While I have the same complaints that most people have about flying, e.g. long lines at security, cramped seats and delays, I have always had a weird fascination with airlines and airports. I think it started when I made a trip to India as a 2nd grader and got to sit in the lounge at London Heathrow airport. I was among people from all over the world waiting for connecting flights. So you may see quite a few posts about airports and airlines from me.
Both domestic and international service from Portland (PDX) has become much better over the last few years. Domestically, one can now fly nonstop from Portland to Boston, Orlando, Philadelphia, and New York-Kennedy. Outside of Canada and Mexico, PDX offers two international flights, a Northwest Airlines flight to Tokyo and a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt. In late March, Northwest Airlines will begin nonstop service to Amsterdam.
It may be in the best interest of British Airways to start nonstop service from Portland to London Heathrow or Gatwick. Both Lufthansa and Northwest/KLM will soon be offering service from all three major Pacific Northwest cities (Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland) to Frankfurt and Amsterdam respectively. If there is enough traffic from the Northwest to go to Frankfurt and Amsterdam, shouldn't there be enough to go to London as well? British Airways already flies to Vancouver and Seattle.
Also, Northwest Airlines recently announced they will begin nonstop service from Seattle to London Heathrow next summer. At the same time, British Airways will have 13 weekly nonstops (almost twice daily) from Seattle to Heathrow. Wouldn't it be better for British Airways to have a once-daily nonstop to both Portland and Seattle instead of a twice daily to Seattle? Next summer, many Portlanders wanting to go to London will take an Alaska Airlines or Horizon Air (both airlines are partners with Northwest) flight to Seattle and then will take the Northwest non-stop to Heathrow. But if British Airways flies to Portland, many of those passengers will prefer to fly non-stop on British.
So a message to British Airways: Come fly to Portland. The business is there and it may help you better compete with Northwest Airlines. Also, not mentioned above, but some of us looking to fly to places in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa, could sure use another option for a connection to Europe :-)!
Saturday, December 15, 2007
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2 comments:
Unfortunatley they can't and laws prevent it. There is a change next year in April, so there is a chance it might happen. Currently the law is: # American and British regulatory authorities must approve every airline's capacity and pricing ahead of each operating season.
# Each country can refuse traffic rights to a carrier it is not satisfied with, particularly with regard to ownership and/or control.
# Only a specified number of US "gateway cities" can be served by both UK and US carriers from London Heathrow as well as London Gatwick.
# Only the following US gateway cities may be served non-stop from Heathrow: Baltimore, Boston, Chicago O'Hare, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, New York-JFK, Newark, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington-Dulles.
I completely agree with you. I am suprised Oregon/SW Washington has no nonstop service to London. Because of the new Seattle-London service on Northwest, I think British will def shift some of its Seattle frequencies to Portland. I know for a fact that many Portland travelers connect to the Seattle service by flying or even driving. Considering that Seattle has just gained nonstop service to Paris, Frankfurt and another London nonstop all within a years time, I think British will be forced to decrease its Seattle frequency. British Airways service to Portland would further make British Airways presence known in the Northwest. Because of the new open skies agreement coming in a few weeks, I would look for maybe 5x/weekly service PDX-London within maybe a year or two.
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