope that it all works out just fine for everyone concerned

Don’t know if this was mentioned earlier but LHR-ISB will operate on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, and ISB-LHR on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Cunard wrote:

LHR01 wrote:

Cunard wrote:

Where is LHR01 ???

I would have thought that with this news of British Airways finally and officially announcing their return to Pakistan he'd be ecstatic, I can't wait to read his response after months of speculation

Greetings!!!

It's finally here and looks like the rumours have become true!

Firstly I would like to congratulate BA and Pakistan for the return of Islamabad. As a reminder, BA did serve the 744 6 weekly and was a good profitable route all round.

With the new service being introduced on the 788 and will operate 3x weeky, I personally see them increasing there flights and eventually deploying the 744 or 77W to ISB. With regards to other airlines returning to ISB, I can tell you Cathay Pacific, Malaysian Airlines and Lufthansa are also interested to make a come back.

Keep an eye out everyone

You finally made it to the thread what took you so long I personally have been waiting with great anticipation as and when you would eventually appear

You had quoted this last week, now was it just a suggestion on your part or do you know something that we don't!

I'll say it again but this is fantastic news for the country and the people of Pakistan, the capital city of Pakistan as in Islamabad and fantastic news from British Airways for announcing a return to Pakistan, this is a huge stamp of approval and endorsement for the country as a whole and I just hope that it all works out just fine for everyone concerned

Thank you so much

Let's just say contacts. You'll be surprised..

Flightsimboy wrote:

behramjee wrote:

This reinstatement won’t negatively effect PKs market share that much but rather it will poach away more of the ME3 market share on the LHR ISB LHR

BAs B788s only carry 214 pax and offer one piece baggage allowance plus it’s a 3 weekly service only.

If BA restarted with at least 5 weekly B788s then PIA would really feel the heat overall but for the time being what BA will poach away from PK is the high yielding J class market share on this sector.

FYI in 2017, 223,000 pax flew LHR ISB LHR versus 259,000 pax MAN ISB MAN !

Behramjee is it only one piece baggage and payment for the second bag? Pakistanis travel heavy bags bursting at the seams. I can hardly imagine any Pakistani being content with BA''s one piece baggage concept which might also be at 23kg. Anything over 23 to 32 is usually $50 additional on that free first bag.

For India, it depends on where you originate. If you're traveling from North America to India (via LHR), they do give you 2 pieces of checked luggage. If you're originating from Europe to India (and vice versa), you only get 1 free piece of checked luggage. I imagine they'd have the same policy for travel to Pakistan.

B747forever wrote:

TryToFlySomeday wrote:

Islamabad is not that safe, but British Airways has flown worse places, and Pakistani airports are finally starting to follow protocol. So bring on the better options to Europe and America!! I’m thrilled! Congrats to ISB and BA!!

Looking at the schedule, with a departure ex LHR at 2115 and on the return an arrival at 1600, the flight is not aimed at US connections.

Charge the right price and it will be!

New Airport already paying off for Pakistan. Glad they have the security for this. Despite all the news and people online, people actually researching security see Pakistan getting safer.

Now fix PIA .

B742 wrote:

Timings announced on Routes Online twitter.

BA261 LHR2115 - 0925+1ISB 788 247
BA260 ISB1110 - 1600LHR 788 135

Resumes 02JUN19 with 787-8.

For USA only JFK connects properly in both directions via LHR.

behramjee wrote:

B742 wrote:

Timings announced on Routes Online twitter.

BA261 LHR2115 - 0925+1ISB 788 247
BA260 ISB1110 - 1600LHR 788 135

Resumes 02JUN19 with 787-8.

For USA only JFK connects properly in both directions via LHR.

+ BOS

BCA2005 wrote:

behramjee wrote:

B742 wrote:

Timings announced on Routes Online twitter.

BA261 LHR2115 - 0925+1ISB 788 247
BA260 ISB1110 - 1600LHR 788 135

Resumes 02JUN19 with 787-8.

For USA only JFK connects properly in both directions via LHR.

+ BOS

How is it for YYZ flights?

Doesn't BA offer 3x Daily there?

This is to all those people in this forum who thought Euro carriers will never return to Pakistan.

3 weekly 787 is a soft start to see how much traffic they can get, it been 10 years since they last flown.

I am sure they will offer 2 pieces 23kgs each for paxs, as they do for India, and other places.

I think a lot of you guys fail to realize why they choose Islamabad, as mention in previous threads. I am sure their alot of diplomatic/military traffic between the Europe, and Pakistan. Also lot of NGO traffic, Companies like Wheatherford, Halliburton, ENI, OMV, Shell, and now ExxonMobil have operations/offices in Pakistan. Also how much vfr traffic they can pick up just from the UK alone, plus Europe, Canada, USA with cities like CDG, IAH, IAD, ORD, YVR, YYZ, and etc. Pakistan population is growing quick, with the new government their alot of improvement across the country. I wouldn't expect for all you guys to know Pakistan politics etc.

If AA codeshares with them, it will be excellent as diplomats/military personnel from states can travel via BA, also be good for one world members to earn miles.

Islamabad is fairly safe compared, to Karachi. Karachi is far far away from Islamabad takes like 2-3 days of driving just to reach. Islamabad is the 2nd best capital in the world after Washington D.C.

If BA is still operating 2 to 3 dailys flights a day to DXB, and AUH, while EY and EK are operating over 10 daily flights, I bet they can make Pakistan happen.

Other companies that are in Pakistan like P&G, Sanofi, FMC, Total. While Reanult, Nissan, Volkswagen, and Hyundai are building factories in Pakistan.

Great news but 3 days a week for a major network carrier is just weird . There doesn’t seem to be a strategy really

sonicruiser wrote:

Don’t know if this was mentioned earlier but LHR-ISB will operate on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, and ISB-LHR on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Yes it was mentioned way back in post 4 with the full schedule

Galwayman wrote:

Great news but 3 days a week for a major network carrier is just weird . There doesn’t seem to be a strategy really

3 flights a week is very normal for a carrier to launch flights with. Air China are starting Chengdu-London Heathrow 3x weekly, SAS are starting Aarhus-Manchester 3x weekly, and even British Airways to Durban is only 3x weekly, with Charleston only being 2x weekly. It allows for growth if the market is there.

Galwayman wrote:

Great news but 3 days a week for a major network carrier is just weird . There doesn’t seem to be a strategy really

Considering the circumstances surrounding this resumption of LHR to ISB 3 times a week is not weird at all.

Obviously there is a strategy to all this, do you honestly think that a company such as British Airways don't work on strategys!

British Airways are obviously being cautious with their schedule for obvious reasons especially having not served the route for over ten years for reasons that I feel I don't need to explain as I'm sure that your fully aware of them.

This route will be an outstanding success for many reasons and as long as there isn't any major situation arising in the country I think that we can all assume that the frequency will increase sooner than later

LHR01 wrote:

With regards to other airlines returning to ISB, I can tell you Cathay Pacific, Malaysian Airlines and Lufthansa are also interested to make a come back.

Keep an eye out everyone

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Durban is a bucket and spade type route . I have the same question about Charleston .... it’s just weird . It’s like BA doesn’t have a strategy or doesn’t have the confidence ....

Aarhus - Manchester —2 secondary cities
Air China will have Chengdu municipal subsidies

The big boys ME3, US3 , Turkish don’t really do a 2/3 day week thing

And of course a 2/3 day schedule kills your business market , absolutely useless for anyone going on business .... business people will need the multiple daily offerings from EK

behramjee wrote:

B742 wrote:

Timings announced on Routes Online twitter.

BA261 LHR2115 - 0925+1ISB 788 247
BA260 ISB1110 - 1600LHR 788 135

Resumes 02JUN19 with 787-8.

For USA only JFK connects properly in both directions via LHR.

Well it's JFK-LHR with hourly service so it doesn't just connect to ISB, it connects to just about everything. But NYC has the largest Pakistani population in the US which will be good for them so that is a bonus.