British Airways’ plans in Africa are not limited to its recently announced investment in customer experience.
In South Africa the airline will add 680 seats a week to Johannesburg by operating an all-A380 service. BA will again operate its expanded Cape Town schedule, including three weekly flights from Gatwick Airport, over the 2017/18 southern hemisphere summer.
The frequency of flights to Mauritius is increasing from three to five Boeing 777 services a week, upping capacity from Gatwick by 550 seats weekly. It will also operate six weekly flights to Gatwick from Algiers (Algeria).
Operations for African passengers at Gatwick have now been moved to the South Terminal, where a new premium check-in area has been created. The new First and Club lounges have 40% more floor space. Other features include power sockets with USB ports in most seating areas and upgraded wi-fi; a study with project tables, PCs and a printer; shower suites; a hot and cold self-serve buffet; and full bars and tea and coffee stations.
At Heathrow’s Terminal 5, British Airways has launched a new ‘First Wing’ check-in area. It includes a dedicated two-lane security channel and direct access to the Galleries First Lounge and Concorde Room for the first time.
The programme of lounge investment will see revamps of the Terminal 5 lounges as well as the Johannesburg lounge at O.R. Tambo International Airport. A new lounge is also being built at Jomo Kenyatta International in Nairobi (Kenya), which will be shared with American Airlines.
Catering improvements have already been made across a number of routes, most recently Accra (Ghana). Johannesburg will be the next route to benefit. In addition to improvements to the on-board menu, a new service style is being introduced across Club World in September, with display trolleys allowing customers to select their food.
The on-board improvements extend to the latest-generation wi-fi, which will be rolled out across the long-haul network from April.
Customers are now able to self-service bag drop at Heathrow and Gatwick, enabling them to label their own bags and drop these off before proceeding through security.