British Airways’ 216 Mile Boeing 787 Flight

Since the start of the pandemic, British Airways’ Boeing 787s have been seen on short-haul hops across Europe. When IAG cargo needs additional capacity, it makes sense to swap an A320 for the widebody. This month that will see the Dreamliner on 216-mile flights from London to Paris.

British Airways has scheduled several exceptional short-haul 787 rotations throughout August. Photo: Vincenzo Pace – Simple Flying

At Simple Flying we love it when an airline decides to place a widebody on a route that it wouldn’t normally operate. For example, we saw Virgin Atlantic flying its Boeing 787 to Frankfurt Airport for its cargo capacity. Its rival, British Airways, has been doing similar for some time too.

216 miles in a Boeing 787

Head for Points and The Independent spotted that British Airways will be flying its 787s on short hops across Europe in August. Using schedule information from Cirium, Simple Flying discovered that nine destinations would see the Boeing 787 on a limited basis in August.

The shortest of these routes is from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG). Four rotations are planned to the French capital, with the first operating earlier this week. The flight to Paris is booked for just 80 minutes each way. Indeed, it is so short that British Airways doesn’t offer its buy-on-board catering service in the economy cabin.

The Boeing 787s are being used for their increased cargo capacity. Photo: Tom Boon – Simple Flying

The route is listed with a distance of 216 miles as the crow flies and will still operate on the 11th, 18th, and 25th of August. At the time of writing, two business class seats were left at £290 one way to Paris for the last rotation. These flights are an excellent way to trial the lie-flat business class without a long flight. Readers should note that British Airways will offer the usual Club Europe soft product onboard. This means no bedding for the short flight.

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Does 231 miles sound better?

If you’re looking for a slightly longer commitment but still lacking buy-on-board catering in economy, you could head to Amsterdam, which is just 15 miles further as the crow flies. It will likely be easier to book a cheaper flight with more flexibility on this route as the airline is operating 13 rotations throughout the month.

If you’re still looking for a further flight, the airline has seven more exceptional Boeing 787 destinations as follows,

• Frankfurt – 408 miles – two rotations
• Zurich – 491 miles – nine rotations
• Stockholm – 912 miles – four rotations
• Athens – 1,510 miles – four roations
• Moscow (Domodedovo) – 1,585 miles – eight rotations
• Larnaca – 2,040 miles – nine roatations
• Cairo – 2,196 miles – four rotations

British Airways will operate the special 787 flights on nine routes this month. Photo: Cirium

It is possible that British Airways could extend the short-haul Boeing 787 schedule into September, although this will likely depend on if sufficient cargo demand exists. So far, no such flights are scheduled for the future, other than flights to Madrid in October, November, and December. Should the demand for capacity from IAG Cargo exist, BA will likely schedule more flights, as the Boeing 787 family can carry far more cargo than the Airbus A320 family.

Have you flown on a Boeing 787 on a short-haul hop? Let us know what you think and why in the comments down below!

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