British Airways Delays Dallas Fort Worth Airbus A380 Launch

British Airways has postponed the introduction of the A380 to Dallas Fort Worth. Previously expected to take off in March, it will now start in July. While Dallas once saw Qantas and Emirates’s A380s, it’ll be the first time the Texas airport has seen BA’s double-decker quadjets.

In July and August 2022, British Airways and immunized joint-venture partner American will have 104,470 seats between Heathrow and Dallas, up by a quarter (!) over the same months in 2019. That seems rather optimistic in the current environment. Photo: British Airways.

What’s happening?

In a recent schedule change, BA has revealed that Dallas will now receive the A380 from July 1st. That’s a delay of three months from the previously scheduled March 27th, the first day of the aviation summer season.

It comes as BA pulls Baltimore, Nashville, New Orleans for the rest of the winter, less than two months after they resumed. They’ll be back in the summer, likewise San Jose, the last US route to restart. Omicron and the overall demand situation, especially in winter, are continuing to wreak havoc, making more changes possible.

When writing, BA’s once-daily Dallas service is operated by the B787, mainly the -10 variant but occasionally also the B787-9. (The -8 is scheduled on January 19th.) It is due to switch to the B777-300ER before the 469-seat A380 takes over in time for the peak summer. The schedule is as follows (all times are local):

• BA193: 13:15-17:10; A380
• BA192: 19:15-10:15+1 the following day; A380

BA and American have five daily flights from Heathrow to Dallas in July and August. Photo: Getty Images.

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Seven A380 routes in July

In the first week of July, BA has scheduled the A380 on seven routes from Heathrow, as shown below, all to the US and Canada. With a once-daily service each, the A380 will have seven departures per day.

• Boston: once-daily on BA213 out and BA212 back
• Chicago: once-daily; BA295/BA294
• Dallas: once-daily; BA193/BA192
• Miami: once-daily; BA209/BA208
• San Francisco: once-daily; BA287/BA286
• Vancouver: once-daily; BA85; BA84
• Washington: once-daily; BA293; BA292

On July 1st, 2022, BA’s A380 departures from Heathrow are at 10:25 (Chicago), 11:15 (Boston), 13:15 (Dallas), 14:05 (San Francisco), 14:15 (Miami), 17:10 (Washington), and 17:15 (Vancouver). Image: GCMap.

How things have changed

Cirium data shows that daily departures in that July week are up marginally from what was scheduled in the past couple of months, but where they’ll be flying has changed. In December, Dubai, Johannesburg, Los Angeles, and Singapore were down to see the type then, but they no longer will.

Singapore won’t see BA’s A380s this year and Los Angeles ceased being served by the type earlier in January. In contrast, Dubai currently sees the A380, and Johannesburg is due to resume on January 17th. Dubai and Johannesburg will temporarily cease to see the double-decker before it’s brought back later in the year.

Johannesburg will see again the A380 from August 1st (BA55/BA56), Dubai from September 29th (BA107/BA106), and Los Angeles on October 30th (BA269/BA268). Only Los Angeles isn’t currently bookable – but it is scheduled. If we have learned nothing else from the pandemic, it is that things can – and still may – change.

What do you think of the changes? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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