British Airways is set to wet lease an Embraer E190 from German Airways for CityFlyer operations out of London City Airport. The airline has started to write to customers who will be affected by the changes to outline their options.
Wet leasing is when a third party operates a flight on behalf of a scheduled airline within the aviation industry. A great example of this is when Hi Fly’s Airbus A380 operated transatlantic flights for Norwegian Airlines. Passengers booked to fly with Norwegian but flew on a plane owned by Hi Fly with Hi Fly crew onboard. It’s not the first time British Airways has taken such action.
German Airways stands in for BA CityFlyer
German Airways is set to stand in for BA CityFlyer on its route between London City Airport and Frankfurt Airport. The first wet lease service will take place on the evening of December 5th, with three flights a day operating on the route from Monday to Thursday. The first flight will depart from Frankfurt at 07:00, while the last flight will depart London City at 21:35 as follows,
- BA 8731 – Frankfurt Airport (FRA) 07:00 – London City (LCY) 07:35 – 01h35m
- BA 8761 – London City (LCY) 08:10 – Frankfurt Airport (FRA) 10:40 – 01h30m
- BA 8761 – Frankfurt Airport (FRA) 11:40 – London City (LCY) 12:15 – 01h35m
- BA 8734 – London City (LCY) 14:45 – Frankfurt Airport (FRA) 17:15 – 01h30m
- BA 8735 – Frankfurt Airport (FRA) 17:50 – London City (LCY) 18:30 – 01h40m
- BA 8736 – London City (LCY) 19:05 – Frankfurt Airport (FRA) 21:35 – 01h30m
On Thursdays, Ba CityFlyer will operate BA 8738 instead of the first flight, with the rotation starting at London City Airport at 17:00. No flights on the route are scheduled on Saturday, while the following service is planned for Sundays,
- BA 8735 – Frankfurt Airport (FRA) 14:45 – London City (LCY) 15:20 – 01h35m
- BA 8736 – London City (LCY) 15:55 – Frankfurt Airport (FRA) 18:25 – 01h30m
Passengers can rebook
Some other exceptions also exist. According to booking engine data, German Airways will keep operating flights for British Airways until the end of the year.
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British Airways pinned the wet lease on “operational reasons” in an email to passengers affected by the change. However, they stressed that there should be no changes to the onboard experience. The airline also gives passengers the option to move onto a British Airways service to London Heathrow should they not wish to travel with German Airways.
Who are German Airways?
According to data from ch-aviation.com, German Airways was founded in its current capacity in 2019 as a passenger charter airline. WDL Aviation merged into German Airways in 2020. The airline is unsurprisingly based in Germany, at the Cologne/Bonn Airport.
The airline is perfect for British Airways’ wet lease needs, as London City is an interesting airport. Due to its short runway, only smaller planes can land and take off, and these need to be equipped with a steep approach functionality due to the airport’s unique city center location.
German Airways has just four aircraft, with an average age of 14.7 years. Alongside the British Airways wet lease agreement, German Airways also operates flights for Air France. According to aviation data experts Cirium, its Embraer E190 planes fly between Strasbourg and Amsterdam several times a day.
Not British Airways’ first wet lease agreement
This isn’t the first time that British Airways has wet leased aircraft. At the height of the Boeing 787 Trent 1000 engine crisis, the airline needed to use Air Belgium’s Airbus A340s on a handful of routes to fill in for lost capacity.
Additionally, an Evelop Airbus A330 was flying between London and New York around two years ago. This was one of the few flights that operated during the BA pilot strike, as striking pilots didn’t crew it. Of course, these are just a couple of examples, but more aircraft have been wet-leased over the years.
Are you booked to fly on a wet leased flight? Let us know how you feel in the comments!
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