Within the last week or so some rumours which I find interesting have come out about what the future fleet of British Airways could look like. The rumours to be precise are about the short haul fleets at the smaller two of the three London Airports British Airways primarily serves, City and Gatwick . These comments are something that intrigued me quite a bit so I thought that I might dive into them a bit further.
Update 18.6.19
Today at the Paris Airshow IAG, parent company of BA, announced a letter of intent for 200 737MAX, aircraft split between the -8 and -10. Whilst most of these are destined for Checking and Level, it has also been confirmed that some of the aircraft will also be destined for the British Airways Gatwick fleet, almost certainly ruling out a short coming order for the A320neo for British Airways. These aircraft will arrive between 2023 and 2027.
Gatwick
Starting with Gatwick, in an interview on the 14th July published on the German website, aero Telegraph, the head of IAG Willie Walsh discussed the possibility of Vueling ordering the 737MAX. Whilst most of this article was dedicated to Vueling there was one quote about British Airways right at the end where he said that the 737MAX is conceivable for British Airways.
Whilst this might not be a guarantee of an order or even be seen as an expression of interest, I do find this quote quite interesting. With only a further 15 A320neo aircraft on order there is a definite need for British Airways at some point to order some further narrow body aircraft. Whilst the Heathrow fleet already seems committed to the use of the A320 family following the introduction of both the A320neo and A321neo the Gatwick fleet still remains up for question.
Personally I do not find it beyond the realm of possibility that British Airways could go with the 737MAX for their Gatwick fleet. Gatwick based operations are quite different and separate to the Heathrow operations for British Airways, with each having their own crews and engineering bases, meaning that it would not be too difficult for British Airways to have two separate bases.
However whether these comments would lead to an order is quite a different question though. Currently I am split as to whether these comments would mean an order. On the one hand these might be quite genuine considerations and British Airways might very shortly order the 737MAX as a show of support to the whole program after receiving a good offer from Boeing to buy them. However on the other hand it might just be the IAG looking to stronger their negotiating position with Airbus in the lead up to the Paris Airshow before they announce a 100+ order for A320neo family aircraft after last minute negotiations.
Either way however these comments are promising for a new order of narrow body aircraft for British Airways and make me believe that there might be an order made within the next year.
Update 18.6.19
Today at the Paris Airshow IAG, parent company of BA, announced a letter of intent for 200 737MAX, aircraft split between the -8 and -10. Whilst most of these are destined for Checking and Level, it has also been confirmed that some of the aircraft will also be destined for the British Airways Gatwick fleet, almost certainly ruling out a short coming order for the A320neo for British Airways. These aircraft will arrive between 2023 and 2027.
City
The rumour for City is much less concrete with all it being that British Airways City Flyer are considering a 26 strong order for either the Embraer E2 or for the A220. Whilst this might be a lot less pressing for British Airways with the majority of the City Flyer fleet only about 10 years old, their replacement has still been rumoured, and by 2023 when it might be expected approximately that these aircraft might arrive, this would put the oldest aircraft in the fleet at 15 years old and maybe at the stage where it is worth considering getting in replacements for them.
As for which aircraft British Airways would choose I would personally say that there is probably little to choose between them. The Embraer E2 might be preferred as it is the upgrade of the current aircraft in the fleet and so would be easier to integrate into the fleet, however the A220 might be preferred because of its longer range.
At the end of the day I would imagine that the aircraft of choice would come down to price, with whichever manufacturer British Airways is able to get a better deal with getting the nod, which could lead to an interesting competition between the two.
Comments
Post a Comment