British Airways will unveil a new long-haul route in the next few weeks, the airline has confirmed.
BA declined to give details on whether the route would be business or leisure-focused, but speculation centres on the latter. BA is still shuffling the extra Heathrow slots it gained when it bought Bmi earlier this year but a BA spokeswoman said details of how all these would be used in the future were unlikely until the new year.
Speaking at a BA media event, chief executive Keith Williams confirmed that some slots currently being used for Bmi short-haul flights would be used for long-haul services instead but said details were still being worked out.
Meanwhile, the airline has also confirmed that passengers will no longer have to miss the end of in-flight films as systems will remain on until the aircraft has landed. Currently, they are switched off around 20 minutes before touchdown.
From Saturday, passengers will also be able to use the system from the moment they are seated on the aircraft. However, premium passengers and those in bulkhead seats with flip-out screens will have to pause the system during take-off and landing as these must be folded in.
The change follows approval by the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority.